Latest news on Russia and the war in Ukraine

The Ukrainian air force said it shot down 13 out of 14 drones launched overnight by Russia, according to a Google-translated Wednesday update on the Telegram messaging app.

The attack took place over the Mykolaiv, Kirovohrad and Rivne regions and involved Iranian-make Shahed drones, the Ukrainian air force added.

Falling debris in the Rivne area led to a blackout enveloping some settlements as a result of the attack, regional Governor Oleksandr Koval said in a separate Google-translated Telegram post.

He added that no injuries took place and local power supply has been restored.

CNBC could not independently verify developments on the ground.

— Ruxandra Iordache

French President Emmanuel Macron said late Tuesday that Kyiv should be allowed to use Western arms against Russian military sites used to target Ukraine.

“How can we explain to Ukraine that they need to protect their cities . . . but that they don’t have the right to attack where the missiles are coming from? It’s as if we were telling them we’re giving you arms but you cannot use them to defend yourself,” Macron said late Tuesday during a press conference in Meseberg, Germany.

Macron was joined by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who agreed that Ukraine should be allowed to defend its territory as long as it respected the conditions of the weapons suppliers. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin warned of serious consequences if Russia is struck with Western weapons.

— Karen Gilchrist

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday said the West provoked the country’s offensive on Ukraine’s Kharkiv region.

Putin said the West ignored warnings from Russia to stop Ukraine from striking the border region of Belgorod, according to Reuters. Such strikes that use weapons provided by Western countries require support from Western specialists, he added, saying that this could have serious consequences.

Putin said that it was Ukraine, not Russia, that had brought previous peace negotiations to an end without a solution being reached, Reuters reported. Russia was ready to return to talks, while Ukraine has withdrawn from them, he said.

A spokesperson for Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry was not immediately available to comment when contacted by CNBC.

A peace summit is set to take place in June in Switzerland, which will be attended by Ukraine and a series of its allies. Russia has repeatedly said that it would not attend such a meeting.

Putin was speaking in Uzbekistan at the end of a multi-day state visit. Putin has met with Uzbekistan’s President Shavkat Mirziyoyev to discuss relations between the two countries. Russian state media agency Ria Novosti reported earlier that Putin and Mirziyoyev also talked about the war in Ukraine.

— Sophie Kiderlin

The U.S. and its allies may use further sanctions and export controls to halt trade between Russia and China as the war in Ukraine continues, a White House official said Tuesday, according to Reuters.

Countries may take measures to increase the costs of Russia using a so-called “shadow fleet” to circumvent the G7 oil price cap, said Daleep Singh, White House deputy national security adviser for international economics.

The “shadow fleet” is made up of oil tankers that often have opaque ownership structures, frequently change their national flag registration and have very limited insurance. They aim to transport Russian oil in a way that circumvents restrictions, like the oil price cap, imposed on Russian oil by other countries.

Singh said sanctions language around financial retaliation could be expanded as Russia is moving toward putting its economy on a war footing.

— Sophie Kiderlin