Russia plans to isolate key city of Severodonetsk in the coming days, Ukrainian officials said
1 min agoIAEA says Russian-occupied Ukrainian nuclear plant has re-started remote data transmissionFrom CNN's Mick Krever A Russian serviceman guards in an area of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Station in territory under Russian military control, southeastern Ukraine, on May 1. (AP)The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said on Sunday that it is once again getting remote data transmission from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which is currently in Russian-held territory.The transmission of “vital safeguards data” from the plant was cut on May 30 and restored on Sunday, the IAEA said.“The images recorded by IAEA surveillance cameras during this time period are now being downloaded for review by agency inspectors to confirm that continuity of knowledge has not been lost," it said. The power plant has been under Russian control since early March, but is still operated by its Ukrainian staff.IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said on Sunday that he was continuing to appeal for an in-person trip to the power station “as soon as possible to carry out essential nuclear material verification activities which cannot be done remotely.”Some background: The Zaporizhzhia plant has been the source of some tension between the IAEA and Ukrainian officials. Ukrainian officials have accused the IAEA of legitimizing Russia’s occupation of the plant.Asked about whether a visit would legitimize Russia’s control of the plant, Grossi told CNN’s Becky Anderson last week that “it is absolutely incorrect. When I go there, I will be going there under the same agreement that Ukraine passed with the IAEA, not the Russian Federation. Ukraine!”20 min agoRussians are on the verge of capturing key Ukrainian city. In neighboring Bakhmut those with nowhere else to go brace for their arrivalFrom CNN's Ben Wedeman in BakhmutA local resident stands in front of a destroyed school after a strike in the city of Bakhmut, in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbas, on June 8. (Aris Messinis/AFP/Getty Images)At first glance Bakhmut doesn’t look like a city at war.As we drive into the city in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine on a warm sunny morning, men in orange vests tend to the roses. The tall trees shading the streets are thick with leaves.Traffic is light because of fuel shortages, so many residents get around on bicycles.This peaceful façade, however, is deceptive. Explosions regularly echo over Bakhmut: the blasts of outgoing and incoming artillery and rockets outside, and occasionally inside, the city.Tetyana volunteers with the bread distribution. When I ask if she intends to stay in Bakhmut if Russian forces push closer, her demeanor changes. She shakes her head.“We love our town. Our graves are here. Our parents lived here. We won’t go anywhere,” she insists, her voice quivering. Tears well up in her eyes. “It’s our land. We won’t give it up to anyone. Even if it’s destroyed, we’ll rebuild. Everything will be…” and here she gives two thumbs up.Read the full story:1 hr 25 min agoAnalysis: Restoration of empire is the endgame for Russia’s Vladimir PutinAnalysis from CNN's Nathan HodgeReading Russian President Vladimir Putin’s mind is rarely a straightforward task, but on occasion the Kremlin leader makes it easy.Such was the case on Thursday, when Putin met with a group of young Russian entrepreneurs. Anyone looking for clues as to what Putin’s endgame for Ukraine might be should read the transcript, helpfully released here in English.Putin’s words speak for themselves: What he is aiming for in Ukraine is the restoration of Russia as an imperial power.Many observers quickly picked up on one of Putin’s more provocative lines, in which he compared himself to Peter the Great, Russia’s modernizing tsar and the founder of St. Petersburg – Putin’s own birthplace – who came to power in the late 17th century.“Peter the Great waged the Great Northern War for 21 years,” a relaxed and apparently self-satisfied Putin said. “On the face of it, he was at war with Sweden taking something away from it… He was not taking away anything, he was returning. This is how it was.”It didn’t matter that European countries didn’t recognize Peter the Great’s seizure of territory by force, Putin added.Read the full analysis here:1 hr 56 min agoIt's 8 a.m. in Kyiv. Here's what you need to knowRussia could encircle Severodonetsk within days and plans to "completely cut off" the key eastern city, according to Ukrainian military officials. Here are the latest headlines on the war in Ukraine:The battle for Luhansk: The Luhansk region in eastern Ukraine is at the epicenter of the conflict with much of area already under Russian control. The focus of the fighting is on the twin cities of Severodonetsk and Lysychansk. Russian forces have destroyed the second of three bridges between the cities and is heavily shelling the third, with the aim to "completely cut off" Severodonetsk, Serhiy Hayday, head of the Luhansk regional military administration said. L
Landwebs
IAEA says Russian-occupied Ukrainian nuclear plant has re-started remote data transmission
From CNN's Mick Krever
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said on Sunday that it is once again getting remote data transmission from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which is currently in Russian-held territory.
The transmission of “vital safeguards data” from the plant was cut on May 30 and restored on Sunday, the IAEA said.
“The images recorded by IAEA surveillance cameras during this time period are now being downloaded for review by agency inspectors to confirm that continuity of knowledge has not been lost," it said.
The power plant has been under Russian control since early March, but is still operated by its Ukrainian staff.
IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said on Sunday that he was continuing to appeal for an in-person trip to the power station “as soon as possible to carry out essential nuclear material verification activities which cannot be done remotely.”
Some background: The Zaporizhzhia plant has been the source of some tension between the IAEA and Ukrainian officials. Ukrainian officials have accused the IAEA of legitimizing Russia’s occupation of the plant.
Asked about whether a visit would legitimize Russia’s control of the plant, Grossi told CNN’s Becky Anderson last week that “it is absolutely incorrect. When I go there, I will be going there under the same agreement that Ukraine passed with the IAEA, not the Russian Federation. Ukraine!”
Russians are on the verge of capturing key Ukrainian city. In neighboring Bakhmut those with nowhere else to go brace for their arrival
From CNN's Ben Wedeman in Bakhmut
At first glance Bakhmut doesn’t look like a city at war.
As we drive into the city in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine on a warm sunny morning, men in orange vests tend to the roses. The tall trees shading the streets are thick with leaves.
Traffic is light because of fuel shortages, so many residents get around on bicycles.
This peaceful façade, however, is deceptive. Explosions regularly echo over Bakhmut: the blasts of outgoing and incoming artillery and rockets outside, and occasionally inside, the city.
Tetyana volunteers with the bread distribution. When I ask if she intends to stay in Bakhmut if Russian forces push closer, her demeanor changes. She shakes her head.
“We love our town. Our graves are here. Our parents lived here. We won’t go anywhere,” she insists, her voice quivering. Tears well up in her eyes. “It’s our land. We won’t give it up to anyone. Even if it’s destroyed, we’ll rebuild. Everything will be…” and here she gives two thumbs up.
Read the full story:
Analysis: Restoration of empire is the endgame for Russia’s Vladimir Putin
Analysis from CNN's Nathan Hodge
Reading Russian President Vladimir Putin’s mind is rarely a straightforward task, but on occasion the Kremlin leader makes it easy.
Such was the case on Thursday, when Putin met with a group of young Russian entrepreneurs. Anyone looking for clues as to what Putin’s endgame for Ukraine might be should read the transcript, helpfully released here in English.
Putin’s words speak for themselves: What he is aiming for in Ukraine is the restoration of Russia as an imperial power.
Many observers quickly picked up on one of Putin’s more provocative lines, in which he compared himself to Peter the Great, Russia’s modernizing tsar and the founder of St. Petersburg – Putin’s own birthplace – who came to power in the late 17th century.
“Peter the Great waged the Great Northern War for 21 years,” a relaxed and apparently self-satisfied Putin said. “On the face of it, he was at war with Sweden taking something away from it… He was not taking away anything, he was returning. This is how it was.”
It didn’t matter that European countries didn’t recognize Peter the Great’s seizure of territory by force, Putin added.
Read the full analysis here:
It's 8 a.m. in Kyiv. Here's what you need to know
Russia could encircle Severodonetsk within days and plans to "completely cut off" the key eastern city, according to Ukrainian military officials.
Here are the latest headlines on the war in Ukraine:
- The battle for Luhansk: The Luhansk region in eastern Ukraine is at the epicenter of the conflict with much of area already under Russian control. The focus of the fighting is on the twin cities of Severodonetsk and Lysychansk. Russian forces have destroyed the second of three bridges between the cities and is heavily shelling the third, with the aim to "completely cut off" Severodonetsk, Serhiy Hayday, head of the Luhansk regional military administration said.
- Long front line: Ukraine’s Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces said there is a 2,450 kilometer-long (1,522 miles) frontline and that Russia was concentrating its main efforts in the northern part of the Luhansk region. Meanwhile, in northern and northeastern Ukraine, Russian forces “resumed shelling the residential areas of Kharkiv, which requires us to take adequate action," Valerii Zaluzhnyi said.
- Grain crisis: Russian President Vladimir Putin “absolutely has weaponized food” by blockading grain exports out of Ukraine, US National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby said. Russia's war in Ukraine could push up to 49 million people into famine or famine-like conditions because of its devastating impact on global food supply and prices. Countries are scrambling to find a way around the blockade. On Sunday, a Ukrainian government official told Reuters Ukraine has identified alternate routes to export grain stores.
- Briton killed in Ukraine: Former British Army soldier Jordan Gatley was shot and killed while fighting in Ukraine's Severodonetsk, his father wrote on Facebook. The United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office told CNN it is supporting the family. Ukrainian presidential adviser Mikhailo Podolyak tweeted that Gatley was a "true hero."
- Russian missiles: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said 2,606 cruise missiles have hit Ukraine since the start of the war in his nightly address on Sunday. Zelensky described a recent missile strike on the western Ternopil region that left 10 people in hospital as “pure terror.” On Sunday, Russians fired on two areas of central Ukraine: on Kryvyi Rih, and on Synelnykivsky in Dnipropetrovsk region, according to the head of the local military administration.
- Ukrainian resistance: Ukrainian forces have repelled Russian assaults in various parts of the country’s eastern Luhansk and Donetsk regions, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said on Sunday. They include offensives northwest of the city of Sloviansk and near villages northeast of the city of Bakhmut in Donetsk, AFU spokesperson Oleksandr Shtupun said.
White House says Putin "absolutely has weaponized food" by blockading grain exports from Ukraine
From CNN’s DJ Judd
US National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby told CNN on Sunday that Russian President Vladimir Putin “absolutely has weaponized food” in his invasion of Ukraine.
Kirby said the administration of US President Joe Biden and partner nations are working to overcome an export blockade that’s causing a global food shortage.
“It absolutely has weaponized food — Mr. Putin has weaponized food, and we are working hard with the international community and the UN to find ways to be able to get that grain out there and on the market where it belongs,” Kirby told CNN in an interview.
Russia’s export blockade, Kirby acknowledged, “is going to have a global impact.”
“We're going to feel some of that probably here as well, which is why we're working so hard on trying to find out find alternative routes to get some of that grain out," he said.
Earlier this week, CNN reported Russia's war in Ukraine could push up to 49 million people into famine or famine-like conditions because of its devastating impact on global food supply and prices, per UN estimates.
Former British Army soldier killed fighting in Ukraine
From CNN's Manveena Suri and Jorge Engels
The United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office told CNN it is supporting the family of a former British Army soldier who was killed fighting in Ukraine.
His death was announced by his family on Saturday.
In a Facebook post, Jordan Gatley was described as "truly a hero" by his father Dean.
“Yesterday we received the devastating news that our son, Jordan, has been shot and killed in the city of Severodonetsk, Ukraine,” Dean Gatley wrote, adding his son left the British Army in March to “continue his career as a solider in other areas.”
Gatley went to Ukraine “to help” after careful consideration, according to his father’s post.
“His team say they all loved him, as did we, and he made a massive difference to many people’s lives, not only soldiering, but also by training the Ukrainian forces,” his father wrote.
The post continued with his father writing that his son often told him the missions were “dangerous, but necessary.”
He loved his job and we are so proud of him,” the post ends.
Ukrainian presidential adviser Mikhailo Podolyak tweeted on Sunday that, "it takes a lot of courage to leave home and go thousand miles to defend what you believe in."
“Just because the heart says so. Because you can't stand the evil. Jordan Gatley was a true hero. We will always remember his contribution to the protection of Ukraine and the free world,” Podolyak said.
Blast in Russian-occupied Melitopol injures at least 4, official says
From CNN's Kostan Nechyporenko and Mariya Knight
An explosion near the Ministry of Internal Affairs building in Russian-occupied Melitopol in Ukraine’s southern Zaporizhzhia region injured at least four people, according to a local official.
The pro-Russian deputy head of the Internal Affairs Ministry, Alexey Selivanov described the blast in a Telegram post as a “terrorist” act by what he called “Ukrainian militants."
An IED was hidden in a trash can near to the ministry building, and a girl walking past was seriously injured, along with at least one man, Selivanov said. He also said security forces were on the scene.
Melitopol fell to Russian control in early March, not long after Russia invaded Ukraine.
Ukraine Commander-in-Chief briefs US counterpart on battlefield latest
From CNN's Olga Voitovych in Kyiv
Ukraine’s Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces told his US counterpart that Russia was concentrating its main efforts in the northern part of the Luhansk region, in the country's east.
Valerii Zaluzhnyi briefed General Mark A. Milley, the US chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, on the latest battlefield updates in Ukraine, he said in a Telegram post on Sunday.
He also said Russia was using “artillery en masse and unfortunately has a tenfold fire superiority" but that Ukraine was holding its positions there.
Remember: Luhansk region in eastern Ukraine is at the epicenter of the conflict. Much of the area is already under Russian control.
In the east: Zaluzhnyi described the situation in Luhansk as “complicated, in particular, in the city of Severodonetsk. Up to seven battalion tactical groups were deployed by the enemy there. Despite the heavy fire, we managed to stop the enemy."
In the north: Zaluzhnyi said in northern and northeastern Ukraine, Russian forces “resumed shelling the residential areas of Kharkiv, which requires us to take adequate action.”
He also said Russian forces had targeted the Chernihiv and Sumy regions using artillery and mortar fire, adding “we're firing back.”
The front line: Zaluzhnyi said there is a 2,450 kilometer (1,522 miles) frontline, of which 1,105 kilometers (686 miles) is in “active hostilities."
He asked General Miley “to help us get more 155 mm caliber artillery systems in the shortest possible time."
Ukraine identifies alternate routes for grain exports after Russia blocks ports
From CNN’s Mariya Knight in Atlanta
Ukraine has identified alternate routes to export languishing stores of grain due to the Russian blockade of various ports, a Ukrainian government official has said.
“We are doing our best to ensure those 22 million tons of grain that are now blocked in the ports, in the Ukrainian seaports, blocked by Russia will reach their destination,” Deputy Foreign Minister and Chief Digital Transformation Officer Dmytro Senik told Reuters on Sunday during an Asian security summit in Singapore.
“With the help of our friends and partners, namely Romania, Poland and the Baltic States we found two routes, we established two routes which help us export these agricultural commodities,” Senik said.
The Deputy Foreign Minister said these routes are experiencing “bottlenecks” which are slowing down the export process.
We are doing our best to develop those routes in the meantime," he said.
Senik said he didn't have any numbers on how much if any grain had been moved through these routes.
Some context: CNN has previously reported that millions of tons of grain remain stuck in Ukraine, stored in silos and at the port in Odesa, leading to a dramatic spike in global food prices that's likely to worsen as the war continues.
Important exporter: Ukraine is the world's fourth-largest exporter of corn and the fifth-largest exporter of wheat, according to the State Department, and the UN's program to fight food insecurity buys about half of its wheat from Ukraine each year.
Read more on the grain crisis here:
