A summary of today's developments
The Nobel Foundation has announced it is reversing its decision to invite ambassadors from Russia and Belarus to this year’s Nobel award ceremony in Stockholm, after the move sparked anger.
Ukrainian forces are “on the move”, the president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has said, as the US acknowledged the “notable progress” of the counteroffensive over the past few days.
Russia risks splitting its troops as it seeks to prevent a Ukrainian breakthrough in Ukraine’s south, the UK Ministry of Defence said. It said Ukrainian forces continued to take offensive action on the Orikhiv axis in southern Ukraine, with units reaching the first Russian main defensive line.
The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, is to host the Turkish leader, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, for talks on Monday, the Kremlin announced yesterday. It comes just over six weeks after Moscow broke off a deal brokered by Ankara and the UN that allowed Ukrainian grain to reach world markets.
Russia’s defence ministry said its forces this morning destroyed an unmanned Ukrainian boat being used in an attempt to attack the bridge linking the Crimean peninsula to the Russian mainland. The vessel had been “spotted and destroyed in time off the Black Sea coast”.
Elections are under way in Russian-controlled provinces of Ukraine as part of a move to cement Moscow’s authorities in its “new territories” despite the ongoing conflict. Russia does not fully control any of the four regions where the votes are being held – Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson.
The largest refugee centre established to home Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion has been closed by Poland after it said the sanctuary was no longer required, since most had now found homes elsewhere.
Anton Gerashchenko, advisor to Ukraine’s minister of internal affairs, has tweeted a photo of a Russian strike in Kramatorsk.
Instead of a thousand words.
— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) September 2, 2023
A Russian rocket hit Kramatorsk today. Very close to a residential building.
Terrorist state continues terrorizing civilians.
📷: Radio Svoboda pic.twitter.com/B9CQUIB6a2
• This post was amended on 3 September 2023. Anton Gerashchenko is advisor to Ukraine’s minister of internal affairs, rather than holding that position himself.
Updated
