Ukrainian and Russian sources report push near Staromaiorske, Moscow's forces seen retreating (2024)

Ukrainian and Russian sources have reported a push by Kyiv’s forces in Staromaiorske, along the Velyka Novosilka – Berdiansk axis in the southern frontline.

Ukrainian special forces shared footage from the village, saying they had captured paratroopers from Russia’s 247th Parachute Regiment, along with important documentation and intelligence. CNN was unable to independently verify the Ukrainian claim or geolocate the footage.

However, different video from Staromaiorske, geolocated by CNN, shows Russian fighters leaving positions and retreating, purportedly after being driven out by Ukrainian forces.

The two videos match separate accounts from two well-connected Russian military bloggers which say Ukraine has been intensifying operations in the area. Russian blogger Rybar had reported “the 36th Marine Corps of the Ukrainian Navy again tried to attack the positions of the RF Armed Forces west of the village.”

Another insider, Batalyon Vostok, said the situation around the village had “has become more complicated.”

“At Staromayorskoye (Russian for Staromaiorske) and Urozhaynoye (Russian for Urozhaine) it's not easy for the guys now - they are repulsing intensive attacks,” Vostok said. “The situation is very difficult at Staromayorskoye. There is a probability that the enemy will take control of the settlement.”

Earlier on Wednesday, Ukrainian forces said they were continuing to make advances along the Velyka Novosilka – Berdiansk axis.

“Ukrainian troops were successful in the Staromaiorske area on the southern front,” the spokesman of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Andrii Kovalev, said on Wednesday. “[Ukrainian] Defense Forces are entrenched there at the achieved boundaries [of the village]."

The European Union has agreed to adopt additional sanctions against Belarus over the country's involvement in Russia's war on Ukraine, the EU's Spanish presidency announced Wednesday.

"Today, EU ambassadors agreed on adopting restrictive measures in view of the situation in Belarus and the involvement of Belarus in the Russian aggression against Ukraine," the presidency said in a post on social media.

"The measures include listings of individuals and entities," it added.

While EU ambassadors have agreed to the measures, they are yet to be formally adopted.

Some context:Belarus is Russia's closest ally. It has been a subject of renewed focus in recent months as Moscow says it hasmoved some of its nuclear weaponsto the country, and as Minsk says its forces willhold joint training exerciseswith the Wagner private military group in the wake of its failed rebellion against the Kremlin.

Ukrainian forces have been able to wedge themselves in Russia’s first line of defense, with heavy and fierce fighting still ongoing amid a large offensive along the southern front in the Zaporizhzhia region, a Russian official has claimed.

Rogov went on to say Russian forces were using their full arsenal, including aviation strikes, to push back against the Ukrainian units carrying out the assault,which he claimed were Western equipped and trained.

“The fighters of these brigades have been trained abroad, and the brigades themselves are equipped with Western military equipment, including Leopard tanks and Bradley BMPs,” he wrote. “Now there are heavy, fierce battles of high intensity going on in this area.”

Well-connected Russian military blogger Rybar says fighting in the area has slightly decreased in intensity, adding Russian forces have been able able to hold their ground.

Some context: Russian-installed officials and military bloggers have claimed Ukrainian forces have launched a major offensive in theZaporizhzhiaregion, to the south of Orikhiv, as they appear to build on modest gains in the area over the past couple of days.

Ukrainian officials and sources have yet to comment on this alleged offensive.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has expressed belief in his soldiers amid reported Ukrainian pushes in the south and eastern frontline.

His remarks come amid a reported large Ukrainian offensive along the southern front and renewed pushes around Bakhmut, specifically in the south of the beleaguered city, where Kyiv’s forces are closing in on the settlements of Andriivka and Klishchiivka.

Zelensky went on to say he had received updates on the supply of weapons and ammunition.

“There is a reinforcement for our air defense system,” he said. “It will be sent to where it is needed most.”

The West's attempts to "cause discord in our relations have failed," Russia's Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova has said, ahead of the second Russia-Africa summit.

Russia's President Vladimir Putin is set to hold bilateral meetings with all heads of African states taking part in the summit, the Kremlin said Tuesday.

The assistant for foreign affairs to President Vladimir Putin, Yuri Ushakov, told the official TASS news agency that the “summit is expected to be attended by 17 heads of African states.”

The Kremlin said that 49 African countries will be represented.

It noted Putin and the leaders of a number of African states will also continue to discuss "possible ways of settling the situation around Ukraine within the African Peace Initiative, which they launched in St Petersburg in June."

Putin will describe to the summit’s plenary session "the state of and prospects for developing the full range of ties between Russia and African nations in the political, economic and humanitarian areas," the Kremlin added.

The Kremlin said “dozens” of agreements in trade, economic, investment, scientific, technical, cultural and humanitarian areas are expected to be signed.

African leaders are beginning to arrive in St Petersburg, with some events taking place ahead of the main summit. Egyptian president Abdel Fattah El-Sisi will meet Putin on Wednesday, Ushakov said.

The summit comes as the British government is heavily criticized for underplaying and underestimating the activities of Russia’s Wagner private military company (PMC) for nearly a decade, including its significant expansion in Africa, in a report by the UK Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee published Wednesday.

The report outlines the Wagner Network’s increased activity in Africa and lists the countries in which Wagner military operations have been identified, including the Central African Republic (CAR), Sudan, Libya, Mozambique and Mali.

In a voice note to Afrique Media earlier this week, Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin is reported to say: “As for our work in Africa… of course we will continue to work in all the countries where we have started or where we are working currently.”

Questions have recently been asked about what Wagner’s continued role on the continent following its failed mutiny in Russia last month.

“The only condition by the way that we fulfil is that we must not contravene the interests of the Russian federation. For the rest, we are open to dialogue. Consequently, there has not been and will not be a reduction of our programme in Africa,” Afrique Media’s French translation of Prigozhin’s voice note, originally in Russian, said.

RussianDefenseMinisterSergeiShoiguexpressed his intention to “consistently develop bilateral ties” and “strengthen the cooperation” between Russia and North Korea, during talks with hisNorth-Koreancounterpart in Pyongyang.

Shoigu also calledNorth Korea an “important partner of Russia,”according toastatement by the Russian MoD.

The defense minister is leading a Russian delegation visiting North Korea for the 70thanniversary of the end of the Korean war.

Shoigu emphasized the “rich history of cooperation” between Russia and North Korea and noted that the interaction between the two countries was strengthened in the post-war period.

Some context: Russia has, alongside China, sent high level delegations to North Korea this week in a rare flurry of diplomatic activity for the secluded nation -- as it marks the 70th anniversary of the end of the Korean War.

The Russian delegation led by Shoigu is visiting North Korea from July 25-27, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.

“This visit will help strengthen Russian-North Korean military ties and will be an important stage in the development of cooperation between the two countries,” the ministry said ahead of the trip.

Both Russia and China are longtime allies of Pyongyang.

The Ukrainian military has denied the loss of three settlements in the northeastern part of the country, near Kupyansk.

His remarks come after Russian officials and Ukrainian sources reported Moscow’s troops had forced Kyiv’s forces to retreat several kilometres, abandoning three small settlements in the process.

“In the course of successful counterattack actions, units of the 15th Motorised Rifle Brigade under the skilful command of Lieutenant Colonel Builov liberated Sergeevka (Russian spelling for Serhiivka),” the Russian Ministry of Defense said on Tuesday.

“The total advance of our troops was up to 4 kilometers along the front and up to 2 kilometers deep into the defending enemy troops.”

Russian-installed officials and military bloggers have claimed Ukrainian forces have launched a major offensive in the Zaporizhzhia region, to the south of Orikhiv, as they appear to build on modest gains in the area over the past couple of days.

The Russian-installed governor of the Zaporizhzhia region, Yevgeny Balitsky, also said a Ukrainian attack was underway.

Well-connected Russian military blogger Rybar described a similar situation along the southern front.

Ukraine has remained silent, as it is customary, and has not yet commented on this reported offensive, which follows from advances its forces had made in the area in previous days.

In its morning update, the military’s General Staff said only that “Ukrainian Defense Forces continue to conduct offensive operations in the Bakhmut, Melitopol and Berdiansk directions.”

“The enemy made unsuccessful attempts to regain the lost position northeast of Robotyne in Zaporizhzhia region,” it also said, without going into detail. “At the same time, it continues to put up strong resistance, moves units and troops, and actively uses reserves.”

Elsewhere, on the Zaporizhzhia front, Ukrainian forces continued to make advances along the Velyka Novosilka – Berdiansk axis.

“Ukrainian troops were successful in the Staromaiorske area on the southern front,” the spokesman of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Andrii Kovalev, said on Wednesday. “[Ukrainian] Defense Forces are entrenched there at the achieved boundaries [of the city].

The Britishgovernmenthas been heavily criticized for underestimating the Wagner private military company (PMC) for nearlya decade, despite it being a major threat for the country’s interests, in a report by theUKParliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee published Wednesday.

One of the issues, the report explains, is that the Britishgovernmenthas looked at “Wagner through the prism of Europe,” which the committee sees as a “a significant failing,” given the “geographic spread and the impact of its activities onUKinterests further abroad.”

The report goes on to say Wagner’s operations inUkraine “are not representative of the [Wagner] network’s operations globally,” and it says the PMC had operated in at least seven countries for nearly a decade before theUKbegan investing greater resources into understanding it in 2022.

The report calls on thegovernmentto improve its intelligence gathering on Wagner’s operations “in a wider range of countries,” and calls for “faster and harder” sanctions on those linked to the network, going as far as providing a list.

It also says thegovernment should “urgently proscribe the Wagner Network as a terrorist organisation,” as well as provide an alternative for countries seeking the PMC’s services.