Russia launches "massive" drone attack on south, Ukrainian military says
From CNN's Olga Voitovych and Alex Stambaugh
Russian forces launched a "massive" drone attack on southern Ukraine overnight, scrambling air defenses across the region, a Ukrainian military spokesperson said Thursday.
Speaking on Ukrainian television, Natalia Humeniuk, spokesperson for Operational Command South, said air defenses destroyed more than 30 drones but the impact of the attack remained unclear.
"The operational situation [in the south] is quite tense," she said. "Air defense systems were operating along the entire southern direction — in Odesa and Mykolaiv regions, and much higher up in the central regions."
Earlier Thursday, a Ukrainian military official said no casualties or damage were reported after Russia launched a drone attack on the southern Odesa region overnight.
3:21 a.m. ET, September 28, 2023
New UK defense minister meets with Zelensky on surprise visit to Ukraine
From CNN's Olga Voitovych and Alex Stambaugh
Zelensky welcomes British Defense Secretary Grant Shapps in Kyiv on Thursday. Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Reuters
Britain's new defense secretary Grant Shapps met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on a surprise visit to Ukraine, Zelensky's office said Thursday.
"A meaningful meeting with Secretary of State for Defense Grant Shapps," Zelensky wrote on Telegram Thursday. "Thank you for your strong financial, defense, and humanitarian support for Ukraine! Our cooperation in the military sphere significantly enhances the capabilities of Ukrainian soldiers on the battlefield."
It's unknown when exactly Zelensky and Shapps met.
Zelensky said cooperation between both countries "allows the Ukrainian army to significantly expand its capabilities on the battlefield, in particular by means of long-range weapons," according to a statement from his office.
The two also discussed bolstering Ukraine's air defense, saying it is "particularly important in the run-up to the winter season," the statement said.
2:05 a.m. ET, September 28, 2023
Russia launches drone attack on Odesa, Ukrainian official says
From CNN's Olga Voitovych and Alex Stambaugh
No casualties or damage were reported after Russia launched a new drone attack on the southern Odesa region overnight, a Ukrainian military official said Thursday.
"Only a few small fires in dry grass were registered as a result of falling wreckage," said Oleh Kiper, head of the Odesa regional military administration, in a Telegram post.
Russian forces have repeatedly targeted Odesa's port infrastructure since the collapse of the Black Sea Grain deal in July. On Monday, Ukrainian officials said Russian strikes killed at least two people and caused "significant damage" in the city.
Meanwhile, Ukraine's air force said Thursday it destroyed 34 of 44 Shahed drones launched by Russian forces overnight. Six reconnaissance drones were also intercepted over the past day, it said.
12:00 a.m. ET, September 28, 2023
It's morning in Kyiv. Here's what you need to know
From CNN staff
Ukrainian officials say former Wagner fighters have returned to the eastern front — but have downplayed their significance.
“As of now, there are several hundred of them in our direction, on the eastern front, in different areas,” Ukraine's deputy commander in the east, Serhii Cherevatyi, told CNN.
But he added that Russian forces in Ukraine "are short of everyone there now, so any man is good for them."
Here's the latest developments from Russia's war in Ukraine:
Admiral appears again: A Russian navy commander whom Ukraine said died in a strike on occupied Crimea last week appeared in a video posted by a Russian military channel Wednesday — the second clip released in as many days which has cast further doubt on Kyiv’s claim. Ukraine's military has said it is "clarifying" information regarding Adm. Viktor Sokolov.
Russian rail link: Russian forces are constructing a new railway that will link the occupied cities of Mariupol, Volnovakha and Donetsk to southern Russia, according to a Ukrainian official. It comes as the bridge connecting Crimea with the Russian mainland has come under increasing attacks by Ukrainian forces in recent months, as they try to cut supply lines to the peninsula.
"Preposterous" bid: Russia's attempt to rejoin the UN Human Rights Council should not be considered until it "is held accountable for all its crimes," a Kyiv spokesperson said. Moscow is formally seeking to rejoin the council, nearly 18 months after it was suspended from the UN body following its invasion of Ukraine. Any move to reinstate Russia would be met with fury from the West; a US spokesperson called the bid "preposterous."
Heritage attacks: Russia has committed more than 500 offenses against Ukrainian cultural heritage sites to date, according to an NGO registered in Kyiv. Violations include the "use of cultural property for military purposes, transfer of cultural property from the occupied territories," the organization's project manager said.
Poland grain talks: Discussions about Ukrainian grain shipments to Poland are going in a "good direction," Polish Agriculture Minister Robert Telus said following a virtual meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart Wednesday. Telus said they are "in the final stage" of talks with Lithuania about organizing transit of Ukrainian grain to the country's ports. Tensions between the two countries appear to be easing after Poland, Hungary and Slovakia decided to extend a ban on Ukrainian exports.
Iran drone sanctions: The US announced sanctions against an Iranian company and firms in China, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates for allegedly supporting Tehran's "one-way attack" drone program by supplying critical components. Russia is primarily using the drones to attack critical Ukrainian infrastructure and stretch its air defenses, according to a senior Defense Intelligence Agency official.
12:14 a.m. ET, September 28, 2023
Ukraine names 3 new deputy defense ministers after mass dismissal
From CNN's Yulia Kesaieva in Kyiv and Amy Cassidy in London
Rustem Umerov addresses the media at the Ramstein airbase in Germany, on September 19. Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters/File
Ukraine’s Defense Minister Rustem Umerov named three new deputies on Wednesday, more than a week after he said the department was “rebooting” following a mass dismissal of personnel.
On his official Facebook account, Umerov said “the changes will be notable by our soldiers.”
He named the following people as “Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine” with varying portfolios:
Yurii Dzhygyr (finance)
Nataliia Kalmykova (social development)
Kateryna Chernogorenko (digital development)
The recent shake-up of defense officials comes after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky fired his defense minister, Oleksii Reznikov, at the beginning of the month, citing the need for “new approaches.”
The change of leadership followed several military corruption scandals.
11:15 p.m. ET, September 27, 2023
Ukraine says former Wagner fighters are back in Bakhmut, but officials downplay their significance
From CNN's Olga Voitovych, Vasco Cotovio, Fred Pleitgen, Yulia Kesaieva
Fighters who had previously fought in Ukraine for the Russian mercenary group Wagne have returned to the battlefield in the east, according to the Ukrainian military.
Wagner mercenaries had withdrawn from the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut in May as they handed control of the area to Russia’s military.
Following the shadowy group’s failed mutiny in June, security experts predicted that the Kremlin would seek to further absorb the group into the Russian military.
On Wednesday, the Deputy Commander of Communications for Ukrainian troops in the East, Serhii Cherevatyi, said the former Wagner fighters who had returned to Ukraine were now working for the Russian Ministry of Defense or its affiliated structures and had joined as individuals not as a unit.
“As of now, there are several hundred of them in our direction, on the Eastern Front, in different areas,” Cherevatyi told CNN.
But he sought to downplay the significance of their return, saying Russian forces in Ukraine “are short of everyone there now, so any man is good for them.”
Ukrainian soldiers taking part in the offensive near the beleaguered city of Bakhmut also told CNN former Wagner troops had returned to the area.
“Wagner is here too,” a drone operator with call-sign “Groove” told CNN’s Fred Pleitgen on the ground in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday. “They came back, they swiftly changed their commanders and returned here.”
Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, said Wagner fighters had signed contracts with the Russian MoD “as an agreement to play the last chord, plugging the Russian hole in the Bakhmut direction for a short time.”
Podolyak, too, was keen not to inflate the return of the former mercenaries.
“Remember: the Wagner PMC no longer exists,” Podolyak wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Wednesday.
The Ukrainian general leading the southern counteroffensive, Oleksandr Tarnavsky, told CNN last week that Wagner fighters continue to pop up “here and there” on the frontlines.
“The fact is that their badges appear here and there — that’s been constant,” he said.
CNN’s Florence Davey-Attlee and Andrew Carey contributed to this report.
1:41 a.m. ET, September 28, 2023
Russia is building a railway link to occupied Ukrainian cities, Kyiv official says
From CNN's Olga Voitovych and Sandi Sidhu
Ukrainian servicemen and firefighters stand in the area outside of a maternity hospital damaged in a shelling attack in Mariupol, Ukraine, on March 9, 2022. Evgeniy Maloletka/AP/File
Russian forces are constructing a new railway that will link the occupied cities of Mariupol, Volnovakha and Donetsk to southern Russia, according to a Ukrainian official.
Petro Andriushchenko, an adviser to the exiled mayor of Mariupol, said the Russians “have begun construction of a railroad bridge near the village of Hranitne over the Kalmius River. If successful, this will allow the existing Mariupol-Aslanove-Kalchyk-Volnovakha line to be connected directly to Taganrog and Rostov-on-Don.”
Andriushchenko said if this railway is completed, it would allow Russia to transport military and civilian supplies to occupied territory in southern Ukraine without relying on the Crimea bridge.
The bridge connecting Crimea with the Russian mainland has come under increasing attacks by Ukrainian forces in recent months, as they try to cut supply lines to the peninsula.
About Mariupol: The port city on the Sea of Azov is located in Ukraine’s Donetsk region and has been under direct Russian control since May 2022. It was in Mariupol that Russian forces carried out some of their most notorious strikes, including an attack on a maternity hospital and the bombing of a theater in which hundreds of civilians had sought refuge.
The city became a symbol of Ukrainian resistance during weeks of relentless Russian attacks last year. Famously, even when most of it had fallen, its defenders held out at the Azovstal steel plant for weeks before the stronghold finally fell.
11:27 p.m. ET, September 27, 2023
Russia must be "held accountable for crimes" before any return to UN rights body, Ukraine says
From CNN’s Richard Roth, Rob Picheta, Jessie Gretener and Florence Davey-Attlee
Russia's bid to rejoin the UN Human Rights Council should not be considered until it "is held accountable for all its crimes," a Kyiv spokesperson said.
Moscow is formally seeking to rejoin the council, nearly 18 months after it was suspended from the UN body following its invasion of Ukraine.
“Ukraine’s position is clear, Russia should not be allowed to return to one of the key UN bodies until it is held accountable for all its crimes,” Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Oleg Nikolenko Nikolenko said in a Facebook post. “The place of Russian war criminals is on the benches of the tribunal, not in the UN Human Rights Council.”
Russia has been accused of a huge number of human rights abuses over the course of its war in Ukraine, and the International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for its President Vladimir Putin over an alleged scheme to deport Ukrainian children to Russia.
Some context: Russia is listed on the UN website as a candidate for the election of members of the council for the 2024-2026 term, with a vote due to take place on October 10. Any move to reinstate Russia would be met with fury from the West, with several leading NATO states repeatedly insisting that Moscow’s illegal invasion of a neighboring state should disqualify it from membership of international bodies. A US spokesperson on Wednesday called the bid “preposterous.”
12:02 a.m. ET, September 28, 2023
Russian admiral claimed to have been killed in Ukrainian attack appears in video interview
From CNN's Katharina Krebs, Anna Chernova and Clare Sebastian
Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu chairs a meeting with the leadership of the Armed Forces, Admiral Viktor Sokolov is bottom left on screen, in Moscow, Russia, in this picture released September 26. Russian Defence Ministry/Reuters
The Russian admiral whom Ukraine forces said died in a strike on occupied Crimea last week has appeared in a video posted by a Russian military channel Wednesday — the second video released in as many days which has cast further doubt on Kyiv’s claim.
Viktor Sokolov, commander of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, was asked by a reporter in a video about the missile strike on the fleet’s headquarters in Sevastopol, which Ukraine said had killed him.
“The Black Sea Fleet is carrying out the tasks set by the command confidently and successfully,” Sokolov said in the video posted by Zvezda News, the media outlet of the Russian military on Telegram.
The video was published Wednesday, however CNN cannot verify the date the interview was carried out. There are few details within the interview that reveal its time or location.
In the video, Sokolov also referred to the “Order of Ushakov” award given to Russia’s 810th Marine Brigade. This award was given on August 29, according to the Sevastopol Gov. Mikhail Razvozhaev.
The interview was published a day after the Russian defense ministry released a video that also appeared to show Sokolov participating in a meeting with Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and other Russian military leaders.
The Kremlin initially refused to confirm whether or not Sokolov was alive. But, by the next day, the messaging had changed, with Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirming that Sokolov had attended the defense ministry meeting.
“Yesterday we spoke about the fleet commander. He took part in the meeting,” Peskov told reporters Wednesday.
Ukraine’s new defense minister Rustem Umerov neither confirmed nor denied Sokolov had been killed in the strike when asked by CNN’s Christiane Amanpour in an exclusive interview from Kyiv Tuesday.
