Ukraine-Russia war – live: Armoured green train carrying North Korea’s Kim Jong-un reaches Russia

An armoured train carrying North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has arrived in Russia, the country’s state news agency reported today.

The agency RIA, citing one of its correspondents in Russia’s Far East where Mr Kim is expected, posted also a video of the train with dark green and grey cars as it moved forward. The train carried the North Korean leader who rarely steps out of his country.

Western intelligence agencies expect the two to discuss North Korea supplying weapons and ammunition to support Russia’s war machine in Ukraine.

South Korean media, citing government sources, said that the train left the North Korean capital on Sunday evening and that the summit would likely be held on Tuesday or Wednesday in Vladivostok – which is just 80 miles from the Russia-North Korea border.

Meanwhile, Ukraine has made gains on the frontline in the east and south, Kyiv has claimed as it seeks to put Russia’s forces on the run.

Ukrainian troops near the frontline town of Avdiivka took advantage of Russian forces focusing on to advance and capture part of the village of Opytne to the south, the head of the local military administration said.

Key Points

• Putin’s troops pushed back in ‘thunderous assault operation’ in Donetsk

• Zelensky suggests Ukraine could be set for big breakthrough: 'They will run'

• Ukrainian military makes ‘thunderous assault operation’

• Ukraine says Russia launches overnight drone attack on Kyiv

• ‘600 members of Putin’s forces killed in one day’ as party HQ destroyed

• British man who went to fight in Ukraine found dead

In pictures: Kim Jong Un leaves for Russia

04:21 , Namita Singh

Why did Russia invade Ukraine?

03:00 , Eleanor Noyce

Russia’s “special military operation” in Ukraine has been raging for one year now as the conflict continues to record devastating casualties and force the mass displacement of millions of blameless Ukrainians.

Vladimir Putin began the war by claiming Russia’s neighbour needed to be “demilitarised and de-Nazified”, a baseless pretext on which to launch a landgrab against an independent state that happens to have a Jewish president in Volodymyr Zelensky.

Ukraine has fought back courageously against Mr Putin’s warped bid to restore territory lost to Moscow with the collapse of the Soviet Union and has continued to defy the odds by defending itself against Russian onslaughts with the help of Western military aid.

Read more:

Here’s why Putin really invaded Ukraine

'No risk' that NATO member Romania will be dragged into war, senior alliance official says

02:00 , Eleanor Noyce

NATO Deputy-General Secretary Mircea Geoana said on Monday there is “no risk” that Alliance member Romania will be dragged into a war following the recent discovery of drone fragments on its territory near the border with war-torn Ukraine.

“The most important thing is to re-confirm the fact that there is no indication of a deliberate action (by Russia) to strike Romanian territory and therefore NATO territory,” Geoana told journalists during a visit to a school near Romania’s capital, Bucharest.

The NATO deputy chief’s comments come days after Romanian authorities have twice confirmed the discovery of drone fragments on the country’s soil amid sustained attacks by Russian forces on Ukraine’s Danube River ports across the river from NATO member Romania.

Read more:

'No risk' that NATO member Romania will be dragged into war, senior alliance official says

ICYMI: Ukraine has around 45 days left before weather hinders offensive – US army chief

01:00 , Eleanor Noyce

Ukraine only has around 45 days left before poor weather conditions hinder its counter-offensive against Russia, the head of the US military has said.

Speaking to the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg, General Mark Milley said it will become “very difficult to manoeuvre” once the rains come.

“That offensive kicked off about 90 days ago,” he said.

Read more:

Ukraine has around 45 days left before weather hinders offensive – US army chief

Just 14 UK tanks for Ukraine? We must do better than that

Tuesday 12 September 2023 00:01 , Eleanor Noyce

Complacency could be the enemy of success in Ukraine. It is 564 days since Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine shook to the core assumptions about our UK and European security. War in Europe is a brutal reminder that to be secure at home, we must be strong abroad – and that our allies are the UK’s great strategic strength. Defence of the UK starts in Ukraine.

Despite deeply dug and heavily mined Russian defences, the Ukrainians are gradually getting the upper hand on the battlefield in the south, as well as diversifying the ways it is hitting the enemy – from airfields at depth in Russia, to targets in Crimea, to Russian ships in the Black Sea.

Some have criticised the slow pace of Ukraine’s counter-offensive. Yet its forces are making a similar rate of progress as British troops advancing into Normandy after the D-Day landings. Now is the time for Ukraine’s allies to double down on our support.

Britain’s miliary backing of Zelensky has been dwarfed by our EU allies, writes shadow defence secretary John Healey. If we are serious about defeating Putin – and defending Britain – we must double down on our support:

Just 14 UK tanks for Ukraine? We must do better than that | John Healey

Ukraine special forces fight off Russian jet to retake strategic drilling rigs near Crimea, Kyiv says

Monday 11 September 2023 23:00 , Eleanor Noyce

Ukrainian special forces regained control of a number of oil and gas drilling platforms that Russia has used to help control the Black Sea in a “unique operation,” the country’s military intelligence (GUR) has said.

During the operation, the GUR said, there was a clash between Ukrainian special forces on boats and a Russian fighter jet, which was damaged and forced to retreat.

It said the platforms, close to Crimea and known as the Boika Towers, had been occupied since 2015 by Moscow, which seized and annexed the peninsula in 2014. The UK’s Ministry of Defence has previously said the platforms could be used to launch helicopters, position long-range missile systems and as a base for forward deployment.

Chris Stevenson reports:

Ukraine special forces ‘fight off Russian jet’ to retake drilling rigs near Crimea

Putin and Kim's meeting will be full-scale visit, Kremlin says

Monday 11 September 2023 22:00 , Eleanor Noyce

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s trip to Russia and meeting with President Vladimir Putin will be a full-scale visit, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

Kim has set off for Russia aboard a special train, a South Korean source said, as Pyongyang and Moscow on Monday confirmed a summit with President Vladimir Putin amid Russia’s deepening isolation over its actions in Ukraine.

“There will be talks between the two delegations. And after that, if necessary, the leaders will continue their communication in a one-on-one format,” Peskov said. Video of his remarks were posted to social media by a Kremlin journalist Pavel Zarubin.

According to Peskov, the main topic of the talks will be bilateral relations between the neighbouring countries.

“We will continue to strengthen our friendship,” Peskov said.

Berlin says missile supply to Kyiv won't automatically follow US supplies

Monday 11 September 2023 21:00 , Eleanor Noyce

German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said on Monday that Berlin will not necessarily supply Kyiv with Taurus cruise missiles simply because the U.S. may decide to send ATACMS long-range missiles to the war-torn country.

“There is no automatism in this war,” Pistorius told reporters on the sidelines of a visit to Cologne, adding that Germany was not yet in a position to decide on whether or not to provide Ukraine with Taurus missiles.

Kyiv has been pushing Berlin to supply it with the missiles, which have a range of more than 500 km (311 miles) and are launched by fighter jets. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has repeatedly made clear that Berlin will only act in concert with Washington on arms deliveries.

Britain and France have provided Ukraine with Storm Shadow and Scalp cruise missiles, which are similar to the Taurus. However, the United States has so far refrained from sending its ATACMS to Ukraine despite Kyiv’s requests.

At the weekend, ABC reported that the U.S. was likely to deliver ATACMS to Ukraine for the first time.

Andriy Yermak, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief of staff, said on the Telegram messaging app that discussions on ATACMS were moving forward, but he gave no details.

Zelensky told CNN in an interview that he planned to speak again to U.S. President Joe Biden about providing ATACMS to Ukraine, and that he hoped to receive them in the autumn.

Cruise missiles are hard to detect with air defence radars as they fly at low altitudes. They are mainly used to hit high-value targets behind enemy lines such as command bunkers, ammunitions and fuel dumps, airfields and bridges.

Russia has been using long-range missiles to destroy targets in Ukraine including civilian infrastructure, and Ukraine has no easy way to respond to such attacks.

UK says Russia targeted civilian cargo ship in Black Sea port on 24 Aug

Monday 11 September 2023 20:00 , Eleanor Noyce

Britain on Monday accused Russia of targeting a civilian cargo ship at port in the Black Sea on 24 August in a previously unconfirmed missile attack it said was successfully thwarted by Ukrainian defences.

Ukraine has been making efforts to allow vessels stranded in Odesa port since the start of the Russia-Ukraine conflict to sail into open waters after the collapse of the UN-backed Black Sea grains corridor.

The remarks, made in Britain’s parliament by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, are the first time an official has commented on a ship being targeted since those Ukrainian efforts began. Since Aug. 18, four cargo ships have sailed from Odesa.

“Thanks to declassified intelligence, we know the Russian military targeted a civilian cargo ship in the Black Sea with multiple missiles on the 24th of August,” Sunak said in an update to parliament on the G20 summit he attended in New Delhi.

The missiles had targeted a Liberian-flagged cargo ship berthed in port and were successfully shot down, Britain’s foreign office said in a statement. The missiles included two “Kalibr” missiles fired from a Black Sea Fleet missile carrier, it added.

Russia’s defence ministry did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for a comment.

Since Russia quit a U.N.-brokered deal allowing Ukraine to safely export its grain via the Black Sea in July, Moscow has been accused by Ukraine of threatening civilian vessels in the Black Sea.

Both the United States and Britain had warned in July that Russia might expand its targeting of Ukrainian grain facilities to include attacks on civilian shipping in the Black Sea.

“Putin is trying to win a war he will not win, and these attacks show just how desperate he is,” Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said in a statement.

“In targeting cargo ships and Ukrainian infrastructure, Russia is hurting the rest of the world.”

US and UK holding UN screening of documentary on Russia's siege of Ukrainian city of Mariupol

Monday 11 September 2023 19:07 , Sam Rkaina

The United States and Britain are hosting a U.N. screening of the award-winning documentary “20 Days in Mariupol,” which follows a trio of journalists during Russia’s relentless siege of the Ukrainian port city in the early days of the war.

UK Ambassador Barbara Woodward said the Monday evening showing at U.N. headquarters is important because “Russia’s invasion of Ukraine threatens what the U.N. stands for: an international order where the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries is fundamental.”

The screening comes at the start of the 78th session of the U.N. General Assembly and a week before world leaders arrive for their annual meeting, where the more than 18-month war in Ukraine is expected to be in the spotlight — especially with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky scheduled to speak in person for the first time.

The harrowing documentary, which was produced by the AP and the PBS series “Frontline,” is culled from 30 hours of footage AP journalist Mstyslav Chernov and his colleagues shot in Mariupol following Russia’s Feb. 24, 2022, invasion of Ukraine and its siege of the city.

‘Desperate’ Putin attacked civilian cargo ship, Sunak reveals after G20 summit

Monday 11 September 2023 18:10 , Sam Rkaina

Sunak accuses Russia of targeting civilian cargo ship

Monday 11 September 2023 17:40 , Sam Rkaina

Rishi Sunak has accused the Russian military of targeting a civilian cargo ship in the Black Sea with “multiple missiles” on 24 August.

“Thanks to declassified intelligence, we know the Russian military targeted a civilian cargo ship in the Black Sea with multiple missiles on the 24th of August,” Mr Sunak said in an update to parliament on the G20 summit he attended in New Delhi.

Since Russia quit a U.N.-brokered deal allowing Ukraine to safely export its grain via the Black Sea in July, Moscow has been accused by Ukraine of threatening civilian vessels in the Black Sea.

Both the United States and Britain had warned in July that Russia might expand its targeting of Ukrainian grain facilities to include attacks against civilian shipping in the Black Sea.

White House urges North Korea not to sell arms to Putin

Monday 11 September 2023 16:50 , Sam Rkaina

With North Korean leader Kim Jong Un reportedly on a trip to Russia, the White House on Monday urged North Korea not to sell arms to Russia for use in the Ukraine war.

“As we have warned publicly, arms discussions between Russia and the DPRK are expected to continue during Kim Jong Un’s trip to Russia.

“We urge the DPRK to abide by the public commitments that Pyongyang has made to not provide or sell arms to Russia,” said Adrienne Watson, spokesperson for the White House National Security Council.

German minister says Ukraine's place is in EU, hears calls for arms during Kyiv visit

Monday 11 September 2023 16:20 , Eleanor Noyce

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said during a visit to Kyiv on Monday that Ukraine‘s place was in the European Union, but urged it do more to fight corruption.

On her fourth visit to Ukraine since Russia’s invasion over 18 months ago, she said Germany would provide an additional 20 million euros ($21.44 million) in humanitarian aid, bringing the amount provided by Berlin to 380 million euros this year.

At meetings with President Volodymyr Zelensky and other Ukrainian leaders, she also heard calls for Western partners to provide Kyiv with more weapons including long-range missiles to fight Russian forces.

“Ukraine is defending the freedom of us all with great courage and determination,” Baerbock was quoted by her ministry as saying on arrival in the Ukrainian capital.

“Just as Ukraine is standing up for us, it can also rely on us and on our understanding of EU enlargement as a necessary geopolitical consequence of Russia’s war. And on our firm support for Ukraine on its path towards the European Union.”

Despite Russia’s invasion, Ukraine is trying to carry out reforms requested by the EU before it can join the 28-country bloc, a process that usually takes years.

“Reform results in the areas of judicial reform and media legislation are already impressive. But there is still a long way to go in the implementation of the anti-oligarch law and the fight against corruption,” Baerbock said.

She also warned that Russia would target Ukraine‘s energy facilities in air strikes this autumn and winter.

“Russia’s perfidious goal is to starve the people again this winter and to let them freeze to death,” she said.

Ukraine claims to recapture Black Sea oil platforms seized during Crimea's annexation

Monday 11 September 2023 16:06 , Eleanor Noyce

The Ukrainian military said Monday that it recaptured strategic gas and oil drilling platforms from Russia in the Black Sea and claimed gains in occupied areas near Bakhmut, a city in eastern Ukraine left in ruins after the war’s longest and deadliest fighting.

The recapture of the so-called Boyko Towers platforms provides an energy source and takes back an asset that Russia seized in 2015 and used to launch helicopters, Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense said.

“Russia has been deprived of the ability to fully control the waters of the Black Sea, and this makes Ukraine many steps closer to regaining Crimea,” the Main Intelligence Directorate said.

Read more:

Ukraine claims to recapture Black Sea oil platforms seized during Crimea's annexation

Lula rows back from comments that Brazil would not arrest Putin

Monday 11 September 2023 15:50 , Eleanor Noyce

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva rowed back on Monday from saying Brazil would ignore a war crimes arrest warrant for Russian leader Vladimir Putin, while saying he would review Brazil’s membership in the International Criminal Court.

On Saturday, while in India for a Group of 20 nations meeting, Lula told a local interviewer that there was “no way” Putin would be arrested if he attended next year’s summit, which is due to be held in Rio de Janeiro.

Brazil is a signatory to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, which obliges members to comply with its arrest warrants. The court issued a warrant for Putin’s arrest in March, accusing him of the war crime of deporting hundreds of children from Ukraine.

Russia has denied its forces have engaged in war crimes or forcibly taken Ukrainian children.

Putin has yet to travel abroad since the ICC sought his arrest, notably missing a summit of the BRICS group in South Africa last month as well as this month’s G20 summit in India. He also skipped the G20 summit in Bali last year.

“If Putin decides to join (next year’s summit), it is the judiciary’s power to decide (on a possible arrest) and not my government,” Lula said at a press conference on Monday, rowing back from his earlier remarks.

He would review why Brazil had signed up to the ICC treaty, he said: “I want to know why the U.S, India and China didn’t sign the ICC treaty and why our country signed it.”

Lula’s earlier comments that Putin would not be arrested had drawn criticism in Brazil.

Oliver Stuenkel, a professor at the Getulio Vargas Foundation in São Paulo, said on social media site X that the comments were “damaging and unnecessary”.

“Rather than projecting himself as the elder statesman, Lula came across as inexperienced and ignorant,” Stuenkel wrote.

Lula has sought unsuccessfully to mediate peace in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and has said that U.S. President Joe Biden could have done more to prevent the conflict.

Russia invaded Ukraine last year and claims to have annexed around a sixth of its territory. Ukraine says any peace agreement that would leave Russian troops on Ukrainian soil would reward Putin for his decision to invade. Moscow says there can be no peace unless Ukraine accepts its territorial claims.

Sweden adds another SEK 700 mln to its 2024 defence spending

Monday 11 September 2023 15:35 , Eleanor Noyce

Sweden has again boosted its planned defence budget for 2024, taking the total planned increase for the year to 27 billion crowns ($2.44 billion) and exceeding the NATO threshold of 2% of GDP, the government said on Monday.

The defence minister announced that Sweden would add 700 million to the defence in its upcoming autumn budget, lifting the overall defence spending to 119 billion crowns in 2024, almost double that of 2020.

The spending is expected to be equivalent to 2.1% of Swedish GDP, he said.

“We are in the most serious security policy situation since the end of the Second World War,” Minister of Defence Pal Jonson told a news conference.

Sweden is scrambling to boost its defence following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year.

Sweden was invited to join NATO in 2023 but is waiting for Turkey and Hungary to approve its application.

Russia's largest untapped copper deposit starts concentrate production

Monday 11 September 2023 15:20 , Eleanor Noyce

Copper concentrate production started at Russia’s largest undeveloped copper deposit on Monday following a ceremony overseen by President Vladimir Putin via video link.

The long-awaited Udokan project in Russia’s far east is coming on stream at a challenging time. The United States imposed sanctions on its operator - Udokan Copper LLC - in April as part of a wave of restrictions placed on Russia due to its activities in Ukraine.

Copper prices also fell 14% in 2022 and are flat so far this year due to weaker than expected demand.

The project, however, relies on its proximity to top metals consumer China and on demand there, as well as future demand from the global green energy transition.

“Go ahead,” Putin said during the ceremony, broadcast by state TV.

The processing plant at Udokan will produce sulphide copper concentrate with 40-45% metal content, the company said. It plans commercial sales this year, but has not disclosed potential buyers yet.

Once the first stage of the metallurgical plant is launched in 2024, Udokan will be able to handle up to 15 million metric tons of ore per year, with annual production of up to 150,000 tons of copper in the form of copper cathode and concentrate.

The deposit is the largest in Russia with an estimated 26.7 million tons of copper resources. It has been untapped since its discovery in 1949 because the technology didn’t exist to exploit its unique and difficult-to-extract ore.

In the 1970s, a student at the Moscow Mining Institute researched the idea of a “clean” nuclear blast to extract Udokan’s ore, but that remained on paper.

Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov bought the right to develop Udokan for $500 million from the government just before the 2008 financial crisis. It took 10 years to solve the technical challenges of the project, create a new geological model and start construction.

By 2028, Udokan plans to build the second stage of its mining and metallurgical complex, increasing annual capacity to 24–28 million tons of ore and up to 450,000 tons of copper.

North Korea's Kim en route to Russia for talks with Putin

Monday 11 September 2023 15:05 , Eleanor Noyce

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has set off for Russia aboard a special train, a South Korean source said, as Pyongyang and Moscow on Monday confirmed a summit with President Vladimir Putin amid Russia’s deepening isolation over the war in Ukraine.

Kim would visit Russia in the coming days at the invitation of Putin, the Kremlin said, while North Korean state news agency KCNA said the two would “meet and have a talk”, without elaborating.

U.S. officials have said the pair would discuss possible arms deals to aid Russia’s war in Ukraine and provide North Korea with a much-needed economic and political lifeline.

Washington and its allies have been voicing concern at recent signs of closer military cooperation between Russia and the nuclear-armed North. It will be Kim’s second summit with Putin, after the pair met in 2019.

Despite denials by both Pyongyang and Moscow, the United States has said talks are advancing actively for North Korea to supply arms to Russia, which has expended vast stocks of weapons in more than 18 months of war.

The North Korean leader left aboard his train late on Sunday, a senior South Korean government official told Reuters.

The special train would take Kim to North Korea’s northeastern border with Russia and the summit could take place as early as Tuesday, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, citing intelligence concerns, and added that details could change depending on the situation there.

Neither Moscow nor Pyongyang immediately confirmed an exact schedule for the visit.

North Korea is one of the few countries to have openly supported Russia since the invasion of Ukraine last year, and Putin pledged last week to “expand bilateral ties in all respects in a planned way by pooling efforts”.

Kim’s last trip abroad in 2019 was also to Vladivostok for his first summit with Putin after the collapse of North Korea’s nuclear disarmament talks with former U.S. President Donald Trump.

Red Cross cuts 2024 budget as donations fall

Monday 11 September 2023 14:50 , Eleanor Noyce

The International Committee of the Red Cross will cut its budget next year by about 13%, its director-general said on Monday, as major donors including the United States have reduced funding.

Surging humanitarian needs amid a deepening set of crises around the world including wars in Ukraine and Sudan have strained aid budgets, forcing governments to rethink decisions about who to help and how.

“This reduced ICRC budget forecast which is the consequence of shrinking aid budgets globally is taking place at a time where global humanitarian needs have never been higher,” Robert Mardini told journalists, saying he was concerned about he impact of the cuts.

“This trend comes at a significant human cost,” he added.

The humanitarian body is present in more than 90 countries and its activities range from providing basic humanitarian aid to visiting prisoners of war.

The 2024 budget would be 2.1 billion CHF ($2.36 billion), resulting in 270 further job cuts in its Geneva headquarters, he said.

The ICRC’s website says it is funded by voluntary contributions from states party to the Geneva Conventions, Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, supranational organisations such as the European Commission, and public and private donors.

At the end of March, its governing board approved a plan to reduce 430 million CHF in global costs over 2023 and early 2024, having revised its overall budget down to 2.4 billion CHF.

Asked about U.S. funding, Mardini said that the United States was the organisation’s biggest donor and had cut back its 2023 contributions versus the previous year, without giving details of the amounts.

“We need to rethink the humanitarian system,” said Mardini. “The whole system relies on a handful of countries and donors and I think this is by design a big problem and a big risk,” he added.

'No risk' that NATO member Romania will be dragged into war, senior alliance official says

Monday 11 September 2023 14:35 , Eleanor Noyce

NATO Deputy-General Secretary Mircea Geoana said on Monday there is “no risk” that Alliance member Romania will be dragged into a war following the recent discovery of drone fragments on its territory near the border with war-torn Ukraine.

“The most important thing is to re-confirm the fact that there is no indication of a deliberate action (by Russia) to strike Romanian territory and therefore NATO territory,” Geoana told journalists during a visit to a school near Romania’s capital, Bucharest.

The NATO deputy chief’s comments come days after Romanian authorities have twice confirmed the discovery of drone fragments on the country’s soil amid sustained attacks by Russian forces on Ukraine’s Danube River ports across the river from NATO member Romania.

Stephen McGrath and Vadim Ghirda report:

'No risk' that NATO member Romania will be dragged into war, senior alliance official says

Just 14 UK tanks for Ukraine? We must do better than that

Monday 11 September 2023 14:15 , Eleanor Noyce

Complacency could be the enemy of success in Ukraine. It is 564 days since Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine shook to the core assumptions about our UK and European security. War in Europe is a brutal reminder that to be secure at home, we must be strong abroad – and that our allies are the UK’s great strategic strength. Defence of the UK starts in Ukraine.

Despite deeply-dug and heavily mined Russian defences, the Ukrainians are gradually getting the upper hand on the battlefield in the South, as well as diversifying the ways it is hitting the enemy – from airfields at depth in Russia, to targets in Crimea, to Russian ships in the Black Sea.

Some have criticised the slow pace of Ukraine’s counter-offensive. Yet its forces are making a similar rate of progress as British troops advancing into Normandy after the D-Day landings. Now is the time for Ukraine’s allies to double down on our support.

Britain’s military backing of Zelensky has been dwarfed by our EU allies, writes shadow defence secretary John Healey. If we are serious about defeating Putin – and defending Britain – we must double down on our support:

Just 14 UK tanks for Ukraine? We must do better than that | John Healey

Russian strikes on Ukraine kill 2 foreign aid workers and target Kyiv

Monday 11 September 2023 14:00 , Matt Mathers

Two foreign aid workers were reportedly killed in eastern Ukraine on Sunday as Russian shelling hit a van carrying a team of four working with a Ukrainian nongovernmental organization, while dozens of Russian drones targeted Kyiv and wounded at least one civilian.

The four volunteers from the Road to Relief group, which helps evacuate wounded people from front-line areas, were trapped inside the van as it flipped over and caught fire after being struck by shells near the town of Chasiv Yar, the organization said on its Instagram page.

Russian strikes on Ukraine kill 2 foreign aid workers and target Kyiv

Ukraine says Russia may soon launch big mobilisation drive

Monday 11 September 2023 13:47 , Eleanor Noyce

Ukraine‘s military said on Monday Russia could launch a big mobilisation campaign soon to try to recruit hundreds of thousands of soldiers from inside Russia and occupied Ukraine.

The Ukrainian General Staff provided no evidence in a statement to support its assertion. Russian officials have said there are no current plans for a new wave of mobilisation and that Moscow is focused on recruiting professional soldiers.

“A mass forced mobilisation of the population is expected soon in the Russian Federation and temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine due to the occupiers’ catastrophic losses,” the General Staff said in a battlefield roundup.

The mobilisation campaign could target between 400,000 and 700,000 recruits, it said, citing different estimates.

It said the number of Russians recruited in Moscow and St Petersburg would remain “minimal”, while Russians would be drawn heavily from the regions outside the two big Russian cities.

The General Staff issued its statement days after a senior Ukrainian military spy official said there were 420,000 Russian servicemen currently inside Ukraine.

Russia and Ukraine both treat their losses on the battlefield as a state secret.

Last month, the New York Times cited unnamed U.S. officials who said nearly 500,000 Ukrainian and Russian troops had been killed or wounded in the war since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.

ICYMI: G20 summit ends with no ‘family photo’ and criticism of watered-down Ukraine declaration

Monday 11 September 2023 13:40 , Matt Mathers

The G20 summit in India has ended without the usual “family photo”, as some members questioned the watered-down language used in the joint declaration issued by leaders in relation to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Most of the leaders departed from Delhi earlier in the day, having paid tribute to Mahatma Gandhi at his memorial on the banks of the Yamuna River. The absence of the customary group photograph – intended to signify unity between the world’s largest economies – exemplified the fact that deep divisions still remain over the Ukraine war.

Shweta Sharma reports:

G20 summit ends with no ‘family photo’ and criticism of watered-down declaration

Germany to provide Ukraine additional €20 mln in aid - Baerbock in Kyiv

Monday 11 September 2023 13:23 , Eleanor Noyce

Germany will provide an additional €20 million ($21.44 million) in humanitarian aid to Ukraine, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said on Monday during a visit to Kyiv.

The additional aid will bring Germany’s total to 380 million euros this year, the minister said.

Baerbock also warned that Russia would again target Ukraine‘s energy facilities this autumn and winter: “Russia’s perfidious goal is to starve the people again this winter and to let them freeze to death.”

Ukraine needs more air defences to protect ports - FM

Monday 11 September 2023 13:20 , Matt Mathers

Ukraine’s foreign minister said he discussed air defence supplies with his German counterpart in Kyiv on Monday and that Ukraine needed more systems to protect its ports from Russian air strikes to ensure grain could be exported.

Dmytro Kuleba also urged Berlin to send Taurus missiles to Ukraine as soon as possible.

"You will do it anyway, its just a matter of time, and I don’t understand why we are wasting time," he said in response to a question at a news conference in Kyiv.

Russia says ban on Russians bringing cars, some goods into EU is racist

Monday 11 September 2023 12:46 , Matt Mathers

Russia said on Monday that a European Union ban on Russians bringing their cars and some personal goods into the bloc was racist, and one ally of president Vladimir Putin suggested that all diplomatic relations should be severed in response.

In an explanatory note to its rules on sanctions imposed over the Ukraine war, the European Commission said Russians were temporarily barred from bringing some personal goods or vehicles into the 27-nation EU.

The annex referred to in the advice also appears to ban the import of a host of items which could be dual use alongside more mundane items such as make-up, toothpaste, deodorants, toilet paper and mobile phones.

"It’s just racism," Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, said of the Commission’s advice. "This is racism pure and simple."

Kremlin and North Korea confirm Kim Jong-Un visit

Monday 11 September 2023 12:28 , Matt Mathers

Russia and North Korea confirmed Monday that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will visit Russia.

A brief statement on the Kremlin’s website said Kim’s visit is at the invitation of president Vladimir Putin and would take place "in the coming days."

The visit also was reported by North Korea’s official KCNA news agency, saying he would meet with Putin.

Monday 11 September 2023 11:56 , Matt Mathers

Ukraine soldiers search ‘road of death’ for fallen Russians in hope of exchange

Ukrainian soldiers have told the harrowing details of how they search for the bodies of dead Russian troops who they hope to exchange for their own fallen comrades.

Wearing face masks, the Ukrainian soldiers poked sticks into the undergrowth along a deserted country lane, which they have named the “road of death” after a number of Russian soldiers were killed there when Ukrainian forces retook the southeastern village of Blahodatne at the start of their counteroffensive in June.

Three months on, the frontline had shifted south and it was finally safe enough for the three-man team of Ukrainian soldiers to start their operation in this liberated part of Donetsk region.

“We’re going to search,” said Volodymyr, a 50-year-old marine, as artillery fire boomed in the distance. “Search with our eyes. And using smell.”

Russia pulling out of Black Sea grain deal risks ‘many people’ going hungry

Monday 11 September 2023 11:34 , Matt Mathers

Russia’s withdrawal from the Black Sea grain initiative has put “many more” people at risk from hunger, the United Nations high commissioner for human rights has said,

Volker Türk spoke at the opening of the Human Rights Council session in Geneva, Switzerland on Monday.

“A year and a half of horrific warfare has ravaged Ukraine, with a heart-wrenching toll on its people, and damage to vast areas of agricultural land,” he said.

“The Russian Federation’s withdrawal from the Black Sea Grain Initiative in July, and attacks on grain facilities in Odesa and elsewhere, have again forced prices sky-high in many developing countries – taking the right to food far out of reach for many people."

Putin arrives in Vladivostock for Eastern Economic Forum - state TV

Monday 11 September 2023 10:59 , Matt Mathers

Vladimir Putin has arrived in Vladivostock for a meeting of the Eastern Economic Forum, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said, according to Russian state TV.

Russia has hosted the forum since 2015 as it tries to drum up investment from the far east. China, Myanmar, Mongolia, India, Armenia and South Korea are among the countries that send delegates to the forum.

This year’s event is taking place at the Far Eastern Federal University (FEFU) campus.

“The Eastern Economic Forum is a “key international platform for establishing and strengthening ties within the Russian and global investment communities, and for comprehensive expert evaluation of the economic potential of the Russian Far East, the investment opportunities it offers, and business conditions within advanced special economic zones,” it website says.

Ukraine retakes offshore drilling platforms near Crimea - military intelligence

Monday 11 September 2023 10:27 , Matt Mathers

Ukraine’s military intelligence service said on Monday its forces had regained control of several offshore drilling platforms close to Crimea.

It said on the Telegram messaging app that Kyiv’s forces had retaken the drilling platforms known as the ‘Boiko Towers’ in a "unique operation".

It said the platforms had been occupied since 2015 by Russia, which seized and annexed Crimea in 2014, and had been used by Moscow for military purposes since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion on Ukraine in February 2022.

Up to judiciary if Putin should be arrested when visiting Brazil for G20 - Lula

Monday 11 September 2023 10:01 , Matt Mathers

Brazil president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has said it is up to the country’s judiciary whether or not to arrest Vladimir Putin if he visits for the G20 summit next year.

"If Putin decides to join, it is the judiciary’s power to decide and not my government,” Lula told reporters in New Delhi, where he was attending this year’s G20 summit.

"I believe that Putin can go easily to Brazil," he said in an on-camera interview with Indian news outlet Firstpost.

"What I can say to you is that if I’m president of Brazil, and he comes to Brazil, there’s no way he will be arrested."

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ‘on way to Russia'

Monday 11 September 2023 09:27 , Matt Mathers

A North Korean train presumably carrying North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has departed for Russia for a possible meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin, South Korean media said Monday.

Citing unidentified South Korean government sources, the Chosun Ilbo newspaper reported that the train likely left the North Korean capital of Pyongyang on Sunday evening and that a Kim-Putin meeting is possible as early as Tuesday.

The Yonhap news agency and some other media published similar reports. South Korea’s National Intelligence Service didn’t immediately confirm those details.

US officials released intelligence last week that North Korea and Russia were arranging a meeting between their leaders that would take place within this month as they expand their cooperation in the face of deepening confrontations with the United States.

G20 summit ends with no ‘family photo’ and criticism of watered-down Ukraine declaration

Monday 11 September 2023 09:03 , Matt Mathers

The G20 summit in India has ended without the usual “family photo”, as some members questioned the watered-down language used in the joint declaration issued by leaders in relation to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Most of the leaders departed from Delhi earlier in the day, having paid tribute to Mahatma Gandhi at his memorial on the banks of the Yamuna River. The absence of the customary group photograph – intended to signify unity between the world’s largest economies – exemplified the fact that deep divisions still remain over the Ukraine war.

Shweta Sharma reports:

G20 summit ends with no ‘family photo’ and criticism of watered-down declaration

Zelensky pays tribute to aid workers killed in Donetsk

Monday 11 September 2023 08:41 , Matt Mathers

Volodymyr Zelensky has paid tribute to aid workers after a Russian anti-tank missile struck a volunteer van in Donetsk yesterday.

Canadian Anthony Ignat was killed in the incident and it is likely Emma Igual of Spain also died, the Ukraine president said.

German citizen Mawick Ruben and Swedish citizen Johan Mathias, two other volunteers, were seriously injured and are being treated in hospitals in Dnipro.

“This Russian shelling once again confirms how close the war against Ukraine is to everyone in the world who truly values human life and who believes it is the common moral duty of humanity to stop terror and defeat evil,” Zelensky said in a Telegram post.

Ukraine's place is in the EU, says German foreign minister in Kyiv

Monday 11 September 2023 08:22 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock stressed that Ukraine‘s place is in the European Union during a visit to the embattled country’s capital, Kyiv, on Monday morning.

Ukraine can “rely on us and on our understanding of EU enlargement as a necessary geopolitical consequence of Russia‘s war,” said Baerbock upon arrival, according to a statement.

Ukraine already has candidate status, said Baerbock. “And now we are preparing to take a decision on opening EU accession talks.”

On judicial reform and media legislation, Ukraine‘s reform results are already impressive, she said.

But there is still a long way to go in the implementation of the anti-oligarch law and the fight against corruption, added the foreign minister.

The visit is Baerbock’s fourth since the war in Ukraine broke out in February 2022.

Putin to recruit 420,000 by year end in blow to industrial workforce – UK MoD

Monday 11 September 2023 08:03 , Arpan Rai

The Russian military intends to recruit 420,000 contract personnel by the end of 2023, Britain’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) said today, warning of the negative effect this would have on its industrial workforce.

On 3 September, Russian Security Council deputy chairman Dimitry Medvedev stated that so far 280,000 personnel had been recruited, the ministry said, adding that the numbers cannot be verified.

“Russia’s conscription continues to have negative effects on its industry workforce. The Yegor Gaidar Institute for Economic Policy found that Russia’s industry shortage of workers reached a new high of 42% for July 2023, 7% higher from April 2023,” the MoD said.

It added that in contrast to conscription efforts elsewhere, the IT sector Russia has taken steps to preserve the workforce. “This likely highlights the particularly acute shortages in the sector after about 100,000 IT workers left Russia in 2022,” it said.

“This equates to 10% of the IT sector workforce. On 4 September 2023, President Putin signed a decree to increase the exemption age of military recruitment for IT professionals from 27 to 30.”

“This shows that mobilisation and conscription within Russia has worsened non-defence workforce shortages. In the run-up to the Russian presidential elections scheduled for March 2024, Russian authorities will likely seek to avoid further unpopular mobilisations,” the MoD said in its latest intelligence update.

Ukrainian military makes ‘thunderous assault operation’ amid advances in Donetsk and south

Monday 11 September 2023 07:21 , Arpan Rai

Ukraine’s armed forces have made gains in different parts of eastern Donetsk region, the focal point of Russia’s continuing invasion of the country, and in the south, officials said yesterday.

Ukrainian troops near the frontline town of Avdiivka took advantage of Russian forces focusing on one sector to advance and capture part of the village of Opytne south of the city, the head of the local military administration said.

“In my opinion, this is very significant,” Vitaliy Barabash told national television. “To be frank, the enemy overlooked this southern direction a bit.”

He called the advance a “thunderous assault operation” and said fighting was underway in the settlement.

Avdiivka, site of a major coking plant, has been under near-constant Russian attack for many months.

The General Staff of Ukraine‘s armed forces reported successes near Bakhmut.

In its evening report, the General Staff reported “partial success as a result of assault operations” near Klishchiivka, a village on heights south of Bakhmut, seen as critical to recapturing the town.

The report also described a measure of success near Robotyne – a settlement it captured late last month – as part of its drive southward through Russian-held areas to the Sea of Azov.

US treasury secretary denies G20 watered down statement on Ukraine

Monday 11 September 2023 06:56 , Arpan Rai

The US treasury secretary Janet Yellen has denied the G20 toned down its stance on Ukraine in the Delhi Declaration released over the weekend, which did not mention Russian aggression in Ukraine directly.

Calling the statement “substantively very strong”, Ms Yellen said: “The US does not see this language as in any way weakening the G20’s stance on Ukraine.”

“Clearly it was hard to find language that would satisfy the US and other countries but we felt we wanted strong language, and substantively strong language, and this was substantively very strong,” she told the Financial Times.

Ukraine rejected the joint statement, saying “the G20 has nothing to be proud of in the part about Russia’s aggression against Ukraine”.

Zelensky suggests Ukraine could be set for big breakthrough: 'They will run'

Monday 11 September 2023 05:21 , Arpan Rai

In an interview with The Economist published yesterday, Volodymyr Zelensky said steady progress was essential to maintaining Ukrainian morale.

“Keeping morale high is crucial. This is why even limited progress on the frontline is essential,” Mr Zelensky told the publication.

“Now we have movement. It’s important,” the publication quoted him as saying.

“If we push them from the south, they will run,” he said, hinting that a big breakthrough can still come before the onset of Ukraine’s infamously wet autumn weather makes battlefield movement more difficult.

Ukraine has had some success in dismantling the first of Russia’s three main defensive lines in the Zaporizhzhia region after facing initial losses in the early stages of the counteroffensive.

Mr Zelensky added that victory will not come “tomorrow or the day after tomorrow”. The Russian army is losing “lots of people”, Mr Zelensky said, adding that the invading country has had to redeploy its reserves to stop the Ukrainian advance.

“It means they lose,” he said.

Zelensky says troops advancing in south, movement in east

Monday 11 September 2023 04:17 , Arpan Rai

Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukrainian troops pressing a counteroffensive against Russian occupying forces have advanced on the southern front in the past week while there had also been movement near Bakhmut in the east.

“Over the past seven days we have made an advance in the Tavria (southern) sector,” Mr Zelensky said in his nightly video address.

“There is movement in the Bakhmut sector. Yes, there is movement.”

He added that Ukrainian forces were holding their ground on other fronts in the east – Avdiivka and Maryinka near the focus of Russia’s main attacks, and Lyman and Kupiansk, also subject to Russian attempts to advance further north.

The war-time president’s latest comments confirm assessments by other officials of gains, however modest, in the east and south.

Near Avdiivka, the head of the local military administration said Ukrainian troops took advantage of Russian forces focusing on one sector to advance and capture part of the village of Opytne south of the city.

Two drones downed near Russia’s Belgorod region

Monday 11 September 2023 03:55 , Arpan Rai

Russia’s air defence systems destroyed two drones over the Belgorod region in the early hours today, the Russian defence ministry said on its Telegram channel, claiming to have thwarted an attack by Ukraine.

No immediate injuries have been reported after drone debris fell on a road in the Yakovlevsky district, according to Belgorod governor Vyacheslav Gladkov.

ICYMI: Foreign aid workers killed in Russian strikes

Monday 11 September 2023 03:00 , Lydia Patrick

A charity confirmed four of their workers were hit by Russian shells in the Bakhmut region whilst trying to get to civilians who were caught in a crossfire.

Their vehicle came under Russian attack leading the van to catch on fire and flip, according to a Road to Relief spokesperson.German medical volunteer Ruben Mawick, Swedish volunteer Johan Mathias Thyr, Canadian volunteer Anthony “Tonko” Ihnat, and Spanish volunteer and Road to Relief Director Emma Igual were all in the vehicle.According to the charity, Ruben and Johan were badly injured with shrapnel wounds and burns but are now in a stable condition.

Tragically, Tonko has been confirmed dead, whilst Emma’s current status is still unknown as the organiation cannot trace her whereabouts.

Zelensky urges the West to maintain support for Ukraine

Monday 11 September 2023 02:00 , Lydia Patrick

The Ukranian president says Europeans must prepare for a long war as Kyiv make ‘modest’ progress three months into counter offensive.

In an interview with The Economist, the leader expresses a seeming change in morale amongst Western leaders as Kyiv make ‘modest’ gains.

In conversation with The Economist, he said: I have this intuition, reading, hearing and seeing their eyes [when they say] ‘we’ll be always with you.

“But I see that he or she is not here, not with us.”

The ex TV actor is aware of the importance of western economic support.

Mr Zelensky added: “If you are not with Ukraine, you are with Russia, and if you are not with Russia, you are with Ukraine. And if partners do not help us, it means they will help Russia to win. That is it.”

ICYMI: Russia carries out overnight drone attack on Kyiv

Monday 11 September 2023 01:00 , Lydia Patrick

Russia launched an air attack on Kyiv early on Sunday, with blasts ringing out across the Ukrainian capital and its region for almost two hours and drone debris falling on several of the city’s central districts, Ukrainian officials said.

Ukraine’s Land Forces said that the country’s air defence systems destroyed 25 out of 32 Russia-launched Iran-made Shahed drones, most of which targeted Kyiv and the Kyiv region.

Reuters witnesses heard at least five blasts across Kyiv, and Ukrainian media footage showed a number of cars damaged.

“Drones came onto the capital in groups and from different directions,” Serhiy Popko, head of Kyiv’s city military administration, said on the Telegram messaging app.

Read the full story here

Tributes pour in for the volunteers killed in Kyiv strike

Monday 11 September 2023 00:00 , Lydia Patrick

Two foreign aid workers were killed this morning as shells hit their van - causing it to catch fire and flip.

Candian Anthony “Tonko” Ihnat was one of the volunteers who lost their life in the attack.

Paracrew Humanitarian Aid, an organisation he had previously worked for shared their sadness on Facebook.

They wrote: “His compassion, empathy and strength will forever be an inspiration to all of us. And we will keep his memory alive by working on to help Ukraine in every possible way. Rest in peace dear friend.”

Director of NGO killed in Russian strike

Sunday 10 September 2023 23:00 , Lydia Patrick

A 34-year-old Spanish humanitarian worker has been named as one of the victims of a Russian attack in Kyiv this morning.

Emma Igual was the director of Road to Relief, a Ukrainian-registered humanitarian NGO created in March 2022 with the purpose of helping Ukranian civillians.

The charity’s main aims are to evacuate civillians, provide humanitarian aid and mobile healthcare.

According to the Huff Post she dedicated her life to help others and had previously carried out volunteer work in Kenya, Morocco. Greece and Myanmar.

Zelensky says a big breakthrough could lie ahead in counter offensive as Kyiv make gains

Sunday 10 September 2023 22:00 , Lydia Patrick

President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that Ukrainian troops had made advances on the southern front and made movements near Bakhmut in the east.

“Over the past seven days we have made an advance in the Tavria (southern) sector,” Zelensky said in his nightly video address.

“There is movement in the Bakhmut sector. Yes, there is movement.”

Zelensky said Ukrainian forces were holding their ground on other fronts in the east -- Avdiivka and Maryinka near the focus of Russia’s main attacks, and Lyman and Kupiansk, also subject to Russian attempts to advance further north.

Near Avdiivka, the head of the local military administration said Ukrainian troops took advantage of Russian forces focusing on one sector to advance and capture part of the village of Opytne south of the city.

“In my opinion, this is very significant,” Vitaliy Barabash told national television. “To be frank, the enemy overlooked this southern direction a bit.”

Zelensky and other officials have said the counter offensive requires time, dismissing criticism in the Western media that it is proceeding too slowly because of tactical errors.

In an interview with The Economist published on Sunday, Zelensky said making steady progress was essential to maintaining morale.

He suggested a big breakthrough could lie ahead.

G20 summit doesn’t end with ‘family photo’

Sunday 10 September 2023 21:00 , Lydia Patrick

The G20 summit did not end in the usual harmonious manner this Sunday as some members question the and omission of Russia and ‘careful’ language used in the communiqué.

Earlier drafts of the declaration reportedly featured stronger language when it comes to Russia, but a senior European Union official who was part of the negotiations told reporters here at the summit venue on Sunday that it would have spelled the end of the G20 as an organisation if they had not agreed to the watered-down version.

The official said: “Ukraine was the most contentious issue. Extremely different positions were on the table to find the consensus, but it was India’s presidency and we believe in consensus so we had to accept that.”

Read the full story here:

G20 summit ends with no ‘family photo’ and criticism of watered-down declaration

Russian general says Ukraine is a ‘stepping stone’ to the rest of Europe

Sunday 10 September 2023 20:00 , Lydia Patrick

General Andrey Mordvichev spoke out in a TV interview with Russia state TV warning Ukraine is just the beginning to the rest of Eastern Europe.

He also told the presente he expects the war to last a very long time.

As reported in Newsweek, Mordvichev said: “I think there’s still plenty of time to spend. It is pointless to talk about a specified period. If we are talking about Eastern Europe, which we will have to, of course then it will be longer.”

The interviewer then asked if Ukraine was merely a stepping stone.

He responded: “Yes, absolutely. It is only the beginning.”

US Secretary of State defends decision to accept G20 statement - despite criticism

Sunday 10 September 2023 19:30 , Lydia Patrick

Anthony Blinken defended the United State’s decision to agree with the summit’s declaration amid Ukrainian complaints the statment doesn’t do enough to condemn Russia.

During an interview on ABC’s This Week he said:“I was in the room when all the leaders spoke today with President Biden and it was very clear from everything that they said that not only do they want to see this war end, but they want to see it end on just and durable terms and it was also very clear that the consequences of Russia’s aggression are being felt throughout the G20 countries and throughout the developing world.”

“I think it’s very important that the G20 spoke as one,” Blinken added.

Ukrainian foreign ministry Oleg Nikolnko hit out at the statement, saying the language used did not go far enough to condemn Russia.

Blinken routinely pledges his support for Ukraine on social media.

Russia are becoming savvy to Ukranian military tactics, says head of military intelligence

Sunday 10 September 2023 18:30 , Lydia Patrick

Ukraine’s head of military intelligence, Kyrylo Budanov spoke at the Yalta European Strategy forum in Kyiv last night.

Ukranian and international policy makers gathered to dicuss the war’s progression.

As reported in The Guardian, Budanov said:

Kyrylo Budanov

ICYMI: British man fighting in Ukraine found dead in water with his hands bound

Sunday 10 September 2023 18:00 , Lydia Patrick

A British man who fought in Ukraine was found dead in a body of water with his hands tied behind his back, his family have revealed.

Jordan Chadwick, 31, who travelled to Ukraine in early October 2022, was fighting in the International Legion.

Mr Chadwick, known as Joe, was from Burnley in Lancashire. He served as a Scots Guard in the British Army from 2011 to 2015.

His mother, Brenda Chadwick, told the BBC her family was “devastated” by her son’s death.

She said: “Although we are extremely proud of his unwavering courage and resilience, his death has been devastating.

Read the full story here

British man fighting in Ukraine found dead in water with his hands bound

ICYMI: Ukraine says G20 summit declaration ‘nothing to be proud of’

Sunday 10 September 2023 17:00 , Lydia Patrick

The Ukrainian foreign ministry hit out at G20’s joint declaration for omitting the mention of Russia and put forward his own corrected version.

The G20 member country’s reached an agreement on Saturday but there was a notable difference in language regarding the Russia-Ukraine conflict in comparison with last year’s document.

There were disagreements between European countries who were keen to use strong language to condemn Moscow’s invasion yet Russia and China wouldn’t accept any mention of war.

Nikolenko said:

Moscow hold local elections in occupied regions of Ukraine

Sunday 10 September 2023 16:15 , Lydia Patrick

Russian authorities have reported multiple attempts to sabotage voting in local elections taking place in occupied areas of Ukraine.

Votes are taking place this weekend in 79 regions of Russia, with ballots for governors, regional legislatures, city and municipal councils, as well as in the four Ukrainian regions Moscow annexed illegally last year - the Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia provinces - and on the Crimean peninsula, which the Kremlin annexed in 2014.

Kyiv and the West have said balloting in the occupied areas of Ukraine is a violation of international law.

Russian electoral officials on Sunday reported attempts to sabotage voting in the occupied regions, where guerrilla forces loyal to Kyiv had previously killed pro-Moscow officials, blown up bridges and helped the Ukrainian military by identifying key targets.

A drone strike in the early hours of Sunday destroyed one polling station in the Zaporizhzhia province, deputy chairman of Russia’s Central Election Commission Nikolai Bulaev told reporters. He said no staff were at the station at the time of the attack.

A Russian-appointed official in the neighbouring Kherson region said that a live grenade was discovered on Saturday near a polling station there. Marina Zakharova said the grenade was hidden in bushes outside the station, and that voting had to be halted while emergency services disposed of it.

Local residents and Ukrainian activists have alleged that Russian poll workers make house calls accompanied by armed soldiers in both provinces, detaining those who refuse to vote and pressuring them into writing “explanatory statements” that could be used as grounds for a criminal case.

ICYMI: Russia turning to old ally North Korea to replenish ammunition

Sunday 10 September 2023 15:42 , Lydia Patrick

Russia’s supplies are depleting after a year and a half of fighting in Ukraine - and they’re turning to Kim Jong Un.

It is believed the isolated Asian country has tens of millions artillery shells and rockets that could help the Russian army.

United States officials expect North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to visit Russia in the coming days to seal a possible deal on munitions transfer with President Vladimir Putin.

Alexander Gabuev, head of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center said: ““We know that Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has visited recently for artillery shells predominantly, and most likely that will be discussed between Putin and Kim Jong Un.”

Sergei Shoigu, Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation, visited North Korea in July 2023, as the first Russian defence chief to visit the country since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Whilst the Kremlin have refused to comment about the nature of an arms deal, spokesperson Dmitry Peskov expressed their close ties.

He said: : “North Korea is our neighbor, and we will further develop our relations without looking back at other countries’ opinion.”

Read the full story here:

Russia is turning to old ally North Korea to resupply its arsenal for the war in Ukraine

Russia says will return to grain deal once all conditions met

Sunday 10 September 2023 15:02 , Tara Cobham

Russia will return to the Black Sea grain deal “the same day” as Moscow's conditions for export of its own grain and fertilisers to the global markets are met, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters on Sunday.

Russia quit the deal in July, a year after it was brokered by the United Nations and Turkey, complaining that its own food and fertiliser exports faced obstacles and that insufficient Ukrainian grain was going to countries in need.

"When all the necessary actions for removing obstacles for our grain and fertiliser exports are implemented, the same day we will return to the collective implementation of the Ukrainian part of the 'Black Sea initiative'", Lavrov told a briefing after attending a two-day G20 summit in New Delhi.

US army chief fears Kyiv has only 30 days left for offensive

Sunday 10 September 2023 14:34 , Tara Cobham

Kyiv could have as little as 30 days left for its counter-offensive against Moscow, fears the head of the US military.

General Mark Milley said Ukraine only has around 30 to 45 days left before poor weather conditions hinder its offensive, telling the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg it will become “very difficult to manoeuvre” once the rains come.

Luke O'Reilly reports:

Ukraine has around 45 days left before weather hinders offensive – US army chief

Recap: Musk sparks fury by admitting he thwarted Ukrainian drone attack

Sunday 10 September 2023 13:30 , Tara Cobham

Elon Musk has admitted that his refusal to grant Ukraine permission to use his Starlink satellite network was an attempt to prevent a drone attack on a Russian naval fleet – with one Ukrainian official saying that his country is paying “the price of a cocktail of ignorance and big ego”.

The Starlink satellite internet service, which is run by the technology billionaire’s SpaceX company, has been a digital lifeline both for Ukraine’s military and for civilians in areas where Russia’s invasion has left infrastructure devastated or jammed.

An extract of a new biography of Musk, published by CNN on Thursday, said that the drones – packed with explosives – “lost connectivity and washed ashore harmlessly” during the thwarted assault last year, after Musk ordered his engineers to turn off the network. Musk is said to have feared that a strike on the ports of Russian-occupied Crimea would amount to a “mini Pearl Harbor”. Having apparently spoken to the Russian ambassador to the United States – who is reported to have told him that an attack on Crimea would trigger a nuclear response – Musk is then said to have ordered his engineers to turn off Starlink coverage “within 100km of the Crimean coast”.

Chris Stevenson reports:

Elon Musk sparks fury by admitting he thwarted Ukraine drone attack on Russian ships

Russia claims it destroyed US-supplied Ukrainian speedboats

Sunday 10 September 2023 13:00 , Tara Cobham

Russia’s defense ministry said in the early hours of Sunday that Moscow’s forces earlier destroyed three US-supplied Ukrainian speedboats that had been travelling toward Crimea.

The claim could not be independently verified.

Too early to judge Ukraine’s summer offensive as failure, says US military head

Sunday 10 September 2023 12:20 , Tara Cobham

It is too early to say whether Ukraine's summer offensive has failed, the head of the US military has said.

Speaking to the BBC's Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg, General Mark Milley said: "That offensive kicked off about 90 days ago. It has gone slower than the planners anticipated. But that is a difference between what Clausewitz called war on paper and real war.

"So these are real people in real vehicles that are fighting through real minefields, and there's real death and destruction, and there's real friction.

"And there's still a reasonable amount of time, probably about 30 to 45 days, worth of fighting weather left.

"So the Ukrainians aren't done. This battle is not done. They haven't finished the fighting part of what they're trying to accomplish. So we'll see, it's too early to say how this is going to end. They at least have achieved partial success in what they set out to do, and that's important. And then the rains will come in. It'll become very muddy.

"It'll be very difficult to manoeuvre at that point, and then you'll get the deep winter. And then at that point, we'll see where things go. But right now, it is way too early to say that this offensive has failed or not failed."

In pictures: Russian drones rain down on Kyiv for hours overnight

Sunday 10 September 2023 12:18 , Tara Cobham

Foreign aid workers killed in Russian missile attack in Ukraine

Sunday 10 September 2023 10:56 , Tara Cobham

Two foreign aid workers were reportedly killed in eastern Ukraine on Sunday as Russian shelling hit a van carrying a team of four working with a Ukrainian NGO.

The four volunteers from the Road to Relief NGO, which helps evacuate wounded people from front-line areas, were trapped inside the van as it flipped over and caught fire after being struck by shells near the town of Chasiv Yar, the organization said on its Instagram page.

Road to Relief said Canadian Anthony Ihnat died in the attack, while German medical volunteer Ruben Mawick and Swedish volunteer Johan Mathias Thyr were seriously injured.

The organisation added that it could not trace the whereabouts of the van's fourth passenger, Emma Igual, a Spanish national who was the organization's director. Hours later, Spain's acting foreign minister Jose Manuel Albares told Spanish media that authorities in Madrid had received "verbal confirmation" of the 32-year-old Igual's death.

The volunteers were on their way to assess the needs of civilians on the outskirts of Bakhmut, Road to Relief said, in reference to the eastern town that saw the war's longest and bloodiest battle before falling to Moscow in May. Ukrainian forces have held on to Bakhmut's western suburbs and are pushing a counteroffensive in the area.

Local elections take place across Russia but Ukraine ‘not on agenda’

Sunday 10 September 2023 10:12 , Tara Cobham

Local elections kicked off in Russia this weekend in 79 regions, with voters are casting their ballots for governors, regional legislatures, city and municipal councils.

Russian authorities are also holding local elections in the four regions of Ukraine that Moscow annexed illegally last year — the Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia provinces. Voting for federal and local legislators is also underway on the Crimean peninsula, which the Kremlin annexed in 2014. Balloting in the occupied areas of Ukraine has been denounced by Kyiv and the West as a sham and a violation of international law.

In Moscow, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin’s seat is up for grabs, although he is running for re-election again and is unlikely to lose a race in which all contenders come from Kremlin-backed parties. Sobyanin was appointed mayor in 2010 and has since won mayoral elections twice: in 2013, despite now-imprisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny running against him, and 2018. Governors in 20 other Russian regions are also vying for office this year.

Local elections take place across Russia, but Ukraine is 'not on the agenda'

South Korea pledges additional $2 bln aid to Ukraine

Sunday 10 September 2023 09:26 , Tara Cobham

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said on Sunday the country will provide an additional $2 billion in aid to Ukraine starting in 2025 over the longer term, in addition to the $300 million previously pledged for next year, Yonhap news reported.

Yoon made the comment at a session of the G20 summit held in New Delhi, India, Yonhap said.

Ukraine says Russia launches overnight drone attack on Kyiv

Sunday 10 September 2023 08:03 , Tara Cobham

Russia launched an air attack on Kyiv early on Sunday, with blasts ringing out across the Ukrainian capital and its region for almost two hours and drone debris falling on several of the city's central districts, Ukrainian officials said.

Ukraine's Land Forces said that the country's air defence systems destroyed 25 out of 32 Russia-launched Iran-made Shahed drones, most of which targeted Kyiv and the Kyiv region.

Reuters witnesses heard at least five blasts across Kyiv, and Ukrainian media footage showed a number of cars damaged.

"Drones came onto the capital in groups and from different directions," Serhiy Popko, head of Kyiv's city military administration, said on the Telegram messaging app.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said that one person was injured in the historic Podil neighbourhood and a fire broke out near one of the city's parks.

Debris from downed drones fell on the Darnytskyi, Solomianskyi, Shevchenkivskyi, Sviatoshynskyi and Podil districts, Klitschko and the city's military administration said.

In the Shevchenkivskyi district, drone debris sparked a fire in an apartment, which was quickly extinguished. There were no immediate reports of injuries, Popko said on the Telegram messaging app.

There was no immediate comment from Russia about the attacks. Moscow has been conducting near-nightly assaults on Ukraine's territory. A Russian attack killed 17 on Wednesday in the eastern city of Kostiantynivka, according to Ukrainian officials.

Signs indicate Russia turning to isolated North Korea to replenish military supplies

Sunday 10 September 2023 07:12 , Anuj Pant

Russia’s military arsenal has been depleted enough for it to turn to isolated North Korea amid its now year-and-a-half-long invasion of Ukraine.

The country is set to host a regional summit on Sunday that could see the participation of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un who, reports said, could reach the country by armoured train.

The visit is significant as Russia faces depleted reserves due to its invasion. And estimates cited by The Associated Press have revealed that North Korea has tens of millions of artillery shells and rockets that could give a huge boost to the Russian army.

US officials have said they expected Mr Kim to seal a deal to transfer munitions to Russia in the coming days, in a marked reversal from the 1950s during the Korean war, when it was the Soviet Union that supplied weaponry to the North.

“We know that Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu has visited recently for artillery shells predominantly, and most likely that will be discussed between Putin and Kim Jong-un,” Alexander Gabuev, head of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, was quoted as saying by The Associated Press.

ICYMI: Elon Musk sparks fury by admitting he thwarted Ukrainian drone attack on Putin’s naval fleet

Sunday 10 September 2023 06:58 , Anuj Pant

Elon Musk has admitted that his refusal to grant Ukraine permission to use his Starlink satellite network was an attempt to prevent a drone attack on a Russian naval fleet – with one Ukrainian official saying that his country is paying “the price of a cocktail of ignorance and big ego”.

The Starlink satellite internet service, which is run by the technology billionaire’s SpaceX company, has been a digital lifeline both for Ukraine’s military and for civilians in areas where Russia’s invasion has left infrastructure devastated or jammed.

An extract of a new biography of Musk, published by CNN on Thursday, said that the drones – packed with explosives – “lost connectivity and washed ashore harmlessly” during the thwarted assault last year, after Musk ordered his engineers to turn off the network.

Musk is said to have feared that a strike on the ports of Russian-occupied Crimea would amount to a “mini Pearl Harbor”.

Having apparently spoken to the Russian ambassador to the United States – who is reported to have told him that an attack on Crimea would trigger a nuclear response – Musk is then said to have ordered his engineers to turn off Starlink coverage “within 100km of the Crimean coast”.

Read more below.

Elon Musk sparks fury by admitting he thwarted Ukraine drone attack on Russian ships

Russia ships Su-30 fighter jets to Myanmar junta

Sunday 10 September 2023 06:08 , Anuj Pant

The Myanmar junta government has received its first shipment of Russian Su-30 fighter jets, the country’s trade minister told Russian state-run media.

Russia and Myanmar had signed a contract last year for the delivery of six Su-30SME fighter jets, according to Russian state-run RIA.

“Two aircraft have already been delivered,” Charlie Than, Myanmar’s trade minister, told the state-run news agency.

The minister was speaking on the sidelines of a Russian economic summit in Vladivostok. He also said a number of bilateral agreements will be signed at the East Economic Forum, including on developing tourism between the two countries.

Myanmar has seen the junta increase its grip on the country ever since it launched a military coup in 2021.

The US has also warned Russia against backing Myanmar’s military rulers and said its supply of weapons to the country is fueling a conflict that has become a catastrophe for Myanmar.

Just in: Ukraine says it downed 25 drones launched by Russia early on Sunday

Sunday 10 September 2023 05:47 , Anuj Pant

At least 25 of the 32 drones launched by Vladimir Putin’s forces early on Sunday have been drowned, Ukraine’s land forces said.

The announcement comes as Kyiv was subjected to aerial attacks overnight, with witnesses hearing as many as five blasts, reported Reuters. The scale of the attack has not yet been ascertained.

India avoids condemnation of Russia to produce united G20 declaration

Sunday 10 September 2023 05:36 , Anuj Pant

India has defied expectations to produce a New Delhi Declaration backed by all countries at this weekend’s G20 summit at the expense of any meaningful condemnation of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Indian prime minister Narendra Modi announced “the good news” shortly before 1600 local time [1000 GMT] on the first day of the G20 leaders’ summit in Delhi – much to the surprise of many observers and analysts, who felt that the Ukraine issue would stand in the way of a consensus on any joint statement at all, much less an early one.

Ukraine rejected the joint statement, saying “the G20 has nothing to be proud of in the part about Russia’s aggression against Ukraine”.

Ukraine does feature in the full 37-page declaration released by the Indian foreign ministry on Saturday, which says leaders “highlighted the human suffering and negative added impacts of the war in Ukraine” without directly mentioning Russia.

“There were different views and assessments of the situation,” it adds, in something of an understatement.

Read more below.

India avoids condemnation of Russia to produce united G20 declaration

ICYMI: What are depleted uranium shells?

Sunday 10 September 2023 05:30 , Anuj Pant

The depleted uranium anti-tank rounds soon to be in Ukraine’s military stockpiles have kicked up a debate over its use in the continuing Russian invasion.

Announced by the Pentagon in the latest military tranche on Wednesday, the controversial rounds have spread alarm among Vladimir Putin’s ministers who have warned against the escalation yet again.

Britain has already promised armour-piercing rounds containing depleted uranium to Ukraine in March. Prime minister Rishi Sunak had backed drawing out the rounds from the UK military’s stockpiles ultimately “to degrade and deter – primarily – Russian aggression”.

But what are these depleted uranium munitions?

Read more below.

Ukraine: What are depleted uranium shells and why are they controversial?

Russia claims to have downed eight drones over Crimea

Sunday 10 September 2023 05:15 , Anuj Pant

Vladimir Putin’s defence ministry has claimed it destroyed eight drones over the Black Sea near the Crimean Peninsula in the early hours of Sunday even as overnight drone attacks were launched on capital Kyiv.

The incident, reported by Reuters, could not be independently verified. Russia accused Ukraine of launching the drones.

The Russian defence ministry has also not said if there were any casualties. Ukraine’s officials have not commented on the incident yet.

Putin launches overnight aerial attacks on Kyiv

Sunday 10 September 2023 04:48 , Anuj Pant

Air attacks were launched on Kyiv early on Sunday, with blasts heard across the capital. Drone debris fell on its central districts and the scale of the attack has not been ascertained yet.

Kyiv’s mayor Vitali Klitschko said one person was injured in the Podil neighbourhood and a fire broke out near one of the city’s parks.

The debris from the downed drones fell on the Darnytskyi, Solomianskyi, Shevchenkivskyi, Sviatoshynskyi and Podil districts, according to the city’s military administration and Mr Klitschko.

The debris also sparked a fire in the Shevchenkivskyi district, but this was immediately put out, according to officials.

Reuters cited its witnesses as saying they heard at least five blasts.

India avoids condemnation of Russia to produce united G20 declaration

Sunday 10 September 2023 03:00 , Joe Middleton

India has defied expectations to produce a New Delhi Declaration backed by all countries at this weekend’s G20 summit, at the expense of any meaningful condemnation of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Indian prime minister Narendra Modi announced “the good news” shortly before 1600 local time [1000 GMT] on the first day of the G20 leaders’ summit in Delhi – much to the surprise of many observers and analysts, who felt that the Ukraine issue would stand in the way of a consensus on any joint statement at all, much less an early one.

Ukraine does feature in the full 37-page declaration released by the Indian foreign ministry on Saturday, which says leaders “highlighted the human suffering and negative added impacts of the war in Ukraine” without directly mentioning Russia. “There were different views and assessments of the situation,” it adds, in something of an understatement.

India avoids condemnation of Russia to produce united G20 declaration

British man fighting in Ukraine found dead in water with his hands bound

Sunday 10 September 2023 02:00 , Joe Middleton

A British man who fought in Ukraine was found dead in a body of water with his hands tied behind his back, his family have revealed.

Jordan Chadwick, 31, who travelled to Ukraine in early October 2022, was fighting in the International Legion.

His mother, Brenda Chadwick, told the BBC her family was “devastated” by her son’s death.

Mr Chadwick, known as Joe, was from Burnley in Lancashire. He served as a Scots Guard in the British Army from 2011 to 2015.

British man fighting in Ukraine found dead in water with his hands bound

Elon Musk sparks fury by admitting he thwarted Ukrainian drone attack on Putin’s naval fleet

Sunday 10 September 2023 01:09 , Lydia Patrick

Elon Musk has admitted that his refusal to grant Ukraine permission to use his Starlink satellite network was an attempt to prevent a drone attack on a Russian naval fleet.

The Starlink satellite internet service, which is run by the technology billionaire’s SpaceX company, has been a digital lifeline both for Ukraine’s military and for civilians.

In posts on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, the billionaire denied accusations that he had turned off the Starlink network in the area, but said that he had not agreed to a request from Ukraine to activate it all the way to the Crimean port city of Sevastopol, which is currently (as it was at the time) occupied by Russia and home to its Black Sea fleet.

“The Starlink regions in question were not activated. SpaceX did not deactivate anything,” Musk said.

“There was an emergency request from government authorities to activate Starlink all the way to Sevastopol,” he added, “the obvious intent being to sink most of the Russian fleet at anchor. If I had agreed to their request, then SpaceX would be explicitly complicit in a major act of war and conflict escalation.”

Read the full story here

Popular messaging service says it will combat Russian ‘fake news'

Sunday 10 September 2023 00:09 , Lydia Patrick

The founder of Japanese technnology enterprise Rakuten Group says messaging service Viber will block any attempt at Russian propaganda ‘unlike other social media’.

Hiroshi Mikiani told Reuters: “Unlike other social media, we’ve made it crystal clear we’re going to block all these fake news and propaganda of Russia.”

Viber, which launched in 2010 and was acquired by Rakuten in 2014, has a 98% market penetration rate in Ukraine and is also popular in Russia.

The billionaire entrepreneur has previously been vocal in his support for Ukraine and made a 1 billion yen ($6.77 million) donation to its government at the start of the invasion.

Rakuten has announced plans to work with Ukraine‘s largest mobile operator, Kyivstar, to provide Open Radio Access Network (Open RAN) telecommunications technology that uses software to run network functions on the cloud, something Mikitani has touted as a technology of the future.

Ukraine’s counteroffensive will withstand severe Winter conditions, says intelligence chief

Saturday 9 September 2023 22:18 , Lydia Patrick

Kyiv’s counteroffensive against Russian forces will continue to fight throughout harsh cold conditions, Kyiv’s intelligence chief said on Saturday.

Kyrylo Budanov said: “Combat actions will continue in one way or another. In the cold, wet and mud, it is more difficult to fight. Fighting will continue. The counteroffensive will continue.”

The comments, made at a conference in Kyiv hosted by the Victor Pinchuk Foundation, inidicate Ukraine does not plan to halt its push when the weather worsens later this year.

Vadym Skibytskyi, an official from Ukraine‘s military spy agency, said earlier on Saturday that Russia currently had 420,000 servicemen inside Ukraine.

The push in the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region, now centred around the villages of Robotyne and Verbove, is seen as a crucial part of an operation that seeks to split Russia’s occupying forces in half in the south, but remains far from that goal.

“Our counteroffensive is happening in several directions,” Budanov said, acknowledging that progress had been slower than he had wanted and describing the situation as difficult.

Russia, which launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, has said that the Ukrainian counteroffensive has failed.

Russia shoots down three drones in Crimea

Saturday 9 September 2023 20:18 , Lydia Patrick

Drone attacks on Russian-occupied territory and inside Russia itself have increased sharply across the summer, with Kyiv seeking to back-up its counteroffensive against Vladimir Putin’s forces on the ground in Ukraine by disrupting Moscow as much as it can.

The latest such strike came on Saturday when Russian air defence shot down three enemy drones in northwestern Crimea, Sergei Aksyonov, the Russian-installed head of the peninsula’s administration.

Rishi Sunak said that G20 leaders have agreed to a “very strong” joint message about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

Saturday 9 September 2023 19:20 , Lydia Patrick

The British prime minister expresses his support of a New Delhi declaration backed by all countries at the summit.

Defying the odds, India was able to get all G20 members to agree that “the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons is inadmissable” in a 37-page declaration.

Mr Sunak told broadcasters, as reported by Reuters: “The news that we’ve just had, which I’m happy to share, is that under Prime Minister Modi and India’s presidency, the G20 have agreed a joint communique with very strong language about Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine.

“What you’ll see in the communique is strong language, highlighting the impact of the war on food prices and food security, calling on Russia to re-enter the Black Sea grain initiative to allow exports to leave that part of the world and help feed millions of the most vulnerable people as well as the communique recognising the principles of the UN Charter respecting territorial integrity.

“So I think that is a good and strong outcome. And as you can see from this summit, Russia is completely isolated.”

Zelensky meets with Japanese foreign minister who vows support for reconstruction of Ukraine

Saturday 9 September 2023 17:00 , Rachel Flynn

Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met on Saturday and agreed to begin discussions on security guarantees and cooperate on reconstructing Ukraine’s economy, the Japanese foreign ministry said.

The security guarantee discussions come after the G7 group of countries, of which Japan is a member, said in July that its members would begin bilateral security guarantee talks with Ukraine.

Hayashi also pledged support from both the public and private sectors in Japan to reconstruct Ukraine’s economy in the surprise visit to Ukraine, where he was accompanied by executives of Japanese firms, including Hiroshi Mikitani, founder and chief executive Rakuten Group, the ministry said.

Japan is planning to host a meeting on the economic reconstruction of Ukraine early next year.

In talks with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, Hayashi was set to reiterate Japan’s firm support for Ukraine and the urgency of ending the Russian invasion with the help of the international community, the ministry said.

Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida made a surprise visit to Kyiv to meet Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskiy in March.

Romania finds new possible fragments of Russian drone on its territory

Saturday 9 September 2023 16:30 , Rachel Flynn

New fragments of a drone similar to those used by the Russian military were found on Romanian soil, the defence ministry said on Saturday.

Romania’s president, President Klaus Iohannis, said this indicated an unacceptable breach of Romania’s air space had occurred.

In a statement, Iohannis said he had informed NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg about the pieces of drone - the second to crash in Romanian territory this week - and that Stoltenberg reiterated the alliance’s complete solidarity with Romania.

“The identification by Romanian authorities on Romanian territory near the border with Ukraine of new drone fragments ... indicates an unacceptable breach occurred of the air space of Romania, a NATO state, with real risks to the security of Romanian citizens in the area,” Iohannis said.

“I firmly condemn this incident caused by Russian attacks on Ukrainian Danube river ports.”

The attacks on Ukraine’s river ports, just hundreds of metres from the Romanian border, have increased security risks for NATO whose members have a mutual defence commitment.

The U.S. State Department said earlier this week it would rotate additional U.S. F-16 fighter jets to bolster NATO’s air policing mission in Romania.

Ukraine says G20 summit declaration is ‘nothing to be proud of’

Saturday 9 September 2023 15:45 , Rachel Flynn

The Ukrainian foreign ministry said on Saturday the G20’s joint declaration was “nothing to be proud of” and criticised it for not mentioning Russia.

Foreign ministry spokesperson Oleg Nikolenko posted a screenshot of the relevant section of the joint declaration, with several pieces of the text crossed out in red and corrected with wording which reflects Ukraine’s position that it is a victim of unprovoked Russian aggression.

“It is clear that the participation of the Ukrainian side (in the G20 meeting) would have allowed the participants to better understand the situation,” he wrote on Facebook.

“Here’s what the main elements of the text could look like to be closer to reality,” he added.

Despite his disappointment with the overall G20 text, Nikolenko thanked Ukraine’s allies for doing their part to advance Ukraine’s position in the declaration.

“Ukraine is grateful to the partners who tried to include strong formulations in the text,” he said.

G20 summit statement calls for peace but avoids condemning Russia for Ukraine war

Saturday 9 September 2023 14:24 , Tara Cobham

The Group of 20 nations adopted a consensus declaration at a summit on Saturday that avoided condemnation of Russia for the war in Ukraine but called on all states to refrain from the use of force to seize territory.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi of host India announced that the Leaders' Declaration had been adopted on the first day of the weekend summit.

The consensus came as a surprise as the group is deeply divided over the war in Ukraine, with Western nations earlier pushing for strong condemnation of Russia in the Leaders' Declaration, while other countries demanded a focus on broader economic issues.

There was no immediate reaction from most other members.

"We call on all states to uphold the principles of international law including territorial integrity and sovereignty, international humanitarian law, and the multilateral system that safeguards peace and stability," the declaration said.

"We ... welcome all relevant and constructive initiatives that support a comprehensive, just, and durable peace in Ukraine.

"The use or threat of use of nuclear weapons is inadmissible," the statement added.

Russia sticks to demands on Black Sea grain deal

Saturday 9 September 2023 11:27 , Tara Cobham

Russia said on Saturday it was sticking to its conditions for a return to the Black Sea grain deal which it quit in July.

In particular, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia needed its state agricultural bank - and not a subsidiary of the bank, as proposed by the United Nations - to be reconnected to the international SWIFT bank payments system.

"All our conditions are perfectly well known. They do not need interpretation, they are absolutely concrete and all this is absolutely achievable," Peskov said. "Therefore Russia maintains its responsible, clear and consistent position, which has been repeatedly voiced by the president."

The Black Sea deal was brokered by Turkey and the United Nations in July 2022 to enable Ukraine to export grain by sea despite the war and help ease a global food crisis.

It was accompanied by an agreement to facilitate Russia's own exports of food and fertiliser, which Moscow says has not been fulfilled. Since quitting the grain deal, Russia has repeatedly bombed Ukrainian ports and grain stores, prompting Kyiv and the West to accuse it of using food as a weapon.

Moscow's uncompromising restatement of its position came five days after President Vladimir Putin met his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan and discussed the grain issue.

Russia appears to have drawn encouragement from Erdogan's statement at that meeting that Ukraine should "soften its approaches" in talks over reviving the deal, and export more grain to Africa rather than Europe. Ukraine said it would not alter its stand and would not be hostage to "Russian blackmail".

British man fighting in Ukraine found dead in water with his hands bound

Saturday 9 September 2023 10:45 , Tara Cobham

A British man who fought in Ukraine was found dead in a body of water with his hands tied behind his back, his family have revealed.

Jordan Chadwick, 31, who travelled to Ukraine in early October 2022, was fighting in the International Legion.

His mother, Brenda Chadwick, told the BBC her family was “devastated” by her son’s death.

Mr Chadwick, known as Joe, was from Burnley in Lancashire. He served as a Scots Guard in the British Army from 2011 to 2015.

Rachel Flynn reports:

British man fighting in Ukraine found dead in water with his hands bound

‘600 members of Putin’s forces killed in one day’ as party HQ destroyed

Saturday 9 September 2023 10:32 , Tara Cobham

Russian President Vladimir Putin has lost 600 of his troops in one day, according to Kyiv, while his conservative party’s headquarters in Ukraine was destroyed on Friday.

The general staff of Ukraine’s armed forces is estimating that 600 of Moscow’s personnel were killed on Friday, bringing the total lost since February 2022 to 268,140.

Meanwhile, the headquarters of the United Russia political party in the Russian-occupied Ukrainian city of Polohy was destroyed in an attack on the same day, according to the mayor of Melitopol, reported the Kyiv Independent.

Ivan Fedorov said on the Telegram messaging app that local residents described Russians as “burned out” of the headquarters amid the “hellish pseudo-elections”. Alluding to casualties, he said: “Some went to the hospital, and some went straight to the morgue.”

IAEA ‘deeply concerned’ by ‘increased military activity’ around Zaporizhzhya nuclear plant

Saturday 9 September 2023 09:26 , Tara Cobham

Experts are “deeply concerned” by “increased military activity” in the region around Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) wrote on Friday of reports of “numerous explosions over the past week”, which could “pose a potential threat to nuclear safety and security at the site”.

Over the three days from last Saturday, the IAEA team heard around two dozen explosions, followed by several more in recent days - although there was no damage to the Russian-occupied facility itself.

Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said the situation at Europe’s largest nuclear power plant “remains highly precarious”.

“The reports I receive from our experts indicate that the explosions occurred some distance away from the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant,” he said. “Nevertheless, I remain deeply concerned about the possible dangers facing the plant at this time of heightened military tension in the region.

“Whatever happens in a conflict zone, wherever it may be, everybody would stand to lose from a nuclear accident, and I urge that all necessary precautions must be taken to avoid it happening.”

British man who went to fight in Ukraine found dead

Saturday 9 September 2023 07:19 , Vishwam Sankaran

A 31-year-old British man who went to fight in Ukraine was found dead in a body of water.

The man, recognised as Jordan Chadwick from Burnley in Lancashire, fought as part of the foreign legion in Ukraine, and was killed under unknown circumstances, BBC reported.

An inquest into the possible cause of Mr Chadwick’s death will reportedly be held in February.

“His passion to support freedom and assist others with his skills led him to leave the UK and travel to the Ukraine in early October 2022,” his mother told BBC.