May 5, 2023 - Russia-Ukraine news

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Russian-installed authorities in the annexed Zaporizhzhia region of Ukraine announced on Friday the evacuation of some of the residents in 18 front-line settlements due to "intensified shelling." 

Meanwhile, Russia’s former deputy defense minister Mikhail Mizintsev has joined the mercenary group Wagner as deputy commander, according to a pro-war Russian blogger.  

If you're just reading in now, here's what you need to know: 

Wagner undergoes alleged leadership change: Alexander Simonov posted two videos to Telegram showing Mizintsev wearing a Wagner-branded uniform and apparently touring the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut. The Russian Ministry of Defense announced on Sunday that it had made a leadership change and replaced Mizintsev, who was serving as Russia's deputy defense minister for logistics since September. 

Wagner chief blames Russian defense leaders for casualties: Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of Wagner, accused Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and armed forces chief Gen. Valery Gerasimov of bearing responsibility for “tens of thousands" of killed and wounded fighters, continuing his criticism campaign against Russia's military leadership. “The dead and wounded — and that's tens of thousands of men — lie on the conscience of those who did not give us ammunition," Prigozhin said in a video statement released Friday on Telegram. 

“It is a constant cat-and-mouse game”: Russia has been thwarting US-made mobile rocket systems in Ukraine more frequently in recent months, using electronic jammers to throw off its GPS guided targeting system to cause rockets to miss their targets, multiple people briefed on the matter told CNN. “It is a constant cat-and-mouse game” of finding a countermeasure to the jamming, a Pentagon official said, only to then have the Russians counteract that countermeasure. 

Ukrainian Black Sea grain exports: Officials overseeing Ukrainian grain and fertilizer exports through the Black Sea have failed to reach an agreement to authorize any new ships, a United Nations spokesperson said Friday. Russian, Ukrainian, Turkish and UN officials are part of the group known as the Joint Coordination Center. The export deal was brokered by the UN and Turkey and was signed by representatives from Russia and Ukraine last July. 

Officials overseeing Ukrainian grain and fertilizer exports through the Black Sea have failed to reach an agreement to authorize any new ships, a United Nations spokesperson said Friday.

Russian, Ukrainian, Turkish and UN officials are part of the group known as the Joint Coordination Center. For now, the group said it is continuing to inspect previously approved vessels but is encouraging the countries to keep negotiating on new ships.

"As you will recall, the Secretary-General has communicated to all parties his proposal on the way forward aimed at the improvement, extension and expansion of the Initiative, taking into account positions expressed by the parties. We urge all parties to continue their discussions, overcome operational challenges and work towards the full implementation and continuation of the Initiative," said Farhan Haq, deputy UN spokesperson.

Some background: The export deal was brokered by the UN and Turkey and was signed by representatives from Russia and Ukraine last July.

It promised to unblock ports on the Black Sea to allow the safe passage of grain and oilseeds, following routes identified by Ukrainian maritime pilots to avoid mines, and with stops in Istanbul to ensure weapons are not being smuggled back into the country.

Russian-installed authorities in the annexed Zaporizhzhia region of Ukraine announced on Friday the evacuation of some of the residents in 18 front-line settlements due to "intensified shelling."

"Over the past few days, the enemy has intensified shelling of settlements located in close proximity to the line of contact," the region's Russian-appointed acting Gov. Yevgeny Balitsky said in a statement on his Telegram channel. "In this regard, I decided to evacuate, first of all, children with their parents, the elderly, the disabled, patients of medical institutions from enemy fire and move them from frontline territories deep into the region."

Balitski listed the following towns and villages in his statement:

• Tymoshivka
• Smyrenivka
• Tarasivka
• Orlianske
• Molochansk
• Kuibysheve
• Pryshyb
• Tokmak
• Mala Bilozerka
• Vasylivka
• Velyka Bilozerka
• Dniprorudne
• Mykhailivka
• Kamianka-Dniprovska
• Enerhodar
• Polohy
• Kinski Razdory
• Rozivka

"We cannot risk the safety of people and will provide funds for organized travel, lump-sum payments, accommodation and meals. Temporary relocation will be organized within the region. Children of senior school age will continue their education in educational institutions to finish the school year, the kids will undergo rehabilitation and rest in children's camps," Balitsky added.

Balitsky claimed the evacuations are a "necessary measure" designed to ensure the safety of residents of the front-line territories. Ukrainian officials have said Russian forces have used evacuations as a means to forcibly deport Ukrainians.

On Friday, the local Telegram channels of towns in the Zaporizhzhia region reported sightings of evacuation buses and said local authorities were informing residents they must pack their bags and take their children out of kindergartens. 

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu inspected troops and military equipment in Russia’s southern military district on Friday, the Russian military said, amid a very public feud with the head of the Wagner private military company. 

The statement said Shoigu has instructed "to keep under special control the issues of continuous and rhythmic supply of the groups of troops in the areas of the special military operation with all the necessary weapons and military equipment."

"Deputy Minister of Defense Colonel General A. Kuzmenkov, who is responsible for the material and technical support of the Russian Armed Forces, presented General of the Army Sergei Shoigu with new batches of modern tanks, armored fighting vehicles, special equipment and motor vehicles supplied by enterprises of the military-industrial complex to supply the groups of Russian troops," the defense ministry said.

Shoigu’s visit followed a flurry of angry statements by Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, who has directly accused Shoigu and the Russian military leadership of responsibility for tens of thousands of Wagner casualties due to a lack of ammunition supply. 

Russia has been thwarting US-made mobile rocket systems in Ukraine more frequently in recent months, using electronic jammers to throw off its GPS guided targeting system to cause rockets to miss their targets, multiple people briefed on the matter told CNN.

Ukrainian military officials, with US help, have had to come up with a variety of different workarounds as it continues to use the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS), which has been perhaps the most revered and feared piece of weaponry in Ukraine’s fight.

But in recent months, Ukraine's systems have been rendered increasingly less effective by the Russians’ intensive blocking, five US, British and Ukrainian sources tell CNN, forcing US and Ukrainian officials to find ways to tweak the HIMARS’ software to counter the evolving Russian jamming efforts.

“It is a constant cat-and-mouse game” of finding a countermeasure to the jamming, a Pentagon official said, only to then have the Russians counteract that countermeasure. And it is not clear how sustainable that game is in the long term.

Electronic warfare is carried out by both sides, up and down the front line where there is heavy drone activity used for surveillance and in partnership with artillery targeting.

With a major Ukrainian counteroffensive expected to start very soon and Ukraine’s reliance on HIMARS, solutions are even more of a priority so that Ukrainian troops can make significant headway.

“It’s one thing to be able to hold the Russians off where they are right now. It’s another thing to drive them out,” retired US Army Brig. Gen. Steven Anderson told CNN. “They’re dug in, they’ve been there for a year.”

CNN’s Oren Liebermann contributed to this report.

Read the full story here.

The head of the private military company Wagner accused Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and armed forces chief Gen. Valery Gerasimov of bearing responsibility for “tens of thousands" of killed and wounded fighters, continuing his criticism campaign against Russia's military leadership.

“The dead and wounded — and that's tens of thousands of men — lie on the conscience of those who did not give us ammunition," Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin said in a video statement released Friday on Telegram, later calling both officials by name.

"For tens of thousands of those killed and wounded, they will bear responsibility before their mothers and children, and I will make sure of that," he added. 

In the same video message, Prigozhin praised the former deputy defense minister, Mikhail Mizintsev, who he said has recently joined the Wagner Group as its deputy commander. 

Earlier on Friday, Prigozhin announced that Wagner Group is leaving the besieged eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut on May 10, citing a lack of ammunition supplies that Prigozhin blames on Russia's military command.

Russia’s former deputy defense minister Mikhail Mizintsev has joined mercenary group Wagner as deputy commander, according to a pro-war Russian blogger.

Alexander Simonov posted two videos to Telegram showing Mizintsev wearing a Wagner-branded uniform and apparently touring the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut. 

The Russian Ministry of Defense announced on Sunday that it had made a leadership change and replaced Mizintsev, who was serving as Russia's deputy defense minister for logistics. 

He had been in the role since September 2022 and developed a reputation for brutality for his role in the siege of Mariupol — the site of some of the invasion's most notorious strikes and alleged atrocities. 

Private military company Wagner will withdraw from the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut on May 10, its leader Yevgeny Prigozhin has announced. The decision was made due to a lack of ammunition for his fighters, he said. A Ukrainian military spokesperson told CNN it could be a "turning point."

Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has labelled the purported drone attack on the Kremlin a "hostile act," adding that Moscow would respond with “concrete actions.”

Here are the latest developments:

• Wagner plans Bakhmut withdrawal: Wagner chief Prigozhin announced Friday his private military company would leave the embattled eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut in five days' time because his fighters lack ammunition. “I'm withdrawing Wagner PMC units because without ammunition, they are doomed to a senseless death,” he said in a statement posted on Telegram, claiming Wagner had fallen "out of favour with envious near-military bureaucrats."
• "Turning point" in battle: Wagner’s decision to withdraw from Bakhmut on May 10 could be "a turning point" in the battle for the city, a Ukrainian military spokesperson has told CNN. Serhii Cherevatyi, spokesperson for the eastern grouping of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, also said Prigozhin was “lying” about his fighters’ lack of ammunition, claiming the Wagner chief was "looking for a reason to simply retreat from the battlefield."
• Graphic video claims: Prigozhin's comments comes a day after the Wagner boss launched an expletive-laden tirade against Russia's military leadership. Standing in front of the bodies of dozens of what he claims are his fighters killed in Russia’s war on Ukraine, Prigozhin blamed their deaths on a lack of support from Moscow. He has previously complained of receiving insufficient support from the Kremlin and, in an interview on Sunday, threatened to withdraw his mercenaries from Bakhmut .
• Drone attack: Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov said on Friday that the purported drone attack on the Kremlin on Wednesday was “clearly a hostile act” and that his government would respond with “concrete actions.” “We will not respond by talking about whether it was an incident or not, but we will respond with concrete actions. We have a lot of patience,” Lavrov said at a press conference in India.  
• Turkey summit: Russian and Ukrainian delegates came to blows at a summit in Turkey on Thursday. Video posted by state-run news agency Anadolu showed delegates shoving each other after Ukrainian representatives unfurled their national flag and shouted anti-Russia slogans behind a member of the Russian delegation, Olga Timofeeva. The speaker of Turkey's national assembly, Mustafa Şentop, condemned the disruptions, calling the actions "unfortunate" and "unacceptable" on Twitter.