September 6, 2023 - Russia-Ukraine news

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

Russian air defenses intercepted drones over the southern city of Rostov-on-Don and the capital Moscow, officials said on Thursday.

In a Telegram post, Rostov Gov. Vasily Golubev said one person was injured and several cars were damaged after one drone fell in the city center and another fell on its western outskirts.

Separately, Russian air defenses intercepted a drone attack near Moscow, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said in a Telegram post.?

Ukraine did not make any immediate comment.

Reports of Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian territory have become an almost daily occurrence in recent weeks as Kyiv ramps up its apparent efforts to wear down Russian domestic support for the war.

The Russian defense ministry proposed amending regulations to allow military registration for prisoners, state news agency TASS reported Wednesday.?

The current law says that “the citizens serving a sentence of imprisonment are not subject to military registration.”?

It is proposed to introduce the concept of “special military registration” for conscripts and those liable for military service who are currently serving sentences, according to TASS.?

“Special military registration is carried out by correctional institutions, correctional centers of the penitentiary system […] and military commissariats at the location of institutions of the penitentiary system in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation and this regulation,” the draft amendment says.?

According to the draft, “installment and removal from special military registration are carried out without appearing at the military commissariats, the corresponding lists of prisoners are provided by correctional institutions as prisoners are received, transferred or released,” according to TASS.?

Some background: Russian prisoners have already been used by Moscow in the war in Ukraine.

For months, Russia had been using the private mercenary company Wagner?to bolster its frontline presence with prisoners – a scheme at first?denied and secretive, but then openly promoted by the late Wagner’s owner, Yevgeny Prigozhin.

In addition, several prisoners told CNN earlier this year that they were directly employed by the defense ministry. And, more recently, other convicts detailed the brutality of the frontlines.

In one of the deadliest attacks in months, a Russian missile landed in the middle of the Ukrainian town of Kostiantynivka, killing 17 people, Ukrainian officials said.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with senior Ukrainian leadership and President Volodymyr Zelensky during his third visit to Kyiv on Wednesday. It comes as Ukraine’s counteroffensive enters its fourth month, with both Blinken and Zelensky expressing that it is making process.

Here’s what to know:

Dmytro Kuleba speaks during a briefing in Kyiv on September 4.

Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba called US military aid “the most profitable investment into world’s security” during a joint news conference with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Kyiv on Wednesday.

Kuleba emphasized that the United States “continues to be a leading Ukrainian ally in repelling the Russian aggression.”?

Kuleba noted that Blinken has given “a high estimate to the actions of Ukrainian soldiers.”??

“It was an objective estimate, that takes into consideration a tough reality of the battlefield and these heroic actions that the soldiers are bringing forth,” Kuleba said, adding that Ukraine has no intention of asking American soldiers to join its forces in the fight on Ukrainian territory.??

Kuleba said that both parties discussed integrating Ukraine’s defense industry into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), increasing Ukraine’s air defense and providing Ukraine with long-range Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) missiles, the latter topic remaining an ongoing conversation.??

The leaders also discussed the grain deal, agreeing that the Danube grain corridor, which is adjacent to the territory of Romania, is the “most promising option at the moment” to be used for grain exports.??

Kuleba noted that the rules to end the war “should be designated not by the third party that is an aggressor, but the country that has been invaded” and said that “some bilateral steps to make this approach work” were agreed on during the parties’ earlier conversation on Wednesday.?

Kuleba said he and Blinken had “an open, sincere and friendly conversation” and reiterated that the US support for Ukraine is long-standing.?

“Anyone in the world who has doubted that Ukraine and the US will stand shoulder to shoulder until the end of this war have received a powerful signal today that they are wrong. We are moving forward together because we understand this war is not just about the future of Ukraine, but the future of the world,” he said.?

The leaders also ate at a McDonald’s in Kyiv, which had recently reopened.?

Antony Blinken attends a joint press conference with Ukraine's foreign minister at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kyiv on September 6.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the US has “no illusions” that the path forward in Ukraine will be easy, but doubled down on continued US support and pointed to the progress that Ukraine has made so far during his press conference in Kyiv on Wednesday.

He noted that in the year since he was last in Ukraine, Kyiv’s forces have ” taken back more than 50% of the territory that Russia has seized from it since February of 2022.”

Blinken said that Zelensky’s assessment of the ongoing counteroffensive, after having recently visited the frontlines, matches the US assessment: “real progress in recent weeks.”

Blinken’s positive tone comes after US officials have previously said that the counteroffensive was not moving as quickly as they would have liked.?

Blinken also said that the US will be transferring seized Russian assets to Ukraine for the first time. He did not say how much those assets amounted to, or precisely when the transfer would happen.?

Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced $1 billion in new US support for Ukraine, including military, humanitarian and budgetary assistance.

“In the ongoing counteroffensive, progress has accelerated in the past few weeks. This new assistance will help sustain it and build further momentum,” Blinken said at a news conference with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba while visiting Kyiv on Wednesday.

The package includes replenishing Ukrainians with weaponry that the US has given to the country in the past including air defense system components, Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems for HIMARS, munitions, ammunition, and communications systems, according to a State Department fact sheet. These weapons will come from Pentagon stocks.

The new military assistance package also includes depleted uranium munitions for the first time, a US official told CNN. The munitions are mildly radioactive because they are made from dense metal, a byproduct from fuel production for nuclear power plants. They can be fired from the US-made Abrams tanks that are expected to arrive in Ukraine this fall.

And in terms of long-term military support the new package commits $100 million in military support, through the foreign military financing program, the department said. This comes as conversations between the US and Ukraine over long-term support continue.

More than one-fifth of the new support announced on Wednesday, totaling more than $200 million, will go toward support for transparency and reform, bolstering efforts on anti-corruption, rule of law and the justice sector, the department said. This support notably comes following the resignation of the Ukrainian defense minister earlier this week in the wake of a number of corruption scandals in the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense.

The US will also use this bucket of funding for transparency-related efforts to direct funding towards Ukraine’s capacity to both investigate and prosecute war crimes, invest in reconstruction efforts and strengthen the country’s financial management practices.

The humanitarian assistance portion of this new assistance totaling $206 million will go towards critical support including food, water, and shelter to those in Ukraine and those forced to flee to neighboring countries. There will also be more than $90 million in humanitarian assistance specifically for demining, the department said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan signed a slew of investment deals during a visit in October 2019.

Representatives from the United States, the United Kingdom and the European Union arrived in the United Arab Emirates this week to discuss the implementation of sanctions on?Russia?as part of a broader effort with a range of “partner” countries, a US embassy spokesperson told CNN.

It comes as concerns mount over goods being exported to Russia that could potentially be used in Moscow’s?war?on?Ukraine.

The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the visit, said that the discussions are happening as part of “a collective global push to keep computer chips, electronic components and other so-called dual-use products, which have both civilian and military applications, out of Russian hands.”

“The UAE is working with its friends and allies to address any concerns with regards to sanctions on Russia,” a senior UAE official told CNN when asked about the matter.

Remember: Russia is under a barrage of sanctions from the US and other Western nations following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year. But most of these are primary sanctions, which can only be enforced within the territory of the sanctioning country.

Western officials have visited the UAE several times over the past two years to warn the regional business hub that helping Moscow evade sanctions wouldn’t be without consequences.

The US has previously sanctioned entities and individuals in the UAE for sanctions evasion, including two UAE-based air transportation firms for collaborating with a sanctioned Iranian firm to transport Iranian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), personnel, and related equipment from Iran to Russia.

The Gulf state has walked a tightrope between Washington and Moscow since the start of the war in February 2022, opting to remain neutral as it sees the world order moving toward multipolarity. It has condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but has also expanded economic ties with Moscow.

Read more.

Senior US Senate Republicans say Congress should move quickly to pass new funding for Ukraine, even as the push has faced headwinds from conservatives in the House of Representatives.

The dispute centers around if Ukraine funding will be tied to the short-term spending bill to avoid a shutdown by the end of the month.?

Sen. Lindsey Graham told CNN that the Ukraine aid will “probably” be attached to the short-term funding bill.

Graham had choice words for conservatives who oppose Ukraine aid:

Graham, who went to Ukraine with a congressional delegation in August, said Kyiv’s forces are “on the offensive.”

“I expect major breakthroughs by the end of October. Now’s not the time to pull the plug on Ukraine and reward Putin for his invasion. So a supplemental, in my view, needs to address Ukraine because this is in our national interest,” he said.

Sen. Thom Tillis also said Ukraine funding and disaster relief should be tied together.

“I do support the disaster relief funding,” he said. “I feel very strongly that if we can, time is of the essence, we should work in the Ukraine funding at the same time. The president’s drawdown authority is probably only going to last for another month or two, and we have to replenish it to make it clear to Russia that we’re in for the long term.”

He said they will have to push for the skeptical House Republicans to recognize the importance of Ukraine aid.?

The Senate’s number-two Democrat, Sen. Dick Durbin, said that tying Ukraine aid to government funding legislation would send a message that the US will not abandon Ukraine. “I think it’s?important that we continue our assistance to Ukraine without any suggestion of our weakening resolve,” he said.

Republican Sen. Josh Hawley, who has long been a critic of US aid for Ukraine, argued that tying it to disaster funding would be “a mistake.”

Pressed on whether Speaker Kevin McCarthy should keep any Ukraine aid out of stopgap legislation to fund the government, Hawley replied, “I think so. Yeah, I think so. you know what he does will be up to him, but I don’t support it.”

The?draft?declaration?on?Ukraine that is?being prepared?by?the?Indian presidency of the?G20?must go further, according to a?European Union?official,?ahead of this weekend’s summit.

The draft “is?not?enough?for the G7, the?European Union and our members, because it’s?not?going?far?enough,” the senior EU official said.

The official, while briefing journalists on Wednesday, said discussions on the draft wording due to be signed off by G20 leaders in New Delhi have “been a very difficult negotiation.”

“Whether we’ll have a statement, we can’t say now as we speak, because negotiation is ongoing,” the official added.

“The difficulty for us?is?that Russia and China have refused to take back the language we had in Bali, which we cannot accept,” the official said, referring to the G20 summit in Indonesia last year, where leaders issued a statement condemning Russia’s full-scale invasion.

From the?European Union’s perspective, the?official?said even if all countries aren’t in agreement this year, “if we manage at 19 against one, it would be something.”?

Without an agreement?on?a unified?declaration, the?official?said the?EU?would accept a presidency report, which does?not?require agreement from all member nations — but “that will?not?be good.”

The?official?added that the?EU?expects “a reflection of our position” in the final text.

Some more context: Since the start of the war in?Ukraine,?India — the world’s largest democracy — has carefully navigated a middle path.

New Delhi has refused to condemn Moscow’s brutal assault in various United Nations resolutions. And?India?has undermined Western sanctions?by?increasing its purchases of Russian oil, coal and fertilizer.?India?has also maintained close ties to the West – particularly the United States – as it works to thwart China’s rise.

Emergency services respond following an attack on the city of?Kostiantynivka?in eastern Ukraine, on Wednesday, September 6.

The death toll from the Russian missile attack on a market in the eastern Donetsk region town of Kostiantynivka has risen to 17, Ukraine’s Minister of Internal Affairs Ihor Klymenko said in a Telegram statement.

A child was among the 17 dead, according to Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal. The attack is one of the deadliest in months.

The number of injured has risen to 32, Klymenko added.

A Russian S-300 missile appears to have landed in the middle of the town, according to reports from the scene. Videos from the ground show a fierce fire and thick black smoke rising, with at least one casualty visible on the ground.

According to the unofficial reports, the market is located near a shopping center.?

Kostiantynivka is close to the front lines around Bakhmut and frequently crowded with military personnel.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has described the attack as “utter inhumanity,” saying that the number of dead and injured may rise. “This Russian evil must be defeated as soon as possible,” he added.

Editor’s note: The death toll and number of injured has been updated to reflect the latest information provided by authorities.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky greets US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Kyiv on September 6.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the US is “determined to continue to walk side-by-side” with Ukraine when he met with President Zelensky in Kyiv on Wednesday, as he called Ukraine’s progress in the counteroffensive “very, very encouraging.”

“President Biden asked me to come, to reaffirm strongly our support. To ensure that we are maximizing the efforts that we’re making and that other countries are making, for the immediate challenge of the counteroffensive, as well as the longer-term efforts to help Ukraine build a force of the future that can deter and defend against any future aggression,” Blinken said.

Blinken said that he looks forward to getting an assessment from Zelensky after his visit to the conflict’s frontlines.

Zelensky said it is always a “great message of support” for Ukraine when US officials visit, noting that this is a “tough period” for Ukrainians.

The Ukrainian president expressed gratitude to President Joe Biden and to Congress for showing “great unity” in a bipartisan fashion when it comes to Ukraine.

“When you speak about Ukraine you are always together, thank you so much,” Zelensky said. “We are happy that we can count on you.”

Zelensky said that the US financial support for Ukraine’s budget is “crucial” and noted that a difficult winter is ahead.

“We are happy that we not alone through this winter,” Zelensky said.

The US?is expected to?include depleted uranium munitions?for the first time?in a military aid package?to?Ukraine, which is anticipated to be announced on Wednesday, a US official told CNN.

The munitions can be fired from the US-made Abrams tanks that are set to arrive in Ukraine this fall. The munitions can pierce armored plates like those found on tanks because they are made of a highly dense metal, a byproduct from fuel production for nuclear power plants. Depleted uranium rounds are nearly 70% denser than lead, which is the metal used in standard rounds of ammunition.

The munitions are mildly radioactive, raising questions about their safety and the risk they could pose to civilians — but they have been stripped of most of their radioactive matter and can’t produce a nuclear reaction. The US has the munitions stockpiled around the world, a US official told CNN.

The UK defense ministry confirmed in March that it would be sending ammunition containing depleted uranium to Ukraine, which Russian President Vladimir Putin protested. “I would like to note that if all this happens, Russia will have to react accordingly,” he said during a press conference in March. “I mean that the collective West is already starting to use weapons with a nuclear component.” The British ministry said Russia was “deliberately trying to disinform.”

The International Atomic Energy Agency has said that depleted uranium is “considerably less radioactive than natural uranium.” The agency added that the “main conclusion” of studies done on the health of military personnel exposed to depleted uranium is that exposure could not be linked to any statistically significant increases in the personnel’s mortality rates.

Deputy Pentagon press secretary Sabrina Singh told CNN on Wednesday that the US is confident the Ukrainians would use the munitions responsibly if and when they are provided.

The move to provide the depleted uranium rounds comes after US President Joe Biden’s administration decided to send controversial cluster munitions to Ukraine earlier this year. Both types of ammunition, the US believes, will help the Ukrainians break through Russian defensive lines and pierce Russian tanks amid the ongoing counteroffensive.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, flanked by US Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink, speaks to staff and families at the US Embassy in Kyiv on September 6.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed gratitude to diplomats in Ukraine as he spoke to US embassy staff in Kyiv during his unannounced visit to Ukraine on Wednesday.

“It is quite simply inspiring to your colleagues to see the work that you’re doing and the way that you’re doing. I feel very strongly all the way back in Washington. You are at the top of our minds back home,” Blinken said, speaking to the diplomats’ “remarkable courage.”

Blinken acknowledged the challenges – both logistically and emotionally – that the diplomats and the local Ukrainian staff who work at the embassy face each day.

Blinken thanked the diplomats who put work into organizing his visit, and the visits of other US officials.

“I just want to tell you how grateful I am for doing this work. Any visit in any embassy is challenging and complicated. To do it here, in the middle of a war, adds to the complexity,” he said.?

Blinken said he had a chance to meet with senior leadership at the embassy earlier in the day. He was introduced by the US Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink.

“Secretary Blinken’s presence here in Kyiv, and his many visits before, are proof that he is literally here with us in this fight,” said Brink.?

?Brink acknowledged the deadly Russian strikes overnight saying: “As we saw just last night again, it’s dangerous and the pace of work is relentless.”

Ukraine’s new defense minister, Rustem Umerov, speaks in the Ukrainian parliament in Kyiv on September 6.

In remarks as Ukraine’s new defense minister, Rustem Umerov vowed to wrest back control of “every centimeter” of Ukrainian land from Russia and bring home all those in captivity.

He said he will “do everything possible and impossible for the victory of Ukraine — when we liberate every centimeter of our country and every one of our people,” speaking shortly after the Ukrainian parliament approved his appointment.

Umerov has been prominently involved with the return of prisoners of war.

“Forty-two million Ukrainians stand behind every soldier. Behind every soldier is a ministry that will do everything to protect and provide for all our people. Our people, their lives and dignity are our priority and highest value,” he added.

Some background: Umerov replaces Oleksii Reznikov, whose long tenure – he had been in the post since before the full-scale war started – had been damaged by contract scandals involving the defense ministry.

Reznikov submitted his resignation on Monday after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenksy?cited?the need for “new approaches,” with the conflict entering a critical phase.

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba greets US Secretary of State Antony Blinken before a meeting in Kyiv on September 6.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has arrived in Kyiv for his third visit to Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion. On the agenda: The progress of Ukraine’s counteroffensive. After securing pockets of territory on the southern front – more slowly than Kyiv and its allies had hoped – some analysts are suggesting that subsequent gains may come more quickly, now that Ukraine’s troops have breached the first and most heavily fortified line of Russian defense.

And, as if to signal its intent to build on this hard-earned momentum, Rustem Umerov has become Ukraine’s new defense minister, after his appointment was approved by parliament.

Here are the latest developments:

Here’s the latest map of control:

Romania’s defense minister, Angel Tilvar, has confirmed that parts of a Russian drone may have fallen on Romanian territory after it had targeted a Ukrainian port on the River Danube, which runs along the border between the two countries.

Tilvar spoke with CNN’s Romanian affiliate A3CNN while visiting the area Wednesday.

“We have covered a very large area, including the area that has been publicly discussed, and I confirm that in this area pieces that may be from a drone were found,” he told reporters in Tulcea. The wreckage will be taken for further analysis.

The defense ministry had initially denied reports earlier this week that parts of a Russian drone had fallen on the Romanian side of the Danube.

Ukraine’s Danube ports have come under heavy and prolonged Russian bombardment in recent weeks, as Moscow targets Ukraine’s grain storage facilities and infrastructure after allowing the Black Sea grain deal to lapse in July.

Many of the strikes have landed just across the border from Romania, a NATO member. Romania’s defense ministry condemned an attack earlier this week “in the strongest possible terms,” calling it “unjustified and in deep contradiction with the rules of international humanitarian law.”

There were further drone attacks on the Ukrainian side of the river in the early hours of Wednesday, one of them killing an agricultural worker, according to a Ukrainian official.

Editor’s note: The headline and first line of this post have been updated to better characterize officials’ statements.

Commenting on US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit to Kyiv, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday that the United States has expressed its commitment to continue keeping Ukraine in a state of war “until the last Ukrainian.”

Peskov added that this would not alter the course of the war.

Rustem Umerov is pictured during a session of the Ukrainian parliament in Kyiv on Tuesday, September 5.

The Ukrainian parliament has approved the appointment of Rustem Umerov as the new defense minister.

Umerov, a Crimean Tatar, was formerly chairman of the State Property Fund, whose mission is to attract investment into Ukraine.

He replaces Oleksii Reznikov, whose long tenure – he had been in the post since before the full-scale war started – had been damaged by contract scandals involving the defense ministry.

Reznikov submitted his resignation on Monday after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenksy cited the need for “new approaches,” with the conflict entering a critical phase.

Ukrainian servicemen ride atop a tank near the village of?Robotyne, Ukraine, on August 25.

Ukrainian officials are cautiously optimistic that the next line of Russia’s defensive fortifications on the southern front may be easier to penetrate than the first, which were shrouded by dense minefields.

Geolocated video over recent days indicates that Ukrainian units have made limited progress beyond the village of Robotyne, as they seek to expand a pocket of territory reclaimed in the last few weeks.

Oleksandr Shtupun, spokesman for Ukrainian forces in the south, told Ukrainian television on Monday that in breaching the second line of Russian defenses, Ukrainian units “will benefit from the fact that the network of trenches, dugouts, and overlaps there is not as strong as on the first line.”

However, Shtupun urged caution, stressing that the second line of defenses “is quite powerful.”

The Ukrainian military reported Wednesday that Russian units had tried to counterattack near the village of Robotyne, which fell to Ukrainian forces late in August, but had been repelled.

Ukrainian forces said that units had been successful in consolidating their positions, inflicting artillery fire on enemy targets and conducting counter-battery operations.?

Independent analysts assess that Ukrainian forces continue to make progress in a square-shaped pocket of territory south and east of Robotyne, toward the town of Tokmak. But both sides have reported intense artillery fire and widespread destruction of settlements in the area, which has reduced the village of Robotyne to ruins.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken makes a statement alongside Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, ahead of their meeting at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kyiv, on Wednesday, September 6.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken noted the “good progress” Ukraine has made in its counteroffensive, as he met with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba in Kyiv on Wednesday.

In brief remarks at the foreign ministry, Kuleba said he was “looking forward to a productive, result-oriented conversation with you [Blinken].”

Blinken said that on his third visit since the Russian invasion, he was again “struck by the extraordinary bravery and resilience of the Ukrainian people, the Ukrainian forces, Ukraine’s leadership.”

“And I’m here, first and foremost, to demonstrate our ongoing and determined support for Ukraine as it deals with this aggression,” he said.

He said: “We’re also determined to continue to work with our partners as they build and rebuild a strong economy, a strong democracy.”

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba greets US Secretary of State Antony Blinken ahead of a meeting at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kyiv, Ukraine, on September 6.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in Kyiv on what is his third trip to the Ukrainian capital since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February last year.

The visit comes as Ukraine’s counteroffensive moves into its fourth month, with both political and military leaders in Kyiv talking up recent gains, especially in the south of the country, following growing concerns the concerted push on the battlefield has failed to produce results.

Blinken’s first stop Wednesday, after a brief visit to the US embassy, was at a military cemetery, where he laid a wreath in honor of Ukraine’s fallen soldiers. Later, he is scheduled to meet with President Volodymyr Zelensky, from whom he can expect a first-hand report of Ukraine’s efforts to regain land around the eastern city of Bakhmut – the Ukrainian leader visited with his troops there on Tuesday.

The visit by the US’s top diplomat is an opportunity for the United States and Ukraine to align ahead of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) later this month, a senior state department official told reporters traveling with Blinken.

While some US officials have been privately critical of Ukraine’s counteroffensive strategy, the official would not delve into specifics other than to say that now is the right time to “come and assess” how the counteroffensive is going.

Read more here.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken works while traveling by train to Kyiv on Wednesday, September 6.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Kyiv Wednesday for meetings with key Ukrainian officials, including President Volodymyr Zelensky and Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.?

His trip comes as Ukraine’s counteroffensive has been going slower than hoped.

Blinken is also expected to announce more than $1 billion in new funding for Ukraine, according to a senior State Department official.

Kyiv was targeted by Russian missiles overnight, which were intercepted, according to the city’s military administration.?

Blinken arrived in Kyiv Wednesday morning after making an overnight journey by train from Poland, in common with almost all high-profile visitors to war-torn Kyiv, including US President Joe Biden, who took the ride in February.

It is his third visit to Ukraine’s capital since Russia’s full-scale invasion.

In April 2022 he made the trip with Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, just a few weeks after Russian forces had withdrawn from areas immediately to the north of the Kyiv. His second trip was in September last year as Ukraine’s first big counteroffensive was underway in the Kharkiv region.

According to the State Department, Blinken also briefly went into Ukraine in March 2022, when he met on the border with Kuleba.

A?flag?emblazoned with Wagner's logo flies at a car rally in the Moscow region on August 23.

The United Kingdom is set to classify Russian mercenary group Wagner as a terrorist organization, giving officials the power to prosecute its members and seize assets.

In a statement Wednesday, the UK Home Office said Home Secretary Suella Braverman has put a draft order before Parliament to proscribe the Wagner Group, which will come into effect on September 13.

Once passed, the order will render it “illegal to be a member or support Wagner Group and punishable by up to 14 years in jail,” and allow the government to seize Wagner’s assets, the statement said.

Some context: The future of the Wagner Group remains uncertain following the death of its founder Yevgeny Prigozhin in a plane crash last month. Most security experts doubt Wagner can survive without Prigozhin, posing major questions about what will happen to the group’s fighters, weapons and operations.

Ukrainian servicemen ride a tank near the village of?Robotyne, Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine on August 25.

Russian forces “tactically left” the southeastern village of Robotyne after losing control of it to Ukrainian troops, a Moscow-backed official said Tuesday.

The Ukrainians breached Russian defenses near the village and are now focusing on expanding their gains in the area, CNN reported earlier.

Speaking on local television, the Russia-appointed acting governor of the occupied Zaporizhzhia region, Yevgeniy Balitskiy, said Robotyne “almost no longer exists as a result of quite large and prolonged fighting.”

Holding the bare ground where the village used to be is “not expedient,” so Russian forces withdrew to the hills where they enjoy height advantage, Balitskiy added.

Some context: Much has been made of the strategic importance of Robotyne for Ukraine’s three-month-long southern counteroffensive and the remains of what was a village of 500 before the war continue to be pounded day and night.

Ukrainian efforts are now focused on widening the bridgehead near the village, with fighting near Verbove, a few kilometers to the east, according to Ukrainian sources.

A Ukranian soldier takes up a position near Bakhmut, in Ukraine's Donetsk region, on Monday, September 4.

Fierce fighting is raging near Bakhmut as Ukrainian forces try to drive entrenched Russian troops out of the hotspot city on the “difficult” eastern front, the commander of Ukraine’s ground forces said Wednesday.

Bakhmut was captured by Russian forces in May but Ukrainian forces have made slight progress to the south and northwest of the city in recent weeks.

The overall situation on the eastern front “remains difficult,” Col. Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi said in a statement on Telegram.

Near Kupiansk in northeastern Ukraine, Russia is “finalizing the preparation of assault units and firing at Ukraine’s positions with artillery and mortars on a daily basis,” Syrskyi said.

Russia is also replenishing its troops in the Lyman area, about 25 miles north of Bakhmut, he said.

The Ukrainian military’s main tasks are to hold its positions near Kupiansk and Lyman, and advance on the Bakhmut front, he added.

Smoke rises in the sky over the city after a Russian missile strike in?Kyiv, Ukraine on September 6.

Ukraine’s air defenses rebuffed a Russian missile attack on Kyiv, Ukrainian officials said Wednesday.?

In a Telegram post, the Kyiv city military administration said all cruise missiles and presumed ballistic missiles fired by Russia were destroyed.

No casualties were reported and fires caused by missile fragments have been extinguished, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said.

An agricultural worker was killed and grain infrastructure damaged after Russian drones attacked a Danube River port, a Ukrainian official said Wednesday.

In a Telegram post, Oleh Kiper, chief of the Odesa region military administration, said several settlements were hit in the attack on Izmail district.

Russia has repeatedly targeted Ukrainian shipping infrastructure since it pulled out of the Black Sea grain deal in July. The accord’s collapse?pushed up global food prices?and fueled fears that the world’s poorest countries would struggle to feed their populations.

Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Turkey’s leader Tayyip Erdogan on Monday amid efforts to bring Moscow back into the critical deal, but no major breakthroughs came from the meeting.

US officials are urging North Korea to cease any arms negotiations with Russia amid reports that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un?may meet with President Vladimir Putin to discuss a potential deal to supply Moscow with weapons for its?war in Ukraine.

The US National Security Council said Monday that arms negotiations between Russia and North Korea are “actively advancing,” after Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu visited Pyongyang in July in an attempt to convince it to sell artillery ammunition to Moscow.

Russia has declined to comment on the claim.

Here’s what you need to know about Russia’s war in Ukraine:

Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko has signed a decree that would prevent its citizens from renewing their passports from outside the country, the presidential office said on Tuesday.

The decree outlines which notarial acts are allowed be performed by diplomatic missions of Belarus. The list does not include renewing or issuing?new?passports.

At least 200,000 to 500,000 people have fled Belarus since a government crackdown that followed Lukashenko’s disputed re-election in August 2020, according to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

What Minsk says: The decree intends to improve “the order of administrative procedures and optimizing the activities of diplomatic missions and consular offices of Belarus,” a statement from the presidential office said.

The decree does not go into effect until published by the presidential office.

US officials have warned North Korea it will “pay a price” if it strikes an arms deal with Russia, after saying that?negotiations were “advancing”?between the two nations.

If Pyongyang provides weapons to Moscow to use in the war against Ukraine, it is “not going to reflect well on North Korea and they will pay a price for this in the international community,” White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told a press briefing on Tuesday.

Sullivan did not elaborate on the potential repercussions for North Korea, which is already under United Nations and US sanctions imposed over Pyongyang’s weapons of mass destruction program.

On Monday, the National Security Council claimed arms negotiations between Russia and North Korea are “actively advancing,” after Russian defense minister?Sergei Shoigu visited Pyongyang?in July in an attempt to convince it to sell artillery ammunition.

The council’s spokesperson Adrienne Watson said North Korean leader Kim Jong Un expects “discussions to continue,” including “leader-level diplomatic engagement in Russia,” but did not say when or where a potential meeting between Kim and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Russia might take place.

CNN has asked the Russian embassy in Washington for comment. The Kremlin declined to comment on the claim, with a spokesperson saying on Tuesday: “We have nothing to say on the subject.”

Read the full story here.

A screengrab from a video posted on social media and allegedly recorded near Robotyne, Ukraine, purportedly shows?a recently-destroyed?UK-donated?Challenger?2?tank.

Video footage purportedly recorded near the village of Robotyne in southern Ukraine, and posted on social media shows what a Western source says is a?recently destroyed?UK-donated Challenger 2 tank.?

The tank was being used as part of Ukraine’s counteroffensive arsenal, according to the source.?

The video, seemingly filmed from a civilian vehicle, shows a destroyed tank as the car drives through a war-torn road.?CNN could not independently verify where the footage was recorded.

“It is a Challenger 2,” a source, who is associated with the West and has knowledge of the battlefield, told CNN on background.

The source added that the crew of the tank “survived the initial attack on the vehicle.” The source spoke on the condition of anonymity, as they were not authorized to speak to the media on the record about sensitive battlefield logistics.

This is the first?known instance of a Challenger 2 tank being destroyed on the battlefield since the UK provided Ukraine with the capability?earlier this year.

Russian forces have started covering some of their attack aircraft with car tires, which experts say could be a makeshift attempt to protect them from Ukrainian drone strikes.

Satellite imagery from Maxar of Engels Airbase, deep inside Russia, shows two Tu-95 strategic bombers with car tires on top of the airframes.?

CNN could not independently verify why the tires were placed on the aircraft, but experts say it could be a crude attempt at not only adding another layer of protection against Ukrainian drones but also to reduce the?aircrafts’ visibility, especially at night.

The makeshift attempt may have limited effect in terms of mitigating damage, according to Francisco Serra-Martins of drone manufacturer One Way Aerospace, whose drones have been used by Ukrainian forces.

“It may reduce the thermal signature for exposed strategic aviation assets placed on airfield aprons, but they will still be observable under infrared cameras,” he told CNN.

Steffan Watkins, an open-source research consultant who tracks aircraft and ships, said while the move “seems pretty goofy,” Russian forces appear “to be trying to do the best they can to up-armor the planes that are otherwise sitting ducks.”

“Whether it works depends on what the warhead is on the missile/drone,” he said, adding that the tires could be used to stop fragmentation of an airburst above the plane from piercing the aircraft.

A NATO military official told CNN?the alliance had seen the makeshift attempt.?

The official spoke on the condition of anonymity, as they were not authorized to speak to the media.

“We believe it’s meant to protect against drones,” a NATO military official told CNN. “We don’t know if this will have any effect.”

Mikhail?Fridman?attends a conference of the Israeli Keren Hayesod foundation in Moscow, Russia, on September 17, 2019.

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has accused Ukrainian-born Russian oligarch Mikhail Fridman of financing Russia’s war against Ukraine.

Fridman is chairman of Alfa Group, a private conglomerate operating primarily in Russia and former Soviet states that spans banking, insurance, retail and mineral water production. He has a net worth of $11.4 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaire’s Index.?Fridman is also chairman of Alfa Bank, Russia’s fourth-biggest financial services firm and its largest private bank.

Alfa Bank was hit last week by sanctions that will prevent it from raising money through the US market. Fridman is one of the few Russian oligarchs who have?spoken out against Russia’s full-scale invasion?of Ukraine. In the beginning days of the war, he called the conflict a “tragedy” for both Ukrainians and Russians.

The SBU made the following claims?in a statement:

Investigators have notified Fridman of the allegations “on the basis of collected evidence,” the statement added.

CNN reached out to Fridman, who declined to comment on the SBU’s accusations.

The T0408 was once a country lane that led peacefully southward through the open fields of?Ukraine’s?southern?Zaporizhzhia?region, from Orikhiv through Robotyne and on to Tokmak.

Now, the men of Ukraine’s 47th Mechanized Brigade have renamed it “the road to hell” and the picture they paint is apocalyptic: the sky “black with drones,” constant artillery and aerial bombardments and the once-fertile fields crammed with Russian mines, trenches and dugouts that make any southward progress virtually impossible.

Yet southward progress is precisely what the Ukrainian soldiers with the call signs Karatsupa, Pan and Taba seek, driving their American-made Bradley Fighting Vehicles down a road that is also, they believe, the road to Ukrainian victory.

Every day, under relentless fire, they drive fresh troops in and spent ones out, with just 30 seconds to make the swap on the battlefield.

Much has been made of the strategic importance of Robotyne for Ukraine’s three-month-long southern counteroffensive. But its capture has enraged the Russians further, say the men of the 47th Brigade.

The remains of what was a village of 500 before the war continue to be pounded day and night. Not just by artillery and aerial bombardments, but most fiercely by drones.

“The sky is black with them,” said Pan. Surveillance drones, attack drones, some Ukrainian, some Russian — it is, he said, impossible to tell. The worst are kamikaze drones that will follow you and obliterate you, he explained.

Read more here.