May 23, 2023 - Russia-Ukraine news

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Wagner chief Yevgeny?Prigozhin said his men are the strongest fighters but acknowledged that the Ukrainian army has also put up a fierce fight, particularly in Bakhmut.

Over the weekend the private military Wagner group claimed they had taken all the territories they planned on and would leave the frontline in eastern Ukraine on Thursday, leaving the fighting to the Russian Defense Ministry.

But Prigozhin said Tuesday that the Ukrainians are “highly organized, highly trained and their intelligence is on the highest level, they can operate any military system with equal success, a Soviet or a NATO one.”?

Separately, when asked about the recent cross-border incursions in Belgorod claimed by anti-Putin Russians, Prigozhin said “Russian Volunteer Corps groups are shamelessly entering Belgorod region” and Russian defense forces are “absolutely not ready to resist them in any shape or form.”?

Questions linger about the groups behind the cross-border attack that anti-Putin Russians say they launched from Ukraine, how it took place, and what it means for the war: Was this a classic piece of a military sleight-of-hand, a brief show of force meant to confuse and distract Russian commanders? Does it signal the emergence of serious armed opposition inside Russia? Or are there murkier forces at work?

Here’s what you need to know.

What has happened in Belgorod? A group of anti-Putin Russian nationals, who are aligned with the Ukrainian army, claimed responsibility for an attack in Russian’s southwestern region of Belgorod, which borders north-eastern Ukraine. Two areas of the region were then hit by unmanned aerial vehicles, according to regional Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov, causing two houses to catch fire. One civilian from the village of Kozinka has died as a result of the cross-border fighting, Gladkov said on Tuesday. About 100 others were evacuated from the Russian border settlements of Glotovo and Kozinka in the Belgorod region, local authorities said.

What did the attackers do? The attackers appeared to have achieved surprise, apparently taking control of a border post and giving the world dramatic images of Russian nationals actively taking up arms against the Kremlin. Smoke was also seen rising from apparent explosions in the regional capital of Belgorod, where local authorities confirmed what they described as two drone strikes.

Which groups are involved? The Freedom for Russia Legion said on Telegram early on Tuesday that it and another group, the Russian Volunteer Corps, “continue to liberate the Belgorod region!” The post described the groups as “patriot volunteers” and claimed that Russia was vulnerable to attack as “Russia has no reserves to respond to military crises. All military personnel are dead, wounded or in Ukraine.”

How is the incident playing out in Russia? As Russian officials condemned the attack, analysts noted widespread confusion in Russia’s information space about how the attack was allowed to take place and how Moscow should respond. It has the potential to be embarrassing for President Vladimir Putin, who has for 15 months been leading an invasion he baselessly claimed was needed to keep Russia safe. With limited returns on the battlefield, Putin may now face discontent that the war is disrupting life at home.

Read more here

An anti-Putin Russian group, which claimed to have crossed the border from Ukraine and attacked Russia’s Belgorod region, said its goal is the “complete liberation of Russia.”

The Freedom for Russia Legion called the attack in the Belgorod region a “peacekeeping operation” on Telegram Tuesday. It said the goal was to create a “demilitarized zone between Russia and Ukraine, to destroy the security forces that serve the Putin regime and to demonstrate to the people of Russia that it is possible to create pockets of resistance and successfully fight against the Putin regime.”?

“These goals of the operation were successfully achieved,” it added.

Here are more of the latest headlines from Russia’s war in Ukraine:

An explosive device that fell from an?unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)?damaged a car in Russia’s Belgorod region late Tuesday, according to?regional Governor Vyacheslav?Gladkov.

Denis?Pushilin, Moscow-installed acting leader of the Russian-controlled parts of Ukraine's Donetsk region, meets with civilians evacuated from the salt-mining town of Soledar in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict at a temporary accommodation centre located in a local dormitory in Shakhtarsk (Shakhtyorsk), Russian-controlled Ukraine on January 14, 2023.

The acting head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic visited the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut on Tuesday, saying it would now be known by its former Soviet name “Artemovsk.”

The video showed Pushilin walking the streets of the heavily damaged city in military uniform and putting up the flag of the Donetsk People’s Republic on a building.

In the video, he also claimed that the capture of Bakhmut would open up a route for Russian forces to make further gains in Ukraine.?

Pushilin vowed that the “city will be renewed,” promising new homes, workplaces and schools.

Two US Air Force aircraft were intercepted by Russian jets in the Baltic Sea near the Russian border, the Russian Ministry of Defence said Tuesday.?

The Pentagon, meanwhile, downplayed the incident saying it was a “safe and professional interaction.”

“On May 23, 2023, Russian airspace control over the Baltic Sea detected two air targets approaching the State Border of the Russian Federation,” the National Defense Control Center of the Russian Federation said in a statement on Telegram.

The Russian MOD said the operation was carried out “in strict accordance with international rules for the use of airspace.”

The Pentagon confirmed that there was an “interaction” between two of its B-1 bombers and the Russian jets.

An anti-Putin Russian group, which claimed to have crossed the border from Ukraine and attacked Russia’s Belgorod region, has said its goal is the “complete liberation of Russia.”

The Freedom for Russia Legion called the attack in the Belgorod region a “peacekeeping operation” on Telegram Tuesday. It said the goal was to create a “demilitarized zone between Russia and Ukraine, to destroy the security forces that serve the Putin regime and to demonstrate to the people of Russia that it is possible to create pockets of resistance and successfully fight against the Putin regime.”?

“These goals of the operation were successfully achieved,” it added.

The Legion, which is aligned with the Ukrainian army, also claimed it had destroyed a motorized rifle company of the Russian Army on Tuesday, destroying armored vehicles. CNN has not verified this claim.

It was not immediately clear whether the Legion claimed to have struck the Russian forces inside Russian or Ukrainian-held territory.

The Russian Volunteer Corps (RDK), a second anti-Putin Russian group that has also claimed to have been involved in cross-border attacks, posted videos to Telegram on Tuesday showing their fighters inside Belgorod region. CNN cannot verify when these videos were filmed but has geolocated them to the Belgorod region.

A caption to a video purporting to show RDK fighters riding a vehicle at a border point said, “The situation on the small but now our own little piece of our homeland is still disturbing, and it wouldn’t hurt to clean it up.”?

A newly installed direction sign "Donetsk People's Republic Square" is seen in front of the U.S.?embassy?in?Moscow, Russia on June 22, 2022.

The US embassy in Moscow said it was “deeply concerned” by a Russian court’s decision on Tuesday to extend the pre-trial detention of American journalist Evan Gershkovich by three months.?

“The United States strongly objects to Russia’s ongoing denial of consular access to Mr. Gershkovich.??We reiterate that the claims against him are baseless and call for Mr. Gershkovich’s immediate release,” it added.?

The Kremlin has so far not commented on Washington alleging Moscow of denying the embassy’s consular access to Gershkovich.?

When asked by CNN about this topic during a regular briefing with journalists earlier on Tuesday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said, “No, we are not dealing with this issue.”?

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby speaks during a briefing at the White House on May 16, 2023 in Washington, D.C.

The White House is reiterating that American journalist Evan Gershkovich “shouldn’t be detained at all” following news that the Wall Street Journal reporter’s pre-trial detention in Russia had been extended for three months.

John Kirby of the US National Security Council told CNN’s Kate Bolduan he was learning the news of that extension at that moment, saying, “I don’t know if I have an official reaction by the White House on this except to say that he shouldn’t be detained at all.”

The State Department called on Russia to immediately release him and the other detained American, Paul Whelan. Spokesperson Matthew Miller called the claims against Gershkovich baseless.

Kirby said the United States wants consular access to Gershkovich, which the Russians have denied two requests this month. He said these visits are important to talk to Gershkovich directly and see how he’s doing.

“It’s difficult to know exactly why they’re denying it. It could be just, you know, spitefulness over — you know, antipathy towards the United States, antipathy towards the free press, or there could be some sort of legal excuse that they’re trying to pin this on,” Kirby said.

Miller also acknowledged that Gershkovich’s parents were present in Moscow, but said the US did not help them travel to Russia, as the State Department is advising US citizens not to travel to the country.

“Personally, I can only imagine how difficult it must be to see your child detained overseas, especially to be detained wrongfully, and so I’m certainly not going to criticize any parent for wanting to see their child,” Miller said.

The counter-terrorism operation in the Russian border region of Belgorod is over, according to?regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov.

“A decision has been made to cancel the legal regime of a counter-terrorist operation on the territory of the Belgorod region,” Gladkov said on Telegram Tuesday.

Earlier, the Belgorod governor said that there had been no new incursions by fighters crossing the Ukrainian border into the Borisovsky district of the Belgorod region.

“Reports are coming from the Borisovsky district: the village of Bogun-Gorodok, the farm Lozovaya Rudka and the village of Tsapovka. According to our information, there was shelling from the Armed Forces of Ukraine, there were [strikes],” he said on Telegram.?

“Some telegram channels are starting to interpret this information as the sabotage and reconnaissance group entry and trying to make people panic. There was no entry. The FSB, the Ministry of Emergency Situations and the Ministry of Defense do not confirm this information. The military is working,” he said.

Gladkov added that one civilian died as a result of cross-border fighting in the Russian region of Belgorod.

“Unfortunately, we have losses. A civilian from the village of Kozinka died at the hands of the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” Gladkov said on Telegram Tuesday.?“Most sincere condolences to all family and friends. I know that his wife is in our hospital with injuries.”

The Russian Ministry of Defense also said the fighters who crossed from Ukraine into Russia’s western Belgorod region on Monday have been pushed back into Ukrainian territory.

Russia repelled the attackers using air strikes, artillery fire and military units, it said, adding: “The remnants of the nationalists were driven back to the territory of Ukraine, where they continued to be hit by fire until they were completely eliminated.”

Remember:?On Monday, a group of anti-Putin Russian nationals – who are aligned with the Ukrainian army –?claimed responsibility?for an attack in Russian’s southwestern region of Belgorod, as Moscow said it was fighting a group of saboteurs there.

In a Telegram post, groups calling themselves the “Freedom for Russia Legion” and “Russian Volunteer Corps” said they had “liberated” a settlement in the Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine.

CNN’s Anna Chernova and Jo Shelley contributed to this post.

Evan Gershkovich stands inside a defendants' cage before a hearing in Moscow on April 18, 2023.

The Lefortovsky District Court of Moscow on Tuesday extended the pre-trial detention of American journalist Evan Gershkovich for three months to August 30, Russian state agency RIA Novosti reported citing the court.?

Gershkovich, who has been designated as wrongfully detained by the US State Department, appeared in court in April to ask that his pre-trial detention be under house arrest rather than in jail. That appeal was denied, and he is being held at Moscow’s notorious Lefortovo Prison.

The Wall Street Journal said it was “deeply disappointed” with the court’s decision.

“While we expected there would be no change to Evan’s wrongful detention, we are deeply disappointed. The accusations are demonstrably false, and we continue to demand his immediate release,” it said in a statement Tuesday.

CNN’s Sharon Braithwaite contributed reporting to this post.

Supporting Ukraine by training pilots on F-16 fighter jets “does not make NATO and NATO allies party to the conflict,” the alliance’s Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Tuesday.?

Speaking to reporters in Brussels ahead of an EU defense ministers meeting, the alliance chief welcomed the decision by several NATO allies to start training Ukrainian pilots on F16 fighter jets.

Stoltenberg continued to say that “the right of self-defense is enshrined in the UN charter. We help Ukraine to uphold that right. That is our right to help them protect UN law, international law, against the war of aggression. That doesn’t make NATO and NATO allies party to the conflict, but we are supporting Ukraine to defend themselves against a war of aggression, a brutal invasion by President Putin.”?

Some background: President?Joe Biden informed G7 leaders Friday that the US supports a joint effort with allies and partners to train Ukrainian pilots on fourth generation aircraft, including F-16s, a senior administration official told CNN.

Following Biden’s backing of Ukrainian pilots training to fly F-16s, Russia’s deputy foreign minister warned Western countries of “enormous risks” if Ukraine is provided with?F-16 fighter jets, Russian state media TASS reported Saturday.

“In any case, this will be taken into account in all our plans, and we have all the necessary means to achieve the set goals,” Alexander Grushko said.

CNN’s Darya Tarasova and Natasha Bertrand contributed to this post.

Part of the beleaguered city of?Bakhmut?remains under Ukrainian control, the country’s national security adviser?Oleksiy?Danilov told CNN on Tuesday.?

“If they [Russians] believe they have taken?Bakhmut, I can say that this is not true. As of today, part of?Bakhmut is under our control,” Danilov told CNN Senior International Correspondent Frederik?Pleitgen?in an exclusive interview on Tuesday. “I can’t say that all of it, but part of?Bakhmut?is still under our fire.”

Danilov went on to defend Kyiv’s decision to hold on to?the city?for as long as possible.

“It was our strategic?defense?operation, which was successful for us, given that we held the territory for 10 months, where we were destroying them every day,” he added. “They could not take?Bakhmut?for 10 months. What can they boast about?”

Some background: Wagner group chief Yevgeny?Prigozhin claimed this weekend that his troops had captured “all the territories they promised to capture, to the last square centimeter.” But Ukraine’s deputy defense minister Hanna Maliar said Ukrainian forces still occupy “a small part of the city,” but that fighting had “decreased” on Tuesday.

On the timing of Ukraine’s long-awaited counteroffensive, Danilov said President Volodymyr Zelensky will have the final say.

“We are working according to our plan, we have it. We are clearly aware of when, where, how and what should start,” he said. “The final decision is up to the President, meeting of (the Commander-in-Chief’s) staff.”

“When the decision is made, Russia will definitely feel it,” he concluded.

Ukraine’s top national security official told CNN that those responsible for the cross border-raid in Belgorod are Russians who want to get rid of the darkness in their country, denying any involvement from Kyiv.

“They are Russians, it is their country and they have the right to be there,” Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, told CNN’s Frederik Pleitgen in an exclusive interview on Tuesday. “There are some Russians who are on the side of the light and who went to deal with the darkness that exists in Russia now.”

Danilov rejected accusations of Ukrainian involvement levied by Moscow against Kyiv and said the incident in Belgorod was solely a Russian matter.

“There are events happening there that are related to a sector that, in our opinion, should be commented on either by the supreme commander-in-chief, i.e. Putin, or by the Defense minister or someone else,” he said. “They are citizens of the Russian Federation.”

Remember: On Monday, Ukraine confirmed that the group behind the incursion was made up of Russian nationals. The attack was carried out by a group that was “part of the defense and security forces” in Ukraine but acting as “independent entities” in Russia, according to?Andriy Yusov, a representative of Ukraine’s defense intelligence agency.

Members of Russian Volunteer Corps pose for a picture atop an armoured vehicle at Graivoron border crossing in Kozinka,?Belgorod?region, Russia, in this handout picture released on May 23.

There have been no new incursions by fighters crossing the Ukrainian border into the Borisovsky district in Russia’s Belgorod region Tuesday, according to the Belgorod governor.

“Reports are coming from the Borisovsky district: the village of Bogun-Gorodok, the farm Lozovaya Rudka and the village of Tsapovka. According to our information, there was shelling from the Armed Forces of Ukraine, there were [strikes],” regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on Telegram.

“Some telegram channels are starting to interpret this information as the sabotage and reconnaissance group entry and trying to make people panic. There was no entry. The FSB, the Ministry of Emergency Situations and the Ministry of Defense do not confirm this information. The military is working,” he said.

Some background: On Monday, a group of anti-Putin Russian nationals – who are aligned with the Ukrainian army – claimed responsibility for an attack in Russian’s southwestern region of Belgorod, as Moscow said it was fighting a group of saboteurs there.

In a Telegram post, groups calling themselves the “Freedom for Russia Legion” and “Russian Volunteer Corps” said they had “liberated” a settlement in the Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine.

On Monday, the Freedom for Russia Legion made its most decisive move since the war began, launching a cross-border attack on the Russian region of Belgorod.

But it has been defending Ukraine from Moscow’s invading troops for months. CNN’s Sam Kiley met members of the Legion fighting in Bakhmut in December to understand more about what has led Russian nationals to fight for Ukraine in the war.

One soldier, who goes by the call-sign Caesar, told CNN that defending Bakhmut against his Russian motherland is an almost religious imperative.

“From the first day of the war, my heart – the heart of a real Russian man, a real Christian – told me that I had to be here to defend the people of Ukraine,” Caesar said.

When he sees invading Russian troops in his gunsights, he feels no ties to his countrymen.

And when the war is over, members of the Legion have more ambitious targets in sight.

His claims echoed those made by members of the legion in a video posted Monday.

Read and watch our full report here.

Around 100 civilians have been evacuated from the Russian border settlements of Glotovo and Kozinka in the Belgorod region, local authorities say.?

The regional governor of Belgorod, Vyacheslav Gladkov, said on his Telegram channel:

On Monday, a group of anti-Putin nationalists?claimed to have “liberated”?the settlement of Kozinka, home to a crossing station close to Russia’s border with Ukraine.?

Earlier on Tuesday, Gladkov said that both Kozinka and Glotovo had come under mortar and artillery fire the previous day.

In an exclusive report, CNN joined a group of British explosives and counter-insurgency specialists as they passed on decades of bomb making know-how to frontline Ukrainian troops. But it’s not just their subversive skills and techniques that these British-Irish experts are bringing – it’s the bomb components too.

Much of the focus in recent months has been on Ukraine’s demand for heavy military hardware: tanks, jets, rocket launchers and missiles.

But sometimes the biggest help can come in the smallest packages: sophisticated switches, specialized microchips, night vision goggles, covert monitoring devices, even 3D printers.

An officer in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, known as “Skif,” told CNN this equipment is used “to produce explosive devices we can use on the ground, on the battlefield, or in the air as munition for drones.”

Watch Nic Robertson’s report here:

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02:38 - Source: CNN

Belgorod’s governor says the Russian region bordering Ukraine was hit by drone attacks overnight, following the cross-border attack launched by anti-Putin Russian nationals on Monday. Meanwhile, Ukraine says it’s still holding on to part of Bakhmut – despite Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin’s claims to the contrary.

Here are the latest developments:

The fighters who crossed from Ukraine into Russia’s western Belgorod region on Monday have been pushed back into Ukrainian territory, the Russian Ministry of Defense said in a daily briefing on Tuesday.?

The ministry said on Monday,?“after intensive artillery shelling of the Kozinka international checkpoint, as well as a number of other civilian facilities in the Graivoronsky district of the Belgorod region, a unit of the Ukrainian nationalist formation invaded the territory of the Russian Federation.”?

Russia repelled the attackers using air strikes, artillery fire and military units, it said, adding: “The remnants of the nationalists were driven back to the territory of Ukraine, where they continued to be hit by fire until they were completely eliminated.”?

Some context: While Russia has referred to the group or groups that crossed into Russia as “Ukrainian,”?the attack has been claimed by the Freedom for Russia Legion and Russian Volunteer Corps –?two?groups of anti-Putin Russian nationals?who are fighting in Ukraine as part of Kyiv’s defense forces.?Ukrainian officials have acknowledged that the groups crossed into Russia?but say they were?acting independently.??

Around two hours before the ministry’s briefing, the Freedom for Russia Legion posted on Telegram: “The Legion and the RDK [Russian Volunteer Corps] continue to liberate the Belgorod region!”

EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell makes a press statement ahead of the EU Defense Ministers' meeting in Brussels, Belgium, on May 23.

Ukrainian pilots have started to undergo training on F-16 fighter jets in several European Union countries according to the bloc’s High Representative, Josep Borrell.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has been asking allies for the aircraft as Kyiv seeks to improve its defenses against Russian air attacks.

Speaking on his way into a meeting of EU defense ministers in Brussels Tuesday, Borrell said the training will “take time, but the sooner the better.”

While the idea was initially met by reluctance from Ukraine’s allies, Borrell said that the door is now open for the provision of jets, and he expects a similar outcome to that of the donation of Leopard 2 tanks which also went through a period of uncertainty.

At the start of talks about sending the German-made Leopard 2 tanks to Kyiv, Borrell said many countries were “reluctant.” But “at the end,” he added, “the decision comes to provide this military support because it is absolutely needed in order for Ukraine to continue defending.”

Jet coalition grows: The Dutch defense minister said that EU officials are working on a concrete timeline for training and said that there is agreement that it must happen urgently.?

“But we did need the green light from Washington, DC. And it is a co-effort with Denmark, Belgium, UK and other allies. So a coordinated effort. But we will speed up now that we know that we have the green light,” Kajsa Ollogren told reporters.

US President Joe Biden signaled his approval for Ukrainian pilots to be trained to fly them over the weekend.

Residents of the settlements under attack in Russia’s Belgorod region have been resettled in other areas as authorities continue “clearing the territory” after a cross-border incursion from Ukraine, regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov has said.?

“The clearing of the territory from the aftermath (of the attack) continues,” Gladkov said on his Telegram channel, without specifying what the operation involved.?

Gladkov also claimed that the Ukrainian Armed Forces had fired mortar and artillery shells at the Belgorod region dozens of times on Monday, and dropped explosive devices from drones.?

Twelve civilians had been wounded, he said, and a number of houses and cars damaged.

The Freedom for Russia Legion said on Telegram early on Tuesday that it and the Russian Volunteer Corps, “continue to liberate the Belgorod region!”?These groups are made up of anti-Putin Russian nationals and are aligned with the Ukrainian army.

The Telegram post described them as “patriot volunteers” and claimed that Russia is vulnerable to attack.

A video grab from social media of an attack in the Belgorod border area on May 22.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said the cross-border attack on the Russian region of Belgorod on Monday is a cause of “deep concern.”

“Certainly, what happened yesterday causes deep concern,” Peskov said in his regular briefing with journalists on Tuesday.?

While Peskov referred to the group or groups that crossed into Russia as “Ukrainian militants,” the attack has been claimed by the “Freedom for Russia Legion” and “Russian Volunteer Corps” – a group of anti-Putin Russian nationals aligned with the Ukrainian army.

Peskov said he could not confirm whether the counter-terrorism operation mounted by the Russian authorities in Belgorod is still in progress, or how many of the saboteur groups entered and remained on Russian territory.?

“Our special services are dealing with this now, they are finding out their identities, their number,” he said.

Russia’s Investigative Committee has opened criminal proceedings after the cross-border attack on settlements in the Belgorod regions.

In a statement posted on the Telegram messaging app, the committee said that they had initiated a case under multiple articles of the Russian Criminal Code, including, “an act of terrorism, an attempt on the life of law enforcement officers, attempted murder, intentional destruction or damage to property and trafficking in weapons and explosives.”

“Residential and administrative buildings and civilian infrastructure were subjected to mortar and artillery fire. As a result of these criminal actions, several civilians were wounded.”??

“Investigative and operational measures are currently being taken to establish the identity of the attackers and all the circumstances of what happened,” it added.

Who attacked Belgorod? A group of anti-Putin Russians aligned with the Ukrainian army claimed responsibility for an attack in Russia’s southwestern Belgorod region, launched on Monday.

The group called itself the “Freedom for Russia Legion.”

The Russian region’s governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov, referred to the attackers as “a sabotage and reconnaissance group” of the Ukrainian army. But a Ukrainian official said the group was made up of Russian nationals and insisted they were acting independently.

Gladkov said Tuesday that a “counter-terrorist operation” was ongoing in the region, following Monday’s attack and further drone attacks overnight.

Destruction at the frontline town of?Bakhmut in Donetsk region, Ukraine, in this handout picture released on May 21.

Who controls the besieged eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut? It depends who you ask.

According to Yevgeny Prigozhin, chief of the Russian mercenary organization Wagner, his troops have taken “all the territories they promised to capture, to the last square centimeter.”

But Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Zelensky says his forces are still fighting in Bakhmut.

The conflicting claims follow a months-long slog in the city where Russian soldiers have had to grind for every inch of territory. Here’s the latest.

Who has claimed what?

Ukraine’s deputy defense minister, Hanna Maliar, said Monday that Ukrainian forces still occupy “a small part of the city” and are advancing on Bakhmut’s flanks.

On Tuesday, Maliar claimed that fighting has “decreased,” but that Ukraine’s forces had retained their small foothold in the city.

An aerial view shows destructions in the frontline town of?Bakhmut, in Donetsk region, Ukraine, in this handout picture released on May 21.

But Russian officials tell a different story. In a video released Saturday, Prigozhin stood alongside his mercenaries and claimed to have taken complete control of the city, saying he would hand it over to Russia later in May.

Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Wagner for “the completion of the operation to liberate Artemovsk” – using the Soviet-Russian name for Bakhmut.

How important is Bakhmut?

Bakhmut sits toward the northeast of the Donetsk region and has long been a target for Russian forces. Since last summer the city has been a stone’s throw from the front lines.

But, despite Russia pouring vast amounts of manpower and resources into capturing the city, its military value has long been questioned by Western analysts, Ukrainian officials and even Prigozhin himself, who claimed earlier this month that Bakhmut was of “no strategic importance.”

Instead, Prigozhin claimed he intended to wear down Ukrainian troops using tactics he frequently compared to a “meat-grinder,” sending wave after wave of his own soldiers into the battle.

But these tactics came at a heavy – and unsustainable – cost. There are no official casualty figures, but earlier this year a NATO source told CNN they estimated that for every Ukrainian soldier killed defending Bakhmut, Russia lost five.

What remains of Bakhmut?

While it is uncertain whether Bakhmut has fully “fallen” to Wagner troops, new images have made clear that there is not much left standing in the city.

The city has been devastated by the months-long, street-by-street Russian assault, drawing comparisons to other cities that have borne the full brunt of Russian aggression, such as Grozny and Aleppo. In his comments at the G7, Zelensky said pictures of ruined Hiroshima he saw on a visit to the Japanese city “really remind” him of Bakhmut.

Read our full report here.

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, center, poses for photo with soldiers after an awarding ceremony as he visits the Donetsk region, Ukraine, on May 23.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has visited troops on his country’s eastern frontline to mark the Day of Marines – an annual national holiday to celebrate the Ukrainian Navy.

A post on the presidency’s website said Zelensky visited service personnel on the Vuhledar-Maryinka defense line in the Donetsk region and presented several state awards for courage and bravery to fighters there.

Zelensky’s trip to Ukraine’s east comes after a series of whirlwind trips abroad last week, when he secured pledges to boost Ukraine’s military arsenal during stops in Italy, Germany, France and the United Kingdom and travelled to the G7 summit in Japan to appeal to the world’s major industrial democracies to remain united against Russian aggression.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy shakes hands with a service woman during an awarding ceremony as he visits the Donetsk region, Ukraine, on May 23.

The Donetsk region is also home to the embattled city of Bakhmut, which Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin claimed on Saturday to have captured in its entirety. However, his claims have been contested by Ukrainian officials – including Zelensky, who told the G7 summit on Sunday that “we are keeping on, we are fighting” in Bakhmut.

A Ukrainian tank in position near Bakhmut, Donetsk region, Ukraine, on May 23.

Fighting in Bakhmut has “decreased,” and Ukraine’s forces retain a small foothold in the flashpoint eastern city, Kyiv’s deputy defense minister Hanna Maliar claimed on Telegram.

Ukrainian troops had made “a slight advance” on the flanks to the north and south of the city, she claimed.

“Fighting continues in the suburbs. The enemy is trying to take advantageous positions, but fails. In certain areas, the enemy is on the defensive. It suffers heavy losses,” she said.??

Ukrainian officials have repeatedly claimed that Bakhmut has not fallen entirely into Russian hands after private military group Wagner and Moscow officials said they had seized the eastern city at the weekend.

Vyacheslav Gladkov attends a meeting outside Moscow on January 24.

A “counter-terrorist operation” was ongoing in southwestern Russia’s Belgorod region, its governor said Tuesday, a day after a town bordering Ukraine was attacked in an incursion claimed by pro-Ukraine Russian nationals.

Earlier, Gladkov said Belgorod was hit by drone attacks overnight, following an incursion Monday claimed by Russians partisans aligned with the Ukrainian army.

The Freedom of Russia Legion and Russian Volunteer Corps earlier said they had?“fully liberated the settlement of Kozinka” and “entered Grayvoron,” after crossing from Ukraine into Belgorod?on Monday.

On Tuesday, Gladkov urged Grayvoron residents not to return to their homes until the operation was completed.

Belgorod in southwestern Russia was hit by drone attacks overnight, its governor said, as the border region reels from an incursion claimed by anti-Putin Russians aligned with the Ukrainian army.

In a series of Telegram post late Monday and early Tuesday, Belgorod Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov said two homes were struck by drones in the town of Grayvoron — the site of an earlier attack claimed by pro-Ukraine Russian volunteers.

In the village of?Borisovka, Gladkov?said explosive devices were dropped from drones onto an administrative building and a house in two separate attacks.

No casualties were reported in any of the drone incidents, the governor said.

No one has claimed responsibility for the alleged drone attacks.

Russian partisans: Earlier Monday, Gladkov?said most of Grayvoron’s residents had evacuated?the town after eight people were injured in an attack by a “sabotage group” linked to the Ukrainian army.

The Freedom for Russia Legion and Russian Volunteer Corps earlier claimed they had?“fully liberated the settlement of Kozinka” and “entered Grayvoron,” after crossing from Ukraine into Belgorod?on Monday.

A Ukrainian official said the group was made up of Russian nationals and insisted they were acting independently.

A group of anti-Putin Russians aligned with the Ukrainian army have claimed responsibility for an attack in Russia’s southwestern Belgorod region.

The Russian region’s governor said at least eight people were injured near the border by a Ukrainian “sabotage” group. A Ukrainian official said the group was made up of Russian nationals and insisted they were acting independently.

Meanwhile, in the embattled eastern city of Bakhmut, the leader of the Russian mercenary company Wagner claimed his men had captured the town — a claim Ukraine has denied.

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An F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter aircraft extended its landing gear to land at the U.S. military airfield at Spangdahlem on February 7.?

It will take “several months at best” to get F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, US Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall?said?Monday.

The administration has provided few details of the plan to equip the Ukrainian Air Force with the US-made jets or other fourth-generation aircraft after President Joe Biden announced on Friday the US would support a joint training effort, such as who will provide the aircraft or where it will take place. US personnel will?participate in the training alongside allies and partners in Europe.?

“It’s been in the works, and there’s obviously been interest from Ukraine in getting that kind of capability,” Kendall told reporters at the Defense Writers Group. He said there are “a lot of open possibilities, including our partners.”

Kendall said it would take at least “several months” before Ukraine would have the capability to operate F-16s, and a number of details have to be worked out before Ukraine’s air force will be able to fly Western jets in large numbers.?

But it’s still a relatively rapid timeline, since it normally takes more than two years to train a new US pilot on the aircraft, according to an Air Force official. Even a refresher course for an F-16 pilot who has stepped away from flying the jet for a period can take up to five months.?

Publicly, the US had argued for months that fighter jets were not at the top of the priority list and would quickly drain the available funding for Ukraine aid instead of more important weapons like Abrams tanks and Patriot missiles. Kendall described what appeared to be a sudden about-face for the Biden administration as a decision that it was the right time to begin preparing Ukraine’s military for the future.

The Freedom for Russia Legion?— a group?that has claimed responsibility?for an apparent incursion inside Russian territory in Belgorod — posted a video on Monday evening that appears to show?the so-called flag of free Russia flying over?Moscow State University.?

In the video of the incident, which the Legion did not directly claim responsibility for, balloons appear to lift the blue-and-white-striped flag above the university’s main building.

Other videos posted by The Freedom for Russia Legion appear to show another Russian opposition flag flying over various areas of Moscow, carried by blue and white balloons.??

CNN could not independently verify the reports.?

The blue and white flag has been used by several anti-Putin Russian opposition groups and has?become more widely used since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The eastern Ukrainian cities of Bakhmut and Marinka continue to be the “epicenter of fighting,”?according to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Monday.?

Twenty-five “combat engagements” took place around Kupyansk, Lyman, Bakhmut, Avdiivka and Marinka, the update said.

Russian attacks hit?apartment buildings, houses, a kindergarten and other civilian infrastructure facilities, injuring some civilians, according to Ukraine’s Armed Forces.

“They continue to destroy civilian infrastructure near the contact line”?in the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson directions, according to the update. The daily report also highlighted the “massive missile and air attack at Ukraine’s civil and critical infrastructure facilities,” which struck?the city of Dnipro, the city of Zaporizhzhia, and settlements in the Kharkiv region.?

Earlier on Monday,?President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked the Ukrainian forces who are defending the country’s skies.

“From last night to this morning, they have shot down 25 Shaheds (drones). Twenty-five out of 25. An excellent result,” Zelensky said in his daily address. “Each such downing means saved lives, saved infrastructure.”

"Caesar" is one of dozens of Russian nationals fighting to defend Ukraine from Putin's armies.

The Freedom for Russia Legion — a group that has claimed responsibility for an apparent?incursion inside Russian territory?—?has one ambition. As “Caesar” says in a video statement he recorded with his comrades before joining a cross-border raid into his motherland: “Russia will be free.”

The group numbers a few hundred of diehard, battle-hardened Russian volunteers fighting their own people as part of the Ukrainian armed forces. Caesar is a former teacher, a father and has a wife living in Kyiv.?He told CNN last year that he had dedicated his life to toppling Russian President Vladimir Putin and marching into Red Square and the Kremlin itself.?

Caesar is a devoted member of the Orthodox Church and is nostalgic for the Tsarist era that predated the Soviet Union. His unit is well-equipped with modern armored vehicles, gunsights and the latest automatic weapons.?

Previously engaged in bitter fighting south of Bakhmut, the Freedom for Russia Legion now claims to have crossed into Russia itself and, as of late afternoon on Monday, was continuing combat operations against Russian forces in areas close to the frontier.

In a Telegram post, the group said it had “liberated” a settlement in Russia’s Belgorod region.

Ukrainian officials acknowledged that the unit crossed into Russia, but insist that members of the legion were operating independently as “Russian citizens.”

The Legionnaires themselves have admitted that they’re often treated with suspicion by Ukrainian soldiers but hope to win them over with gallantry on the battlefield.

Their apparent incursion along a border that’s frequently used by Russian mortar teams and artillery as a firebase for attacks inside Ukraine will help further cement their reputation.

It also serves as part of ongoing psychological operations intended to undermine support for the war in Russia and the fighting spirit of Russian soldiers themselves — signaling that they could be attacked at any time and even by their own countrymen.

Ukrainian search teams found?50 bodies of missing people in the past month alone in areas formerly occupied by Russian forces, a Ukrainian official said.

Ukraine’s Commissioner for Persons Missing in Special Circumstances?Oleh Kotenko said the bodies were discovered in the Donetsk, Luhansk and Kharkiv regions. The commission is still searching de-occupied territory for possible graves, he said.

Ukraine’s?Ministry of Internal Affairs said about?23,000 people have been officially deemed missing since the start of Russia’s invasion.?

A group of anti-Putin Russian nationals — who are aligned with the Ukrainian army — has claimed responsibility for an attack in Russian’s southwestern region of Belgorod, as Moscow said it was fighting a group of saboteurs there.

Shelling damaged an administrative building, several residential buildings, and a kindergarten in the area, according to regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov, who said there were no fatalities.

In a Telegram post, groups calling themselves the “Freedom for Russia Legion” and “Russian Volunteer Corps” said they had “liberated” a settlement in the Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine.

A Ukrainian official acknowledged that the units had carried out an operation in the area but insisted they were acting independently.

He said the units were “part of defense and security forces” when they were in Ukraine, but were independent from Kyiv when they were not: “In Russia they are acting as independent entities.”

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the Kremlin’s forces were working to push out a “sabotage and reconnaissance group,” according to state media TASS.

The situation in Belgorod marks “the first time” that Ukrainian-aligned forces have launched “a cross-border land operation against Russian targets,” according to CNN’s Sam Kiley.

“This is on a significant scale, and clearly intended to cause considerable consternation among the local authorities at the very least, if not at the level of the Kremlin,” Kiley told CNN’s Lynda Kinkade on Connect the World.

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