Russian strikes killed at least two people and caused “significant damage” to Odesa overnight, Ukrainian officials said Monday. Moscow’s forces have repeatedly targeted the southern port following the collapse of the Black Sea grain deal in July.
Nearby, Russian shelling also killed at least six people and wounded five in the Kherson region on Monday, according to Ukrainian officials.
Ukraine claimed it killed the commander of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet in an attack last week in Sevastopol, one of the largest cities on the annexed Crimean peninsula.?CNN has reached out to the Russian Ministry of Defense for comment.?
The Pentagon confirmed the first batch of US Abrams tanks arrived in Ukraine. The armored capability is expected to add a powerful ground component to Kyiv’s troop.
Poland has prepared routes for Ukrainian grain to move through its territory and reach countries most in need, President Andrzej Duda said. Warsaw publicly feuded? with Kyiv last week over grain imports and the question of supplying weapons.
Russian shelling kills 6 in Kherson as Ukraine targets regions near Crimea. Here’s what you need to know
From CNN staff
Damaged buildings are seen after a Russian attack in Odesa, Ukraine, on Monday, September 25, 2023.
Defence Forces Southern Ukraine via Reuters
A Russian attack hit port infrastructure in Ukraine’s southern Odesa region overnight, sparking a fire and injuring at least two people, Ukrainian officials said Monday. Ukrainian officials also reported deadly shelling in the nearby region of Kherson.
Here’s what you need to know about the attack and other developments in Ukraine as Russia continues its war:
Russian attack on Odesa: The southern port of Odesa sustained “significant damage” after Russia launched two Oniks supersonic missiles, 12 Kalibr cruise missiles and 19 Shahed drones overnight, Ukrainian officials said. Russia has repeatedly attacked Odesa in recent months, targeting Ukrainian grain infrastructure following the collapse of the Black Sea grain deal. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to answer questions about the attack on Odesa during a call with journalists, referring reporters to the Russian defense ministry.
Death toll in Kherson rises: At least six people have died as a result of Russian shelling on Ukraine’s Kherson region on Monday, Oleksandr Prokudin, head of the Kherson Regional Military Administration, said in an updated post.??A 73-year-old man and a 70-year-old woman were among those killed after Russian forces dropped four bombs on the southern Ukrainian city of Beryslav on Monday, a Ukrainian official said. This follows continuous attacks on the region on Sunday, which also resulted in civilian casualties. Over the past day, Russian forces have launched 87 attacks on the Kherson region, Prokudin said on social media.
Ukrainian attacks: Ukrainian drones targeted Russia’s Bryansk and Kursk border regions and occupied Crimea, Russian officials said Monday. No casualties were reported in either locality, officials said. It comes after Kyiv launched one of its?most?ambitious attacks yet?on the peninsula Friday, targeting Russia’s Black Sea headquarters. Elsewhere, Russia claimed its air defenses shot down four Ukrainian drone attacks over the Kursk region and seven drone attacks over the Belgorod region on Monday, officials said. Russian forces also stopped a missile attack over Sevastopol, the defense ministry reported.
Russia’s Black Sea Fleet commander killed: Ukraine claimed that Adm. Viktor Sokolov, the commander of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, was killed in a Ukrainian attack in Sevastopol on Friday.?He was among 34 officers killed, the?Ukrainian Special Operations Forces said in an update Monday, adding that more than 100 other Russian service members were wounded.?Russian ships were still launching attacks on Ukraine following the alleged death of the commander, but those attacks are being launched “by inertia,”?a Ukrainian Navy official, said later Monday on national television.?CNN cannot independently confirm Ukraine’s claims and had reached out to the Russian Ministry of Defense for comment.?
US Abrams tanks arrive: The tanks donated by the United States?are in Ukraine and are “getting prepared to reinforce our brigades,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Monday. Later in the day, The Pentagon confirmed that the first batch, which includes 31 Abrams tanks, has arrived in Ukraine. “The mere presence of Abrams tanks serves as a potent deterrent. By having these tanks in their arsenal, the Ukrainian army can more effectively discourage aggressive actions,” Pentagon spokesperson Maj. Charlie Dietz said Monday.
Here’s where the state of control stands in Ukrainian territory:
Editor’s note: This post has been updated with the latest death toll in Kherson.
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Russia claims to have countered several attacks over the Kursk and Belgorod regions, officials report
?From CNN’s Mariya Knight
Russian forces claimed to have thwarted Ukrainian missile and drone attacks on several regions Monday, according to officials.
Moscow’s air defenses shot down four Ukrainian drone attacks over the Kursk region and seven drone attacks over the Belgorod region, the Russian defense ministry and regional officials reported.
Russian forces also stopped a missile attack over Sevastopol, the defense ministry said.
No significant damage or casualties were reported by the officials in the area.?
Mikhail Razvozhaev, a Russian-appointed governor of Sevastopol, said that “air defense forces shot down one missile” in the area of ??the Belbek military airfield in Sevastopol, without providing any further details.??
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Death toll in Kherson region rises to 6 after more Russian attacks, Ukrainian military official says?
From CNN’s Mariya Knight and Yulia Kesaieva?
At least six people have died and five were injured as a result of Russian shelling in Ukraine’s Kherson region on Monday, Oleksandr Prokudin, head of the region’s military administration, said in an updated post on social media.
According to Prokudin, three more people were also injured and taken to the hospital.
Earlier, Prokudin reported that three people had died and two were injured as a result of the Russian air strike on the city of Beryslav in the Kherson region Monday.
Prokudin said that only a quarter of the population remains in the Beryslav community after the civilian evacuations following the intense Russian shelling.
“Over the past two weeks, almost 100 children and their families have left the dangerous coastal communities” of the Kherson region, Prokudin said.
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Russian ships in Black Sea still launching strikes after alleged death of top commander, Ukrainian Navy says?
From CNN's Radina Gigova and Yulia Kesaieva?
This satellite photo shows damage to a headquarters building for the Russian Black Sea fleet in Sevastopol, Crimea on Friday, September 22.
Planet Labs PBC/AP
Russian ships were still launching attacks on Ukraine following the alleged death of the commander of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, but those attacks are being launched “by inertia,”?Dmytro Pletenchuk, spokesperson for the Ukrainian Navy, said Monday on national television.?
Pletenchuk was asked about comments made by Ukrainian authorities earlier Monday, claiming that?Adm.?Viktor Sokolov along with 33 other officers were killed and more than 100 servicemen were wounded in Friday’s attack in Sevastopol.?
Pletenchuk said Russian President Vladimir Putin “does not control the actual operation of ships at sea” and relies on his admirals who know “their means and forces, personnel, how to manage them, how to better deploy them. And they can also keep things from him [Putin], not report on certain issues.”
Pletenchuk went on to say that?“yes, last night they (referring to the Russian ships in the Black Sea) were still launching strikes by inertia” but he compared the operations to “a chicken running around without a head.”
“Therefore, as of now, they (the Russian navy) will have respective problems with the control of the troops,” he said.?
Earlier on Monday,?the?Ukrainian Special Operations Forces?said Sokolov has been killed in Sevastopol on Friday, in?perhaps the most daring attack by Ukrainian forces on Crimea so far.?
“Eliminated during a strike on the headquarters in Sevastopol Commander of the Russian Black Sea Fleet Admiral Sokolov,”??Col. Vladislav Nazarov, spokesperson for the Operational?Command “South,” said.?
CNN cannot independently confirm Ukraine’s claims about Sokolov and the rest of the casualties in Sevastopol.?CNN has reached out to the Russian Ministry of Defense for comment but at the time of this writing has not received a response.?
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Death toll in Kherson rises to 3, authorities say
From CNN's Yulia Kesaieva and Radina Gigova
Three people have died as a result of Russian shelling on Ukraine’s Kherson region on Monday, Oleksandr Prokudin, head of the Kherson Regional Military Administration, said in an updated post.?
A 55-year-old man, who was severely injured in the strike on the city of Beryslav, has died, Prokudin said.?
“Doctors fought for his life in the morning, but his injuries turned out to be too severe,” he said. “My condolences to the families of the victims! I wish the wounded a speedy recovery.”
Russian forces dropped four bombs on the southern Ukrainian city of Beryslav on Monday, Prokudin said, previously reporting that two people were killed and two more injured in the attack. He added that over the past day, Russian forces have launched 87 attacks on the Kherson region.
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UN: There's "continuous evidence" Russian forces are "committing war crimes in Ukraine"
From CNN's Sharon Braithwaite and Stephanie Halasz
There is “continuous evidence” Russian forces are “committing war crimes in Ukraine,” the United Nations Human Rights Council said.
The council alleged that attacks in Ukraine include “unlawful attacks with explosive weapons, attacks harming civilians, torture, sexual and gender-based violence, and attacks on energy infrastructure”
The council’s?Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine?said it had “documented explosive weapons attacks on residential buildings, a functional medical facility, a railway station, a restaurant, shops and commercial warehouses. These attacks led to civilian casualties, the damage or destruction of key facilities, and the disruption of essential services and supplies.”
The commission heard from torture victims and quotes one person as saying, “every time I answered that I didn’t know or didn’t remember something, they gave me electric shocks … I don’t know how long it lasted. It felt like an eternity.”
The commission reported Russian soldiers committing sexual violence against women of ages ranging from 19 to 83 years, and said it continues to “investigate individual situations of alleged transfers of unaccompanied minors by Russian authorities to the Russian Federation.”
Blinken: Russia-North Korea cooperation is "a two-way street that is increasingly dangerous"
From CNN's Jennifer Hansler
Russia's President Vladimir?Putin, right,?and North Korea's leader?Kim?Jong Un attend a meeting at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the far eastern Amur region, Russia, on September 13.
KCNA/Reuters
The United States sees Russia and North Korea’s cooperation as “a two-way street that is increasingly dangerous,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Monday.
The top US diplomat described Kim Jong Un’s trip to Russia as demonstrative of North Korea’s “threats to broader security,” noting Russia is “desperate to find equipment, supplies, technology for its ongoing aggression against Ukraine” and North Korea “that is looking for help to strengthen and advance its own missile programs.”
Speaking at the Center for Strategic and International Studies ROK-U.S. Strategic Forum, a forum that brings together US and Republic of Korea officials, Blinken added, “we’re working hand-in-hand with other partners and allies to highlight the dangerous ways Russia and North Korea’s military cooperation threaten global peace and security.”
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Zelensky says US Abrams tanks have arrived in Ukraine?
From CNN's Yulia Kesaieva, Radina Gigova, Haley Britzky and Alex Marquardt
US Abrams tanks have arrived in Ukraine and?are “getting prepared to reinforce our brigades,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Monday.
The Pentagon confirmed that the first batch, which includes 31 Abrams tanks, have arrived in Ukraine.
“The mere presence of Abrams tanks serves as a potent deterrent. By having these tanks in their arsenal, the Ukrainian army can more effectively discourage aggressive actions,” Pentagon spokesperson Maj. Charlie Dietz said Monday.
The armored capability adds a powerful ground component to Ukrainian troops who have already endured more than a year and a half of war.
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Ukraine claims Russian Black Sea Fleet's commander killed in Sevastopol attack?
From CNN's Radina Gigova and Olya Voitovych?
Commander of the Russian Black Sea Fleet Vice-Admiral?Viktor?Sokolov?salutes during a send-off ceremony for reservists drafted during partial mobilisation, in Sevastopol, Crimea, on September 27, 2022.
“After the hit of the headquarters of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, 34 officers were killed, including the commander of the Russian Black Sea Fleet,” the?Ukrainian Special Operations Forces said in an update Monday, adding that more than 100 other Russian servicemen were wounded.?
Sevastopol, home to Russia’s Black Sea Fleet headquarters, is one of the largest cities on the Crimean peninsula and was illegally annexed by Moscow’s forces in 2014.
CNN cannot independently confirm Ukraine’s claims about Solokov or the number of casualties.?
CNN has reached out to the Russian Ministry of Defense for comment.?
Moscow has said that one serviceman is missing as a result of Ukraine’s attack on Sevastopol.?
More about the official: Russia appointed Sokolov its new commander for its Crimea-based Black Sea fleet in August 2022, according to reports from state media outlet TASS at the time.
Sokolov had been serving as the Naval Academy chief since 2020. He served as the Northern Fleet deputy commander from 2013 until 2020. The change of command came amid heavy losses and a string of explosions at Russian military facilities in Crimea.
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Russian strikes kill 2 people in Kherson region
From CNN's Radina Gigova and Olga Voitovych?
A 73-year-old man and a 70-year-old woman were killed after Russian forces dropped four bombs on the southern Ukrainian city of Beryslav on Monday, a Ukrainian official said.
The two who died were inside a housing complex that was struck. Another two people were wounded in the attack, according to Oleksandr Prokudin, the head of the Kherson region military administration
Among the buildings damaged in Beryslav were medical facilities, an educational institution, a church and a piece of critical infrastructure. Factories in the city of Kherson were also hit, according to Prokudin.
Monday’s strikes come follow continuous attacks on the region on Sunday, which also resulted in civilian casualties.??Over the past day, Russian forces have launched 87 attacks on the Kherson region, Prokudin said on social media.
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Kremlin declines to comment on Odesa attack, referring questions to the military
From CNN's Anna Chernova and Radina Gigova
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to answer questions about the attack on Odesa during a call with journalists, referring reporters to the Russian defense ministry.
The attack on the Ukrainian port city left at least two people dead and one wounded. Kyiv contended it was a “pathetic attempt at retaliation” following Ukraine’s Friday assault on the Russian Black Sea Fleet headquarters on Friday.
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2 people have now been confirmed dead in Odesa
From CNN's Olga Voitovych and Radina Gigova
Firefighters work to extinguish a fire in a hotel at the seaport after a Russian rocket attack in Odesa, Ukraine, on September 25.
Odesa Region Administration/AP
Two people have been confirmed dead following Russia’s overnight attack on the southern Ukrainian port city of Odesa, according to Oleh Kiper, the head of the Odesa regional military administration.
One victim was found under the rubble of a warehouse where grain was stored, Kiper said in a social media post. The body of another individual working in the warehouse was found earlier.
One injury has been reported so far.
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Ukraine's defense ministry says Russia's attack on Odesa was "pathetic attempt at retaliation"
From CNN's Radina Gigova, Olga Voitovych and Clare Sebastian?
Russia’s overnight attack on the southern Ukrainian port city of Odesa was a “pathetic attempt at retaliation” the Ukraine Defense Ministry said Monday on social media.
The ministry contended that the Kremlin was responding to Ukrainian attack on Russia’s Black Sea Fleet headquarters in Sevastopol on Friday.
Ukraine’s military alleged that Russia’s attack on Odesa was a violation of international humanitarian law, as it targeted both troops and civilian infrastructure, including the power supply.
Ukraine’s energy minister said Monday that about 1,000 consumers were without electricity. A “large-scale repair campaign” is under way, according to the ministry, and engineers continue to prepare the power system for the winter heating season.
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A seaport, a hotel and granaries were damaged in Russia's "massive" attack on Odesa
From CNN's Radina Gigova and Olga Voitovych?
A member of?Odesa?Regional Prosecutor's Office personnel inspects damage following a Russian military attack in?Odesa, Ukraine, in this image released on September 25.
Odesa?Regional Prosecutor's Office/Reuters
A hotel and seaport sustained “significant damage” in a missile barrage on the Ukrainian port city of Odesa overnight, according to the country’s prosecutor general’s office.
The attack by Russia injured at least one person, though casualty information is still being clarified as the debris is cleared, authorities said Monday.
Russian forces employed Iranian-made drones, hypersonic missiles, cruise missiles and a submarine in the assault, Ukraines defense forces said. Nineteen drones and 11 missiles were shot down.
The debris from the downed weapons damaged some warehouses and private homes.?Blast waves shattered the windows of several residences, wounding a civilian woman – the lone casualty so far reported – the defense forces said.
The granaries were damaged in the hypersonic missile strike.
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How pro-war ideology is being instilled in Russia's youth
From CNN's Tim Lister?and?Katharina Krebs
Municipal Educational Institution "Ilyinsky House of Children's Creativity", shows children given a talk by special military operation participant
Municipal Educational Institution "Ilyinsky House of Children's Creativity"
Russia’s playgrounds are becoming parade grounds. At?schools?from the Pacific to the Black Sea, children in nursery grade don uniforms and take part in marching practice. Older kids are being taught how to dig trenches, throw grenades and shoot with real ammunition.
In schools across the country, service in the armed forces is being glorified, “voluntary companies” of teenagers are being formed and the national curriculum is being changed to emphasize defense of the motherland.
In short, Russia’s children are being prepared for war.
The militarization of Russia’s public schools has intensified since the?Russian invasion of Ukraine, driven not by a spontaneous surge of patriotic feeling, but by the government in Moscow.
The investment is huge. Education Minister Sergei Kravtsov said recently that there are now about 10,000 so-called “military-patriotic” clubs in Russian schools and colleges, and a quarter-of-a-million people take part in their work.
These clubs are part of a multi-pronged effort that includes a radical overhaul of the school curriculum. There are mandatory classes on military-patriotic values; updated history books accentuate Russian military triumphs.
Ukrainian drones attack border regions and Crimea, Russian officials say
From CNN's Olga Voitovych and Irene Nasser
Ukrainian drones targeted Russian border regions and the occupied Crimean peninsula overnight, Russian officials said Monday.
Here’s where the attacks took place:
Bryansk: Alexander Bogomaz, governor of the region in western Russia, said air defenses “shot down two aircraft-type unmanned aerial vehicles,” over Surazhsky district. There were no casualties or damage, he said.
Kursk: Gov.Roman Starovoit said several homes and an administrative building were damaged in the western border region’s central district following Ukrainian drone attacks. No casualties were reported, he said.
Crimea and the Black Sea: Russia’s defense ministry said it destroyed four drones over the northwestern part of the Black Sea and over Crimea overnight. It comes after Kyiv launched one of its?most?ambitious attacks yet?on the peninsula Friday, targeting Russia’s Black Sea headquarters.
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Russian strikes caused "significant damage" to Odesa port, Ukrainian military says
From CNN's Olga Voitovych and Irene Nasser
A firefighter works at a site of a hotel damaged by a Russian military attack in?Odesa, Ukraine, on September 25.
Press service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in?Odesa?region/Reuters
The southern port of Odesa sustained “significant damage” in Russian strikes overnight, Ukrainian military officials said Monday, as more details emerged of Moscow’s latest attack on Ukraine’s grain export infrastructure.
In a Telegram post, the Defense Forces of the South of Ukraine said Russia launched two Oniks supersonic missiles, 12 Kalibr cruise missies and 19 Shahed drones at Odesa overnight.
Air defenses intercepted all of the drones and 11 of the Kalibr missiles, but “unfortunately, the enemy hit the port infrastructure,”? it said.
The attacks also caused a fire at a defunct hotel, the post added.
Russia has repeatedly attacked Odesa in recent months, targeting Ukrainian grain infrastructure following the collapse of the Black Sea grain deal.
In a Telegram post earlier Monday, Oleh Kiper, head of the region’s military administration, said at least one civilian was injured in the overnight attacks.
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Russia targets Odesa port following deadly strikes in southern Ukraine. Here's the latest
From CNN staff
A Russian attack hit port infrastructure in Ukraine’s southern Odesa region overnight, sparking a fire and injuring at least one civilian, a Ukrainian official said Monday.
Moscow’s forces have repeatedly attacked Odesa in recent months, targeting Ukrainian grain infrastructure following the collapse of the Black Sea grain deal.
It comes after Russian shelling killed three people and wounded at least nine others Sunday in the southern?Zaporizhzhia?and?Kherson?regions, Ukrainian officials said.
Here are some of the other latest developments from the war in Ukraine:
Grain transit:?Poland has?prepared transit corridors?that will allow Ukrainian grain shipments to move through its territory and reach the countries most in need, President Andrzej Duda said Sunday. The comments are notable because the Polish government has joined Hungary and Slovakia in extending a ban on cheap Ukrainian grain imports, which they say have undercut local farmers.
Pope on “martyrs”:?Pope Francis on Saturday told journalists that the withholding of weapons to Ukraine is turning the Ukrainian people into?“martyrs.”?The Pope also spoke of the “paradox” of countries supplying Ukraine with weapons before taking them away. The pontiff was possibly referring to the?recent decision by Poland?to stop providing weapons to Ukraine, amid a growing dispute between the two countries over the temporary ban on Ukrainian grain imports.
New battlefield video: The Ukrainian military on Sunday?released additional footage?from the battle for the village of Andriivka, a small hamlet immediately south of the city of Bakhmut, which Kyiv’s forces say they reclaimed on September 15. Liberating Andriivka was considered?a key step in the fight for Bakhmut, Maksym Zhorin, deputy commander of Ukraine’s Third Separate Assault Brigade, said at the time.
DPR curfew:?A?curfew and a communications?censorship?took effect Sunday in the self-proclaimed?Donetsk People’s Republic in eastern Ukraine, according to Russian state media. The curfew will last from 11 p.m. to 4 a.m. on weekdays, starting on Monday, according to a decree signed by the region’s Russia-backed leader,?Denis Pushilin, state news agency TASS reported.?An additional decree imposes a military?censorship?on mail, internet communications and phone conversations, TASS said.??
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Russian strikes hit Odesa port, Ukrainian official says
From CNN's Josh Pennington and Irene Nasser
A Russian attack hit port infrastructure in Ukraine’s southern Odesa region overnight, sparking a fire and injuring at least one civilian, a Ukrainian official said Monday.
In a Telegram post, Oleh Kiper, head of the Odesa regional military administration, said a woman suffered shrapnel injuries following the attack, which included drones and two types of missiles.
A “fire broke out in a non-residential high-rise in Odesa and was quickly extinguished,” he said.?“There was also damage to a warehouse and a private house in the Odesa area.”
Russia has repeatedly attacked Odesa in recent months, targeting Ukrainian grain infrastructure following the collapse of the Black Sea grain deal.
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Poland is creating routes for Ukrainian grain to reach countries in need, president says
From CNN's Radina Gigova and Svitlana Vlasova
Andrzej Duda addresses world leaders during the United Nations (UN) General Assembly in New York on September 19.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images
Poland has prepared transit corridors that will allow Ukrainian grain shipments to move through its territory and reach the countries most in need, President Andrzej Duda said Sunday.
The comments are notable because the Polish government has joined Hungary and Slovakia in extending a ban on cheap Ukrainian grain imports, which they say have undercut local farmers. Speaking Sunday, Duda said Poland will however still help shipments reach their final destination.
During a speech at a Ukraine recovery summit on Friday, Duda said?the grain dispute with Ukraine will not have a serious impact on the relations between the two countries, as they have a “historic dimension,” according to state news agency PAP.?
Some context:?Kyiv and Warsaw have?publicly feuded?this week over the grain issue and the question of supplying weapons.
In remarks on Thursday, Duda also?tried to clarify statements?by Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, who had said that Poland will stop weapons deliveries to Ukraine, after President Volodymyr Zelensky said at the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday that “some of our friends in Europe, play out solidarity in a political theater.”
After a week of tense back and forth between Kyiv and Warsaw,?Morawiecki?shot back at Zelensky?on Friday, saying he should?never “insult Poles again.”?
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Russian attacks kill at least 2 in Kherson, officials say?
From CNN's Svitlana Vlasova and Radina Gigova
Russian attacks Sunday killed at least two people and wounded at least nine others in Ukraine’s southern Kherson region, Ukrainian authorities said.?
One strike hit an industrial area and the other hit civilian infrastructure, an official said.
A?49-year-old woman working as a security guard was among those wounded in the bombings, Prokudin said.?
A total of six people were injured in Kherson city, Roman Mrochko, the head of the Kherson city military administration, said in a Telegram post.
More?have been wounded elsewhere in the region: Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office said earlier Sunday that two people had been killed and three were injured in attacks near the city of?Beryslav.?
Meanwhile, A 53-year-old man died as a result of a Russian artillery strike on?Zaporizhzhia on Sunday, according to Yurii Malashko, the head of the region’s military?administration.
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Video shows advance of Ukraine's military near Andriivka
From CNN's Svitlana Vlasova and Radina Gigova
The Ukrainian military on Sunday released additional footage from the battle for the village of Andriivka, a small hamlet immediately to the south of the city of Bakhmut, that was reclaimed from Russian forces earlier this month.
Liberating Andriivka is considered a key step in the fight for Bakhmut, Maksym Zhorin, deputy commander of the Third Separate Assault Brigade said at the time.
The video, released by Ukraine’s Third Separate Assault Brigade, which fought for control of the village, shows fighters from the brigade’s 1st assault battalion advancing through “a forest belt scorched by the fighting.”
“Only mountains of concrete, brick and metal fragments remind us that there were buildings here,” the brigade said.
Some context:?Ukraine’s Third Separate Assault Brigade?recaptured Andriivka on September 15, it announced on Telegram that day. They are now trying to consolidate their gain there to hold on to it.
Russian forces claimed control of Bakhmut in May following a?months-long slog in the city. The Russian advance was bolstered by members of the Wagner mercenary group, which incurred heavy losses in the fierce fighting.
CNN’s Mariya Knight contributed to this report.
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Withholding weapons is turning Ukrainians into martyrs, Pope says
From CNN's Antonia Mortensen in Rome
Pope Francis delivers his Sunday Angelus blessing from his studio overlooking?St. Peter's Square during the Sunday Angelus blessing in Vatican City, Vatican on September 24.
Vatican Media/Getty Images
Pope Francis on Saturday told journalists that the withholding of weapons to Ukraine is turning the Ukrainian people into “martyrs.”
The Pope made the comments during a news conference on a flight back to Rome’s Fiumicino airport following a two-day trip to Marseille.?
Pope Francis also spoke of the “paradox” of countries supplying Ukraine with weapons before taking them away, which was keeping Ukrainians a “martyred people.”
“Those who traffic in arms never have to pay the consequences of their choices, but leave them to be paid by martyred peoples, such as the Ukrainian people,” he said.?
Some context:?The pontiff was possibly referring to the?recent decision by Poland?to stop providing weapons to Ukraine, amid a dispute between the two countries over a temporary ban on Ukrainian grain imports.?
When asked for clarification, Vatican spokesperson Matteo Bruni said the Pope was not taking a stand on whether countries should continue to send weapons to Ukraine or stop sending them, according to Reuters.?
Rather, his comments were a “reflection on the consequences of the arms industry: the Pope, with a paradox, was saying that those who traffic in weapons never pay the consequences of their choices but leave them to be paid by people, like the Ukrainians, who have been martyred,” Bruni said.
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What we know about the attack on Russia's Black Sea Fleet headquarters
From CNN staff
Ukraine launched one of its most?ambitious attacks yet on Crimea?Friday, targeting Russia’s Black Sea Fleet headquarters in Sevastopol. The Crimean peninsula was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014, and Ukraine has vowed to reclaim it.
Here’s what we know:
What happened??Ukraine said its forces carried out a “successful” missile attack on the naval HQ. A fire broke out in the aftermath of the attack, which also left debris scattered hundreds of meters away. Plumes of smoke could be seen pouring from the building, while officials also said shrapnel landed in a nearby theater.
What has Ukraine said??The country’s Special Operations Forces said Saturday that the strike was timed for when senior members of Russia’s navy were convening and has left?dozens dead and wounded, “including senior leadership.”?Ukrainian officials have?commented?on the strike, with the chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People in Ukraine, Refat Chubarov, thanking those involved in the operation to “liberate” Crimea.?Another Ukrainian official said Russia’s Black Sea Fleet could be “sliced up like a salami.”
What has Russia said??Russia’s Ministry of Defense?has said so far only one soldier is missing following the attack. “As a result of the attack, the historical headquarters building of the Black Sea Fleet was damaged,” the defense ministry said, adding that five missiles were shot down by their air defense systems. CNN has not been able to verify Ukraine’s claim it killed Russian naval leaders.
What does it mean for the war??Hitting Russian facilities?on occupied Crimea is a display of Ukraine’s confidence — and the vulnerability of said vital infrastructure. There are plenty of reasons for Ukraine to target Crimea. It’s a sign that despite the slow progress on the front lines in its counteroffensive, Ukraine can still inflict serious damage on the Russian military. Targets such as the?Crimea bridge?have considerable symbolic value as well as strategic purpose. Ukrainian Defense Intelligence spokesperson Andrii Yusov said “the ultimate goal, of course, is the de-occupation of Ukrainian Crimea.”
