Summary
Thanks for following along today.
At least nine people were killed in two consecutive Russian attacks on a hospital in Sumy. Initial shelling had killed one and damaged several floors of the building, but Russian forces struck again during the evacuation of the hospital’s patients, authorities said. At least 12 were reported injured in the attacks.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, one day after his meeting with Donald Trump in New York, condemned the Sumy attack. “Everyone in the world who speaks about this war must pay attention to what Russia is targeting,” Zelenskyy wrote on X. “They are waging war on hospitals, civilian objects, and people’s lives. Only strength can force Russia into peace. Peace through strength is the only right way.”
In addition to the nine killed on Saturday, at least seven other civilians were killed throughout Ukraine over the past 24 hours, authorities said. Four were killed in Kryvyi Rih after a Russian missile struck a five-storey police administration building on Friday – authorities completed rescue efforts there today. Of the four killed in Kryvyi Rih, three were police officers. Meanwhile, other missile and air strikes on residential areas of the Kherson, Donetsk and Odesa oblasts left dozens more injured.
Russia is prepared to go to court over the Nord Stream pipeline explosions, with a foreign ministry spokeswoman saying on Saturday that Russia has filed “pre-trial claims” against Denmark, Germany, Sweden and Switzerland. Maria Zakharova accused the West of attempting to “sweep the matter under the carpet”, maintaining that the explosions that ruptured the multi-billion dollar pipeline in September 2022 – seven months after Russia invaded Ukraine – “an egregious act of international terrorism”.
NATO members Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland will seek European Union funding to build a network of bunkers, barriers, distribution lines and military warehouses along their borders with Russia and Belarus, Estonia’s officials have said. The three Baltic countries initially announced the plan for a “Baltic Defence Line” in January. In May, Poland announced a similar project called the “Eastern Shield” with a purpose to strengthen its borders with the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad and Belarus.
Russia appears to be expending a “significant amount of effort” to influence the debate around allowing Ukraine to use Western-provided weapons to directly attack Russia, the Institute for the Study of War said.
In a new analysis, the Institute noted that even a small number of successful Ukrainian long-range strikes on Russia “could have asymmetric impacts and prompt Russian forces to move significant military and storage facilities outside the range of Western-provided weapons”.
In particular, Vladimir Putin has recently reintroduced several of the Kremlin’s previously most effective narratives into both the Western and Russian information spaces in recent weeks, the Institute said.
Russian authorities appear to be expending a significant amount of effort to influence the Western debate about allowing Ukraine to use Western-provided weapons to conduct long-range strikes against military objects in Russia.⬇️(1/3)
— Institute for the Study of War (@TheStudyofWar) September 28, 2024
This Russian effort suggests a deep concern… https://t.co/3lO2zUkbFK pic.twitter.com/8iwvzA8jNT
2/ Putin reintroduced several of the Kremlin's previously most effective narratives into the Western and Russian information spaces in recent weeks and tailored his typical boilerplate language to specifically target the ongoing Western debate about allowing Ukraine to conduct… pic.twitter.com/xTBXeO8XTb
— Institute for the Study of War (@TheStudyofWar) September 28, 2024
NATO members Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland will seek European Union funding to build a network of bunkers, barriers, distribution lines and military warehouses along their borders with Russia and Belarus, Estonia’s officials have said
The three Baltic countries initially announced the plan for a “Baltic Defence Line” in January. In May, Poland announced a similar project called the “Eastern Shield” with a purpose to strengthen its borders with the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad and Belarus.
“The need for a (Baltic) defence line stems from the security situation and supports NATO’s new forward defence concept,” Estonian defence minister Hanno Pevkur said in a statement, adding that “it is extremely important to coordinate our activities with Poland.”
At the same time, it strengthens the security of the European Union and the military defence of its borders, which is why we clearly see that the EU could also financially support the project.
Here are some of the latest images coming in from the wires:
Today so far
At least nine people were killed in two consecutive Russian attacks on a hospital in Sumy. Initial shelling had killed one and damaged several floors of the building, but Russian forces struck again during the evacuation of the hospital’s patients, authorities said. At least 12 were reported injured in the attacks.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, one day after his meeting with Donald Trump in New York, condemned the Sumy attack. “Everyone in the world who speaks about this war must pay attention to what Russia is targeting,” Zelenskyy wrote on X. “They are waging war on hospitals, civilian objects, and people’s lives. Only strength can force Russia into peace. Peace through strength is the only right way.”
In addition to the nine killed on Saturday, at least seven other civilians were killed throughout Ukraine over the past 24 hours, authorities said. Four were killed in Kryvyi Rih after a Russian missile struck a five-storey police administration building on Friday – authorities completed rescue efforts there today. Of the four killed in Kryvyi Rih, three were police officers. Meanwhile, other missile and air strikes on residential areas of the Kherson, Donetsk and Odesa oblasts left dozens more injured.
Russia is prepared to go to court over the Nord Stream pipeline explosions, with a foreign ministry spokeswoman saying on Saturday that Russia has filed “pre-trial claims” against Denmark, Germany, Sweden and Switzerland. Maria Zakharova accused the West of attempting to “sweep the matter under the carpet”, maintaining that the explosions that ruptured the multi-billion dollar pipeline in September 2022 – seven months after Russia invaded Ukraine – “an egregious act of international terrorism”.
Australia’s ABC News is rejecting Moscow’s claims that two of its journalists acted illegally by entering the Ukrainian-occupied Kursk region in Russia. The Russian news agency Tass reported on Friday that the Russian Federal Security Service had “initiated and is investigating criminal cases” against the broadcaster’s Europe correspondent Kathryn Diss and camera operator Fletcher Yeung, as well as Romanian journalist Barbu Mircea, for the crime of “Illegal crossing of Russia’s State Border” – a crime punishable by up to five years’ imprisonment. Diss and Yeung were escorted by a Ukrainian military unit to Sudzha in the Kursk region on 31 August, marking the first time the broadcaster had entered Russia since its invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Russia prepared to go to court over Nord Stream pipeline explosions
Russia has filed “pre-trial claims” against Denmark, Germany, Sweden and Switzerland over the Nord Stream pipeline explosions, accusing the West of trying to “sweep the matter under the carpet”, Reuters is reporting.
The multi-billion dollar pipeline that carried natural gas from Russia to Germany under the Baltic Sea was ruptured by a series of blasts in September 2022, seven months after Russia invaded Ukraine.
While no one has claimed responsibility for the explosions, Moscow – without providing evidence – has repeatedly accused the United States and the United Kingdom of carrying out the attacks. Both countries have denied the allegations. Last month, German prosecutors said they had issued an arrest warrant for a Ukrainian diving instructor in Poland in connection with the attacks, though a spokesman for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has denied any involvement from Kyiv.
On Saturday, Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that the “pre-trial claims” that Russia has filed against Denmark, Germany, Sweden and Switzerland are based on the 1997 International Convention for the Suppression of Terrorist Bombings and the 1999 International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism.
“If the issue is not resolved at this stage, then Russia intends to take the matter to court and appeal to the International Court of Justice in connection with the violation by the countries in question of their obligations under the conventions,” she said.
“Other states that may have something to do with the Nord Stream blasts are next in line. The West will not get away with the attempts to ‘sweep the matter under the carpet’.”
She called the blasts “an egregious act of international terrorism that falls under a number of international treaties that establish obligations to prevent, suppress, investigate, prosecute and co-operate with other states to achieve these goals”.
“Unfortunately, we see that these commitments are not being fulfilled, despite repeated appeals by Russia.”
Updated
A ninth person has died following the consecutive Russian strikes on a hospital in Sumy today.
The initial shelling killed just one and destroyed several floors of the hospital, but Russian forces struck again during the evacuation of the hospital’s patients, authorities said. The regional military administration for the Sumy oblast has since updated the death toll to nine people killed, with 12 reported seriously injured.
Authorities have completed rescue efforts in Kryvyi Rih, where a Russian missile struck a five-storey police administration building yesterday.
The National Police of Ukraine have updated the death toll from this attack to four people killed, including three police officers. Six more were injured.
У Кривому Розі завершено рятувальні роботи на місці вчорашнього удару по будівлі поліції.
— Національна поліція України (@NPU_GOV_UA) September 28, 2024
Внаслідок російської атаки по районному управлінню поліції загинуло чотири особи, серед яких троє працівників поліції.https://t.co/Yg4wuWKooX#stoprussia #поліція_на_війні pic.twitter.com/gingOL0FZt
In addition to the eight killed in the Russian attack on a hospital in Sumy, at least six other civilians were killed throughout Ukraine over the past 24 hours, authorities said.
At least three were killed when a Russian missile struck a police administration building in Kryvyi Rih in the Dnipropetrovsk oblast, while other missile and air strikes on residential areas of the Kherson, Donetsk and Odesa oblasts left dozens more injured.
At least 7 people were killed & 12 injured in a kamikaze drone attack on a hospital in Sumy in the morning. In addition, 6 civilians were killed & 41 injured, including 2 children, as a result of missile & air strikes on residential areas in Kherson, Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk &… pic.twitter.com/hbwZVloFEq
— Гюндуз Мамедов/Gyunduz Mamedov (@MamedovGyunduz) September 28, 2024
Zelenskyy condemns Russian attacks on Sumy hospital, updates death toll
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has posted an update to the death toll in Saturday’s attacks on a medical centre in Sumy. Eight people have now been killed in the Russian strikes, with 11 more injured. Zelenskyy said 113 patients have been evacuated from the hospital.
“Everyone in the world who speaks about this war must pay attention to what Russia is targeting,” Zelenskyy wrote on X. “They are waging war on hospitals, civilian objects, and people’s lives. Only strength can force Russia into peace. Peace through strength is the only right way.”
Sumy. Russia hit one of the city's hospitals with “Shahed” drones. As of now, we know that 8 people have been killed. My condolences to their families and friends. Eleven others have been wounded, and 113 patients have been evacuated from the hospital.
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) September 28, 2024
The rescue operation is… pic.twitter.com/liI6SVKvg7
One civilian killed in attack on Russia's Belgorod oblast
A civilian was killed in a drone attack in the city of Shebekino in Russia’s Belgorod oblast on Saturday, the regional governor said.
Images and video posted on Telegram by regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov showed smoke billowing out of a window on the top floor of a building. In addition to the civilian who was killed, two more civilians were injured, Gladkov said – a man with a “mine-explosive injury and facial wounds” and a woman with a “mine-explosive injury and head and hand wounds”.
The attack that struck the building caused a fire that was quickly put out, and damaged four other nearby buildings, puncturing gas and water pipes, Gladkov said. The attack blew out the glass of two social buildings and two commercial buildings, and damaged some vehicles.
A drone that detonated in the courtyard of an apartment building damaged the windows of several apartments and hit four cars with shrapnel.
Shebekino is located just under five miles (7.8 km) from the border of Ukraine. While Ukrainian armed forces have not claimed responsibility for the attack, there has been an increase of drones hitting Russia from across the border over the past months.
Here are some images from this morning’s Russian attack on a medical centre in Sumy. Authorities said Russian kamikaze drones struck the hospital twice: once destroying several floors of the building and killing one, and again while patients were evacuating.
At least even people were killed and 12 people were injured in the consecutive attack.
Australia’s ABC News is rejecting Moscow’s claims that two of its journalists acted illegally by entering the Ukrainian-occupied Kursk region in Russia.
The Russian news agency Tass reported on Friday that the Russian Federal Security Service had “initiated and is investigating criminal cases” against the broadcaster’s Europe correspondent Kathryn Diss and camera operator Fletcher Yeung, as well as Romanian journalist Barbu Mircea, for the crime of “Illegal crossing of Russia’s State Border” – a crime punishable by up to five years’ imprisonment.
Diss and Yeung were escorted by a Ukrainian military unit to Sudzha in the Kursk region on 31 August, marking the first time the broadcaster had entered Russia since its invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
“We reject Russia’s claim that the ABC’s reporters have done anything illegal,” an ABC spokesperson said.
“They were reporting from occupied territory in a war zone and in full compliance with international law.
“Their reporting was done in the interests of keeping the public fully informed on a story of international importance.”
More here:
Update: seven killed in Russian strikes on hospital in Sumy
The regional military administration for the Sumy oblast has updated the death toll in Saturday’s attack on a medical centre. Seven people have now been killed, with 12 reported seriously injured.
The regional military administration said on Telegram that Russian forces used Shakhed unmanned aerial drones to carry out the attack. A policeman was among those killed – this comes as rescuers continue searching the rubble that once was a police administration building in the central city of Kryvyi Rih. A Russian missile attack that struck this five-storey building on Friday killed at least three people and injured six others.
Opening summary
At least six people were killed Saturday morning following two consecutive Russian strikes on a medical centre in Sumy, a city in northeastern Ukraine.
Ihor Klymenko, Ukraine’s interior minister, said on Telegram that one person died in the initial shelling that destroyed several floors of the hospital – but during the evacuation of the hospital’s patients, Russian forces struck again, killing more. A policeman was one of the six confirmed dead.
The deadly attack came after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with Donald Trump in New York amid concerns over the future of US aid to Ukraine if Trump – who has frequently made complimentary remarks about Vladimir Putin – wins in November. The sit-down lasted less than an hour, during which Trump told Zelesnkyy that if he won November’s presidential election he would get the Ukraine war “resolved very quickly”.
“We have a very good relationship, and I also have a very good relationship, as you know, with President Putin,” Trump said as he stood next to Zelenskyy before the meeting. “And I think if we win, I think we’re going to get it resolved very quickly … I really think we’re going to get it … but, you know, it takes two to tango.”
Zelenskyy described the meeting as “very productive”.
Elsewhere:
China and Brazil on Friday pressed ahead with an effort to gather developing countries behind a plan to end Russia’s war in Ukraine – an effort that Zelenskyy has dismissed as one that serves Moscow’s interests. Seventeen countries attended a meeting on the sidelines of the UN general assembly chaired by China’s foreign minister, Wang Yi, and Brazilian foreign policy adviser Celso Amorim. Wang told reporters they discussed the need to prevent escalation in the war, avoid the use of weapons of mass destruction and prevent attacks on nuclear power plants. Zelenskyy, in a speech to the assembly earlier this week, questioned why China and Brazil were proposing an alternative to his own peace formula. Proposing “alternatives, half-hearted settlement plans, so-called sets of principles” would only give Moscow the political space to continue the war, he said.
US secretary of state Antony Blinken, speaking after a meeting with Wang, underscored strong US concerns about China’s support for Russia’s defence industrial base. He told reporters that China, while saying it seeks an end to the Ukraine conflict, “is allowing its companies to take actions that are actually helping Putin continue the aggression. That doesn’t add up.”
South Korea’s foreign minister said Russia was engaging in illegal arms trade with North Korea, reiterating statements by the US, Ukraine and independent analysts that Pyongyang is supplying rockets and missiles in return for economic and other military assistance from Moscow. Misuse of Russia’s right to veto as a permanent member of the UN security council is hindering the UN’s efforts to end war, foreign minister Cho Tae-yul said during the UN general assembly on Saturday.
Finland will place a key Nato base less than 200 kilometers (125 miles) from its border with Russia, “sending a message” to its eastern neighbour, the defence ministry said Friday. Finland became a Nato member last year, dropping decades of military non-alignment after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
A Russian drone may have breached the national airspace of Nato member Romania for “a very brief period of under three minutes” overnight during an attack on neighbouring Ukraine, the Romanian defence ministry said on Friday. Three people were killed in the attack, according to Ukrainan officials.
Russia’s FSB security service is investigating three foreign journalists for reporting in parts of Russia’s Kursk region occupied by Ukrainian forces, bringing the total of such investigations to 12. The three, Kathryn Diss and Fletcher Yeung from Australia’s ABC News and Romanian journalist Mircea Barbu, are being investigated for illegally crossing the Russian border, state news agency Ria Novosti reported.
