That’s it for our Ukraine coverage today. Thanks for following the blog.
Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to the minister of internal affairs in Ukraine, has posted an excerpt from an interview about Ukrainian air defenses in the Kharkiv region.
90% of the Ukrainian air defenses in Kharkiv region was destroyed in the first days of the full-scale invasion, the head of the Kharkiv garrison Serhii Melnyk ("Marcel") said.
— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) September 30, 2023
According to him, the Russians knew the location and schemes of all air defense command posts… pic.twitter.com/2PKMeCyd4D
From Ukraine’s ministry of defence, on X:
The Drone War pic.twitter.com/znPqKXd5Du
— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) September 30, 2023
Updated
A Russian soldier who had been working with Ukraine’s military intelligence (HUR) has defected to Ukraine, according to Kyiv.
Danylo Alfyorov had been working with Ukrainian intelligence since July and allegedly persuaded 11 other Russian soldiers to defect to the Ukrainian side, the HUR spokesperson Andriy Yusov said.
When it became clear that suspicions had arisen and there was a risk to Alfyorov’s life, Ukrainian special forces undertook an operation to evacuate him to Ukrainian-controlled territory, Yusov added.
Alfyorov said he initially contacted Ukrainian forces via its “I Want to Live” hotline, Sky News reported.
Updated
Updated
Updated
Summary of the day so far
At the first international Defence Industries Forum, Ukraine signed 20 agreements and memorandums with foreign partners on the manufacture of drones, and repair and production of armoured vehicles and ammunition. At this forum that Ukraine organised with international producers, Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he wanted to turn Ukraine’s defence industry into a “large military hub” – and he will do so by partnering with western weapons manufacturers to increase arms supplies for Kyiv’s counteroffensive against Russia. The president also announced at the forum the creation of the Defence Industries Alliance.
Vladimir Putin has signed a decree marking today as “Reunification Day”, commemorating Russia’s illegal annexation of Ukraine’s Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson oblasts. Last year, after a series of sham referendums in which residents of occupied regions reported being forced to vote through intimidation and threats, Russia signed “treaties” with Moscow’s proxies in the four occupied regions, declaring them part of the Russian Federation. “A year ago, on 30 September, a defining, truly historic and life-changing event took place: agreements were signed on the accession of four new subjects to the Russian Federation,” Putin said in a video address.
Putin also signed a decree on Friday declaring that Russia’s military will enlist 130,000 men for compulsory service this autumn. Russia’s military will be allowed to call up men aged 18 to 27 from 1 October to 31 December for a 12-month training period. That brings the total to 277,000 conscripts in 2023 – 147,000 men were drafted during the spring draft.
Nato member Romania said on Saturday that its airspace may have been violated during overnight drone attacks by Russia on infrastructure in neighbouring Ukraine. “Following the detection of groups of drones heading towards Ukrainian territory near the Romanian border,” residents in the Tulcea and Galati municipalities were alerted, the defence ministry said in a statement. “The radar surveillance system … indicated possible unauthorised entry into national airspace, with a signal detected on a route towards the municipality of Galati.” The defence ministry said no objects so far appeared to have fallen on Romanian territory but the search would continue.
Russia has been recruiting struggling Cubans to fight in the war in Ukraine. While last month, the Havana government – a longstanding ally of Russia that says it is “not part of the war in Ukraine” – arrested 17 people connected with a people-trafficking ring that lured Cubans to fight for Moscow, a Reuters investigation found recruits who volunteered to go to Russia to work for the military after overtures on social media from a recruiter who identified herself as “Dayana”.
The Ukrainian air force shot down Iranian kamikaze drones overnight, the general staff of the Ukrainian armed forces said. In conjunction with anti-air defences, Ukrainian forces destroyed 30 Shahed drones within the Odesa, Mykolaiv and Vinnytsia oblasts.
The UK government has imposed an asset freeze and travel bans on Russian officials in the annexed Ukrainian regions of Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Donetsk and Crimea as part of its broader sanctions against Russia.
Seven EU countries have ordered ammunition under a landmark EU procurement scheme to get urgently needed artillery shells to Ukraine and replenish depleted western stocks, according to the EU agency in charge.
Norway says it will start barring Russian-registered passenger cars from entering the country starting next week, in a move that mirrors sanctions already imposed by the EU against Moscow over the war in Ukraine.
Updated
Medvedev: Russia may annex more regions of Ukraine
Agence France-Presse is reporting that Dmitry Medvedev, Russia’s former leader, marked the anniversary of the Kremlin claiming four Ukrainian terrorities as its own by suggesting Russia may annex more of Ukraine.
“The special military operation will continue until the complete destruction of the Nazi regime in Kyiv,” said Medvedev, who now serves as deputy chair of Russia’s security council. “Victory will be ours. And there will be more new regions within Russia.”
One year ago, after a series of sham referendums in which residents of occupied regions reported being forced to vote through intimidation and threats, Russia signed “treaties” with Moscow’s proxies in occupied Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson oblasts, declaring them part of the Russian Federation.
But Moscow does not fully control any of the four regions, and Ukraine has launched a strong counteroffensive to reclaim them.
Updated
Kyiv got to experience a bit of normality last night.
While Russians gathered in Moscow’s Red Square to celebrate the illegal annexation of Ukraine’s Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson oblasts, Ukrainians danced in Kyiv to raise money for Ukrainian armed forces.
Nightlife has been limited since the start of the war, but for a little while, Ukrainians could just dance.
Updated
At the first international Defence Industries Forum, Ukraine signed 20 agreements and memoranda with foreign partners on the manufacture of drones, and repair and production of armoured vehicles and ammunition, the defence ministry posted on Twitter.
“I am sure that today’s forum will have an important impact on the future of Ukraine,” the defence minister, Rustem Umerov, said.
.@rustem_umerov
— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) September 30, 2023
The First International Defense Industries Forum - DFNC1 📷
252 companies from over 30 countries in Kyiv.
The Ukrainian side signed 20 documents with foreign partners: agreements and memoranda on the manufacture of drones, repair and production of armored… pic.twitter.com/lGrRuTd49s
Updated
“The EU has changed. There is no turning back. We have turned out the lights behind us and there is basically only one way.”
The Danish politician and EU commissioner Margrethe Vestager made these remarks at a conference in May, capturing a shift in the bloc’s policies and raison d’être after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The Guardian’s Patrick Wintour takes a deeper look at how the war in Ukraine has changed the EU. Read more here:
Updated
While most of the world (minus North Korea and Syria) refuses to recognise Russia’s illegal annexation of the Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts, Russians gathered in Moscow yesterday to celebrate what Vladimir Putin has decreed to be “Reunification Day”.
Updated
Propaganda has long been one of Russia’s strongest weapons in its invasion of Ukraine, with the Kremlin regularly feeding Russian people pro-Russia messaging via media and through schools.
Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to Ukraine’s minister of internal affairs, noted today that he has seen a troubling trend of military propaganda in kindergartens and schools in Russia “intensifying”.
He posted a video of a new flashmob in Russian schools, where students make Z signs with their textbooks to the song “I Am Russian”. The Kremlin uses the Z symbol in Russian propaganda, and pro-Putin civilians have begun using Z to denote their support of the invasion.
“Young people in Russia are being prepared for war for decades to come,” Gerashchenko said.
The youth of Russia are the ones we, Ukrainians, and the rest of the world will have to live with in the coming decades.
— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) September 30, 2023
It is with extreme concern that I observe how the military propaganda in kindergartens and schools in Russia is intensifying. Even before the so-called… pic.twitter.com/vkYlusw0LB
Updated
Vladimir Putin may have declared today “Reunification Day”, commemorating Russia’s illegal annexation of Ukraine’s Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson oblasts. But one year later, only two countries recognise the sham referendums in which residents of occupied regions reported being forced through intimidation and threats to vote to join the Russian Federation: North Korea and Syria.
One year on, how many countries have publicly recognised the results of Russia’s sham referendums in Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia?
— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) September 30, 2023
The world has chosen to #StandWithUkrainepic.twitter.com/YoOShDxCvt
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Saturday that he wants to turn Ukraine’s defence industry into a “large military hub” by partnering with western weapons manufacturers to increase arms supplies for Kyiv’s counteroffensive against Russia.
Reuters reports:
He was speaking at a forum his government convened with international producers to discuss how to jointly develop industrial capacity to build and repair weapons in Ukraine despite constant Russian bombardment.
“Ukraine is in such a phase of the defence marathon when it is very important, critical to go forward without retreating. Results from the frontline are needed daily,” Zelenskiy told executives representing more than 250 western weapons producers.
“We are interested in localising production of equipment needed for our defence and each of those advanced defence systems which are used by our soldiers, giving Ukraine the best results at the front today,” he told the forum in Kyiv.
Zelenskiy said that air defence and de-mining were his immediate priorities. Ukraine also aims to boost domestic production of missiles, drones and artillery ammunition.
Kyiv began its counteroffensive in early June to try to recapture territories seized by Russia, which still controls about 18% of the Ukrainian territory. Kyiv reported advances in several directions and liberated more than a dozen villages, but so far has not managed to retake any big cities.
Updated
Russia is recruiting struggling Cubans to fight in Ukraine
Reuters published a lengthy investigation today delving into how Russia is recruiting struggling Cubans to fight in the war in Ukraine.
Last month, the Havana government – a longstanding ally of Russia that says it is “not part of the war in Ukraine” – arrested 17 people connected with a people-trafficking ring that lured Cubans to fight for Moscow. But Reuters found recruits who volunteered to go to Russia to work for the military following overtures on social media from a recruiter who identified herself as “Dayana”.
“Everyone here knew what they were coming for,” said one recruit, smiling in military garb as he gave Reuters a digital phone tour of the camp. “They came for the war.”
Most are not signing up because they believe in Russia’s rhetoric for invading Ukraine. “It’s hard living here. Everyone said ‘If I choose this, I won’t die of hunger in Cuba,’” said 23-year-old Yoan Viondi. “But they knew where they were going. I knew perfectly well where I was going too.”
Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesperson Oleg Nikolenko said the Ukrainian embassy in Havana has contacted the Cuban authorities about the recruitment. A US state department spokesperson said the US was monitoring the situation closely. “We are deeply concerned by reports alleging young Cubans have been deceived and recruited to fight for Russia,” the spokesperson said.
Updated
Summary of the day so far
Nato member Romania said on Saturday that its airspace may have been violated during overnight drone attacks by Russia on infrastructure in neighbouring Ukraine. “Following the detection of groups of drones heading towards Ukrainian territory near the Romanian border,” residents in the Tulcea and Galati municipalities were alerted, the defence ministry said in a statement. “The radar surveillance system … indicated possible unauthorised entry into national airspace, with a signal detected on a route towards the municipality of Galati.” The defence ministry said no objects so far appeared to have fallen on Romanian territory but the search would continue on Saturday.
Vladimir Putin has signed a decree marking today as “Reunification Day”, commemorating Russia’s illegal annexation of Ukraine’s Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson oblasts. Last year, following a series of sham referendums in which residents of occupied regions reported being forced to vote through intimidation and threats, Russia signed “treaties” with Moscow’s proxies in the four occupied regions, declaring them part of the Russian Federation. “A year ago, on 30 September, a defining, truly historic and life-changing event took place: agreements were signed on the accession of four new subjects to the Russian Federation,” Putin said in a video address.
Putin also signed a decree on Friday declaring that Russia’s military will enlist 130,000 men for compulsory service this autumn. Russia’s military will be allowed to call up men aged 18 to 27 from 1 October to 31 December for a 12-month training period. That brings the total to 277,000 conscripts in 2023 – 147,000 men were drafted during the spring draft.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy announced today the creation of the Defence Industries Alliance at Kyiv’s first Defence Industries Forum. “Right now, the most powerful military-industrial complexes are being determined, as are their priorities and the global standard of defence. All of this is being determined in Ukraine,” Zelenskiy said on Telegram.
The Ukrainian air force shot down Iranian kamikaze drones overnight, the general staff of the Ukrainian armed forces said. In conjunction with anti-air defences, Ukrainian forces destroyed 30 Shahed drones within the Odesa, Mykolaiv and Vinnytsia oblasts.
The UK government has imposed an asset freeze and travel bans on Russian officials in the annexed Ukrainian regions of Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Donetsk and Crimea as part of its broader sanctions against Russia.
Seven EU countries have ordered ammunition under a landmark EU procurement scheme to get urgently needed artillery shells to Ukraine and replenish depleted western stocks, according to the EU agency in charge.
Norway says it will start barring Russian-registered passenger cars from entering the country starting next week, in a move that mirrors sanctions already imposed by the EU against Moscow over the war in Ukraine.
Updated
Here are some of the latest images coming in from Ukraine via news agency wires:
Updated
Russian forces shelled the communities of Myropol and Khotyn in the Sumy oblast overnight and into the morning, the Sumy oblast military administration said on Telegram.
This followed a day of Russian shelling of nine communities along the oblast border.
The communities of Krasnopilsk, Yunakivsk, Khotynsk, Velikopysarivsk, Esmansk, Shalyginsk, Bilopolsk, Putivlsk, and Mykolaiv all came under fire, with Russian forces firing 25 shells that resulted in 116 explosions.
Five people were injured this morning, with one requiring hospitalisation, after Russian forces launched two rocket strikes on Matviivka in the Zaporizhzhia oblast, the head of the regional military administration said on Telegram.
Five buildings and a critical infrastructure object were damaged from the strikes, said Yuriy Malashko.
Updated
Ukrainian forces fired 14 artillery shells and two grenade launchers at locations in Russia’s Belgorod oblast yesterday and early this morning, the regional governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov, said on Telegram.
Air defence systems shot down an attack approaching Belgorod city early this morning. Though there were no casualties, a shell created a crater and shrapnel damaged a house, a store and a gas pipeline.
Ukrainian forces also fired artillery shells at the village of Zhuravlevka, and 12 artillery shells and two grenade launchers at the village of Naumovka in the Belgorod oblast. Russian forces also shot down a drone over Ustinka. While there were no casualties or destruction reported in these settlements, following air defence work in the village of Razumnoye, residents reported damage to two households.
In the Borisov region, a drone dropped five explosive devices near the village of Bogun-Gorodok. There were no casualties.
There were also no casualties in the Valuysky urban district, despite the village of Borki coming under mortar fire.
Ukrainian forces fired 17 mortar shells at the village of Tishanka, and three more at the village of Plotvyanka in the Volokonovsky district. The shelling in Tishanka damaged a power line and briefly cut power, but crews have since restored power.
Air defence systems shot down three drones in Novostroyevka-Vtoraya in the Grayvoronsky urban district. One explosive dropped from the drone before it was shot down, damaging two cars near a residential building. Elsewhere in the Grayvoronsky urban district, Ukrainian forces fired two mortar and seven artillery shells at the village of Dorogoshch, damaging 11 private households, one car and a local school building. The outskirts of the village of Smorodino also sustained mortar shelling, and Russian forces shot down a drone over the village of Masychevo.
The village of Vyazovoe in the Krasnoyaruzhsky district came under artillery fire, but there were no casualties or damages. In the Shebekinsky urban district, the village of Novaya Tavolzhanka sustained six mortar shells, which caused a small fire in a building. A drone dropped a grenade on to the village of Sereda, but there were no casualties or damage.
Updated
One person was injured in overnight strikes by Russian forces in Kramatorsk in the Donetsk oblast.
Kramatorsk city council said on Telegram that Russian forces launched two rocket attacks, damaging 37 cars in a car park, a service station, a car wash and a dormitory.
Updated
Photographer killed in action in Ukraine
“Hero photographer” Volodymyr Myroniuk was killed near Kurdiumivka in the Donetsk oblast, the journalist Yurii Butusov said on Facebook yesterday.
Myroniuk, 59, went by the name John and was Ukrainian, but worked as a long-haul truck driver in the US and had American citizenship. In the US, Myroniuk photographed nature, and in Ukraine “he felt the call to photograph heroes”, Butusov said – photographing soldiers on the front since Russia invaded and illegally annexed Crimea in 2014.
“He came to the front without any permission because he loved the warriors, felt them, and gained trust easily,” Butusov said. “When needed, he took up a gun or drove, more than once directly participating in combat as a volunteer. He didn’t need to be looked after and guarded. He conducted himself at the front as an ordinary fighter, and thus had the opportunity to shoot where there was maximum risk.”
⚡️Front-line photographer Volodymyr Myroniuk killed in action.
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) September 29, 2023
Myroniuk, aged 59, was an independent photographer who documented Ukrainian soldiers at the front.https://t.co/pRMm0wriTu
Butusov described Myroniuk as neither a professional journalist, a professional photographer, or a professional soldier. “But his striking photographs were seen by many, and to do so where he was at the front you need the heart and stamina of a warrior,” he said.
“I asked him once, ‘Why don’t you want to work as a journalist in the team?’” Butusov said. “[He responded:] ‘I’d rather be alone. I’m not interested in big money, assignments; I don’t need a licence. I love it when prominent characters message me and ask, ‘Remember you took a picture of us somewhere on the front – can you send a picture?’”
Butusov said Myroniuk told him that his photos were often the last photo taken of these soldiers while they were alive. “Several times, the only photo left of a person on their grave is mine,” Myroniuk told Butusov. “I feel useful to be among them and I’m proud of it.”
The last report from Myroniuk was from a few days ago at a position of Ukrainian infantry that Russian forces spent hours shelling. The intense firefight prevented his body from being retrieved for three days, Butusov said.
Updated
Putin signs decree declaring 30 September ‘reunification day’
Vladimir Putin has signed a decree marking today as “reunification day”, commemorating Russia’s illegal annexation of the Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson oblasts, the Kyiv Independent is reporting.
Last year, following a series of sham referendums in which residents of occupied regions reported being forced to vote through intimidation tactics and threats of violation, Russia signed “treaties” with Moscow’s proxies in the four occupied regions, declaring them part of the Russian Federation.
“A year ago, on 30 September, a defining, truly historic and life-changing event took place: agreements were signed on the accession of four new subjects to the Russian Federation,” Putin said in a video address.
This comes a day after the Russian defence ministry announced it would begin enlisting residents of the occupied territories as part of its twice-yearly military conscription campaign.
Updated
An overnight Ukrainian attack on the village of Pogar in Russia’s Bryansk oblast temporarily disrupted the local power supply, the regional governor, Alexander Bogomaz, said on Telegram.
There were no casualties.
Zelenskiy announces creation of Defence Industries Alliance
Volodymyr Zelenskiy announced today the creation of the Defence Industries Alliance at Kyiv’s first Defence Industries Forum.
“Right now, the most powerful military-industrial complexes are being determined, as are their priorities and the global standard of defence. All of this is being determined in Ukraine,” Zelenskiy said on Telegram.
The alliance will allow manufacturers of weapons and military equipment to “join its basic declaration and demonstrate that they are ready to build the arsenal of the free world together with Ukraine”.
“We are a strong nation,” Zelenskiy added. “We are brave people. A globally significant state. We will undoubtedly prevail. And we will create such a defence potential for Ukraine – and therefore the entire free world – that will reflect our strength.”
Updated
Russian military to enlist 130,000 men for compulsory service
Vladimir Putin signed a decree Friday declaring that Russia’s military will enlist 130,000 men for compulsory service this fall, the Moscow Times is reporting.
Russia’s military will be allowed to call up men aged 18 to 27 from 1 October to 31 December for a 12-month training period.
That brings the total to 277,000 conscripts in 2023 – 147,000 men were drafted during the spring draft.
The decree comes after Putin recently signed into law a ban preventing draftees from leaving the country. Though rear admiral Vladimir Tsimlyansky, the deputy head of the Russian general staff’s mobilisation department, said in a briefing earlier yesterday that no conscripts would be sent to fight in Ukraine, there has been speculation that the Kremlin is gearing up for a second wave of mobilisation.
Last, a “partial” mobilisation resulted in the recruitment of 300,000 reservists for the war in Ukraine – and sparked mass raids and a historic exodus of Russians abroad.
Defence minister Sergei Shoigu has said that he is seeking to increase Russia’s combat personnel from 1.15 million to 1.5 million.
The Russian air defence shot down nine missiles launched from Ukraine over Russia’s Belgorod oblast, the Russian defence ministry said on Telegram.
As well, the ministry is claiming to have exposed and suppressed more than 10 artillery crews of Ukrainian troops, with a tactical aviation group carrying out strikes on two temporary Ukrainian deployment points near Torskoye in the Donetsk oblast.
The ministry believes that Ukrainian forces here lost up to 50 military personnel, as well as an armoured fighting vehicle.
Russian forces launched six missiles, 56 air strikes and 40 multiple launch rocket system attacks yesterday, and engaged Ukrainian troops in 44 combat engagements, the general staff of the Ukrainian armed forces said in their morning briefing.
The air strikes hit Komisarove, Petropavlivka, Ivanivka, Pishchane, Sen’kove and Kopanky in the Kharkiv oblast, as well as Novoselivs’ke and Nevs’ke in the Luhansk oblast. In the Donetsk oblast, Zarichne, Spirne, Serebryanka, Bohdanivka, Krasnohorivka, Mar’inka, Vuhledar, Velyka Novosilka, Urozhaine and Staromaiors’ke came under aerial attack, as did Novodarivka, Robotyne, Novodanylivka and Orikhiv in the Zaporizhzhya oblast, and Beryslav and Ol’hivka in the Kherson oblast.
More than 100 settlements in the Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson oblasts came under artillery fire.
In return, the Ukrainian air force yesterday launched 11 airstrikes on the concentrations of troops, weapons and military equipment, and two airstrikes on the anti-aircraft missile systems of Russia. In total, Ukrainian missiles hit three concentrations of Russian troops, weapons and military equipment, as well as two anti-aircraft missile systems, 13 artillery systems, one ammunition depot and one electronic warfare station.
The general staff of the Ukrainian armed forces said he believes Russian forces lost 470 personnel yesterday.
— Генеральний штаб ЗСУ (@GeneralStaffUA) September 30, 2023
Updated
The Ukrainian air force shot down Iranian kamikaze drones overnight, the general staff of the Ukrainian armed forces said.
In conjunction with the anti-air defence, Ukrainian forces destroyed 30 Shahed drone within the Odessa, Mykolaiv and Vinnytsia oblasts.
The Guardian recently learned that these Shahed drones are filled with European components. The European Commission has since warned European companies and governments that it could ban the sale of certain components to Turkey and other countries from where Iran and Russia are sourcing parts for these drones.
Updated
Wagner veterans likely think ex-commander who met Putin 'a traitor', says UK MoD
Many veterans of the Wagner mercenary force probably consider former commander Andrei Troshev, who Vladimir Putin met on Thursday, to be a “traitor”, the UK Ministry of Defence says.
In its latest intelligence update, the ministry also said the meeting suggested Moscow had plans to use the mercenary force, including in the global south, but with greater oversight from the Kremlin.
On Friday Russian authorities published footage of the Russian president meeting Troshev, the Wagner Group’s former chief of staff, and tasking him with overseeing and establishing new “volunteer fighting units”, the ministry said. Deputy defence minister Yunus-Bek Yevkurov was also at the meeting.
The ministry said in its update, posted on X/Twitter, that around the time of Wagner’s short-lived insurrection in June, Troshev took up a role in Russia’s official security forces and was probably involved in encouraging other Wagner personnel to sign contracts with Russia, contributing to the rebellion.
The ministry said:
Many Wagner veterans likely consider him a traitor.
Yevkurov had recently been pictured touring African states, the ministry said.
Presidential endorsement of Troshev and Yevkurov indicates Russia’s continuing utilisation of volunteer units and private military companies, and planning for the future of Wagner.
It is prepared to draw on the experience of veterans who can demonstrate their loyalty to the state and continued involvement in the global south, but probably with greater oversight from the Kremlin.
Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine – 30 September 2023.
— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) September 30, 2023
Find out more about Defence Intelligence's use of language: https://t.co/FzRQzZXa3O
🇺🇦 #StandWithUkraine 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/ihM88PyKYU
Updated
Romania reports possible airspace breach in Russia's attacks
Nato member Romania said on Saturday its airspace may have been violated during overnight drone attacks by Russia on infrastructure in neighbouring Ukraine, Agence France-Presse has just reported.
Since exiting a deal allowing safe grain shipments via the Black Sea, Moscow has ramped up strikes on Ukraine’s southern Odesa and Mykolaiv regions, home to vital grain-exporting infrastructure.
“Following the detection of groups of drones heading towards Ukrainian territory near the Romanian border,” residents in the Tulcea and Galati municipalities were alerted, the defence ministry said in a statement.
The radar surveillance system ... indicated possible unauthorised entry into national airspace, with a signal detected on a route towards the municipality of Galati.
The defence ministry said no objects so far appeared to have fallen on Romanian territory but the search would continue on Saturday.
Around midnight, residents of Galati and Tulcea, which face the port of Reni in southern Ukraine across the Danube, received alerts warning them to take shelter.
The alert measures were lifted about two hours later.
Earlier this month, Romanian soldiers built air-raid shelters to protect the residents in the eastern village of Plauru after drone fragments were found in the area.
Updated
Here are some of the latest images coming in from Ukraine via news agency wires.
Updated
Evacuation ordered in western Ukraine after Russian attack on infrastructure
Authorities in the western Ukrainian region of Vinnytsya ordered an evacuation early on Saturday, saying an infrastructure site had been struck in a Russian attack, Reuters reports.
“At this time there is no need for a general evacuation,” apart from in the immediate area around the site of the hit, said Vasyl Polishchuk, the head of administration for the town of Kalynivka, according to the town’s website.
It did not say what target had been struck or what weapon had been used.
Regional governor Serhiy Borzov had reported the hit on an unspecified infrastructure site, a term Ukrainian officials sometimes use to refer to facilities involved in power generation or other industries.
Earlier reports said drones had been operating in the area.
Opening summary
Welcome back to our ongoing live coverage of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. This is Adam Fulton and here’s a snapshot of the latest to bring you up to speed.
Authorities in the western Ukrainian region of Vinnytsya ordered an evacuation early on Saturday around what they said was an infrastructure site that had been hit in a Russian attack.
Earlier reports said drones had been operating in the area.
More on that story shortly. In other news as it turns 9am in Kyiv:
Vladimir Putin said residents of Russian-held regions in Ukraine expressed their desire to be part of Russia in recent local elections, reaffirming referendums last year that western countries denounced as illegal. In a video address released early on Saturday on the one-year anniversary of Moscow’s announcement it was annexing four parts of Ukraine, the Russian president said the choice to join Russia was reinforced by this month’s local elections that returned officials supporting Russia’s annexation. Western countries dismissed the outcomes as meaningless, underpinned by mass coercion of voters. Flag-waving Russians gathered for a concert in Red Square on Friday as the Kremlin held celebrations to mark the annexations.
The UK government has imposed an asset freeze and travel bans on Russian officials in the annexed Ukrainian regions of Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Donetsk and Crimea as part of its broader sanctions against Russia.
Seven European Union countries have ordered ammunition under a landmark EU procurement scheme to get urgently needed artillery shells to Ukraine and replenish depleted western stocks, according to the EU agency in charge.
Vladimir Putin has signed a decree setting out the routine autumn conscription campaign, calling up 130,000 citizens for statutory military service, a document posted on the government website showed. Separately, Putin reportedly met Andrei Troshev, formerly a top Wagner mercenary commander, to discuss how voluntary fighting units are used in the war in Ukraine, the Kremlin said on Friday.
German chancellor Olaf Scholz and the leaders of five Central Asian nations on Friday pledged to cooperate closely on sanctions in a carefully worded statement that did not pinpoint Russia. The gathering of Scholz and the leaders of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan in Berlin was the first of its kind in an EU country.
Top US general Mark Milley was to retire on Friday after four years as chair of the US joint chiefs of staff. Milley’s tenure included providing military assistance to Ukraine’s defence against Russia’s invasion in February 2022.
A Russian blogger who criticised highway patrol officers was jailed for eight-and-a-half years on Friday after a court alleged he posted “fake news” about Moscow’s offensive in Ukraine. Alexander Nozdrinov, 38, ran a small YouTube channel where he posted videos of highway patrol officers from his home region of Krasnodar allegedly breaking the law. He was detained in March 2022 after investigators accused him of posting a photo of destroyed buildings on social media with the caption: “Ukrainian cities after the arrival of liberators”.
Norway says it will start barring Russian-registered passenger cars from entering the country starting next week, in a move that mirrors sanctions already imposed by the EU against Moscow over the war in Ukraine.
