August 17, 2023 Russia-Ukraine news

A container ship laden with grain has reached Romanian waters in the Black Sea after departing from Ukraine's southern port of Odesa Wednesday.

The Hong Kong-flagged Joseph Schulte is the first vessel to use a temporary Black Sea shipping corridor established following the breakdown of a UN-brokered grain deal last month, according to Ukrainian authorities.

Data from MarineTraffic on Thursday showed the vessel traveling south toward the Turkish port of Ambarli. It is carrying more than 30,000 metric tons of cargo, including food products, Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said Wednesday.

Some context: Russia pulled out of a UN and Turkish brokered deal in July that allowed Ukraine to move its grain via the Black Sea and warned that any ships headed to Ukraine would be treated as potentially carrying weapons. 

Last week, the Ukrainian navy issued an order declaring "temporary corridors" for merchant ships sailing to and from Ukrainian ports. However, it admitted that the military threat and mine danger from Russia remained along all routes.

On Sunday, a Russian warship fired warning shots and boarded a Turkish-owned cargo ship it claimed was headed to Ukraine, in what Kyiv said was "an act of piracy."

Russian air defenses destroyed a Ukrainian drone over the southwest Belgorod region on Thursday, state-run news agency TASS reported, citing Moscow's defense ministry.

No casualties or damage were reported. 

In recent months, drone attacks have become an almost daily occurrence on the border province, which is located just 80 kilometers from Ukraine's northeastern Kharkiv region.

Russian towns bordering Ukraine have also recently seen an uptick in cross-border attacks, with two people injured by shelling in Belgorod on Tuesday.

Ukraine does not expect US-made F-16 fighter jets to arrive this year, a Ukrainian Air Force spokesperson said Wednesday.

Kyiv has been pleading for the advanced jets from Western allies for more than a year, arguing they will provide the military with additional air defense and offensive capabilities.

CNN reported on August 1 that the United States was waiting for European officials to submit a final plan for training Ukrainian pilots on F-16s, which the US will have to authorize before the program can begin, according to officials familiar with the matter.

The training is supposed to start this month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and European officials have said publicly. But more than two months after President Joe Biden announced US support for training Ukrainian pilots on F-16s, there remain a number of critical details to work out.

Ihnat said Wednesday that progress was being made toward training pilots.

Some context: The F-16s would be an upgrade to the largely Soviet-era aircraft currently in Ukraine’s fleet but analysts have cautioned that the jets aren’t a cure-all and have vulnerabilities that Moscow would be well aware of and could exploit.

Some 10,000 people endured a temporary power outage after Russian missiles struck Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region early Thursday, a Ukrainian military official said.

In a Telegram post, Serhii Lysak, head of the region's military administration, said no casualties were reported and power had been restored.

It comes a day after Russian shelling killed one civilian and injured six others in the region, according to Lysak.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday accused Russia of targeting global food security following a drone attack on a Danube River port, saying it marked the seventh time Russia had targeted Ukrainian ports since Moscow pulled out of the Black Sea grain deal last month. 

"Russian terrorists again targeted our ports. Our infrastructure, which is involved in ensuring not ours, but the common — global — food security," Zelensky said.

Small ports on the Danube have become vital for Ukrainian grain exports following the collapse of the grain deal. Ukrainian officials say Russian forces are deliberately targeting port infrastructure on the river as part of efforts to block the exports — posing a threat to food security in developing nations that rely on Ukrainian grain.

Here are the latest developments:

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke by phone on Wednesday with American Paul Whelan, who is being held in a remote prison camp in Russia, a source familiar told CNN.

The top US diplomat told Whelan to “keep the faith and we’re doing everything we can to bring you home as soon as possible,” the source said of the call. This the second time Blinken has spoken to Whelan, who has been detained in Russia for more than four years, the source said. The other call between Whelan and Blinken happened on December 30, another source familiar told CNN.

Whelan, who is deemed wrongly detained by the US government, is able to make calls from his prison camp in Mordovia, but the source would not get into further details about how the call to Blinken came about.

Paul Whelan told his parents that “he was able to have a long, frank conversation with Secretary Blinken,” his brother David Whelan told CNN Wednesday. David Whelan did not have further details about the call.

The conversation comes as the Biden administration continues to reiterate to Russia the serious proposal that they put on the table for Whelan’s release more than eight months ago. Russia has not responded in a substantive way, two administration officials told CNN.

Read more on the Whelan story.

An overnight drone attack on Wednesday in Ukraine's southern Odesa region marked the seventh time Russia has targeted Ukrainian ports since Moscow pulled out of the Black Sea grain deal, according to President Volodymyr Zelensky. 

The drone attack on Reni damaged warehouses and granaries, said Oleh Kiper, head of the Odesa regional military administration. No casualties were reported, he said.

Small ports on the Danube River have become vital for Ukrainian grain exports following the collapse of the Black Sea grain deal last month. Ukrainian officials say Russian forces are deliberately targeting port infrastructure on the river as part of efforts to block the exports — posing a threat to food security in developing nations that rely on Ukrainian grain.

The Belarusian border force on Wednesday criticized Lithuania’s decision to temporarily suspend operations at two border checkpoints between the countries due to concerns about Wagner forces, describing it as “another unconstructive and unfriendly step of our neighbors.” 

Lithuanian Interior Minister Agnė Bilotaitė said earlier that the closure of the two border checkpoints was in response to the recent relocation of Wagner forces to Belarus.

Belarusian border force called Lithuania's reasoning “far-fetched.”

“In fact, the Lithuanian authorities are using any pretext to not only prevent the movement of goods, but also to reduce the flow of Lithuanians traveling on a visa-free basis,” the force said.

It also blamed the Lithuanian government for “purposefully and deliberately” creating “artificial barriers on the border for the sake of its political ambitions.”

More context: The Šumskas and Tverečius border checkpoints will be temporarily suspended beginning on Friday. Lithuania shares six border checkpoints with Belarus, according to the news release. 

The commander of Ukrainian Land Forces has acknowledged some complications around the northeastern city of Kupiansk, where Russian forces have recently been making a push.

Despite the difficult situation, the Ukrainian general said the defense of the city, located in the Kharkiv region, would be ensured.

“Based on the results of work with commanders in this area, a number of important decisions were made that will ensure the reliability of defense,” he said.

On Tuesday, Ukraine said it had reinforced its positions in the city.

“Our firing positions were strengthened, [command] provided certain methodological recommendations, and redeployed reserves,” the Deputy Commander of the Eastern Military Group for Strategic Communications, Serhii Cherevatyi said.

Russia on Wednesday said it had made small gains in the area.

Last week, Ukraine ordered a mandatory evacuation of Kupiansk and its surrounding areas, as Russia intensified shelling and claimed to have captured Ukrainian positions near the city.