September 8, 2023 Russia-Ukraine news

Ukrainian women who have medical education must register at military enlistment offices starting October 1, the country’s Armed Forces said in a Facebook post Thursday.

The statement added that eligibility will be determined “by the diploma and by the actual place of work.”

This means that these women, like Ukrainian men aged between 18 and 60, will have to remain in Ukraine as they “may be called up for military service,” according to the Armed Forces. 

"If they (women) are on the register, then they acquire the status of conscripts. And conscripts leave abroad according to the order established for them. That is, if there are separate documents that give the right for a temporary departure -- then yes, they will be able to leave. If not, then they, like men, will be limited in their right to leave," Fedir Venislavskyi, a member of Ukraine's parliament who is on the National Security Committee, said in an interview with Ukrainian news outlet RBC on Thursday. 

Pregnant women, current students or women with certain medical conditions will be exempt from service.

Roughly 90% of Ukrainian prisoners of war have been subjected to torture, rape, threats of sexual violence or other forms of cruel and inhumane treatment, according to recent estimates, Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Andrii Kostin said Thursday.

Ukraine found “evidence of these horrors in all the liberated territories,” Kostin said, during a meeting with Alice Kill Edwards, the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture.

Kostin noted that 156 suspects have been identified in cases involving various forms of torture, adding that indictments have been sent to court against 114 of these suspects.

The suspects include “Russian military personnel and representatives of the occupying authorities,” according to Kostin.

35 people have been convicted of torture and cruel treatment as war crimes, he said.

Kostin called on the world community “to destroy the Russian torture machine and ensure the punishment of each of its participants.” 

Russia has repeatedly denied accusations of torture and human rights abuses in Ukraine – despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, which has been investigated and brought to light by international human rights organizations and media outlets. Russian officials have not yet commented on the latest report.

Ukraine’s counteroffensive has been underway for months, but the country’s hopes of a rapid and decisive breakthrough have long faded.

Kyiv launched the campaign aiming to recapture Russian-seized territory, especially in the south. But while there is a renewed sense of optimism, gains have been marginal and won at great cost.

As Ukrainian forces probe for vulnerabilities in Russian defenses, Moscow too is seeking to make gains, and has been trying to advance toward the city of Kupiansk, a city it seized early on in the war before losing it a year ago.

While it is impossible to get an exact, real-time picture of the situation on the ground, CNN has been taking a look at the key battles of the latest phase of the war.

The conflict so far: While Ukraine has struggled in its counteroffensive, it is important to remember the war is nowhere near where Russia’s President Vladimir Putin wanted it to be either.

When Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, it hoped to sweep across the country and topple the government in a matter of days.

Those goals floundered due to a combination of Russian hubris and stronger than expected Ukrainian resistance. After seeing Putin quickly withdraw his forces from around Kyiv and elsewhere in northern Ukraine, the rest of the year saw significant victories for Ukraine in the Kharkiv region to the east and the Kherson region to the south.

This year has been different: Troops from both sides have been bogged down in a slow-moving conflict with no clear end in sight. The current fighting is focused on Ukraine’s south and east, with Ukrainian forces struggling to break through defensive lines Russia had months to prepare. Success means capturing a village rather than an entire city.

Here's a full view of Ukraine's counteroffensive.

Russia is “weaponizing food" and "hurting the most vulnerable," European Union Council President Charles Michel said Friday.

His comments were made in a press conference held in the Indian capital New Delhi on Friday, ahead of the G20 Summit due to take place this weekend.

Michel described Russia’s termination of the Black Sea Grain Initiative in July as “scandalous.”

Michel also called the Kremlin's offer to deliver 1 million metric tons of grain to Africa "absolutely cynical" in comparison to the 32 million metric tons of grain delivered to international markets led by the United Nations.

He added that the EU is stepping up to provide alternative export routes and have so far delivered 41 million metric tons of grain.

Some context: Ukraine has been exploring alternative shipping routes after Russia pulled out of a deal in July that allowed Ukrainian ships to navigate safe passage through the Black Sea to Turkey's Bosphorus Strait in order to reach global markets.

Ukraine has submitted an official proposal to Turkey to operate a "grain corridor" in the Black Sea without Russia's participation, Ukrainian Ambassador to Turkey Vasyl Bodnar said Thursday.

Ukraine has also already started shipping grain through Croatian seaports, a top official said on Thursday.

At least one person was injured following Russian missile strikes in Ukraine's southeastern Zaporizhzhia Friday morning, according to Yuri Malashko, head of the region's military administration.

The blast waves had "damaged windows in multi-story buildings and educational institutions," said Anatolii Kurtev, Secretary of the Zaporizhzhia City Council.

Emergency services are at the site, both officials said. 

Ukraine’s air force said it destroyed 16 drones heading toward the southern port city of Odesa in the early hours of Friday. 

A total of 20 Shahed drones were launched in the direction of Odesa region, the Ukrainian Air Force said in a statement on Telegram.

“Anti-aircraft missile units, fighter aircraft, mobile fire groups of the Air Force, and air defense of other components of the Ukrainian Defense Forces were used to repel the attack," it said.

The Odesa region has come under heavy fire in recent weeks by Russian forces, mainly targeting port facilities used for food exports, with Ukrainian officials accusing the Kremlin of trying to create a “food crisis” with the attacks.

Cuban authorities arrested 17 people linked to a human trafficking network operating from Russia that is allegedly recruiting Cuban citizens to fight with Moscow's military forces in Ukraine, Cuban state media reported Thursday, citing the Ministry of the Interior.

The Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the human trafficking network had been dismantled, according to Cuba Debate in Havana.

Colonel César Rodríguez, from the interior ministry's General Directorate of Criminal Investigation, reportedly said the network’s traffickers were looking for people with criminal records. 

On Monday, the Cuban foreign ministry said it had uncovered the network, which was trafficking Cubans living in Russia and “even some in Cuba," to be “incorporated into the military forces taking part in the war in Ukraine."

At the time the ministry gave few details about the alleged trafficking operations, but said that authorities were working to “neutralize and dismantle” the network.

Cuba stressed in its statement earlier this week that it “is not part of the war in Ukraine.” The Kremlin has not commented on the allegations.

Some context: Cuba was a major ally of the Soviet Union during the Cold War, and relations between Havana and Moscow have remained cozy since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Cuba has been a staunch defender of Russia’s war on the country, blaming the US and NATO for the conflict.

As Cuba grapples with its worse economic crisis in decades, Russia has supplied the communist-run island with badly needed food and shipments of crude oil. Since the war began the two nations have signed a flurry of agreements promising increased Russian foreign investment in Cuba.

Russia’s failures on the battlefield in Ukraine could turn into a win for North Korea.

That’s the view of analysts who say a possible meeting between Kim Jong Un and Vladimir Putin could lead to Pyongyang getting its hands on the sort of weapons two decades’ worth of United Nations’ sanctions have barred it from accessing.

On Monday, the US National Security Council claimed arms negotiations between Russia and North Korea were “actively advancing,” after Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu visited Pyongyang in July in an attempt to convince it to sell artillery ammunition to Moscow. 

The US also believes there could be a Putin-Kim meeting in the near future.

Should it materialize, such a meeting would come after more than a year and a half of war in Ukraine has left the Russian military battered, depleted and in need of supplies. 

It would also come after 17 years of UN sanctions aimed at hampering North Korea’s ability to build a fully functioning nuclear weapons and ballistic missile force.

Read more here.

Ukraine has submitted an official proposal to Turkey to operate a "grain corridor" in the Black Sea without Russia's participation, Ukrainian Ambassador to Turkey Vasyl Bodnar said Thursday.

Bodnar noted in an interview with Ukrainian media that cargo vessels are already sailing through the territorial waters of Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey without restrictions. And a top official said Thursday that Ukraine has started shipping grain through Croatian seaports.

Ukraine has been exploring alternative shipping routes after Russia pulled out of a deal in July that allowed Ukrainian ships to navigate safe passage through the Black Sea to Turkey's Bosphorus Strait in order to reach global markets.

Also, UK insurance firm Lloyd's of London is in discussion with the United Nations to provide coverage for shipments if a new Black Sea grain corridor agreement can be reached, CEO John Neal told Reuters. 

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