Nearly 9,000 civilians have died since the start of Russia’s war
A lady places a container of food atop the grave of her son in the soldier’s section of a cemetery on March 07, 2023 in Kharkiv, Ukraine. Last February, Russia’s military invaded Ukraine from three sides and launched airstrikes across the country.
John Moore | Getty Images
The United Nations said that no less than 8,983 Ukrainian civilians have died since the start of Russia’s war nearly 500 days ago.
The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, or OHCHR, added that no less than 15,442 have been injured as a result of the ongoing conflict.
“OHCHR believes that the actual figures are considerably higher, as the receipt of data from some locations where intense hostilities have been going on has been delayed and many reports are still pending corroboration. This concerns, for instance, Mariupol, Lysychansk, Popasna and Sievierodonetsk where there are allegations of diverse civilian casualties,” the U.N. group wrote in an announcement.
About 94% of the deaths and injuries were brought on by explosive weapons with a large impact area, in response to the U.N. report.
— Amanda Macias
IAEA chief says he’ll visit Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant soon
Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), visits the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine on March 29, 2023. (Photo by Andrey BORODULIN / AFP) (Photo by ANDREY BORODULIN/AFP via Getty Images)
Andrey Borodulin | Afp | Getty Images
Mario Grossi, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said he’ll visit Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant “soon.”
Grossi has previously visited the Russian-occupied nuclear power plant, Europe’s largest, twice since the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion began last February.
“The location’s fragile power situation continues to be a source of deep concern,” Grossi said in his latest statement released by the IAEA. “There may be a necessity for intensified efforts to make sure a more stable and predictable external electricity supply,” he added.
— Amanda Macias
Photos show Ukrainian-designed drone used for reconnaissance in Donetsk region
Member of Ukrainian Army Forces handles Aviation Systems of Ukraine Valkyrja drone designed and produced in Ukraine used for reconnaissance of Russian positions in undisclosed location near town of Recent York Donetsk region.
Lev Radin | Lightrocket | Getty Images
Photos show members of the Ukrainian Army Forces handling Valkyrja drones at undisclosed locations in the Donetsk region. Aviation Systems of Ukraine produces the Valkyrja unmanned aircraft system to supply aerial surveillance and mapping services to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, National Guard, and Special Operations Forces.
View of Aviation Systems of Ukraine Valkyrja drone designed and produced in Ukraine used for reconnaissance of Russian positions in undisclosed location near town of Recent York Donetsk region. (Photo by Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Pacific Press | Lightrocket | Getty Images
View of Starlink terminal used to transmit information from Aviation Systems of Ukraine Valkyrja drone designed and produced in Ukraine used for reconnaissance of Russian positions in undisclosed location near town of Recent York Donetsk region.
Pacific Press | Lightrocket | Getty Images
Member of Ukrainian Army Forces handles Aviation Systems of Ukraine Valkyrja drone designed and produced in Ukraine used for reconnaissance of Russian positions in undisclosed location near town of Recent York Donetsk region.
Lev Radin | Lightrocket | Getty Images
Member of Ukrainian Army Forces handles Aviation Systems of Ukraine Valkyrja drone designed and produced in Ukraine used for reconnaissance of Russian positions in undisclosed location near town of Recent York Donetsk region.
Lev Radin | Lightrocket | Getty Images
Member of Ukrainian Army Forces operates Aviation Systems of Ukraine Valkyrja drone designed and produced in Ukraine used for reconnaissance of Russian positions in undisclosed location near town of Recent York Donetsk region.
Pacific Press | Lightrocket | Getty Images
Kremlin dismisses fake Putin address on Russian radio as a ‘hack’
The Kremlin said Monday that an apparent radio address by President Vladimir Putin in regions bordering Ukraine was fake and the results of an attack.
Russia’s state-owned news agency RIA said several Russian radio stations had carried the broadcast, which Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov described as “an utter fake.”
Independent Russian media reported that the announcement had told residents of the Rostov, Belgorod and Voronezh regions that Kyiv’s forces had crossed the border with Russia.
The Voronezh regional government said in a Telegram statement that a hack had taken place and that local radio stations were under the control of law enforcement agencies and local authorities.
It comes after Russia claimed Sunday that it had thwarted a large-scale offensive in Donetsk, something Ukraine later said it had no information on.
— Karen Gilchrist
Ukraine’s military says it has no details about major offensive
Ukraine’s military said Monday that it had no details about a significant offensive which Russia said Kyiv had launched along the front line in the Ukrainian region of Donetsk.
“We shouldn’t have such information and we don’t comment on any type of fake [news],” a spokesperson for the Ukrainian armed forces’ general staff told Reuters.
— Karen Gilchrist
Wagner’s Prigozhin says Ukraine has retaken a part of settlement north of Bakhmut
Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner Group, claimed in May that his mercenary fighters captured Bakhmut after nine months of intense fighting there.
Mikhail Svetlov | Getty Images
Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin said Monday that Ukrainian forces have retaken a part of the settlement of Berkhivka, north of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine.
“Now a part of the settlement of Berkhivka has already been lost, the troops are quietly running away. Disgrace!” Prigozhin said in an audio message published by his press service.
Prigozhin urged Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and the chief of the general staff, Valery Gerasimov, to come back to the front to rally the troops.
“Come on, you possibly can do it!” he said. “And in case you cannot, you will die heroes,” he said.
Prigozhin’s private Wagner militia captured Bakhmut last month after the longest battle of the war and handed its positions there to regular Russian forces.
The businessman has repeatedly denounced Russia’s regular military for abandoning ground captured earlier by his men.
— Karen Gilchrist
Papal envoy visits Kyiv to ‘listen fastidiously’ to possible peace plans
Celebration of Mass presided over by Cardinal Matteo Zuppi Metropolitan Archbishop of Bologna and President of the Italian Episcopal Conference during the 77th CEI General Assembly, vatican City, 25 May 2023.
Massimo Valicchia | Nurphoto | Getty Images
Italian Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, who has been assigned by Pope Francis to conduct a peace mission to finish the war in Ukraine, traveled to Kyiv Monday to sound out government authorities.
The aim of the two-day visit is “to listen fastidiously to Ukrainian authorities on the possible ways to achieve a just peace and support humanitarian gestures that will help ease tensions,” the Vatican said.
It was not clear if Zuppi would meet President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
At a gathering in May, Zelenskyy asked the pope to back Kyiv’s peace plan, which calls for restoring Ukraine’s territorial integrity, the withdrawal of Russian troops and cessation of hostilities, and the restoration of Ukraine’s state borders.
Following the meeting, the pope described the return of occupied territories as a “political problem.”
— Karen Gilchrist
Turkey, Finland and Sweden to debate Stockholm’s NATO bid on June 12
Turkey, Finland and Sweden will meet on June 12 to debate Stockholm’s bid to hitch the NATO military alliance, which has thus far been stalled by Ankara’s objections, in response to a NATO statement released on Sunday.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg addresses a joint press conference with the Swedish prime minister in Stockholm on March 7, 2023, following a gathering with all Swedish party leaders who’re in favor of a Swedish NATO membership.
Jonathan Nackstrand | AFP | Getty Images
The announcement followed a gathering of NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg and newly reelected Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul.
Finland and Sweden renounced their long-standing policy of political neutrality following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and jointly applied for NATO membership in June last 12 months. Finland was accepted and joined the military organization in April.
Stockholm’s accession has been delayed by Turkish concerns that Sweden harbors militants of the Kurdistan Staff’ Party, which Ankara, the United States, the EU and others designated as a terrorist organization.
Belgorod governor says energy facility on fire after drone attack
An energy facility was set on fire following a drone attack in the Russian city of Belgorod, by the Ukrainian border, Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on Telegram overnight, in response to a Google translation.
He added that services weren’t shut down.
Belgorod has suffered each Ukrainian and domestic offensives in recent days. Earlier, an anti-Kremlin Russian paramilitary group, the Russian Volunteer Corps, on Sunday offered on Telegram to give up two captive Russian soldiers to Gladkov, if the governor arrived in person to receive them in the Novaya Tavolzhanka locality.
Reuters reported that Gladkov had said he accepted the offer — but the pro-Ukraine group later said the meeting never took place, in response to a Google translation.
— Ruxandra Iordache
Ukraine says it destroyed a Russian position near Bakhmut
The commander of Ukraine’s ground forces on Monday said that Kyiv had destroyed a Russian position near the embattled city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine.
“The defense forces are working. We proceed moving forward,” Oleksandr Syrskyi said on Telegram, in response to a Google translation.
CNBC couldn’t independently confirm developments on the ground.
Bakhmut is of each symbolic and strategic importance to Russia, providing a stepping stone for Moscow’s forces to advance into the Kramatorsk and Sloviansk cities in the Donetsk region.
— Ruxandra Iordache
Russia says it thwarted large-scale Ukrainian offensive in Donetsk
Russia’s Ministry of Defense said on Telegram that its forces on Sunday morning fought back a large-scale Ukrainian offensive along five points in the southern direction of the annexed Ukrainian region of Donetsk, in response to a Google translation.
Russia said Ukraine deployed six mechanized and two tank battalions as a part of the offensive.
“The enemy’s goal was to interrupt through our defenses on the most vulnerable, in his opinion, sector of the front,” the Russian ministry said. “The enemy didn’t achieve his tasks, he had no success.”
CNBC couldn’t independently confirm those claims.
The every day report of the Ukrainian General Staff only stated on Monday that 29 clashes took place near the Luhansk and Donetsk regions on Sunday, in response to a Google translation.
Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense published no public statements linked to the alleged attack. Kyiv’s Minister of Defense Oleksii Reznikov on Sunday posted on Twitter lyrics of Depeche Mode’s “Enjoy the Silence,” stating “Words are very unnecessary / They’ll only do harm,” alongside a GIF of a soldier miming a bid for silence.
— Ruxandra Iordache
Zelenskyy presses hard for NATO membership at Moldova conference
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pressed NATO to permit Ukraine’s membership of the alliance — a subject of contention that has divided the group of 31 countries.
“This 12 months is for decisions,” Zelenskyy said at the European Political Community summit in Moldova on Thursday. “In summer in Vilnius at the NATO summit, a transparent invitation from members of Ukraine is required, and security guarantees on the technique to NATO membership are needed.”
Ukraine and those that support its bid say that NATO membership is required to discourage Russia from attacking the country again, while others warn that the move could further provoke Moscow, which sees Kyiv joining the Western alliance as a significant red line.
Zelenskyy also made a push for EU membership, with EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen expressing strong support. Ukraine would still need to fulfill a set of standards, including hunting down its well-documented corruption, in order to hitch the economic bloc.
— Natasha Turak
Ukrainian city of Nikopol shelled overnight, regional governor says
Town of Nikopol in the southern Dnipropetrovsk region of Ukraine got here under heavy shelling by Russian forces overnight, regional governor Serhiy Lysak reported.
A person repairs his house damaged Russian attack as the war between Russia and Ukraine continues in Nikopol, Ukraine on March 03, 2023.
Mustafa Ciftci | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
“The aggressor doesn’t stop. Nikopol region got here under attack again. At midnight, the Rashists shelled Nikopol,” Lysak wrote on his Telegram channel, using a term many Ukrainians use to check with Russian armed forces members.
“Shells from heavy artillery flew into the city,” he wrote. “Persons are unharmed. Rescuers are examining the area. The enemy is insidious and doesn’t abandon its tactics of terrorizing the civilian population.”
— Natasha Turak
Villages in Russia’s western border region shelled, governor says
Villages in Russia’s western Bryansk region were shelled, regional governor Alexander Bogomaz wrote on his Telegram channel, saying that the attackers were Ukrainian. He identified the two hit villages as Lomakovka and Novaya Pogoshch, saying that one house was set on fire, but that there have been no deaths, in response to Reuters reporting.
CNBC couldn’t independently confirm the claims.
Reported offensives on Russian soil have jumped in recent weeks, with drone attacks going down in Moscow and shelling and incursions into Russia’s western region that borders Ukraine. The Kremlin blames Ukraine’s government for steering the hostilities, while Kyiv denies involvement.
Most of the recent attacks and attempted incursions into Russian territory have been claimed by the Freedom of Russia Legion and Russian Volunteer Corps, which describe themselves as pro-Ukraine ethnic Russians fighting to combat Russia’s government.
— Natasha Turak