Ukraine Daily
Tuesday, September 27
Russia’s war against Ukraine
A man runs in front of a destroyed apartment building in Bakhmut, Donetsk Oblast on Sept. 26, 2022, amid Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by Anatolii Stepanov/ AFP via Getty Images)
OECD: Russia’s war in Ukraine will cause $2.8 trillion in global economic losses. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development has projected global economic growth to slow to just 2.2% in 2023, which is $2.8 trillion lower than the OECD forecast before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Blinken: US has plan in place if Russia uses nuclear weapons against Ukraine. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told CBS News on Sept. 25 that the U.S. has made it clear to Russia that the consequences of using nuclear weapons would be “horrific.” Blinken did not share how the U.S. would respond if Russia used nuclear weapons against Ukraine, but said the administration has a plan.
Zelensky: Russia uses criminal mobilization to exterminate indigenous groups. “Criminal mobilization is used by Russia not only to prolong the suffering of people in Ukraine and to further destabilize the world, but also to physically exterminate men - representatives of indigenous peoples” who live in temporarily occupied territory, Zelensky said in his nightly address on Sept. 25.
SBU: Another Russian torture chamber discovered in Kharkiv Oblast. Ukraine’s Security Service has found another Russian torture chamber in the liberated village of Lyptsi, where Russia’s proxies and military kept pro-Ukrainian residents and brutally tortured them. So far, the Ukrainian police’s main investigation department has discovered 18 Russian torture chambers in Kharkiv Oblast.
Ukraine’s military: Russia saves money replacing high-precision missiles with Iranian drones. Russia fires fewer expensive missiles, as in some cases it can now replace them with cheaper Iranian drones, according to Ukraine’s Air Force spokesperson Yurii Ihnat. According to him, Iran could have sold “several hundred” kamikaze drones to Russia.
Meduza: 11 military enlistment offices, 6 administrative buildings set on fire in Russia since mobilization start. Russian news outlet Meduza reported that at least 11 military enlistment offices had been set on fire in Russia since Vladimir Putin announced mobilization on Sept. 21. Russians have also tried to set on fire six administrative buildings over the last six days.
Mayor: Melitopol residents forced to vote in ‘referendum’ for absent relatives, neighbors. The exiled mayor of Melitopol, a Russian-occupied city in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, Ivan Fedorov said on Sept. 26 that Russian occupation authorities are going door-to-door to make locals vote instead of their family members and neighbors who evacuated due to the “catastrophically low turnout.”
Russian collaborator: After ‘annexation,’ Russia to send Ukrainians from occupied territories to war. Russian-installed proxy in the occupied parts of Zaporizhzhia Oblast Yevhen Balytskyi said on Sept. 26 that local “volunteers” will join the Russian army in its fight against Ukraine following the sham referendum on joining Russia.
Zelensky: Donetsk Oblast is Ukraine’s main priority. In his nightly address, President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Ukraine is doing everything to curb Russian activity in Donetsk Oblast. “Constant attempts of the Russian offensive in the Donetsk region will surely go down in the history of wars as one of the most cynical murders of one’s own soldiers,” he also said.
General Staff: Occupied parts of Kherson Oblast closed for entry and exit. The General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces reported in its Sept. 27 update that Russian occupying forces have “completely closed” the occupied parts of Ukraine’s southern Kherson Oblast for entry or exit. The Ukrainian government earlier urged residents to evacuate among Ukraine’s unfolding counteroffensive in the area.
Reuters: Kremlin says no decision yet on banning men of conscription age from leaving country. In response to a question about the border being closed, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Sept. 26: “I don’t know anything about this. At the moment, no decisions have been taken on this,” Reuters reports. Earlier, independent Russian media outlet Meduza reported, citing two sources in the Kremlin, that a ban on military-aged men leaving Russia would come into effect on Sept. 28.
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Ukraine war latest: 260,000 Russians flee country, as Putin attempts to mobilize men to fight Ukraine. Five days into President Vladimir Putin’s attempt to mobilize Russians to fight against Ukraine, over 260,000 Russian men had fled the country, according to Novaya Gazeta.
Photo: Olga Maltseva/AFP via Getty Images
Hundreds of Russian vehicles, weapon systems seized during Kharkiv counterattack. Ukraine’s successful counterattack in Kharkiv was important in many ways. The armed forces liberated a vast territory, inflicted serious damage to Russian formations there, and sent Russian morale plummeting, as Ukrainian spirit soared.
Photo: Kostyantyn Chernichkin/ Kyiv Independent
As Ukraine looks West, Russia wins over Africa. Since its independence, Ukraine’s diplomatic efforts have focused primarily on looking West. Meanwhile, Russia has set its sights all over the world.
Photo: Ousmane Makaveli/ AFP via Getty Images
The human cost of Russia’s war
Russia’s attacks kill 3 in Donetsk Oblast, injure 6 in Kharkiv Oblast. In the past 24 hours, Russian forces have killed three civilians and injured 11 in Donetsk Oblast, not including Mariupol and Volnovakha, reported Pavlo Kyrylenko, the oblast governor. Russian troops have also shelled Kharkiv Oblast, wounding six civilians and causing a fire at one of the agricultural enterprises, said Kharkiv Oblast Governor Oleh Syniehubov.
Governor: Russia’s attack on Kharkiv Oblast kills a teenage girl. Russian troops have launched a missile attack on civilian infrastructure in Pervomaiskyi, killing a 15-year-old girl, Kharkiv Oblast Governor Oleh Syniehubov reported on Sept. 26. Two houses were completely destroyed, according to him.
Russian missile strike kills 7 people in Pervomaiskyi, Kharkiv Oblast. The Kharkiv Oblast State Emergency Service noted that a 15-year-old child is among those killed in the Russian attack on Sept. 26. Rescue operations are reportedly underway.
Russian missile strike wounds 4 people in Kramatorsk, Donetsk Oblast. Kramatorsk Mayor Oleksandr Honcharenko reported on Sept. 26 that Russian forces hit the city center, damaging high-rise buildings.
International response
After Putin’s nuclear threats, Japan stops exporting chemical weapons goods to Russia. The Japanese government has banned the export of materials that could be used for chemical weapons production to 21 Russian organizations, including science laboratories, Associated Press reported on Sept. 26, citing Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno.
Kazakhstan won’t recognize Russia’s pseudo-referendums in Ukraine. Kazakhstan has no intention of recognizing Russia’s sham referendums in Kherson, Luhansk, Donetsk, and Zaporizhzhia oblasts, news agency KazTAG reported on Sept. 26, citing the spokesperson of Kazakhstan’s Foreign Ministry.
US to provide over $450 million for Ukraine’s civilian security. “The United States will provide an additional $457.5 million in civilian security assistance to save lives and bolster the capacity of our Ukrainian law enforcement and criminal justice partners,” U.S. State Secretary Antony Blinken wrote on Twitter on Sept. 26. “We share their commitment to a democratic, independent, and sovereign Ukraine.”
Lithuania delivers 50 M113 infantry vehicles to Ukraine. Lithuania’s Defense Minister Arvydas Anusauskas said on Sept. 26 that Lithuania is considering further potential support for Ukraine in consultation with NATO partners, reports Delfi news site.
UK imposes sanctions on 92 individuals, entities over sham ‘referendums’ in Russian-occupied territories. The Sept. 26 statement by the U.K. government said sanctions primarily target top Russian officials linked to Russia’s sham “referendums” in Ukraine’s Kherson, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Donetsk oblasts. IMA Consulting, the agency conducting public campaigns for the pseudo-referendums, and Goznak, a security document company that has issued expedited passports in Ukraine’s temporarily occupied territories, are also sanctioned. The statement said Russia’s actions are a “clear violation of international law, including the UN charter.”
Reuters: US Congress negotiators include $12 billion in additional aid to Ukraine in draft bill. The new aid to Ukraine was in response to a request from the Biden administration, reports Reuters, citing a source familiar with the issue.
Süddeutsche Zeitung: Germany proposes ban on EU citizens accepting high-ranking positions in Russian state corporations. Berlin has distributed the proposal to EU governments, calling on the EU to add it to its eighth sanctions package, reports Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper. If implemented, the move would mitigate Russia’s “political influence” in EU countries and prevent involvement by EU politicians, such as former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, in Russian state-owned businesses.
In other news
Nord Stream 2 leaks into Baltic Sea. Danish authorities have instructed ships to avoid the Danish island of Bornholm following a gas leak into the Baltic Sea from the defunct Russian-owned Nord Stream 2 pipeline on Sept. 26. The pipeline had been newly completed and contained 300 million cubic meters of gas prior to Germany canceling it before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Denmark’s Energy Ministry has yet to comment on what caused the pipeline’s pressure to drop. Investigations are underway.
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