May 25, 2023 Russia-Ukraine news

By Tara Subramaniam, Christian Edwards, Ed Upright, Aditi Sangal, Leinz Vales and Tori B. Powell, CNN

Updated 9:25 p.m. ET, May 25, 2023
3 Posts
Sort byDropdown arrow
8:41 p.m. ET, May 24, 2023

Russia will respond "extremely harshly" to future incursions, defense minister says

From CNN’s Uliana Pavlova

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu called the cross-border raid in Belgorod a “terrorist act” and warned Russia will respond "promptly and extremely harshly" to any further attempts. 

Shoigu also claimed that more than 70 saboteurs were killed, as well as automotive and armored vehicles.

CNN could not independently verify Shoigu's claim.

“During the counter-terrorist operation, the national formations were blocked and defeated,” Shoigu said during a televised meeting on Wednesday.

“We will continue to respond promptly and extremely harshly to such actions by Ukrainian militants,” he said.

Some context: A group of anti-Putin Russian nationals, who are aligned with the Ukrainian army, claimed responsibility for an attack in Russia’s southwestern region of Belgorod, which borders northeastern Ukraine.

The Ukraine-based Freedom for Russia Legion has said its goal is the "complete liberation of Russia" after claiming a surprise attack in Belgorod.

CNN's Rob Picheta and Nathan Hodge contributed to this post.

6:01 a.m. ET, May 25, 2023

Ukrainians may have launched Kremlin drone attack, US intelligence suggests

From CNN's Natasha Bertrand and Zachary Cohen

A still image taken from video shows a flying object exploding in an intense burst of light near the dome of the Kremlin Senate building in Moscow, Russia, on May 3.
A still image taken from video shows a flying object exploding in an intense burst of light near the dome of the Kremlin Senate building in Moscow, Russia, on May 3. Ostorozhno Novosti/Handout/Reuters

US officials have picked up chatter among Ukrainian officials blaming each other for a drone attack on the Kremlin earlier this month, contributing to a US assessment that a Ukrainian group may have been responsible, sources familiar with the intelligence told CNN.

The intercepts include some members of Ukraine’s military and intelligence bureaucracy speculating that Ukrainian special operations forces conducted the operation.

The chatter, combined with other intercepted communications of Russian officials blaming Ukraine for the attack and wondering how it happened, has led US officials to consider the possibility that a Ukrainian group was behind the incident on May 3. On that morning, two drones flew up toward the Kremlin’s Senate Palace and struck the top of the building.

However, the US has not been able to reach a definitive conclusion on who was responsible and only assesses with low confidence that a Ukrainian group may have been behind the incident, officials said. US officials also still believe it is unlikely that senior Ukrainian government officials, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, ordered the attack or knew about it beforehand.

Recent US intelligence reports have assessed that Russian officials have speculated privately, as they have publicly, that Ukraine was behind the attack, leading officials to believe that the incident was likely not a state-sponsored false-flag operation intended to give Russia a pretext to further escalate its war on Ukraine.

The Kremlin has also made some internal security changes in response to the attack, one source familiar with the intelligence said, declining to go into detail. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said publicly following the episode that the city’s air defenses would be tightened.

The drones that hit the Kremlin appeared small, with a relatively light payload, which is probably why they didn’t trigger Russian air defenses, sources told CNN. It is unclear whether they would have had sufficient range to be flown from Ukraine to Moscow.

Read more here.

12:33 a.m. ET, May 25, 2023

What we know about the cross-border attack claimed by anti-Putin Russians

From CNN's Rob Picheta and Nathan Hodge

Questions linger about the groups behind the cross-border attack that anti-Putin Russians say they launched from Ukraine, how it took place, and what it means for the war.

Here’s what we know so far:

  • What happened in Belgorod? A group of anti-Putin Russian nationals, who are aligned with the Ukrainian army, claimed responsibility for an attack in Russia’s southwestern region of Belgorod, which borders northeastern Ukraine. Two areas of the region were then hit by unmanned aerial vehicles, according to regional Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov, causing two houses to catch fire. One civilian from the village of Kozinka has died as a result of the cross-border fighting, Gladkov said on Tuesday. About 100 others were evacuated from the Russian border settlements of Glotovo and Kozinka in the region, local authorities said.
  • What did the attackers do? They appeared to have achieved surprise, apparently taking control of a border post and giving the world dramatic images of Russian nationals actively taking up arms against the Kremlin. Smoke was also seen rising from apparent explosions in the regional capital of Belgorod, where local authorities confirmed what they described as two drone strikes.
  • Which groups are involved? The Freedom for Russia Legion said on Telegram early Tuesday that it and another group, the Russian Volunteer Corps, “continue to liberate the Belgorod region!” The post described the groups as “patriot volunteers” and claimed that Russia was vulnerable to attack as “Russia has no reserves to respond to military crises. All military personnel are dead, wounded or in Ukraine.”
  • How is the incident playing out in Russia? As Russian officials condemned the attack, analysts noted widespread confusion in Russia’s information space about how the attack was allowed to take place and how Moscow should respond. It has the potential to be embarrassing for President Vladimir Putin, who has for 15 months been leading an invasion he baselessly claimed was needed to keep Russia safe. With limited returns on the battlefield, Putin may now face discontent that the war is disrupting life at home.

Read more here.