March 23, 2023 - Russia-Ukraine news

By Kathleen Magramo, Jack Guy, Aditi Sangal, Matt Meyer, Elizabeth Wolfe and Maureen Chowdhury, CNN

Updated 12:38 a.m. ET, March 24, 2023
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3:45 p.m. ET, March 23, 2023

New Zealand national who fought alongside Kyiv's forces dies in Ukraine

From CNN’s Sahar Akbarzai

New Zealand national Kane Te Tai has died in Ukraine, a spokesperson from New Zealand’s government said in a statement to CNN.

Ukrainian authorities confirmed Te Tai's death, New Zealand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesperson said Thursday.

“The New Zealand Embassy in Warsaw is in contact with the Ukraine authorities to confirm further details. For privacy reasons no further information will be provided,” the spokesperson said.  

According to previous CNN reporting, Te Tai fought with Ukraine's International Legion, a band of foreign fighters who have bolstered the Ukrainian military.

3:18 p.m. ET, March 23, 2023

Ukraine says it mistakenly reported Russian retreat in Kherson as Moscow slams Kyiv for the report

From CNN's Tim Lister and Olga Voitovych

The Ukrainian military quickly retracted its claim that Russian forces had withdrawn from a strategic town in Ukraine's southern Kherson region Thursday, as Moscow-backed leaders mocked Kyiv over the report.

The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces initially said in an update Thursday that all Russian military units had pulled out of the town of Nova Kakhovka on the east bank of the Dnipro River.

It would have marked a significant development, as the first east bank settlement of any size seized by Ukraine since forcing Russia's troops out of Kherson and seizing the west bank last November.

But the General Staff retracted the claim a short time later, writing in a statement on Facebook: “The occupiers are still temporarily located in Nova Kakhovka. The information about the enemy's alleged withdrawal from this settlement was made public as a result of incorrect use of available data.”

Russia slammed the report: By the time of Ukraine's retraction, Russian-appointed officials and military bloggers had already loudly denied Ukraine's claims of a military withdrawal from Nova Kakhovka.

Vladimir Saldo, the Russian-appointed head in the occupied Kherson region, said “all Russian military personnel in Nova Kakhovka, as well as in other locations on the east bank of the Dnipro river, remain in their positions.”

Saldo theorized the claim was tied to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's recent visit to the region, which he said had a "weak PR effect."

Vladimir Leontyev, the Russia-backed leader in Nova Kakhovka, also said the claim was false, calling it "misinformation" and the work of propagandists.

Russian military correspondent Aleksandr Kots mocked the report on Telegram.

Recent developments in the area: While Russia has fortified many settlements on the east bank of the river near Kherson, those nearest the Dnipro have been subjected to frequent attacks by Ukraine, including special forces assaults.

Nova Kakhovka is a notable territory to monitor in the fighting, because it's the site of a major hydroelectric project and the entrance to a canal that feeds fresh water to Crimea from the Dnipro River.

According to unofficial social media accounts, explosions rocked the town last weekend, and a fire broke out close to or in the town’s grain elevator.

Some Telegram channels said a fuel dump had been set on fire, along with Russian military equipment. Those accounts could not be verified.

In mid-March, the Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported Ukrainian troops had launched a massive artillery strike on the neighborhood of Sokol in Nova Kakhovka, killing a woman and damaging houses, stores and power lines.

3:02 p.m. ET, March 23, 2023

Warmer weather conditions right for Russians to start rolling heavy equipment, Wagner chief says

From CNN’s Josh Pennington and Allegra Goodwin 

Warming spring weather is creating ideal conditions for Russia to begin rolling heavy military equipment through Ukraine, said Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Russian private military group Wagner.

“Spring is coming. The soil is drying," Prigozhhin said, which means "everything is in place for us to start rolling heavy equipment through the fields.”

Prigozhin, in an interview shared on Telegram, acknowledged Ukraine also had received a large amount of support from NATO countries, including military equipment, armored vehicles and Leopard tanks, as well as around 200,000 trained reserves. 

Officials in Kyiv have long warned of a spring offensive amid ramped-up military attacks from the Kremlin.

6:56 p.m. ET, March 23, 2023

World Athletics announces decisions on Russian and Belarusian athletes

From CNN's David Close

The ban against Russian and Belarusian athletes has been lifted, World Athletics President Sebastian Coe said.

However, athletes from those countries will still be excluded "for the foreseeable future" due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, he said at a news conference Thursday. 

World Athletics is the international governing body for the sports of track and field, cross country running and more. It hosts several international events and competitions, according to its website.

"The Council agreed to the reinstatement of the Russian Federation (RusAF) following seven years of suspension and that of course was due to the egregious institutional doping violations. However, athletes, officials and supporting personnel from Russia and Belarus are still excluded from competition for the foreseeable future due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine," the World Federation said in a statement.

Some background: In January, the International Olympic Committee outlined a multi-step plan for Russian and Belarusian athletes to participate at the upcoming 2024 Summer Games in Paris and the 2026 Winter Games in Milan.

IOC president Thomas Bach defended the decision Wednesday, calling for officials to “keep politics and sports apart." The plan would allow competitors to participate as neutral athletes, without representing their home country via flag, anthem, uniform or other identification.

2:23 p.m. ET, March 23, 2023

Ukrainian officials say Russians sustaining heavy losses in three hotspots along the front lines

From CNN's Tim Lister, Svitlana Vlasova and Olga Voitovych

Ukrainian officials say Russian forces have kept up their bombardments across Donetsk region, with more than 200 strikes against the Bakhmut area alone in the past 24 hours — but they claim the Russians are losing hundreds of men a day across the front lines.

The eastern city of Bakhmut remains "the focus of the enemy's main attack," according to Serhii Cherevatyi, the spokesman for the Eastern Grouping of the armed forces.

Cherevatyi said it was difficult to tell whether the intensity of Russian attacks around Bakhmut was waning because of factors such as weather, the rotation of units or reserves being brought forward by the Russians.

However, he said Russian tactics have remained the same with small tactical groups "trying to deplete our defenses." He said soldiers from the Wagner mercenary group are near Bakhmut, with Russian troops providing reinforcements where necessary.

“We knock them out. In fact, there will be no more Wagner fighters in a little while if they continue the same dynamics," Cherevatyi said.

Cherevatyi drew a distinction between the battle for Bakhmut and fighting elsewhere. He said further north, Wagner was less in evidence around Lyman and Kupyansk, where regular Russian forces, supported by the Luhansk militia, had made more than 400 attacks over the past day.

“The main task now is to withstand, to deplete the enemy's forces, while units are being trained both in Ukraine and abroad, equipped with new defense equipment, and coordinated,” Cherevatyi said.

In and around the town of Avdiivka, in the Donetsk region, intense Russian bombardments and air strikes continue against Ukrainian defenses.

"All the time we were in the city, there were explosions. We did not see a single building that was not damaged. Unfortunately, there are still civilians in Avdiivka. People live in basements," military spokesman Oleksiy Dmytrashkivskyi said.

But he said many of the civilians were unwilling to leave, especially the elderly, and there has been no electricity in the city since May last year.

Dmytrashkivskyi said that the Russians were trying to bypass the town “and these attacks are constantly accompanied by shelling. Yesterday the enemy managed 26 attacks and suffered quite significant losses. More than 100 people were killed and more than 240 wounded,” he claimed. “During the day, they attack with the help of aircraft, artillery and manpower. They are suffering heavy losses in manpower and equipment.”

1:01 p.m. ET, March 23, 2023

Olympic committee president defends plan to include Russian athletes in 2024 Games

From Nadine Schmidt in Berlin and Sammy Mncwabe in London

International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach attends a meeting at the Olympic House in Lausanne, Switzerland, on December 5, 2022.
International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach attends a meeting at the Olympic House in Lausanne, Switzerland, on December 5, 2022. (Denis Balibouse/Pool/AP/FILE)

International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach pleaded with politicians Wednesday to “keep politics and sports apart” as he defended the committee's plan to include Russian and Belarusian athletes at the 2024 Paris Games.

Bach made the comments at a political forum in Essen, Germany.

"If politics decides who can take part in a competition, then sport and athletes become tools of politics,” Bach said during a speech in German, which lasted over an hour.

“It is then impossible for sport to transfer its uniting powers. We must be politically neutral but not apolitical. We know well that politics rules the world. We know well that our decisions have political implications and we have to include that in our thinking," he continued. "But we should not make the mistake of raising ourselves to referees of political disputes, because we will be crushed by these political powers.”

According to Reuters, Bach said “Ukraine wants, and this is a direct quote, 'the total isolation of all Russians." That line was met by applause from some in attendance.

But Bach described the request as a "dilemma" and "a completely new situation."

"If we exclude athletes for political reasons, we face the decline of the international sporting system,” the IOC president said.

More background: In January, the IOC outlined a multi-step plan for Russian and Belarusian athletes to participate at the upcoming 2024 Summer Games in Paris and the 2026 Winter Games in Milan.

The plan would allow competitors to participate as neutral athletes, without representing their home country via flag, anthem, uniform or other identification.

The United States, Canada and most European countries have criticized the decision. Last month, the US and more than 30 other “like-minded” countries backed a proposed ban of Russian and Belarusian athletes from competing in international sports

Ukraine has not ruled out boycotting the Olympics if Russian and Belarusian athletes are allowed to compete, the country's sports minister said in January.

In February, the IOC reiterated its condemnation of the war in Ukraine in a statement marking the invasion's first anniversary.

12:23 p.m. ET, March 23, 2023

Moscow condemns Finland's NATO bid as it moves closer to joining the alliance

From CNN’s Radina Gigova and Anna Chernova

Sauli Niinistö, Finland's president, signs a domestic law which ratifies NATO treaties in Helsinki, Finland, on March 23.
Sauli Niinistö, Finland's president, signs a domestic law which ratifies NATO treaties in Helsinki, Finland, on March 23. (Roni Rekomaa/Bloomberg/Getty Images)

The Russian Foreign Ministry again condemned Finland’s bid to join NATO, calling it “unbalanced" and "counterproductive" in comments reported by state news agency RIA Novosti Thursday.

“As for Finland's decision to join NATO, it can hardly be considered balanced,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said during a briefing in Moscow. She claimed the decision was taken “under the influence of an unprecedented anti-Russian media campaign” and without proper public debate.

“We understand that the United States of America and a number of its allies are behind this political campaign," she added, without providing evidence.

Zakharova said the move would only exacerbate the military and political situation in Europe. Russia has repeatedly asserted Helsinki's decision will be counterproductive, and that it has already negatively impacted Russian-Finnish relations.

Some context: Finland and Sweden announced their intention to join NATO in May 2022, after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine caused the Nordic countries to abandon their long-held non-aligned status.

The move was a setback for Moscow, with the war triggering the kind of NATO enlargement that Russia invaded Ukraine to prevent.

Finland and Sweden’s applications were welcomed by almost all NATO leaders, but under the alliance's rules, just one member state can veto a new applicant’s membership.

Finland's bid took a major step forward when Turkey and Hungary, which had to that point been the key holdouts, agreed to start the process of ratifying Finland's membership last week.

On Thursday, Finland’s President Sauli Niinistö signed legislation that approves the country’s bid to join NATO.

Sweden's parliament approved its own bid to join NATO Wednesday, but the Swedish government still awaits Turkey and Hungary's go-ahead.

CNN's Yusuf Gezer, Amy Cassidy and Jack Guy contributed to this report.

11:41 a.m. ET, March 23, 2023

Spain will send its first 6 modern battle tanks to Ukraine by end of next week, Defense Ministry says

From CNN’s Al Goodman in Madrid

The Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles, third left, visits the Santa Barbara Sistemas plant in Seville, Spain, on March 23.
The Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles, third left, visits the Santa Barbara Sistemas plant in Seville, Spain, on March 23. (Maria Jose Lopez/Europa Press/Getty Images)

Spain is expected to send its first shipment of modern battle tanks to Ukraine by the end of next week, once officials have completed final firing tests in the field, the Spanish Defense Ministry said in a statement Thursday.

The six Leopard 2A4 tanks have been undergoing final checks at a weapons factory near Seville in southern Spain, the statement said.

Spanish Defense Minister Margarita Robles visited the factory Thursday and said four more Leopard tanks due for Ukraine will arrive there soon for inspection and testing.

The first group of Ukrainian troops to learn how to operate the Spanish tanks are wrapping up training at a military base in northern Spain, the Defense Ministry announced last week.

Some background: Robles initially told Spain's parliament last month that the country would send six Leopard tanks to Ukraine.

A day later, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez made a surprise visit to Kyiv on the anniversary of Russia’s invasion. He met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and announced Spain would bump its commitment to 10 fighting vehicles.

10:37 a.m. ET, March 23, 2023

It will cost $411 billion to rebuild from the war in Ukraine, World Bank says

From CNN’s Florence Davey-Attlee

The estimated cost of reconstruction efforts in Ukraine after Russia's invasion has reached $411 billion, according to an updated assessment by the World Bank.

This amounts to 2.6 times the country’s estimated GDP in 2022. It includes an estimated $135 billion of direct damage – mainly to the housing, transportation, energy, commerce and industry sectors, according to the bank. The majority of damage is concentrated in frontline eastern regions, including Donetsk, Kharkiv and Luhansk. 

The updated cost estimate covers damage incurred in the one year period after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. It marks an increase from the bank's $349 billion estimate in June 2022.

“The amount of damage and recovery needs currently does not include data on the loss of infrastructure, housing and businesses in the occupied territories,” Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said, referring to areas controlled by Russia's troops. “When the defense forces release them, we expect that the data will be supplemented, and the Government will immediately begin restoration work in these territories.”

The reconstruction cost is a joint assessment made by Ukraine's government, the World Bank Group, the European Commission and the United Nations.