September 18, 2023 Russia-Ukraine news

Seven high-ranking officials have been dismissed from the Ukrainian defense ministry, cabinet minister Oleh Nemchinov said Monday, the biggest shakeup of personnel at the top of Ukraine's defense establishment since its leader was ousted earlier this month.

Six of Ukraine's seven deputy defense ministers were fired, as was the country's state secretary for the ministry, a position that is seen as more administrative.

The comes in the wake of a number of corruption scandals involving the ministry -- and a little more than two weeks after Oleksii Reznikov lost his job as defense minister. President Volodymyr Zelensky said Reznikov was being replaced in order to bring "new approaches" to the post. The president has since tapped Rustem Umerov as his replacement.

Though Reznikov was not implicated in any of the scandals, they still appeared to damage him by association.

Before Russia's full-scale invasion, rooting out corruption was the top priority for Zelensky's administration. His promise to do so was one of the reasons for his unprecedented political success.

Zelensky, a former comedian, had zero political experience at the time of his election in 2019. But he managed to tap into the nation’s deep-rooted disappointment and disgust over rampant corruption.

It's unclear whether the dismissals on Monday were connected to allegations of corruptions or were part of the new leadership cleaning house, though Umerov hinted at the latter in a Facebook post.

CNN has reached out to the Ministry of Defense for comment.

The Russian government possesses no information on the health of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, whose health has been the subject of speculation in recent days, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday.

On Saturday, a Ukrainian intelligence official said that Kadyrov, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin and a vocal supporter of the war in Ukraine, was gravely ill.

A video shared on Kadyrov’s official channel on the messaging app Telegram showed him outdoors with a caption: “I strongly advise everyone who cannot distinguish truth from lies on the Internet to take a walk in the fresh air and put their thoughts in order. The rain is wonderfully invigorating.”

CNN cannot independently verify claims about Kadyrov's health.

New reports concerning Kadyrov emerged Monday. Alexey Venediktov, a prominent journalist who led the now-defunct Echo of Moscow radio station, said on Telegram that Kadyrov was undergoing hemodialysis at the Central Clinical Hospital in Moscow due to “renal failure.”

When asked about Kadyrov's reported arrival in Moscow and whether he met with Putin, Peskov said he had nothing to say and there were no meetings between the two individuals.

Some background: There have been persistent reports, including from some former Chechen officials, that Kadyrov has had liver and kidney problems.

In March, Kadyrov said he had taken a number of medical tests which showed that he was absolutely healthy.

“And if anyone doubts this, then you need to change the eyes that are deceiving you,” he said at the time.

Kadyrov’s Telegram channel has been active, but he’s not been seen in public recently. A video of the Chechen leader attending a meeting was posted to his Telegram channel on September 12, but it’s unknown when it was filmed.

The arrival of US soldiers for a peacekeeper training exercise in Armenia has rankled the Russian government, which has for decades acted as the sole security guarantor for the former Soviet republic. The 10-day “Eagle Partner” exercise, which began last Monday, involves 85 US and 175 Armenian soldiers and aims to prepare the Armenians to take part in international peacekeeping missions.

The exercise, while small in scale, is the latest in a series of what Russia’s foreign ministry has deemed “unfriendly actions” taken by its traditional ally.

Armenia recently sent humanitarian aid to Ukraine for the first time, and its parliament is set to ratify the International Criminal Court’s Rome Statute – meaning it would be obliged to arrest Russian President Vladimir Putin if he were to set foot in the country, which Russia has long viewed as its own backyard.

Armenia’s flirtation with new international partners has been spurred by its frustration that Russia has been unable or unwilling to defend it against what it sees as aggression from neighboring Azerbaijan, and has raised questions about Russia’s ability to retain its hold on countries and conflicts across the former Soviet empire.

Read more about Armenia's geopolitical balancing act here:

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Ukraine’s counteroffensive agains Russian forces has been a success, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

In an interview with CNN, Zelensky aide Mykhailo Podolyak cited having broken through Russian’s first line of defense as a reason of optimism in Ukraine's fight against the Kremlin -- a military power that, Podolyak explained, “everyone was afraid of” before Moscow's full-scale invasion.

"Even Russian officials like Putin say that they are repelling Ukraine's offensive operations. They don't talk about their counteroffensive, they only talk about Russia's defensive war."

After weeks of anticipation, Ukraine's counteroffensive began in June but got off to a slower-than-expected start, facing tough resistance from Russian troops. Kyiv's forces have in recent weeks notched some important gains on the front lines.

Podolyak added that Ukraine was preparing to fight to liberate Crimea, which was annexed by Russia in violation of international law in 2014.

More aid needed: Podolyak said Ukraine needs from its Western partners more air support, particularly F-16 fighter jets; long-range missiles to strike deep into Russian-controlled territories; and ammunition.

Russian attacks damaged recreational infrastructure in a Danube River port, a Ukrainian official said Monday.

Oleh Kiper, head of the Odesa regional military administration, said a fire broke out following the attacks on Vylkove in Odesa's Izmail district.

Earlier Monday, Ukraine's military said Russia targeted civilian infrastructure in Odesa with a "massive" missile and drone attack.

Ukrainian air defenses destroyed 11 attack drones over Odesa, Kiper said.

There were no civilian casualties, he said. 

Volodymyr Zelensky will make the case for a speedy victory over Russia in his addresses to the United Nations and in his meeting with US President Joe Biden this week, a senior adviser to the Ukrainian president said.

In an interview with CNN Senior International Correspondent Frederik Pleitgen, adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said Zelensky would use the platforms to explain "why this war should have a fair ending," and "that helping Ukraine is an investment in stability, in global rules, in the restoration of international law.” 

Zelensky will also stress that "this war can be accelerated if there is a sufficient amount of weapons for Ukraine,” Podolyak said.

World leaders are meeting in New York starting Monday for the UN General Assembly.

Aside from an address to the assembly, Zelensky also has plans to hold several meetings with other world leaders in New York, according to people familiar with the plans. After that, the Ukrainian president is set to go to Washington to meet with Biden.

Ukraine has liberated 300 square kilometers (115 square miles) of territory from Russia since the start of its summer counteroffensive, but minimizing casualties as troops move forward in tough conditions has been its priority, Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said.

In an interview with CNN Senior International Correspondent Frederik Pleitgen, Maliar said Kyiv's counteroffensive has progressed slower than anticipated but that pace was designed to save troops' lives.

“Contrary to the military science, Ukrainians risked and started an offensive when the enemy had more weapons and more people,” she said. “Military science tells you have to do it when you have superiority. That is not possible in our situation. We have to fight as it is.

Maliar also claimed the Russians were losing up to eight times as many troops as the Ukrainians in the east of the country. CNN could not independently verify her claim, but Western officials and independent analysts believe Moscow has consistently suffered heavier losses.

Maliar also reiterated the counteroffensive “is going according to the plan,” but said Ukraine needed additional international support and repeated Ukrainian calls for more weapons and ammunition.

“Ukrainian people are very grateful for all the support from Western countries. We realize that our victories are impossible without the help from the West,” she added. 

Despite the difficulties, Maliar believes in Ukraine’s ultimate success.  

Russia targeted civilian infrastructure in Ukraine's southern Odesa region with a "massive" missile and drone attack on Monday morning, Ukraine's military said.

In a statement on Facebook, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said the consequences of the attack remained unclear.

Ukraine's Air Force said air defenses destroyed 18 out of 24 attack drones headed toward the Mykolaiv and Odesa regions.

It also said it destroyed all 17 cruise missiles launched from Russia's southwest Volgograd region. The missiles were destroyed in Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk, Poltava and Khmelnytskyi regions, it said. 

A 72-year-old man and an elderly woman were killed as a result of Russian attacks on Ukraine's southern Kherson region overnight into Monday, according to a local official.

Oleksandr Prokudin, head of the Kherson region military administration, said three others were injured, including a 60-year-old man and a 63-year-old woman.

Last week, Prokudin said the regional government would issue mandatory evacuation orders for families with children who live along the Dnipro River due to Russian shelling. 

From Monday, the curfew in the region will be from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. local time, he added. 

Dnipro attacks: Meanwhile, Ukraine shot down two cruise missiles over Dnipropetrovsk overnight, according to Serhii Lysak, head of the region's military administration. 

There were no reports of casualties.