September 7, 2023 Russia-Ukraine news

Elon Musk secretly ordered his engineers to turn off his company’s Starlink satellite communications network near the Crimean coast last year to disrupt a Ukrainian sneak attack on the Russian naval fleet, according to an excerpt adapted from Walter Isaacson’s new biography of the eccentric billionaire titled “Elon Musk.”

Musk’s decision, which left Ukrainian officials begging him to turn the satellites back on, was driven by an acute fear that Russia would respond to a Ukrainian attack on Crimea with nuclear weapons, a fear driven home by Musk’s conversations with senior Russian officials, according to Isaacson.

The new book from Isaacson, the author of acclaimed biographies of Steve Jobs and Albert Einstein, provides fresh insights into Musk and how his existential dread of sparking a wider war drove him to spurn Ukrainian requests for Starlink systems they could use to attack the Russians.

Read the full CNN exclusive story here.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is getting a glimpse of how Ukraine uses some of the assistance provided by the United States.

On Thursday, the second and final day of his trip to Ukraine, Blinken visited a State Border Guard facility on the outskirts of Kyiv where he was shown US-donated surveillance drones and four MRAP (Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected) vehicles, as well as several downed Russian drones.

Signing the guestbook at the end of the visit, he wrote:

He then visited a Ukrainian demining center, which plays a key role in Ukraine's attempts to safely reclaim territory from Russia.

According to the State Department, the US has provided more than $95 million in assistance for Ukraine's demining efforts. 

The State Department said that according to international experts, Russian munitions may have ‘dud rates’ of between 10% and 30%, resulting in massive amounts of unexploded ordnance being scattered across Ukraine.

The Ukrainian government estimates that 174,000 square kilometers of its land may be contaminated by explosive hazards, which is nearly one-third of the country. Of this amount, the GoU estimates 25,000 square kilometers of farmland may be contaminated. 

On Wednesday, Blinken met with senior Ukrainian leaders and announced $1 billion in new US support for Ukraine, including military, humanitarian and budgetary assistance.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Thursday that the responsibility for the possible use of depleted uranium shells in Ukraine will rest with the United States.

The Pentagon this week announced the transfer of depleted uranium munitions to Ukraine as part of a new military aid package.

Speaking on a conference call with journalists, Peskov condemned the decision and described it as "terrible news."

Peskov drew parallels with the historical use of depleted uranium shells in Europe, particularly in the former Yugoslavia. He claimed their deployment had dire consequences, causing a significant rise in cancer and other diseases. 

There has been no conclusive evidence that depleted uranium used in munitions by NATO forces in the former Yugoslavia in 1999 caused a higher incidence of disease. In 2018, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that “[W]e had independent assessments and they concluded that there were no lasting health damages because of the depleted uranium."

However, Serbian officials have claimed that there were lasting health consequences.

Peskov warned that Ukrainian territories where these shells would be utilized could face similar health and environmental risks.

The International Atomic Energy Agency had said that depleted uranium is “considerably less radioactive than natural uranium.” The agency added that the “main conclusion” of studies done on the health of military personnel exposed to depleted uranium is that exposure could not be linked to any statistically significant increases in the personnel’s mortality rates.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that new Defense Minister Rustem Umerov must build trust in military procurement and decision-making.

Introducing Umerov at an event in Kyiv, Zelensky said:

Zelensky added: “The Ukrainian soldier is the key priority of the defense forces. If changes in the defense forces are needed for the benefit and strength of the soldier, then such changes must be immediate. This applies to everything from bureaucratic procedures that take up time and energy of soldiers to the provision of our soldiers.”

Zelensky added that he wants the new minister to simplify the bureaucracy and focus on the welfare of soldiers.

“Everything that can be digitized should be digitized. Every bureaucratic procedure that can be canceled should be canceled. Every item that can save the lives and health of soldiers must be found and supplied to the Ukrainian army. We need a new philosophy of attitude towards Ukrainian soldiers: people are not expendable.”

Some context: Zelensky tapped Umerov, a Crimean Tatar, to become his next defense minister, replacing Oleksii Reznikov.

Umerov’s appointment was approved by the Ukrainian parliament on Wednesday. He has an extensive background in business.

The change in leadership comes at a critical time for Ukraine’s counteroffensive, as Ukraine’s relationships with allies and donors enter a new phase.

Kyiv is trying to accelerate the training and deployment of F-16 combat planes and acquire a host of other equipment and weapons from its western allies to help push forward its counteroffensive.

Western officials believe Russia has already lost the war because it failed in its primary aim of subjugating Ukraine, arguing that Ukraine's battlefield progress is not a measure of its overall success.

Speaking in a briefing on Wednesday, the officials conceded that Ukraine’s progress had been incremental and slower than anticipated two months ago, due to Russia’s well-prepared defenses, but said that Moscow had already lost regardless of battles over territory.

“This could be a very long struggle over territory, but in terms of the war and what Russia was looking to achieve, Russia has lost and Russia is a diminished power and is on a diminishing trajectory,” one official said. 

“This notion that somehow Russia can win even if it retains the territory that it’s got, and that is victory, is insane when Russia has strengthened NATO, has grown it with the likes of Finland and Sweden, has put Ukraine on a path to joining NATO, and has put Ukraine on a path to potentially joining the EU,” the official added. 

“I think if you’re Putin, you’re basically gambling that Donald Trump wins the next election and that is quite a long phase. It’s a long way away. In the meantime, the Prigozhin mutiny wouldn’t have happened if the war was going well in Ukraine,” another official said.

Some context: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky insisted Saturday that Kyiv's counteroffensive is moving forward, after troops made some headway in its campaign to recapture territory seized by Russia.

On Friday, Ukrainian forces said they had penetrated the “first line” of Russian strongholds in the Zaporizhzhia region, in a sign that Kyiv is edging closer to Moscow’s sprawling network of fortified trenches along the southern front.

Overall, Ukrainian gains have been hard won after its counteroffensive formally got underway in mid-June. There have been no captures of major settlements as Kyiv's troops encounter well-defended Russian lines.

Russian-appointed officials in occupied Zaporizhzhia say there has been another Ukrainian drone attack on Enerhodar, the city adjacent to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

Yevgeniy Balitskiy, acting governor of occupied Zaporizhzhia, said on Telegram “several enemy drones attacked an apartment building” early Thursday, adding:

Separately, Vladimir Rogov, a member of the Russian-installed Zaporizhzhia military-civilian administration, said that “copter-type UAVs” had been used.

Rogov said one drone was eliminated in the city's park of culture and recreation, Rogov said.

Some context: At the end of August, Ukrainian Defense Intelligence claimed a drone attack had caused an explosion at a Russian base in Enerhodar.

“As a result of the operation of the local resistance movement coordinated by the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine, an improvised 'barracks' of the Russian Guard unit 'Akhmat-1' was damaged”, it said August 28. Akhmat-1 is a Chechen unit.

Earlier that month, Ukrainian Defense intelligence claimed further sabotage attacks in Enerhodar. It said there had been an explosion at a meeting of the chiefs of the occupation police on August 18, and another at the local headquarters of the Russian Federal Security Service.

Ukraine is “slowly gaining ground” in its counteroffensive despite difficult fighting, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Thursday.

Speaking to members of the European Parliament, Stoltenberg said support from NATO allies helped to launch the Ukrainian counteroffensive which is now beginning to bear fruit.

His remarks come after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky sent out a strong message last week regarding Ukraine’s progress, tweeting: "No matter what anyone says, we are advancing, and that is the most important thing. We are on the move."

Meanwhile, Ukrainian officials are cautiously optimistic that the second line of Russian defensive fortifications on the southern front may be easier to penetrate than the first.

Geolocated video in recent days indicates Ukrainian units have made limited progress beyond the village of Robotyne, as they seek to expand the territory in the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region they reclaimed in August.

Social media videos geolocated by CNN show a drone attack Thursday close to Russia's Southern Military headquarters in Rostov-on-Don.

The explosion took place less than a kilometer from the military's building on Budonnovskiy Prospekt in the southwestern city.

In a Telegram post earlier, Rostov region Gov. Vasily Golubev said one person was injured and several cars were damaged after Russian air defenses intercepted two drones over the city.

An "emergency mode" was enacted around the crash site and nearly 100 residents were offered alternative temporary accommodation, Golubev said.

Kyiv did not make any immediate comment.

Remember: Ukraine has increasingly been emboldened to hit strategic targets inside Russia through the air in recent weeks, even as it suffers assaults on its own cities, setting up a new phase of the conflict defined by Kyiv’s apparent efforts to wear down domestic Russian support for the war.

Russia's deputy foreign minister on Thursday accused the United States of committing "a criminal act" following Washington's pledge to supply depleted uranium munitions to Ukraine for the first time, Russian state media reported.

The ammunition is part of $1 billion in new US support for Ukraine announced Wednesday.  The munitions, which can be fired from the US-made Abrams tanks that are expected to arrive in Ukraine this fall, are mildly radioactive because they are made from dense metal — a byproduct from fuel production for nuclear power plants.

Speaking after a seminar on nuclear non-proliferation Thursday, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov claimed the US' move was "a reflection of Washington's outrageous disregard for the environmental consequences of using these kind of munitions in a war zone," state-run news agency RIA Novosti reported.

Some context: According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, depleted uranium is used in ammunition designed to pierce armor plating because it becomes sharper on impact with a target. It is “considerably less radioactive than natural uranium,” according to the UN nuclear watchdog.

In March, the United Kingdom's Defense Ministry accused Russia of spreading disinformation after President Vladimir Putin warned London against providing Ukraine with ammunition containing depleted uranium.

“It is a standard component and has nothing to do with nuclear weapons or capabilities. Russia knows this, but is deliberately trying to disinform,” a British defense ministry spokesperson said at the time. “Independent research by scientists from groups such as the Royal Society has assessed that any impact to personal health and the environment from the use of depleted uranium munitions is likely to be low.”