Summary
It’s almost 9pm in Kyiv. Here are the day’s key events across Ukraine, Russia and beyond.
Nato air forces conduct drills over Baltic Sea. Member states including the UK, Germany, Italy took part in the military training, both over water and on land, in an effort to boost eastern defences.
The Netherlands increases its military support for Ukraine. Prime minister Mark Rutte also announced new sanctions in response to Russia’s mobilisation and referendum.
The US pledges to provide Ukraine with $457.5m in civilian security aid. The support is aimed at “saving lives” and “bolstering” Ukrainian law enforcement, secretary of state Antony Blinken said.
The Russian Orthodox Church head says Russian soldiers who die on the battlefield will have their sins absolved. Patriach Kirill – a close ally of President Vladimir Putin and a staunch supporter of the Ukraine invasion – said the “sacrifice washes away all sins”.
The UK announces 92 new sanctions in response to Russia’s regime of illegal referendums in Ukraine. The package of penalties target those behind the sham votes as well as oligarchs and board members.
Germany debates whether it should grant asylum to Russian war refuseniks. The country is potentially prepared to give protection to deserters who face repercussions if they refuse to fight, but each case would be decided on an individual basis amid security concerns.
The UN’s atomic energy watchdog says it was ready for talks about setting up a protection zone around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. The International Atomic Energy Agency head met the foreign ministers from both Russia and Ukraine at the UN general assembly last week to discuss the possibility.
Horrific consequences are in store if Russia follows through with its thinly-veiled threats to use nuclear weapons, the US warns. Secretary of state Antony Blinken said any use of the weapons would have a “catastrophic” impact across the world.
Ukraine claims some Russian conscripts from the Kremlin’s mass mobilisation were being sent directly to the frontlines without training. Those included newly drafted personnel in Crimea as well as conscripts in the Luhansk region who have received draft summonses in recent days.
A Russian man shoots the leader of the local military draft committee in a Siberian town after telling him he would refuse to fight in Ukraine. Video showed the gunman, dressed in camouflage, firing at the official from point blank range as other potential draftees for the Russian invasion fled the room.
Long queues of vehicles form at the border crossing between Russia and Mongolia as people continue to flee the Kremlin’s mobilisation order. The head of a checkpoint in the town of Altanbulag said more than 3,000 Russians had entered Mongolia via the crossing since Wednesday.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy vows to liberate the entire country as Russia presses on with its supposed referendum in occupied areas of Ukraine. The Ukrainian president said the country’s armed forces would throw out Russia’s forces and retaliate against “every strike of the aggressor”.
Updated
The UK’s chief of defence staff hosted talks with the Russian defence attaché at the Ministry of Defence in London.
Admiral Sir Tony Radakin and Colonel Maxim Elovik met as part of ongoing efforts to “strengthen military to military channels of communication” with Russia.
The Chief of the Defence Staff, @AdmTonyRadakin_, met the Russian Defence Attaché at the Ministry of Defence today. pic.twitter.com/3GoZBfDXr9
— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) September 26, 2022
