Now to a CNN exclusive. Ukraine has a network of secret agents working inside Russia and helping to sabotage Russian forces. That is according to U.S. intelligence services. And we're also told that Ukraine is arming these agents with drones. U.S. officials believe these pro-Ukrainian agents inside Russia may have been behind this drone attack in Moscow earlier last month. CNN's Natasha Bertrand. Joins us now with this exclusive reporting. First of all, great job on the reporting. Second of all, what do we know about these cells that are set up to sabotage Russia? Yes. So what we're learning from U.S. officials who describe the intelligence to us is that these cells are basically made up of pro-Ukrainian sympathizers, as well as agents who are well trained in this style of warfare. And what we're told is that these attacks really have become a lot more brazen. Over the last month. There have been a steady drumbeat of strikes against Russian targets over the last year, including including fuel depots, railways, pipelines. But since that May 3rd strike on the Kremlin, that drone strike, U.S. officials have really noticed an uptick here. And they do attribute that drone strike to these pro-Ukrainian partizans who are working for the Ukrainians to carry out these strikes inside Russia. It is unclear whether all of the drone strikes that we have seen over the course of the last several weeks can be attributed to that, those sabotage cells inside Ukraine. But it's also really interesting because we are told that they are being given drones by the Ukrainians. And we know that Ukraine has a very sophisticated and well-honed drone manufacturing industry that they are really ramping up. And so it is unclear how they're actually getting those drones into Russia. However, we are told that there are pretty well-practiced smuggling routes between Ukraine and Russia that may have allowed the Ukrainians to give these drones to the partizans here. So it really is an interesting window into just how Ukraine is bringing the war to Russia directly. Sara. Natasha Bertrand, thank you so much for that reporting. Appreciate it, John. All right.
New this morning, Russia claims it has thwarted what it calls a large scale Ukrainian offensive in the southern Donetsk region. That is in was in the eastern part of the country there. The Russian defense ministry released video that it says shows a skirmish with Ukrainian forces. Moscow says Ukrainian troops tried and failed to push through a front line area with tanks and armored vehicles. Ukrainian officials say they have no information on the incident. Ukraine has been signaling a major count as offensive for weeks. But in a new video circulated on social media, Ukrainian soldiers are urging everyone to stay quiet. You can see that, say the soldiers. CNN's Frederik Pleitgen is in key for us this morning. So, Fred, the Russians are making sounds now that some kind of Ukrainian effort has begun. Is this could this be the counter offensive Well, it's very, very difficult to say, John. But certainly you're absolutely right that the Russians came out actually late last night and put out that video that you were just showing. They were just talking about as well as saying if they had thwarted a large scale attack, as they put it, by the Ukrainians, they claim that they took out 16 Ukrainian tanks, also a bunch of infantry fighting vehicles and a bunch of Ukrainian soldiers as well. I think they were talking about around 250 Ukrainian soldiers, as you said. So far, no information whatsoever coming from the Ukrainian side. Quite interesting though, because earlier today, in fact,
not long ago, another Russian official from that area where all this is going on, he claimed that there was another Ukrainian attack that happened this warning, this time larger in scale. And he claims that the Ukrainians are trying to advance through Russian positions and get all the way down to the Sea of Azov. Now, of course, they are very far away from making that happen. But if they did manage to do that, it would be a huge breakthrough for the Ukrainians because then they could cut off the land corridor that the Russians have from Russian territory all the way to Crimea again. Right now, all this seems to be in the early stages if it's something that is actually going on. And of course, we have that complete radio silence there coming from the Ukrainians. You just showed that ad. That certainly was something that caused a lot of chuckles here in Ukraine over this weekend when it was released. The message of that, by the way, is plans love silence. John plans love silence. So, Fred, over the last several weeks, there's been a lot of focus inside Russia in the Belgorod region, which is just north of the Ukrainian border, not far from the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv. What's going on there today? That same same stuff still going on and the Russians still not being able to come to terms with it. In fact, just a couple of minutes ago, the governor of that region, he came out and said that overnight, some 600 projectiles were fired to buy, as he put it, from the Ukrainian side towards the territory, which is around the town of Quebec, which is right next to the border between Ukraine and Russia. Now, that, of course, includes various munitions, can include mortars, that can include artillery, but also bullets as well. But certainly there is a lot going on there. And those pro-Russian fighter other those those Russian fighters, anti-Putin, Russian fighters who have been on the ground there, they claim that they're still in part of that area. Very difficult to discern. But one of the things that certainly seems to be the case is that
the Russians are on the back foot. Look, one thing that is also for certain, there has been an uptick in activity across the region. Frederik Pleitgen in key for us this morning, Fred, to keep us posted. Meanwhile, the top U.S. military officer saying Ukraine is well-prepared for a counter-offensive. General Mark Milley, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, had an exclusive interview with CNN's or Lehman in France ahead of tomorrow's 79th anniversary of D-Day and joins us now from Normandy to see what you discussed on Max, this was a wide ranging interview that first covered why we're here in Normandy. 79 years after the D-Day invasion. We certainly talked some about that, his personal feelings his professional feelings being here. He's been here before, but the significance it still has for him. We certainly talked about China as well as some of the domestic issues in the U.S., the military faces. But of course, much of the interview itself focused on Ukraine as we anticipate this counteroffensive here and wait to see when it begins. He is closely watched this war for the last year and a half or so, really ever since it began and even before that. Our question to him was, are they prepared and how do you know they will be successful? He was very careful in his answer here, worrying not to predict how battles play out because of how complex that is to know. Here's what he had to say. So I think it's too early to tell what outcomes are going to happen. I think the Ukrainians are very well prepared. As you know very well, the United States and other allied countries in Europe and a really around the world have provided training and ammunition and advice, intelligence, etc. to the Ukrainians. We're supporting them. They're in a war that's an essential threat for the very survival of Ukraine and has greater meaning to the rest of the world for for Europe, really for the United States, but also for the globe And speaking about current operations, what we're seeing, what you just talked about, Max, we also ask about the attacks we're seeing inside Russia. And does that escalate or risk the possibility of an escalation with Russia? You acknowledge that, yes, it could risk an escalation with Russia and it's up to Russia how they choose to respond. Something the U.S. is watching very closely. But then he made a distinction here. An escalation of Russia in Ukraine is one thing. The U.S. has been watching this and knows how to handle this, taking it as it comes and keeping an eye on the different dynamics there in that situation. But escalation outside of Ukraine, whether that's in another part of Europe against Naito in the Middle East, that would put this in an entirely different ballgame completely, he says. Max what about tensions between the US and China? So we certainly spoke about China as well, especially days after an encounter between the U.S. and the Chinese navies at sea in the Taiwan Strait, one of the most sensitive areas for China. We focused on the question of communication. Where are they on reestablishing communications between or at the higher levels of the military is between the U.S. and China. For him, he simply stressed the need to resume communications and to keep that going because it is the ability to have dialog, especially, especially with tensions high as we're seeing them now, that makes sure that the relationship between Beijing and Washington stays in the realm of competition and doesn't veer towards conflict Max. Okay. All right. Thank you for bringing us that.
