Ukraine says it destroyed a Russian S-400 air defense missile system in Crimea
From CNN’s Olga Voitovych and Gianluca Mezzofiore
The Ukrainian military said that it had destroyed a Russian S-400 missile system in Russian-occupied Crimea on Wednesday.
Ukraine's Defense Intelligence, an arm of theMinistryofDefense,said the attack took place at 10 a.m. (3 a.m. ET) near the village of Olenivka on Cape Tarkhankut.
CNN geolocated a video of the explosion released by Defense Intelligence to the same area in Crimea.
The explosion “completely destroyed” the long- and medium-range S-400 Triumph missile system, as well as its missiles and personnel, Defense Intelligence said.
“Given the limited number of such systems in the enemy's arsenal, this is a painful blow to the occupiers' air defense system, which will have a serious impact on further events in the occupied Crimea,” it added.
Who is Russian military general Sergey Surovikin?
From CNN's Jack Guy and Sarah Dean
Gen. Sergey Surovikin has just been relieved of his duties as the head of Russia's aerospace forces, but mystery shrouds his continued role in the armed forces.
So, who is Surovikin? He has spent four decades in the Russian military, earning a reputation for brutality over the course of a career which began with him first seeing service in Afghanistan in the 1980s.
In August 1991, during theunsuccessful coup attempt against former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, soldiers under Surovikin’s command killed three protesters. This led to him spending at least six months in prison, according to a book by the Washington DC-based thinktank the Jamestown Foundation.
By 2004, Surovikin was commanding a unit in the Second Chechen War, and he berated a subordinate so severely that the subordinate took his own life, according to Russian media accounts and at least two think tanks.
Notably, Surovikin also played an instrumental role in Russia’s operations in Syria in the 2010s – during which Russian combat aircraft caused widespread devastation in rebel-held areas - in the very role he was just relieved of: Commander-in-Chief of Russia's aerospace forces.
In a 2020 report, Human Rights Watchnamed himas “someone who may bear command responsibility” for the dozens of air and ground attacks on civilian objects and infrastructure in violation of the laws of war” during the 2019-2020 Idlib offensive in Syria.
The attacks killed at least 1,600 civilians and forced the displacement of an estimated 1.4 million people, according to HRW, which cited UN figures.
During his time in Syria, Surovikin was awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation.
In February 2022, Surovikin was sanctioned by the European Union in his capacity as head of the aerospace forces “for actively supporting and implementing actions and policies that undermine and threaten the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine as well as the stability or security in Ukraine.”
He was put in charge of Russia's operations in Ukraine in October 2022, shortly after a major explosion severely damaged the Kerch bridge connecting the annexed Crimean peninsula to mainland Russia.
However, in January, the role was reassigned to Gen. Valery Gerasimov, chief of the Russian General Staff, and Surovikin was made one of his three deputies.
He has not been seen in public since the short-lived mutiny led by Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin in June, fueling unconfirmed rumors of his detention.
Russia’s top military brass has faced much turbulence in recent months
From CNN's Caolán Magee and Lauren Said-Moorhouse
A new air force chief was named Wednesday in Moscow’s latest military establishment shake-up after Gen. Sergey Surovikin, who was also previously overall commander for operations in Ukraine, was reported by Russian state media to have been fired.
Speculation over Surovikin’s whereabouts has mounted in recent weeks after he vanished from sight following the Wagner mercenary group’s mutiny in June. Russian business outlet RBC reported citing sources that he is currently on holiday in between jobs.
Surovikin has been replaced by Gen. Viktor Afzalov, Chief of the General Staff of the Aerospace Forces, RIA Novosti reported.
This is not the first time Moscow’s defense ministry has reshuffled its military leadership. In June, Maj. Gen. Ivan Popov - a senior Russian general in command of forces in occupied southern Ukraine - said he was dismissed from his post after criticizing top brass for failing to provide sufficient support. His present location is also unknown.
Other blows to Russia’s faltering military have come with the deaths of Army Gen. Gennady Zhidko, who died last Wednesday at the age of 58 “after a long illness.” Zhidko had reportedly been Surovikin’s predecessor as theater commander in Ukraine last summer and had also served as Russia’s Eastern Military District Commander between May and October last year.
Meanwhile, Lt. Gen. Oleg Tsokov – deputy commander of the Southern Military District and a key figure in Russia’s defense of occupied areas in southern Ukraine – was reportedly killed in a Ukrainian missile strike in Berdyansk in early July.
The disappearances of multiple Russian generals have sparked questions over deficiencies and dissent among the upper echelons of Russia’s military leadership. Read more here.
CNN's Tim Lister, Anna Chernova and Ivana Kottasova contributed to this post.
Three people killed in Ukrainian drone attack on Russian border region, governor says
From CNN’s Aruzhan Zeinulla, Sarah El Sirgany and Anna Chernova
Three people were killed in a Ukrainian drone attack in Russia's Belgorod region on Wednesday, the governor said on his Telegram channel.
Two people died when a Ukrainian drone dropped four shrapnel grenades near a sanatorium in the village of Lava, while another man died later from injuries, Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said.
The governor listed over 10 districts and villages in the border region that have come under Ukrainian artillery fire and drone attacks over the past 24 hours.
Separately, the Russian Ministry of Defense said it had intercepted and destroyed a drone over the region on Wednesday morning.
“Today, at about 11:30 Moscow time, an attempt by the Kyiv regime to carry out a terrorist attack with an aircraft-type unmanned aerial vehicle was thwarted,” the ministry said.
No casualties were reported in this attack, the ministry added.
Some context: Drone attacks have become an almost daily occurrence in the border province, which is located inside Russia and just 80 kilometers from Ukraine's northeastern Kharkiv region.
Russian towns bordering Ukraine have also recently seen an uptick in cross-border attacks, with two people injured by shelling in Belgorod last week.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky previously said in July "the war is gradually returning to Russia’s territory."
“Ukraine is getting stronger, and the war is gradually returning to Russia’s territory, to its symbolic centers and military bases,” Zelensky said in his daily address last month. “This is an inevitable, natural, and absolutely fair.”
Opinion: Russia’s neighbors have a message for Putin
From CNN's Frida Ghitis in Riga, Latvia
Just below the surface of life’s deceptively normal rhythms in countries bordering Russia, the reality of what their giant neighbor is doing to Ukraine is never far away.
It’s not only because Russia’s border stands nearby, or becauseRussian President Vladimir Putin has suggested that, just as Moscow had a right to take over Ukraine, it could be justified inreclaiming the Baltic states—Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania—which spent decades under Soviet rule.
More than anything, the anxiety flows from the knowledge, from the memory, that Moscow hassent its tanksinto its neighbors’ territoriesso manytimesover the years.
Now, chapters that they thought had been safely relegated to the pages of history have taken on the menacing tint of reality.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky put it bluntly on Monday, when he thanked Denmark for pledging to provide Ukraine with F-16 fighter jets, which the Netherlands also agreed to give Ukraine.“All of Russia’sneighbors are under threat,”he said,“if Ukraine does not prevail.”He will find few who disagree among those neighbors.
“If [Russian President Vladimir] Putin wins in Ukraine, they will come here,”I was told in Latvia by Raivis, who works as a driver in Riga, the capital, but asked me not to use his full name. He remembers standing in the barricades as a teenager, joining the struggle for independence three decades ago.“Now Putin wants to make the Soviet Union again,”he said.
It’s a widely held belief. It’s why Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, one of the most eloquent proponents of the need to support Ukraine, says Ukraine is Estonia’s own front line.“Ukraine,”she argues,“isfighting for all of us.”
Top Russian general who vanished after Wagner rebellion fired as head of aerospace forces
From CNN’s Anna Chernova
Gen. Sergey Surovikin, the former leader of Moscow's military campaign in Ukraine, has been dismissed from his position as the head of Russia's aerospace forces, state media reported on Wednesday, citing unnamed sources.
Surovikin - known in Russia as "General Armageddon" due to allegations of his brutality - has not been seen in public since the short-lived mutiny led by Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin in June, fueling unconfirmed rumors of his detention.
Documents shared exclusively with CNN in June suggest that Surovikin was among at least 30 other senior Russian military and intelligence officials who were secret VIP members of Wagner.
As reported by RIA Novosti, Surovikin has been replaced by Gen. Viktor Afzalov, Chief of the General Staff of the Aerospace Forces.
"The ex-Commander-in-Chief of the Aerospace Forces of Russia, Sergey Surovikin, has now been relieved of his post. Colonel-General Viktor Afzalov, Chief of the General Staff of the Aerospace Forces, is temporarily acting as Commander-in-Chief of the Aerospace Forces," an unnamed source told RIA.
The news of Surovikin's removal was initially reported by prominent Russian journalist and former head of the now-closed Echo of Moscow radio station, Alexey Venediktov.
The journalist posted on his Telegram channel on Tuesday that Surovikin had been relieved of his post but would continue serving the Ministry of Defense in another capacity.
According to sources cited by Russia’s business news outlet RBC, Surovikin's removal is due to a transfer to a different role, and states that he is currently on a short vacation.
Surovikin’s official bio on the Russian defense ministry’s website still lists him as the head of the aerospace forces.
CNN has reached out to the Russian defense ministry for comment.
Surovikin was made overall commander for Russian military operations in Ukraine last October. In January, the role was reassigned to Gen. Valery Gerasimov, chief of the Russian General Staff, and Surovikin was made one of his three deputies.
Lithuanian President visits Kyiv ahead of Ukrainian Independence Day celebrations
From CNN's Olga Voitovych and Niamh Kennedy
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda is visiting Ukraine ahead of the country's Independence Day celebrations on Thursday.
Lithuania has been a strong supporter of Ukraine since the start of the war and has pushed for a robust response to counter Russia.
In a post Wednesday on X, formerly known as Twitter, Nausėda shared a photo of himself arriving in Kyiv via train.
“Back in Kyiv to celebrate Ukraine's Independence Day together with the brotherly Ukrainian nation. Ukraine's victory is near!” he wrote.
Ukrainians will commemorate the country's 1991 declaration of independence Thursday, a year after Kyiv banned celebrations over fears of potential Russian attacks.
Russian drone attack damages grain storage and shipping facility near Danube River, Ukraine says
From CNN's Olga Voitovych
Russia launched a drone attack on a grain storage and cargo vessel shipping facility near the Danube River in Ukraine's southern Odesa region, Ukrainian officials said Wednesday.
In a Telegram post, Odesa City Council said firefighters contained the resulting blaze but the attack damaged a production and transshipment complex.
No casualties were reported, regional military chief Oleh Kiper said.
Some context:Small ports on the Danube have become vital for Ukrainian grain exports following the collapse of theBlack Sea grain deallast month. Ukrainian officials say Russian forces are deliberately targeting port infrastructure on the river, as part of efforts to block the exports — posing a threat to food security in developing nations that rely on Ukrainian grain.
Moscow airports operating normally after foiled Ukrainian drone attack, Russian officials say
From CNN's Olga Voitovych
Airports in the Moscow region are operating normally after flights were temporarily restricted Wednesday "to ensure the safety of civil aircraft," the Russian Federal Agency for Air Transport said.
"Due to the restriction of airspace use, two airplanes left for alternate airports. Passengers of these flights were delivered to the airports of destination," the agency said.
Earlier, Russia's defense ministry said it had thwarted a Ukrainian drone attack, the latest in a string of aerial assaults targeting the Russian capital that have disrupted flights and brought the war home to Russians.
