May 22, 2023 - Russia-Ukraine news

Our live coverage of Russia’s war in Ukraine has moved here.

A U.S. Air Force F16 taxis on the runway during U.S.-Philippines joint air force exercises dubbed Cope Thunder at Clark Air Base on May 09, 2023 in Mabalacat, Pampanga province, Philippines.

It will take “several months at best” to get F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, 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.

Ukrainian soldiers ride on a BMP infantry fighting vehicle toward Bakhmut, on May 20, 2023, amid 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?residential apartment buildings, private 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). 25 out of 25. An excellent result,” Zelensky said in his daily address. “Each such downing means saved lives, saved infrastructure.”

Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich stands in a glass cage in a courtroom at the Moscow City Court on April 18.

The Russians are expected to hold a hearing this week about extending Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich’s pre-trial detention, a source familiar told CNN.?

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 was sent to?Moscow’s notorious Lefortovo Prison until May 29.

The expected hearing this week will be about extending his pre-trial detention beyond May 29.

It is unclear if Gershkovich will appear in person, as he did in April.?

Several people were hurt in an attack on the Belgorod region in Russia, near the border. Ukrainian officials say it was carried out by a group of Ukraine-aligned Russian nationals who crossed into the country.

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.

Here’s what you need to know:

This video geolocated by CNN appears to show smoke rising over Russia's Belgorod region.

The situation in Russia’s Belgorod region “remains extremely tense” Monday following?an attack from what Russia has called a group of saboteurs that crossed into its territory from Ukraine, the governor of the region said.

Gladkov said that the Belgorod government is “completing a house tour of the border villages” and in?the town of Graivoron to ensure the safety of the local population.?

He added that “most of the population left the territory” with personal transportation and the local government is providing transportation for those who do not have the opportunity to leave on their own.?

The head of the district?Gennady Ivanovich Bondarev is working with?the Ministry of Emergency Situations and the police to evacuate people, according to Gladkov.

The governor previously said eight people were injured in the attack.

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

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

At least eight people were injured in an attack in Russia’s Belgorod region, the governor there said Monday.

Regional Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov said in a video live stream?there were no deaths among civilians in Belgorod.

What happened: Earlier on Monday, Gladkov said?several people were injured with shrapnel wounds in an attack in the town of Graivoron. He also said shells hit an administrative building in Belgorod and damaged three residential buildings, which caught fire.?A shell also hit a kindergarten in the neighboring village of Zamostye, where another woman was injured, he added.??

A Ukrainian official acknowledged that the units that had carried out an operation in the area were part of the defense and security forces of Ukraine, but insisted they were acting independently. “We can confirm that this operation was carried out by Russian citizens,” Andriy Yusov, a representative of Ukraine’s defense intelligence agency, told CNN.

The governor of Russia’s Belgorod region said Monday that a “counter-terrorist operation” has been launched in the area following Moscow’s?announcement that it is fighting a group of saboteurs that crossed into its territory from Ukraine.

More on stringent security measures: Those measures include enhanced document verification for individuals as well as “the suspension of the activities of hazardous industries and organizations that use explosive, radioactive, chemically and biologically hazardous substances,” according to an update published on the Belgorod government website.

Other special measures include “control of telephone conversations and other information transmitted through the channels of telecommunication systems” and?the use of private vehicles “to deliver persons in need of urgent medical care to medical institutions, as well as to pursue persons suspected of committing a terrorist attack,” according to the?Belgorod government.?

The?Belgorod region’s government will also restrict?the movement of vehicles and pedestrians on the streets and roads.?

This video geolocated by CNN appears to show smoke rising from a border crossing station in?Kozinka,?Belgorod?Oblast, near the border with Ukraine.?

The governor of Russia’s Belgorod region said on Monday that at least three people have been injured with shrapnel wounds amid an attack by a Ukrainian “sabotage” group that entered Russian territory in the town of Graivoron bordering Ukraine.?

“They are in the hospital in a state of moderate severity. All necessary medical assistance is provided,”?regional Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov said on Telegram.?

Gladkov said that shells hit an administrative building in Belgorod and damaged three residential buildings, which caught fire.?A shell also hit a kindergarten in the neighboring village of Zamostye, where another woman was injured with a hand wound, he added.??

An unmanned aerial vehicle was shot down by Russia’s air defense system, according to Gladkov, who said there were no victims in the attack and Russian operational services were looking into any potential damage on the ground.

Earlier on Monday, Belgorod’s governor said that Russian armed forces, along with the border service, the National Guard and the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) were “taking measures to eliminate the enemy.”

Some context: A Ukrainian official acknowledged that the units that had carried out an operation in the area were part of the defense and security forces of Ukraine, but insisted they were acting independently. “We can confirm that this operation was carried out by Russian citizens,” Andriy Yusov, a representative of Ukraine’s defense intelligence agency, told CNN.

CNN’s Victoria Butenko contributed to this post.

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

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.

Russia has said it is fighting a group of saboteurs that crossed into its territory from Ukraine.?

State media TASS quoted Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov as saying that Russian forces were working to push out the “sabotage and reconnaissance group” that had entered the Belgorod region that borders Ukraine.?

Regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on Telegram: “The armed forces of the Russian Federation, together with the border service, the National Guard and the FSB, are taking the necessary measures to eliminate the enemy.”?

A group of Russian defectors called the “Freedom of Russia Legion” claimed on Telegram that it and the “Russian Volunteer Corps” were behind the attack in Belgorod. They said they had “fully liberated the settlement of Kozinka of Belgorod region” whilecthe “first groups have entered Grayvoron.”??

Aleksey Baranovsky, a representative of the Kyiv-based Russian Armed Opposition Political Centre – the political wing of the Freedom of Russia Legion – told CNN the operation had started last night and fighting was “ongoing.” He would not specify the number of fighters who had crossed the border into Russia.?

Baranovsky said the group wanted to “liberate our motherland from the tyranny of Putin.”?

Some background: CNN interviewed?members of the Freedom of Russia Legion fighting for Ukraine in its eastern Donetsk region in December.?

A Ukrainian defense intelligence official earlier told CNN that the Russian citizens were “part of the defense and security forces in Ukraine but said: “In Russia they are acting as independent entities.”?

Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukraine’s presidential administration,?said on Twitter?that Ukraine had “nothing to do with it.”?

The governor of Russia’s Belgorod region said on Monday that “a sabotage and reconnaissance group” of the Ukrainian army had crossed into Russian territory — and Ukraine confirmed the group was made up of Russian nationals.

Vyacheslav Gladkov said forces had entered the territory of the Graivoronsky district, which borders Ukraine.

“The armed forces of the Russian Federation, together with the border service, the National Guard and the FSB (Russia’s security service), are taking the necessary measures to eliminate the enemy,” Gladkov said.

CNN is unable to verify the report.

Earlier on Monday, Gladkov claimed on Telegram that the district had been shelled by Ukrainian forces since 9 a.m. local time (2 a.m. ET), but added that no one had been injured.

The villages of Antonovka, Kozinka and Gora-Podol had been hit by shells or debris, Gladkov said.

What Ukraine says: A Ukrainian defense intelligence official has confirmed to CNN that a group of Russian nationals that crossed from Ukraine into Russia’s Belgorod region and attacked the town of Grayvoron were “part of the defense and security forces in Ukraine but acting as “independent entities” in Russia.?

Andriy Yusov, a representative of Ukraine’s defense intelligence agency, told CNN: “We can confirm that this operation was carried out by Russian citizens. These actions are the consequences of intensified Russian cross border attacks, which have led to victims and destruction.”?

Yusov said that the units that had crossed the border were, “part of defense and security forces” in Ukraine but said: “In Russia, they are acting as independent entities.”?

Groups called the “Freedom of Russia Legion” and “Russian Volunteer Corps” claimed the attack on Belgorod region. In a Telegram post, they said they had, “fully liberated the settlement of Kozinka of Belgorod region. [The] first groups have entered Grayvoron.

Border strikes increase: Strikes on the Belgorod region appear to have intensified in recent weeks, according to claims by Russian officials.

Earlier this month, Gladkov claimed two drones had detonated and fell over a residential area in the region. He added that no casualties were reported, but two residential buildings and a car were damaged.

Another drone was shot down by Russian air defense systems over the region, Gladkov said. The governor said there were no casualties and that response teams are assessing the aftermath on the ground.

Wagner mercenary group fighters wave flags of Russia and Wagner group on top of a building in an unidentified location in this still image obtained from a video released on May 20 along with a statement by Russian mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin about taking full control of the Ukrainian city of?Bakhmut.

Seldom in the history of warfare has so much been said, amid?so much death, about a place that mattered so little – but that’s the?Battle for Bakhmut?for you. For now.

The leader of the Russian mercenary company Wagner claimed Saturday that his men had captured the town from Ukraine after “224 days of fighting.” Ukraine has denied the claim – and insisted that not only has Bakhmut not fallen but that it’s being flanked by Kyiv’s forces.

Ukraine’s Deputy Defense Minister, Hanna Maliar, said Monday that Ukrainian forces are still in control of some buildings in the southwest of Bakhmut and that the two sides were still fighting for control of “the dominant heights on the flanks” north and south of the city’s suburbs.

For months Ukrainian commanders in charge of troops on the ground, and the troops themselves, have scratched their heads over why Russia was prepared to invest so much materiel, and spend so many Russian lives, on trying to capture a town that has no obvious tactical, let alone strategic, value.

Wagner, and whoever is paying the company’s bills, were profligate with its people.

In December, a member of the International Legion of Defense of Ukraine, fighting in a group of about a dozen men to the south of the town, called from the front line.

“It’s incredible,” he told me. “Those Wagner guys come in waves of, like, 40 at a time. We kill 35. Five get into a trench or a house, then they send another 40 and we shoot another 35 or so. We’re just cutting them down like grass.”

It was assumed the “musicians,” as pro-Russian groups like to call the mercenaries, were largely prisoners. Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the company, likes to call them “recidivists.” These convict recruits, some of them facing long sentences, were offered freedom if they survived six months at the front.

Clearly many did not. Instead, they were thrown into what both sides call the “meat grinder.”

“They’re coming at us all the time. We don’t know why they value Bakhmut so much but we know where they are and we know where to kill them,” said a brigade commander at the end of last year.

Read the full analysis here.

Who controls Bakhmut? It depends who you ask. According to Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, his troops have captured “all the territories they promised to capture, to the last square centimeter.”

But according to Ukraine’s deputy defense minister Hanna Maliar, Ukrainian forces still occupy “a small part of the city” and are advancing on Bakhmut’s flanks. Images show the devastation inflicted on the city following months of brutal fighting.

Here’s what you need to know:

In this grab taken from video and released by Prigozhin Press Service on May 20, 2023, Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner Group military company speaks holding a Russian national flag in front of his soldiers in Bakhmut, Ukraine.

Russian forces in Bakhmut are starting to demine the city, according to the acting head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic.

“The Russian forces that liberated the city are checking buildings for explosives. It is important for us to carry out a complete, thorough demining. This is very painstaking and difficult work, given the scale of the hostilities that took place there.”?

The head of the Wagner private military group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, confirmed on his Telegram channel that a demining operation had begun.

Conflicting claims: Prigozhin claimed Saturday to have taken complete control of the eastern city of Bakhmut, after a grinding, months-long offensive.

The next day, he claimed that his forces will leave the front line in eastern Ukraine entirely after “capturing all the territories they promised to capture, to the last square centimeter.”

Prigozhin said he’s handing over his positions to the Russian Ministry of Defense after Wagner forces leave

Ukraine, meanwhile, claims it is holding on to a small area in the western part of the city — and that its progress in areas surrounding Bakhmut has left it in a strong position.

Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, on March 29.

The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) has been reconnected to the Ukrainian power grid, national energy company Ukrenergo said in a statement Monday.

Earlier Monday, Ukrenergo said the plant – currently occupied by Russian forces – had been cut off from the grid after the high-voltage line that supplies it was one of those damaged by a Russian attack on the Dnipro region, to the north of Zaporizhzhia, in the early hours of the morning.?

“As a result of damage to the high-voltage line, the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant lost power from the power system and operated from diesel generators,” it said on Telegram.?

Military and infrastructure facilities in Dnipro were attacked by Russian missiles and drones early on Monday, according to a Telegram post by the Ukrainian air force.

“Unfortunately, the energy infrastructure was damaged,” Ukrenergo said.

It said the power supply to people in Zaporizhzhia had been cut off. It’s now been restored but Ukrenergo appealed for “economical consumption,” especially in peak hours.

Some context: The Zaporizhzhia NPP is the largest in Europe and has been the site of intense shelling since the start of the war. Held by Russian forces, it’s mostly operated by a Ukrainian workforce.

Concerns around nuclear safety flared up again this month after Russia began a large-scale evacuation of the area, amid rumors of Ukraine’s looming counteroffensive.

The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, has been involved in intense negotiations with Russia and Ukraine to agree on “a set of principles” to reduce the risk of a nuclear accident at the plant, the agency said.?

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

Ukrainian forces are still in control of some buildings in the southwest of Bakhmut, two days after Russia claimed to have captured the city, according to Ukraine’s deputy defense minister.

Hanna Maliar also claimed that Kyiv’s troops are advancing on the city’s flanks.

“Yesterday, the Ukrainian Armed Forces retained control of certain industrial facilities and private houses in the southwestern area, the area where the aircraft [monument] is,” Maliar said on Ukrainian television, referring to a monument of an MiG-17 in Druzhba Square.

Maliar said Russia had deployed “most of its forces” in the Bakhmut area.

In a separate post on Telegram, she said the two sides were still fighting for control of “the dominant heights on the flanks” north and south of the city’s suburbs.

Ukraine’s advance on the flanks had allowed it to shell the Russian troops in the city, she said.

Maliar added that because Ukrainian troops “moved along the flanks and took the dominant heights there, our Armed Forces made it very difficult for the enemy to be in the place itself. In fact, we continue to advance. The intensity is somewhat reduced. At the same time, we continue to move along this path.”

She claimed that Russian troops are looking for any “sabotage groups” who might resist the occupation of the city in the areas they control.

Lithuania's Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis speaks with the media as he arrives for a meeting of EU foreign ministers at the European Council building in Brussels, Belgium, on May 22.

Lithuania’s foreign minister has praised the growing F-16 international coalition as an “important step forward,” but urged allied nations to remember Kyiv also needs more of the Western weaponry that it is already receiving.

Arriving at the meeting of European Union foreign ministers in Brussels on Monday, Gabrielius Landsbergis urged allies not to allow the focus on jets to distract them from sending Ukraine the weaponry they have already provided it in its defense against Russia, like howitzers, Stinger missiles and HIMARS.

Also speaking to journalists on arrival at the meeting in Brussels, the EU’s top diplomat Josep Borrell said he hoped Ukraine could be provided with F-16s soon.

Borrel said it was “good” that the G7 “finally decided to prepare the ground in order to provide Ukraine with the jet fighters they need.”

Jet talks gather pace: Ukraine’s quest for US-made F-16 fighter jets received a big boost over the weekend when US President Joe Biden gave his backing for Kyiv’s pilots to be trained to fly them.?

Biden’s comments at a summit with G7 leaders in Japan came days after Britain and the Netherlands said they were building an “international coalition” to help Ukraine procure F-16s as it seeks to improve its defenses against Russian air attacks.

The F-16s would be an upgrade to the largely Soviet-era aircraft currently in Ukraine’s fleet. President Volodymyr Zelensky welcomed Biden’s decision, saying in a tweet, “this will greatly enhance our army in the sky.”

Leaders of the Group of Seven nations attend a session with other guest countries including Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky in Hiroshima, Japan, on May 21.

China’s foreign ministry said Monday that the Ukraine crisis should be resolved through dialogue, after Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky joined leaders of major democracies on Saturday at a summit in Japan.

“We have noticed President Zelensky participated in the G7 summit. China’s position on the Ukraine crisis is consistent. We always believe that the crisis should be resolved politically through dialogue and consultation,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said in a regular briefing.

Mao added that China hopes countries, particularly G7 member countries, can work together with the international community to play a “constructive role in promoting the political settlement of the crisis.”

China plays peacemaker: Beijing has repeatedly attempted to portray itself as a peacemaker in the grinding conflict, despite its close ties with Russia.

Li Hui, Beijing’s newly appointed special envoy for the Ukraine war, met with Zelensky in Kyiv last week – the highest ranking Chinese official to travel to Ukraine since the start of Moscow’s devastating war.

However, some Western analysts have questioned whether China’s efforts to promote peace are genuine – and whether its vision of how the conflict might end aligns with Kyiv’s.

During Li’s visit, Ukraine’s foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba stressed that peace negotiations must be “based on respect for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

“Ukraine does not accept any proposals that would involve the loss of its territories or the freezing of the conflict,” Kuleba said.

Ambassador of Russia to the US Anatoly Antonov attends a briefing by Foreign Minister of Russia Sergey Lavrov at UN headquarters, New York, on April 23.

The Russian ambassador to the US, Anatoly Antonov, has said that America’s decision to support the training of Ukrainian pilots on F-16s and other modern fighter jets demonstrates that it “has never been interested in peace.”

US President Joe Biden informed G7 leaders on Friday that the US would back an effort to train Ukrainian pilots on F16s and other fourth generation aircraft. F-16s are considered high performance weapon systems with a range of 500 miles (860 kilometers), and would be an upgrade to the aircraft currently in Ukraine’s fleet.?

In a post on the Embassy’s Telegram channel, Anotnov was quoted as telling reporters that the US “continues to fan the flames of conflict.”

Russia issues warnings: The ambassador’s words echo those of Russia’s deputy foreign minister Alexander Grushko, who warned Western countries of “enormous risks” if Ukraine is provided with F-16 fighter jets, Russian state media TASS reported Saturday.

“We see that the Western countries are still adhering to the escalation scenario,” Grushko said.

Rafael Grossi speaks during an interview at the IAEA headquarters in Vienna, Austria, on May 12.

Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is in an “extremely vulnerable” situation, the head of the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog said, after the facility once again lost its external power supply.

In a Twitter post Monday, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Rafael Grossi said the plant had “lost all external electricity” for the seventh time since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began last year, “forcing it to rely on emergency diesel generators for power.”

The plant, Europe’s largest nuclear power station, is held by Russian forces but mostly operated by a Ukrainian workforce. The IAEA has repeatedly raised concerns over safety at the plant, which has been the site of shelling throughout the war.

On Friday, Grossi said?negotiations were ongoing to secure the protection of the plant to “prevent the risk of a severe nuclear accident on the continent.”

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

Ukraine’s quest for US-made F-16 fighter jets received a big boost over the weekend when?US President Joe Biden gave his backing?for Kyiv’s pilots to be trained to fly them.

But analysts cautioned that the jets aren’t a cure-all and have vulnerabilities that Moscow would be well aware of and could exploit.

In fact, one active duty F-16 pilot told CNN that expectations may be way too high.

“To your question about the F-16 being a difference maker. It’s not,” said the pilot, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the subject.

Here’s what you need to know about the F-16:

Most active fighter jet: According to Flight Global’s World Air Forces directory, almost 2,200 F-16s are active worldwide this year, making it the single most popular combat aircraft across the planet with 15% of the world’s fleet.

F-16s for Ukraine are expected to be older versions that have been in the fleets of US allies, especially those in Western Europe.

“There is a surplus of F-16s in Western nations, offering immediate availability and a well-established logistics trail,” said Robert Hopkins, a military aviation author and former US Air Force pilot. “There are other aircraft more capable than the F-16, but they are fewer in number and are not available to transfer,” Hopkins added.

Keeping F-16s in the sky: Analysts note that for a modern fighter jet like the F-16, training maintenance personnel can take longer than training pilots.

“I think it’s possible to teach a Ukrainian pilot to fly an F-16 in three months,” said Peter Layton, a fellow at the Griffith Asia Institute and former Royal Australian Air Force officer.

But “training maintenance personnel can take months or years, depending on the desired level of proficiency,” according to a March report on the possible F-16 transfers from the Congressional Research Service (CRS).

As for pilot training, Layton and the active F-16 pilot who spoke to CNN both say three months of training is for the basics — getting the plane up in the air, keeping it there and landing it safely. Combat roles become much more complex, however.

F-16s are easy to learn how to fly, but employing them effectively in “a dynamic threat environment” could take years, according to the pilot.

How do you hide F-16s? Then there is the question of where Ukrainian F-16s would be based.

“The advantages of transferring advanced western fighter jets in seeking air superiority are likely to be realized only if paired with large quantities of western-manufactured munitions,” the CRS report says.

Read the full analysis here.

The Zaporizhzhia?nuclear?power?plant in southern Ukraine, on March 29.

Generators are providing electricity to the occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in southern Ukraine after the facility “lost its external power supply,” Russia’s Rosatom state nuclear energy company said Monday.

The “radiation background at the site, in the sanitary protection zone and observation zone, is at normal levels,” Rosatom added.

The Zaporizhzhia plant, Europe’s largest nuclear power station, is held by Russian forces but mostly operated by a Ukrainian workforce.

A spokesperson for Ukraine’s state-owned energy firm Energoatom confirmed to CNN that auxiliary power generators are supplying the plant, adding it was the seventh blackout at the facility since Russia’s invasion began last year.

Earlier Monday, a Ukrainian official said technicians were working to restore power to the plant. “The work continues, and electricity and water are gradually being restored in the city’s districts,” said Anatoliy Kurtiev, secretary of Zaporizhzhia city council.

Some context: The United Nations’ nuclear watchdog has repeatedly raised concerns over safety at the plant, which has been the site of shelling throughout the war. Earlier this month, the International Atomic Energy Agency described the situation there as “increasingly unpredictable,” after Moscow ordered the evacuation of residents from Russian-occupied areas close to the facility.

This post has been updated with a statement from Energoatom.

Russia attacked Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region with missiles and drones overnight, injuring civilians and damaging buildings as Ukrainian forces scrambled air defenses in response.

In a Telegram post Monday, Dnipropetrovsk Gov. Serhii Lysak said air defenses shot down 15 drones and four cruise missiles over the region, which also took?“some hits.”

In Dniprovskyi district, a 27-year-old man was wounded and several buildings where first responders work were damaged in the attack, Lysak said.?

Meanwhile, seven people were injured when a drone crashed in the Ilarionivska community of Synelnykivskyi district, he said.

Some context: Ukrainian officials claim to have repelled most of the missiles and drones launched by Russia this month during multiple bombardments, in many cases with the help of weapons provided by Kyiv’s Western partners.

Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin said Sunday that his forces will leave the front line in eastern Ukraine in the coming days after “capturing all the territories they promised to capture, to the last square centimeter.”

It comes a day after Prigozhin claimed that his mercenary fighters had?completely seized the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut — a statement met with counterclaims from Ukraine.

While CNN cannot independently verify battlefield accounts, here’s what the wartime officials are saying:

Paul Whelan stands inside a defendants' cage during a hearing at a court in Moscow on August 23, 2019.

Paul Whelan, an American who is?wrongfully detained in Russia, told CNN on Sunday that he feels confident that his case is a priority for the United States government but wishes it could be resolved faster.

“I remain positive and confident on a daily basis that the wheels are turning. I just wish they would turn a little bit more quickly,” said Whelan, who called CNN exclusively from his prison camp in remote Mordovia.

Whelan said he does harbor concerns that he could be left behind again — particularly after the Russians wrongfully detained American journalist?Evan Gershkovich.

“That’s an extreme worry for me and my family,” he said. The US was unable to secure Whelan’s release in prisoner swaps that brought home two other wrongfully detained Americans last year: Trevor Reed in April and Brittney Griner?in December.

However, Whelan said Sunday he has more confidence in the US efforts to get him home than he did when he spoke to CNN in December following Griner’s release.

Whelan — who has US, Irish, British and Canadian citizenship — was detained at a Moscow hotel in December 2018 by Russian authorities who?alleged he was involved in an intelligence operation. The former US Marine was sentenced to 16 years in prison on an espionage charge he vehemently denies.

Read more here.

Berlin police are investigating the possible poisoning of two?Russian?exiles who attended a conference in the German capital, a spokesperson told CNN.

The spokesperson declined to provide further information citing the ongoing investigation.

German newspaper Welt am Sonntag first reported on the police investigation, writing that the two Russians took part in a conference held by Russian Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky in Berlin on April 29 and 30.

Berlin police did not name the Russian exiles.

Read more here.

Yevgeny Prigozhin arrives to pay the last respects during a funeral ceremony at the Troyekurovskoye cemetery in Moscow, Russia, on April 8.

The chief of the Wagner private military group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said Sunday that his forces will leave the front line in eastern Ukraine on May 25 after “capturing all the territories they promised to capture, to the last square centimeter.”

Prigozhin said he is handing over his positions to the Russian Ministry of Defense after Wagner forces leave.

There has been no immediate public response from the defense ministry.

“From June 1, not a single Wagner PMC fighter will be at the forefront until we go through reorganization and equipment and training,” Prigozhin added.

He also dismissed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s?insistence that Bakhmut is not fully occupied?by Russia as of Sunday.?

“There is not a single Ukrainian soldier in Bakhmut,” Wagner’s chief claimed. “And this is why we stopped taking any more POWs.”

Keep in mind:?Prigozhin has previously?made brash or misleading statements?about the war and his mercenaries’ role in it —?and?occasionally backtracked?on them. He is also known to?speak sarcastically.

More on Bakhmut:?Prigozhin’s announcement comes one day after Russia declared victory in the long-contested eastern city. The mercenary group says it has seized complete control of the city after many months of fighting led by Prigozhin’s forces. Ukraine, meanwhile, claims it is holding on to a small area in the western part of the city —?and that its progress in areas surrounding Bakhmut has left it in a strong position.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks during a news conference in Hiroshima, western Japan, on Sunday, May 21.

Ukrainian President?Volodymyr Zelensky?compared the damage in Bakhmut to the destruction wrought on Hiroshima after it was hit by an atomic bomb, as he denied Russia had captured the frontline city.

Zelensky — who traveled to Japan for a meeting of the Group of Seven (G7) — said pictures of Hiroshima “really remind” him of Bakhmut and other Ukrainian towns.

Conflicting claims over Bakhmut: On Saturday the chief of the Russian private military group Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, claimed to have captured Bakhmut after months of brutal fighting, saying he would hand it over to Russia later in May.

Zelensky used the conference to again deny that that?Bakhmut?is Russian as of Sunday and Ukrainian soldiers remain in the city.

“We are keeping on, we are fighting.” Zelensky said.

“I clearly understand what is happening in Bakhmut. I can’t share the tactics of the military, but a country even bigger than ours cannot defeat us. A little time will pass and we will be winning. Today our soldiers are in Bakhmut.”

Ukraine’s Armed Forces (AFU) said they were continuing to counter Russia in the city, and that they were advancing in the suburbs, making it “very difficult for the enemy to remain in Bakhmut.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin offered his congratulations for “the completion of the operation to liberate Artemovsk,” Russian state news agency TASS reported the Kremlin as saying, using the Soviet-era Russian name for Bakhmut.

CNN is unable to verify either side’s battlefield claims.

Read more here.