May 15, 2024 - Russia’s war in Ukraine | CNN (2024)

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Russia has stepped up its disinformation efforts to discredit Ukraine’sPresident Volodymyr Zelenskyand raise questions about his legitimacyin recent months,US intelligence agencies have observed.

A recently downgraded intelligenceassessmentshared with CNNsaysthat Russia has seized on various recent events to fuel criticism about Zelensky’s abilities and place as Ukraine’s leader, a senior Biden administration officialsaidin an interview.

Russia hasspreaddisinformationabout Zelensky since before the war started but recent intelligence shows“it’s definitely increasing,” the official said.

Russia hashighlightedtwo main areas in this recent disinformation push, the intelligenceindicates: Ukraine’spainful withdrawalfrom the eastern city of Avdiivka and the fact that Ukraine postponed itspresidential electionscheduled for this Spring due to the war.

Wider impacts: TheUS ismoreconcerned about the impactof the disinformationon countries abroadthan on Ukrainians’ confidence in Zelensky,the official said.

“That’s why we’re briefing our allies and partners about this,” the official said. “We want to make sure that this type of Russian disinformation doesn’t take hold and other countries that might not realize,‘Oh, of course, they can’t hold elections because they’re in a state of martial law as a consequence of Russia’s war.’”

Dive deeper into Russia’s disinformation campaign and what it could mean.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (C) leaves after his visit to an agricultural logistics and transshipment facility in Vyshneve, Kyiv region, on May 15. The United States will back Ukraine until the country's security is "guaranteed," US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a speech in Kyiv on May 14.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken concluded his trip to Kyiv on Wednesday, where he reaffirmed the Biden administration’s support for Ukraine as Russia’s advances continue in the Kharkiv region of the country.

Earlier Wednesday, Blinken announced $2 billion in foreign military financing for Ukraine and said much-needed ammunition and weapons are being rushed to the front lines. The US State Department acknowledged that the $2 billion in foreign military financing is coming primarily from the recently passed Ukraine Security supplemental and $400 million of it is coming from existing Foreign Military Financing (FMF) that had not previously been allocated to Ukraine.

Blinken also said that the US remains “committed” to helping Ukraine win the war against Russia, but it is not encouraging strikes on Russian territory.Blinken added that Washington strongly supports a Ukrainian peace summit set to take place next month in Switzerland.

Here are more of the latest headlines:

U.S. Secretary of State AntonyBlinkenspeaks during a joint press conference with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba in Kyiv, Ukraine, on May 15.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the US remains “committed” to helping Ukraine win the war against Russia, but it is not encouraging strikes on Russian territory.

Blinken also announced that the US will provide an additional $2 billion in foreign military financing for Ukraine, adding “we put this together in a first-of-its-kind defense enterprise fund.”

The fund will have three components, Blinken said, including:

“Of course, everyone’s eyes are focused on the situation in the east and northeast, Kharkiv in particular. And so the newest support that I just announced, but particularly the $60 billion supplemental, we know is coming at a critical time,” Blinken said.

Rescue workers take Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, who was shot and injured, to a hospital in the town of Banska Bystrica, Slovakia, on May 15.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called a shooting attack on Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico “appalling.”

Fico was shot multiple times, according to a statement on his official Facebook page, adding he is currently in a life-threatening condition.

“We sincerely hope Robert Fico recovers soon and express our solidarity with the people of Slovakia,” Zelensky continued.

For context: Fico won a third term as Slovakian prime minister last October after running a campaign that criticized Western support for Ukraine. Ahead of the election, Fico made no secret of his sympathies toward the Kremlin and blamed “Ukrainian Nazis and fascists” for provoking Vladimir Putin into launching the invasion, repeating the false narrative Russia’s president has used to justify his invasion.

Fico, who began his fourth term last October, has shiftedSlovakia’s foreign policy toward pro-Russian positions and initiated reforms in criminal law and media regulations, raising concerns about the erosion of the rule of law.

Fico also had pledged an immediate end to Slovak military support for Ukraine and promised to block Ukraine’s NATO ambitions in what would upend Slovakia’s staunch backing for Ukraine.

Rescue workers help Liudmila Kalashnik, 88, after evacuation from Vovchansk, Ukraine, on May 12.

Ukrainian officials suggested further gains by Russian forces on Wednesday in the Kharkiv region, as Moscow continues its push into northeastern Ukraine.

The town of Vovchansk, located about 60 kilometers (or about 37 miles) northeast of Ukraine’s second-largest city of Kharkiv, is seeing some of the most intense battles in areas near the border, with one police official saying Russian forces are already in the town.

Gen. Serhii “Marcel” Melnyk, the commander of the Kharkiv city defense forces, also suggested there have been changes in Ukrainian positions in Vovchansk and a possible tactical withdrawal.

At least 24 people, including four children, were injured as a result of Russian shelling in various parts of the Kharkiv region on Wednesday, Melnyk said.

The Ukrainian monitoring groupDeepStateMap indicated on Wednesday that Russian forces have reached northeastern parts of Vovchanskas they continue to push further south into Ukrainian territory. Russian forces have taken control of more than nine villages near the border in recent days.

Mandatory evacuations continue from all northern border settlements, according to Roman sem*nukha, deputy head of Kharkiv Regional Military Administration. Nearly 8,000 people have been evacuated from these areas since May 10, when Russia launched its push.

ODESA, UKRAINE - APRIL 27, 2022 - Relatives and friends attend the funeral service of Valeriia Hlodan, her three-month-old baby girl Kira and her mother Liudmyla Yavkina at Transfiguration Cathedral, Odesa, Ukraine, on April 27.

At least 1,993 children in Ukraine have been killed or wounded since Moscow launched a full-scale invasion in February 2022, according to the UN’s children’s agency (UNICEF), reiterating calls for a ceasefire.

On average, at least two children lose their lives in Ukraine every day, UNICEF reported on Tuesday.

Mental health impact: The war in Ukraine has “harmfully affected” the mental health and wellbeing of children, UNICEF said, adding that half of teenagers report trouble sleeping. At least one in five suffer intrusive thoughts and flashbacks.

Loss of education: Almost half of children enrolled in school in Ukraine have been robbed of in-person education, according to the report. Nearly one million children across the country cannot access any in-person learning “due to insecurity,” UNICEF added.

Earlier this year, CNN reported on Ukrainian children attending newly built bunker schools in the northern city of Kharkiv, as daily Russian strikes rained down overhead.

U.S. Secretary of State AntonyBlinken, left,and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba hold a joint press conference in Kyiv, Ukraine, on May 15.

US Secretary of State AntonyBlinkenannounced Wednesday the provision of additional $2 billion in foreign military financing for Ukraine and said much-needed weapons and ammunition are being rushed to the front lines.

“We are rushing ammunition, armored vehicles, missiles, air defenses. Rushing them to get to the front lines to protect soldiers, to protect civilians,”Blinkensaid, pointing out that air defenses are “a top priority.”

Blinkenalso said Washington strongly supports a Ukrainian peace summit set to take place next month in Switzerland.

This post has been updated with the latest comments from Blinken.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, right, and his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba walk along the Memory Wall of Fallen Defenders of Ukraine in the Russian-Ukrainian War, in Kyiv, Ukriane, on May 15.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken convened with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba in Kyiv on Wednesday, as part of his surprise trip to the Ukrainian capital.

The senior White House official told the delegation more support for Ukraine is “literally on its way.”

Kuleba thankedBlinken for the latest aid package from the US, worth nearly $61 billion, and for focusing on “tangible results” in the face of Russia’s invasion. Support from Washington, as well as Blinken’s presence “sends a message to the people of Ukraine,” Kuleba added.

Blinken agreed that sending weapons to the country was more valuable, adding “support in concrete terms is very much on the way.”

“The people on the frontlines, they need that support and they will get it,” he added.

The US is committed to working together to build “a strong successful thriving Ukraine,”Blinken said, adding that reaffirming ties with Kyiv would be the strongest “rebuke to (Russian President Vladimir) Putin.”

Emergency services fight a fire following a Russian air strike on May 14, near Kharkiv, Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will halt all international events scheduled for the coming days, his office announced on Wednesday, as Russian troops push into the northeastern Kharkiv region.

It came days after Ukraine’s top military general warned fighting had “significantly worsened” in Kharkiv, as Russia claimed to have captured four further villages as it expanded its surprise cross-border offensive.

In the spotlight: More than two years into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Zelensky has fought to keep attention on Kyiv’s military efforts to deter advances from Moscow by strengthening ties with allies. Most recently, he thanked US lawmakers after they voted in favor of a new aid package worth nearly $61 billion. At the same time, European leaders approved a plan for regular payments to Ukraine as part of a $54 billion package.

Sevastopol Governor Mikhail Razvozhayev speaks during a meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow on February 19.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said Wednesday that troops had suppressed a large aerial attack on the Crimean peninsula by Ukrainian forces.

Moscow said that it intercepted 10 “American Atakms [ATACMS] tactical missiles” over Crimea.

Missiles were shot down near the Belbek military airfield, according to Mikhail Razvozhayev, governor of Crimea’s port city of Sevastopol,suggesting that could be the Ukrainians’ target.

Elsewhere in Russia, there were two explosions at a fuel base in the Proletarsky district because of two drone attacks, according to Vasily Golubev, governor of the Rostov region.

No casualties were reported in any of the attacks.

During his current visit to Kyiv, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said American ATACMS were part of the newly supplied arms already “on the front lines.”

On Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told Blinken that Ukraine urgently needed aerial defenses.

CNN has reached out to Ukrainian authorities for comment.

An armored vehicle is seen in Vovchansk, Kharkiv Region, Ukraine on May 13.

Ukraine’s northern region of Kharkiv is enduring “heavy fighting” as Russian troops pushed on with ground and air offensives on Wednesday, Ukraine’s army said.

“Heavy fighting is ongoing,” said General Serhii Melnyk, Commander of the Kharkiv city defense forces.

“Three combat engagements are still ongoing,” Melnyk said.

Kharkiv’s border town of Vovchansk was liberated from Russian occupation more than 18 months ago.

Ukrainian troops repelled 11 attacks and are holding back Russia’s advance towards “Lyptsi from Hlyboke and Lukiantsi, and towards Vovchansk from the direction of Shebekino (Russia),” Melnyk said.

“Three combat engagements are still ongoing,” Melnyk said.

Kharkiv city was hit Tuesday by a Russian airstrike that wounded 24 people, including 4 children, and damaged residential buildings, Melnyk said.

The attack also killed one person.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said Tuesday that they had “liberated” the settlement of Buhrovatka in the Kharkiv region and “defeated the manpower and equipment” of Ukraine’s army in Vesele, Vovchansk, and Lyptsi.

An apartment is being damaged by an airstrike in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on May 14.

Russia is continuing its push into northeastern Ukraine since making several advances there over the past week after launching a surprise cross-border assault.

These are Moscow’s most significant gains since Kyiv’s forces recaptured the Kharkiv region in 2022.

On Tuesday, at least 21 civilians,including two 12-year-old girls and an 8-year-old boy,were wounded inRussianattacks on the city of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest, according to prosecutors.

More than 7,500people have been evacuated from the region.In the neighboring Sumy region, officials have also ordered a “voluntary evacuation” for several towns where attacks have increased, according to the military administration.

Here are the latest developments:

US Secretary of State AntonyBlinkentook to the stage at a bar in Kyiv during his state visit.

US Secretary of State AntonyBlinkentook to the stage at a bar in Kyiv during his state visit, playing the guitar with a Ukrainian band and singing Neil Young’s 1989 hit “Rockin’ in the Free World.”

The visit, in which Blinken met with President Volodymyr Zelensky, comes as Russian forces make significant gains on the battlefield.

The US State Department said Blinken and Zelensky discussed battlefield updates and the importance of newly arrived US aid to help repel Russian attacks. Zelensky told US Blinken that Ukraine urgently needs more air defenses.

Vladimir Putin attends a meetingat the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow, Russia, on May 9.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said the “unprecedented level of strategic partnership” between Moscow and Beijing informed his decision to choose China for his first trip since entering a new term in office just over a week ago.

During his visit, Putin is expected to discuss situations in Ukraine, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific, according to Putin’s assistant for foreign affairs, Yuri Ushakov, state media RIA Novosti reported.

Speaking to Xinhua, Putin commended China for its 12-point plan calling to end hostilities in Ukraine and bashed Ukraine’s “Western patrons” for “stubbornly working to ‘punish’ Russia, isolateand weaken it.”

More context: Putin’s visit mirrorsXi’s own state visit to Moscowjust over a year ago, where he marked the norm-shattering start of a new term as president –like Putin, afterrewriting rulesaround how long leaders can serve.

It also comes as Russia claims to have captured further villages in Ukraine’s northern Kharkiv region as it expands its surprise cross-border offensive.

Read the full story.

Rescuers and workers clean debris in a turbine hall at a power plant of energy provider DTEK, destroyed after an attack, in an undisclosed location in Ukraine on April 19.

Ukraine’s state-owned grid operator announced on Tuesday thatemergencypower cuts are being introduced following a series of Russianattacks on the country’s energy infrastructure.

Emergencyshutdowns across Ukrainewere implemented from 9 p.m. to midnight local time Tuesday, according to Ukrenergo.

The “significant” power shortage had been made worse when people used more energy during recentcold weather, Ukrenergo added.

More context: Moscow has stepped up efforts to paralyze Ukraine’s energy system in the past month, as Ukrainian troops struggle tohold positions on key frontlines,particularly in the east.

On May 8, Russian forces carried out a “massive” missile attack on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, targeting power generation and transmission facilities in the Poltava, Kirovohrad, Zaporizhzhia, Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk and Vinnytsia regions.

Ukraine’s biggest power company, DTEK, said Russian missiles hit three of its thermal power plants on May 8, adding it was the fifth time its infrastructure had been targeted in the last six weeks.

An apartment building damaged in the Russian missile attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on May 14.

At least 21 civilians,including two 12-year-old girls and an 8-year-old boy,were wounded inRussianattacks on Ukraine’s second-largest cityof Kharkiv on Tuesday, according to prosecutors.

Russianforces usedglidebombs in three waves of attacks, striking more than 20targets, according to Oleksandr Filchakov, Kharkiv region prosecutor.

Glidebombscan carry hundreds of kilograms of explosives and are dropped from aircraft which — in the case of attacks on the Kharkiv border region — do not even need to enter Ukrainian airspace.

Writing on Telegram, Filchakovsaid that several apartment blocks, a shopping center, and an education institutionwere damaged in thebombardment that also set cars and garages ablaze.

The attack comes asRussianforces continue their advance into the Kharkiv region.Russiantroops are regaining control of villages and areas of Ukraine that they were forced from near the end of 2022 during a Ukrainian counteroffensive.

Ukraine’s State Emergency Serviceon Tuesday said over 7,500 civilianshad been evacuated from their homes during heavy fightingin the north of Kharkiv region.

Reporting live from central Ukraine, CNN’s Nick Paton Walsh said Russian troops are moving fast and have better resources and better ammunition. It is also clear that Ukrainians have failed to build sufficient defenses in the region.

Ukraine is calling for more rocket artillery ammunition and missiles to be sent to them as a priority, especially 155mm shells, so that it can repel Russia’s resurgent invading force.

Salome Zourabichvili attends a panel discussion in Munich, Germany on February 18.

Georgia’s president has called on protesters to use their vote in upcoming parliamentary elections to “reverse” the controversial foreign agents law passed by the country’s parliament on Tuesday.

President Salome Zourabichvili admitted to CNN’s Christiane Amanpour that there are “many concerns” after the parliament voted in favor of the controversial foreign agents law.

The president, who has previously accused Russia of trying to bolster its influence over the former Soviet country, told CNN that she will symbolically veto the law.

Due to the setup of Georgia’s parliamentary system, Zourabichvili holds mainly a figurehead role and her veto can be overruled by a simple parliamentary majority.

She called the law a complete “duplicate” of one passed by the Kremlin in 2012, which she said has been used to “completely oppress and repress the civil society” in Russia.

Russia is growing more and “more worried” by Georgia’s rapprochement with the European Union, Zourabichvili remarked, referencing the recent decision by the bloc to grant Georgia candidate status.

Although roughly 20% of Georgian territory is currently controlled by Russia following the 2008 invasion, Georgia has not been “diverted” from “following its European path,” the president added.

Protesters during an opposition rally against the foreign agent bill outside the Georgian parliament in Tbilisi, Georgia, on Tuesday.

The White House has slammed Georgia’s controversial foreign agents legislation, warning that if enacted, it would “compel” the US to reevaluate its relationship with the country.

When pressed later on what she meant, Jean-Pierre would not elaborate. The legislation has already passed the country’s parliament, but its president has vowed to veto it. It’s unclear if that veto would then be overridden.

The bill has become a cultural flashpoint in a country that, like Ukraine, finds itself caught between Russia and Europe. Polls show that an estimated 80% of Georgians want to join the EU, but Moscow’s geopolitical orbit has proven tough to exit.

Georgia’s parliament now has 10 days to send the bill to President Salome Zourabichvili. Zourabichvili will then have two weeks to veto it, but parliament can override her objection with a simple majority.

Secretary of State AntonyBlinken at a coffee shop in Kyiv on Tuesday.

Secretary of State Antony Blinkenreiterated thatthe US intends tomake use of seizedRussian assetsto provide funding for the reconstruction of Ukraine.

“Our Congress has given us the power to seize Russian assets in the United States. We intend to use it,” Blinken said during a speech at theIgor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute in Ukraine.

Blinken said the US is working with other G7 countries to do the same with “Russia’s immobilized sovereign assets.”

Blinken’s remarks come after a meetingwith Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in which Blinken reiterated the US “commitment to Ukraine’s recovery,” according to a State Department spokesperson.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken walks in Independence square in Kyiv, Ukraine, on May 14.

During his visit to Ukraine, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken echoed the Biden administration’s strong support of the beleaguered country as Russiaadvances in the Kharkiv region.

The speech came after Congress and the White House passed a funding package that included $60-plus billion in aid to Ukraine, and the EU approved a financial package of up to $54billion.

Blinken focused much of his speech on building security and economic infrastructure in Ukraine to pave a path to NATO acceptance.

Georgian demonstrators attempt to break into the parliament through a metal barrier erected in front of its main gates, during a rally against the controversial "foreign influence" bill in Tbilisi, Georgia, on Tuesday, May 14.

Georgia’s parliament has passeda controversial “foreign agents” billdespitewidespread domestic oppositionand warnings from the European Union that its enactment would imperil the country’s chances of joining the bloc.

The new law will require organizations receiving more than 20% of their funding from abroad to register as “agents of foreign influence” or face crippling fines.

Opponents say that the legislation was modeled after similar laws in Russia that the Kremlin has used to increasingly snuff out opposition and civil society.

Georgian Dream, the ruling party that pushed through the legislation, has hit back at criticism, saying the move will promote transparency and national sovereignty. But the party has long been suspected of harboring pro-Russian sympathies.

Nightly protests have been shutting down the capital, Tbilisi, for about a month. About 50,000 peoplecame out Sunday evening in the city of 1 million people to speak out against what they’ve dubbed “the Russian law.”

Georgia applied for EU membership in 2022 and was granted candidate status in December, a move seen as an effort to reverse the former Soviet republic’s drift toward Russia.

Russia invaded Georgia in 2008 and still occupies about 20% of Georgia’s internationally recognized territory.

A Ukrainian police officer walks past a destroyed residential building, following artillery and air raids in the village of Ocheretyne, in Ukraine's Donetsk region on April 15.

While attention is focused onadvances in Kharkiv, Russia’s forces continue to exploit Ukraine’s weaknesses elsewhere, in particular along a stretch of the frontline west of the Russian-occupied city ofDonetsk.

Since Russia captured the industrial town of Avdiivka in February, its forces have taken advantage of Kyiv’s acute shortage in artillery ammunition, as well as manpower deficiencies, by pushing into a series of towns and villages.

Ukraine’s General Staff, in its Tuesday morning update, hinted clearly at further tactical withdrawals in the area around the village of Ocheretyne – which was captured by Russian troops earlier this month.

The DeepStateMap monitoring group shows small Russian advances most days in the area, each one moving them a little closer to the town of Pokrovsk, a key military hub for logistics and supplies along the entire eastern part of the frontline.

Further to the west, Ukrainian forces are also coming under pressure southeast of Zaporizhzhia, one of the few areas where they achieved success, albeit modest in size, in last summer’s counteroffensive.

Both Russian military bloggers and Ukraine’s DeepStateMap report small Russian advances into a pocket of re-captured Ukrainian territory between the villages of Robotyne and Verbove.

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, attends a meeting in Belgrade, Serbia, on May 13.

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister has hailed ties with Serbia, traditionally seen as one of Europe’s more Russian-leaning states, on a visit to Belgrade.

He was accompanied on the trip by Olena Zelenska, wife of Ukrainian PresidentVolodymyr Zelensky.

In March 2022, Kyiv’s Serbian embassy closed with the United States and the United Kingdom accusing Serbian businesses of assisting Russia in circumventing sanctions.

Following Monday’s meeting between Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic the embassy is set to be reopened.

Kuleba also said he and Vucic discussed a variety of bilateral issues building on “productive dialogue” Vucic has previously had with Zelensky.

Since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Serbia has aided the war-torn country by sheltering Ukrainians and donating humanitarian aid.

First Lady Olena Zelenska expressed gratitude to Serbia for its contribution.

Traditionally one of Moscow’s closest allies in Europe, Belgrade has long tried to balance its historical ties to Russia and a potential future of closer European integration.

Serbia’s contribution to Ukraine aid can be seen as part of its commitment to joining the European Union, but its relationship with the bloc is strained refusing to participate in EU sanctions rounds against Russia.