Summary
Here’s a roundup of the key developments from the day:
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, addressed the UN security council, saying there had been 574 days of “pain, losses and struggle” since Russia’s invasion of his country. He said peoples and governments had lost confidence in the UN’s ability and willingness to defend sovereign borders and that the UN had been “ineffective” but that it was “capable of more”.
Zelenskiy called for the UN general assembly to be given power to overcome the veto power held by Russia, calling it a “necessary step”. He said: “This will be the first necessary step. It is impossible to stop the war because all efforts are vetoed by the aggressor, or those who condone the aggressor.”
Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, accused the west of “selectively” turning to UN norms and principles on a case-by-case basis “based on their parochial geopolitical needs”. Speaking at the UN’s security council, he said this had resulted in the “shaking of global stability” and the “exacerbation of new hotbeds of tensions” that risked global conflict.
More than a dozen European countries, as well as Australia and Canada, asked the world court on Wednesday to decide whether it has jurisdiction in a case brought by Kyiv alleging that Russia abused the genocide convention to provide a pretext for the invasion of Ukraine. Ukraine brought the case to the international court of justice (ICJ), the highest UN court for disputes between states, days after Russia launched a full-scale war on its smaller neighbour on 24 February last year.
Poland’s prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, said the country would ban additional Ukrainian imports if Kyiv were to escalate their conflict over a grain embargo, AFP reports. Poland’s foreign ministry summoned the Ukrainian ambassador and conveyed Warsaw’s strong protest against statements made by Volodymyr Zelenskiy at the UN general assembly.
Iran’s president, Ebrahim Raisi, in a lengthy set-piece speech to the UN general assembly, accused the US of fanning the flames of violence in Ukraine, prompting protests from Israel’s representative to the UN.
Russia has “deliberately and repeatedly” targeted medical facilities in the Ukrainian city of Kherson, causing damage to children’s hospitals, maternity wards and a regional clinic, according to a new study.
The Swedish investigation into the Nord Stream sabotage last year is at a sensitive stage and the investigator, Mats Ljungqvist, hopes to conclude it before the end of the year, he told Reuters on Wednesday.
Ukraine’s first lady urged world leaders on Tuesday to help return Ukrainian children forcibly taken to Russia, where she said they were being indoctrinated and deprived of their national identity. Speaking on the sidelines of the UN general assembly, Olena Zelenska said more than 19,000 Ukrainian children had been transferred by force or deported to Russia or occupied territories.
Ukraine claimed to have shot down 17 drones overnight on Tuesday. The air force reported that Russian troops had launched a total of 24 unmanned aerial vehicles at Ukraine. Ukraine reported that Russia hit an oil refinery in Kremenchuk, causing a fire and halting operations.
Vyacheslav Gladkov, the governor of the Belgorod region in Russia, reported on Wednesday that three settlements in the region had lost power as a result of cross-border shelling by Ukrainian armed forces, and that one woman had been wounded. He later reported that a man had been killed and another wounded by shelling near the village of Maksimovka.
We’re closing this live blog now but you can still follow our blog on the UN general assembly here:
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Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, accused the west of “selectively” turning to UN norms and principles on a case-by-case basis “based on their parochial geopolitical needs”.
Speaking at the UN’s security council, he said this had resulted in the “shaking of global stability” and the “exacerbation of new hotbeds of tensions” that risk global conflict.
Lavrov accused the US and its allies of “egregiously and openly” interfering in the domestic affairs of Ukraine since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
The Russian foreign minister claimed that “a litany of western leaders” have “directly encouraged” anti-government demonstrations and acts of violence, and that they have “denied the rights of Russian-language speakers in Ukraine and the residents of Crimea”.
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The UK’s deputy prime minister, Oliver Dowden, who is representing his country at the UN security council meeting, expressed solidarity with Volodymyr Zelenskiy and the people of Ukraine, who have met Russia’s invasion “with bravery and with courage”.
Ukraine’s fight against Russia’s aggression is “not only a fight for freedom” but a “fight for the principles upon which the United Nations itself is based”, he said.
When Russia’s tanks rolled into Ukraine, they trampled over every single one of those principles. They have done so ever since.
Dowden warned of the “grave” risks if the world allowed Russia to continue its war in Ukraine, pointing to the human cost of Russian aggression.
Ukraine has been suffering the terrible consequences of Russia’s war of choice … Russia has callously targeted schools, hospitals, even playgrounds.
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Japan’s prime minister, Fumio Kishida, told members of the UN security council that the international order based on the rule of law faced “an unprecedented crisis”.
He said he would “never forget the heartbreaking feelings I had at that time” when he visited Ukraine in March, and renewed his “determination that Japan stands with Ukraine”.
Russia’s aggression against Ukraine has exacerbated concerns over a rule of lawlessness around the world. We must not allow the creation of a second or third Ukraine.
Kishida said Russia’s “abuse of the veto power’” to obstruct decisions by the security council “cannot be accepted by the international community”.
Follow our dedicated UN general assembly blog here:
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Zelenskiy left the meeting room of the UN security council after his speech so will not be present for the Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov’s turn.
Lavrov was not present for the Ukrainian president’s remarks, but the Russian ambassador to the UN, Vasily Nebenzya, was seen scrolling through his phone for the entire speech.
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The Albanian prime minister, Edi Rama, this month’s security council president, is making an impassioned speech:
It would be an insult to the intelligence of this organisation if we fail to unanimously recognise and say loudly who is the aggressor and who is the aggressor? It is the same sharp difference between war and peace.
If we fail to admit this crystal-clear truth, we are not only letting down Ukraine and its people, we are failing our core responsibility, compromising the future and betraying all our children from Brazil to Spain from the Arctic to the south pole.
The struggle of Ukraine are the struggles of everyone who aspires to live in a world where nations are free and equal, where territorial integrity is indisputable and the right to live in peace is unquestionable.
That country is not only shortsighted but utterly dangerous for everyone under this roof. This is why everyone has to do its part.
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Zelenskiy says the security council should be “fully accountable” to UN member states and that its permanent members should reflect the “current realities”.
Ukraine considers it “unjust” when billions of people do not have a permanent representative in the security council, while Russia does, he says.
He calls for “African unity” to have a permanent place in the council, and that Asia deserves broader permanent representation. Germany should also have a place among the permanent members of the council, he says, as well as the Pacific states.
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Zelenskiy says: “Unfortunately, this seat in the security council, which Russia occupies illegally” has been taken by “liars whose job is to whitewash the aggression and the genocide” carried out by Russia in Ukraine.
He says the current UN system means that other UN members are less influential than the veto power of Russia.
These days, in the general assembly, we hear the world inequality too often. Inequality is mentioned by different nations, both larger and smaller. That is precisely the inequality that renders the UN ineffective.
He goes on:
I know that the UN is capable of more. I’m confident that the UN charter can actually work for the sake of peace and security globally.
However, for this to happen, the years-long discussions and projects on UN reform must be translated into a viable process of UN reform, and it should not be only about representation here in the security council, the use of veto power.
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Zelenskiy calls for Russia's veto power to be removed
Zelenskiy says the UN general assembly should be given real power to overcome the veto when any member displays aggression.
He wants to see Russia’s veto power removed and for Russia to be suspended from the security council.
He said:
This will be the first necessary step. It is impossible to stop the war because all efforts are vetoed by the aggressor, or those who condone the aggressor.
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Zelenskiy says he is grateful to all countries who have recognised Russian aggression as a violation of the UN charter, but that it has “changed nothing” for Russia in the UN.
He says the UN has found itself “in a deadlock on the matters of aggression” as a result of Russia’s veto.
Humankind no longer [keeps] its hopes on the UN when it comes to the defence of the sovereign borders of nations.
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Zelenskiy accuses UN of being ineffective at defending sovereign borders
Zelenskiy notes that peoples and governments have lost confidence in the UN‘s ability and willingness to defend sovereign borders.
He says that countries are forming new alliances outside the UN because of the way the UN has handled Russia’s invasion.
He says the UN has been “ineffective” but that it is “capable of more”.
He said:
Ukrainian soldiers are now doing with their blood what the UN Security Council should be doing with its votes: stopping aggression and upholding the principles of the UN Charter.
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Zelenskiy addresses UN security council session on Ukraine war
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, begins his address to the UN security council by saying there have been 574 days of “pain, losses and struggle” since Russia’s invasion of his county.
Zelenskiy says Russia’s actions have killed tens of thousands of people and turned millions into refugees, describing the invasion as a “criminal and unprovoked aggression”.
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The UN secretary general, António Guterres, told the security council on Wednesday that Russia’s war in Ukraine was “aggravating geopolitical tensions and divisions, threatening regional stability, increasing the nuclear threat, and creating deep fissures in our increasingly multipolar world”.
The UN has been clear in condemning the war, and the general assembly “overwhelming” approved a resolution demanding that Russia leave Ukraine, and rejecting Russia’s efforts to annex Ukrainian territory, he said.
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Vasily Nebenzya, Russia’s ambassador to the UN, challenged the Albanian prime minister, Edi Rama, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the UN’s security council, to explain “on what basis you propose to give” Volodymyr Zelenskiy the floor.
Ukraine is not a member of the council. Rama replied by saying that giving Zelenskiy the floor first would allow council members to respond to his remarks. Rama said:
Those who have a direct interest in the outcome of the matter under consideration may speak prior to council members if appropriate.
Nebenzya responded: “If today you bang the gavel, thereby implementing your decision, the Albanian presidency will be tainted”.
Rama told Nebenzya that his objections were “quite impressive” considering Russia’s actions in Ukraine.
Addressing Nebenzya directly, he said:
I must say that, coming from you, all this lecture of violating the rules in this building is quite an impressive shoot.
But as far as you repeat it many times that the violation here is about President Zelenskiy.
Speaking before the council members, there is a solution for this: if you agree, you will stop the war and President Zelenskiy will not take the floor.
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The special session of the UN’s security council on the war in Ukraine has begun.
Foreign ministers of the 15 members of the council, including Russia’s Sergei Lavrov, are attending the special session.
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, will speak at the session, where he is expected to give further details of his peace plan.
You can watch it live over on our UN general assembly live blog:
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Ukrainian forces struck a Russian Black Sea fleet command post near Sevastopol in Crimea on Wednesday morning, the Ukrainian military has said.
It gave no further details except to say the attack was successful.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Moscow-installed governor of Sevastopol said a missile attack on the city had been prevented. Russia seized and annexed Crimea in 2014.
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Donations of rare books, artworks, manuscripts, photographs and ephemera are being sought for an auction aimed at raising funds for Ukrainian booksellers and publishers affected by the Russia-Ukraine war.
Authors are also being invited to donate signed first-edition copies of their books. The proceeds of the auction will go to Helping Ukrainian Books and Booksellers (Hubb), a group formed shortly after the war began, when thousands of publishing professionals suddenly found themselves out of work.
Libraries, editorial offices and publishing houses were hit, and sections of the industry were “severely impacted” by the war, “in part because much of the production of Ukrainian books happens in the east in and around Kharkiv, a city that was at that time under siege and being bombed daily,” Askold Melnyczuk, an American author and translator who set up Hubb, told the Guardian.
The auction is seeking donations from “far and wide”, said Arthur Fournier, a rare bookseller helping organise the sale. “That should include collectors, booksellers, antiquarians, authors.”
Donations across “literature, poetry, history and science” are welcomed, said Avi Kovacevich, a co-founder of Catalog Sale, a New York-based auction house that is facilitating the sale.
Fournier said that “interesting items of ephemera with attractive graphic design” were also encouraged. These include “vintage posters, magazines and pamphlets that might be directly relevant to resistance movements or protests” and items that have “an important historical or social justice resonance”.
Read more here:
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Joe Biden plans to announce a significant military aid package for Ukraine on Thursday to coincide with a visit to Washington by Volodymyr Zelenskiy, a US official said on Wednesday on condition of anonymity.
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Ukraine wants to reach an understanding with neighbouring countries on imports of agricultural products through negotiations, the country’s trade representative Taras Kachka was quoted as saying on Wednesday.
“Ukraine wants to avoid a lengthy court in the World Trade Organization framework, and to reach an understanding through negotiations,” Reuters reports Kachka as saying in a statement released by the economy ministry.
Earlier, Poland summoned Ukraine’s ambassador to protest that Volodymyr Zelenskiy had said at the UN general assembly that countries hindering the export of Ukrainian produce for political reasons were in effect assisting Moscow.
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Sweden hopes to conclude Nord Stream sabotage investigation by end of year
The Swedish investigation into the Nord Stream sabotage last year is at a sensitive stage and the investigator hopes to conclude it before the end of the year, he told Reuters on Wednesday.
“We hope to conclude the investigation shortly but there is still a lot to do and nothing will happen for the next four weeks,” Mats Ljungqvist said in an interview.
In April my colleague Philip Oltermann reported that Ljungqvist had said the “clear main scenario” was that a state-sponsored group had been involved, seemingly casting doubt on theories that posited an independent group was responsible for the pipeline blasts.
Reports published in the New York Times and the German weekly Die Zeit had suggested the attack could have been carried out by a group of six people with pro-Ukrainian affiliation, not necessarily sponsored by the state, using a German yacht chartered by a Polish company.
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Poland summons Ukrainian ambassador to protest against grain concern comments in Zelenskiy UN speech
Poland’s foreign ministry summoned the Ukrainian ambassador and conveyed Warsaw’s strong protest against statements made by Volodymyr Zelenskiy at the UN general assembly, it said in a statement.
Reuters reports that the foreign ministry said:
Deputy foreign minister Paweł Jabłoński conveyed the Polish side’s strong protest against the statements made by President Zelenskiy at the UN general assembly yesterday, alleging that some EU countries feigned solidarity while indirectly supporting Russia.
In his speech, Ukraine’s president had referred to the grain export situation, saying:
Even now, when Russia has undermined the Black Sea grain initiative, we are working to ensure food stability. And I hope that many of you will join us in these efforts. We launched a temporary sea export corridor from our ports. And we are working hard to preserve the land routes for grain exports. And it is alarming to see how some in Europe play out solidarity in a political theatre – making thriller from the grain. They may seem to play their own role but in fact they are helping set the stage to a Moscow actor.
Earlier today Poland’s prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, told Polsat News television about Kyiv’s recent words on agricultural products:
I am warning Ukraine’s authorities. Because if they are to escalate the conflict like that, we will add additional products to the ban on imports into Poland. Ukrainian authorities do not understand the degree to which Poland’s farming industry has been destabilised. We are protecting Polish farmers.
In another sign of the escalating disagreement over agricultural imports and exports in eastern Europe, farmers in Bulgaria today staged a countrywide protest over the state of the agricultural industry.
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Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has accepted an invitation from his Chinese counterpart to visit China in October during the Belt and Road Summit, Associated Press reports.
Speaking after a meeting with Chinese foreign minister, Wang Yi, in Moscow, Putin said Russia and China are “integrating our ideas of creating a large Eurasian space,” noting that China’s Belt and Road Initiative is a part of that.
The initiative is a huge programme in which Beijing has been expanding its influence in developing regions through infrastructure projects.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine, Putin has pivoted the country toward China, selling it more energy, and increasingly carrying out joint military exercises.
China has adopted a neutral stance on the war in Ukraine and even denounced Western sanctions against Moscow. It also accused Nato and the US of provoking Putin’s military action and declared last year that it had a “no-limits” friendship with Russia.
On Tuesday, senior Russian security official, Nikolai Patrushev, called for closer policy coordination between Moscow and Beijing to counter what he described as Western efforts to contain them as he hosted Wang Yi for security talks.
The Kremlin has continuously expressed support for Beijing as Russia and China have grown closer as their relations with the West deteriorate.
Wang arrived in Russia on Monday on a four-day visit following his talks with US president Joe Biden’s national security adviser in Malta over the weekend.
Putin’s plan to visit China was initially announced in July.
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Iran’s president, Ebrahim Raisi, in a lengthy set-piece speech to the UN general assembly, has accused the US of fanning the flames of violence in Ukraine, prompting protests from Israel’s representative to the UN.
Raisi claimed any Iranian-made drones hitting Ukrainian cities had been sold before the war started and said he was in favour of peace in Ukraine, on the same day that Tehran hosted a Russian defence delegation led by its defence minister, Sergei Shoigu.
Raisi’s triumphalist speech, claiming he had overcome US intelligence efforts to topple his regime, asserted that the future belonged to countries in his sphere and that the days of the west were over.
“The world is transitioning into a novel international order and the project to Americanise the world has failed,” he said, adding that the west was “facing a crisis of identity and functionality and sees the world as a forest and itself as a beautiful garden.”
He also accused the US of stoking the war in Ukraine to weaken Europe.
The speech prompted the Israeli ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, to walk out, accusing the UN of rolling out the red carpet for “the butcher of Tehran”. He held up a picture of Mahsa Amini, a Kurdish woman who died in police custody for not wearing the hijab correctly.
Outside the UN headquarters a demonstration condemned the UN for giving Iran a platform. Maryam Rajavi, the Iranian opposition figure who leads the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK), said Raisi’s hands were tainted with the blood of thousands of MEK members killed in 1988.
Read more here:
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Poland’s prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, on Wednesday cautioned that the EU member would ban additional Ukrainian imports if Kyiv were to escalate their conflict over a grain embargo, AFP reports.
He issued the warning after the Ukrainian deputy trade minister Taras Kachka told Poland’s Rzeczpospolita daily newspaper that his country would introduce a ban on Polish produce in the coming days.
Morawiecki told Polsat News television:
I am warning Ukraine’s authorities. Because if they are to escalate the conflict like that, we will add additional products to the ban on imports into Poland.
On Monday Kyiv said it had filed lawsuits at the World Trade Organization (WTO) against its three EU neighbours – Poland, Slovakia and Hungary – over their bans on Ukrainian grain imports.
The Central European countries went against a decision by the European Commission last week to end the import ban.
Morawiecki said:
Ukrainian authorities do not understand the degree to which Poland’s farming industry has been destabilised. We are protecting Polish farmers.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has closed off Black Sea shipping lanes used before the war, resulting in the EU becoming a major transit route and export destination for Ukrainian grain.
In May, the EU agreed to restrict imports to Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia, seeking to protect farmers there who blamed the imports for a slump in prices on local markets.
The measures allowed the products to keep transiting through the five countries, but stopped them being sold on the local market.
On Friday, the European Commission said it was ending the import ban, arguing that “the market distortions in the five member states bordering Ukraine have disappeared”.
Poland, Hungary and Slovakia immediately announced they would defy the move.
The issue is particularly sensitive in Poland, where elections take place next month. The current populist right-wing government of the Law and Justice party has strong support in farming regions.
The conflict has strained Ukraine’s relations with Poland, which has been a staunch supporter of its neighbour since the Russian invasion.
Morawiecki told Polsat News:
We were the first to do a lot for Ukraine and that’s why we expect for them to understand our interests.
Of course we respect all of their problems, but for us, the interests of our farmers are the most important thing.
Poland is a major supplier of military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine and hosts about 1 million Ukrainian refugees, who have received various kinds of state aid.
The government spokesperson Piotr Muller said that Poland would likely let those benefits expire in large part next year.
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Russia prevented a missile attack on Crimea’s Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvozhayev, the Moscow-installed governor of Sevastopol, said in a post in his Telegram channel, Reuters reports.
Earlier Razvozhayev said that Russia had downed several drones near Sevastopol.
Razvozhayev said:
According to updated information, our air defence repelled a missile attack on Sevastopol.
Information on possible damage from falling parts of downed missiles and casualties is being verified.
A fuel depot caught fire in the southern Russian city of Sochi on Wednesday and was later extinguished, with authorities saying a cause was being clarified while some accounts pointed to a drone strike, AFP reports.
Video footage on social media showed the depot – which had the name of one of Russia’s main oil companies “Rosneft” written on it – on fire, with firefighters working around it.
The fire took place near Sochi international airport in the city’s district of Adler, a popular beach and mountain resort, known for its Olympic Park built for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games.
Authorities did not immediately give a reason for the fire, saying it was being “clarified”.
Since the start of Moscow’s offensive in Ukraine last year, numerous Russian cities have been targeted by drone strikes which authorities have blamed on Kyiv.
The Telegram channel Baza, known to be close to Russian security services, claimed the fire in Sochi was caused by a drone strike.
The governor of Russia’s southern Krasnodar region, Veniamin Kondratyev, said on Telegram:
In the Adler district of Sochi, a diesel fuel tank caught fire early in the morning.
There are no victims.
The reasons for the incident are being clarified.
He added the fire had spread over 96 sq metres (1,000 sq feet).
In a statement later Wednesday, the mayor of Sochi, Alexei Kopaygorodskiy, said the fire had been put out.
He said the fire took place on Aviatsionnaya street, across from Sochi airport.
Kopaygorodskiy said:
The airport and the whole transport system is working in normal mode.
He added that 15 emergency vehicles and 60 workers had taken part in extinguishing the blaze.
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Revealed: how Russia deliberately targeted Kherson’s hospitals
Russia has “deliberately and repeatedly” targeted medical facilities in the Ukrainian city of Kherson, causing damage to children’s hospitals, maternity wards and a regional clinic, according to a new study.
Russian troops swept into Kherson last year in the early days of Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion. In November, Ukraine’s armed forces evicted them from the southern city as part of a sweeping counteroffensive.
Since December 2022, the Russian army has been bombarding Kherson from dug-in positions on the nearby left, eastern bank of the Dnipro river. It has attacked civilian infrastructure, including schools, private residential houses, hospitals and the railway station.
A new report by the Centre for Information Resilience (CIR) reveals the extent to which Moscow has systematically shelled public medical facilities. Open-source investigators found seven had been damaged in 14 separate attacks over six months between December 2022 and May 2023.
Some facilities were hit several times. The latest strike on a hospital was in August. “It appears some of these sites are being deliberately and repeatedly targeted,” the report says. CIR called the pattern “remarkable” and added: “The situation for residents has become dire.”
Researchers used satellite imagery, witness accounts and photos posted on social media, including from official channels. There was compelling evidence Russian shelling caused the damage. One round left a large hole in the south-facing wall of the city’s regional cardiology centre, which has been hit on three occasions.
Read more here:
Romanian authorities said an explosion occurred on a ship close to its Danube port of Sulina on Wednesday, deploying a minesweeper ship with divers to scout the area for mines, AFP reports.
Members of the Romanian rescue services evacuated 12 crew members on board the Togo-registered cargo ship and brought them to shore for medical checks following the explosion, early Wednesday.
Romania’s transport minister said in a statement:
A ship under the flag of Togo, transporting cement, reported an explosion in the engine room and asked for the ship to be evacuated.
With Russia’s blockade of Ukrainian seaports, the Danube river has become a lifeline for the export of Ukrainian grain.
The 90-metre-long ship was 7 sea miles (13km) off the Romanian port of Sulina, where the Danube river flows into the Black Sea. The cargo ship had arrived in Sulina on 12 September and was waiting to enter the Bystroye canal, on the Ukrainian side, the ministry said.
Romania’s naval authority sent a minesweeper and a group of specialised divers to the scene, with helicopters on standby to intervene if needed, the defence ministry said.
Since Russia launched its war against Ukraine in February 2022, the danger posed by sea mines has sharply increased in the Black Sea, with about 80 devices discovered in Romania’s territorial waters.
For now, however, there are “no clues” that a mine caused the explosion, a naval forces spokesperson told reporters.
He added:
The crew suggested that the explosion came from inside the ship.
According to local media, the crew members are of Syrian, Turkish, Lebanese and Egyptian nationality.
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More than a dozen European countries, as well as Australia and Canada, on Wednesday asked the world court to decide it has jurisdiction in a case brought by Kyiv alleging that Russia abused the genocide convention to provide a pretext for the invasion of Ukraine, Reuters reports.
Ukraine brought the case to the international court of justice (ICJ), the highest UN court for disputes between states, days after Russia launched a full scale war on its smaller neighbour on 24 February last year.
Germany told judges the countries “strongly believe” the court has jurisdiction. German representative Wiebke Ruckert said her country had a strong interest in how the genocide treaty was interpreted “not least in view of our past”.
Kyiv argues that Russia is abusing the 1948 UN genocide convention, adopted in the aftermath of the second world war, by saying the invasion was justified to stop an alleged genocide in eastern Ukraine.
Some 150 states have signed the convention and as such have an interest in how it should be interpreted by the court. An unprecedented number of states have intervened in this ICJ case, in a strong show of support for Kyiv.
Russia asked the court on Monday to throw out the case, claiming Kyiv’s legal arguments were “hopelessly flawed” and that Moscow had not actually invoked the genocide treaty when it used the term genocide.
Thirty-two states will address the court, all in support of Ukraine, which wants the court to go on and hear the case on merit and find that Russia must pay reparations.
Ukraine says there was no risk of genocide in eastern Ukraine, where it had been fighting Russian-backed forces since 2014. The convention defines genocide as crimes committed “with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such”.
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Russia has downed several drones near the city of Sevastopol in Crimea, state news agency RIA reported on Wednesday.
More to follow…
Summary of the day so dar …
Ukraine’s first lady urged world leaders on Tuesday to help return Ukrainian children forcibly taken to Russia, where she said they are being indoctrinated and deprived of their national identity. Speaking on the sidelines of the United Nations general assembly, Olena Zelenska said more than 19,000 Ukrainian children have been transferred by force or deported to Russia or occupied territories.
Ukraine claimed to have shot down 17 drones overnight on 20 September. The air force reported in total Russian troops launched 24 unmanned aerial vehicles at Ukraine. Ukraine reports that Russia hit an oil refinery in Kremenchuk, causing a fire and halting operations.
Vyacheslav Gladkov, governor of the Belgorod region in Russia, reported on Wednesday that three settlements in the region have lost power as a result of cross-border shelling by Ukrainian armed forces, and that one woman was injured. He later reported that a man had been killed and another injured by shelling near the village of Maksimovka.
A Russian Su-34 bomber crashed Wednesday in the Voronezh region during a training flight. Voronezh borders the partially-occupied Ukrainian region of Luhansk. The pilots are reported to have ejected.
A fire at a fuel tank near an airport in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi has been extinguished, the city’s mayor said on Wednesday. “There were no casualties,” the mayor, Alexei Kopaigorodskyi, said on Telegram. The cause of the fire is being investigated.
Russia’s defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, has said cooperation between Russia and Iran has reached a new level.
China is willing to work with Russia and Mongolia to seek ways to deepen cooperation, promote regional prosperity and stability, and share the outcome of regional development, top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi said in Moscow on Wednesday.
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One man has been killed and another injured in the Russian region of Belgorod, the local governor has reported.
Vyacheslav Gladkov posted to Telegram to say:
To our great sorrow, repeated shelling of the village of Maksimovka claimed the life of a civilian. The man was driving along the highway when the shell arrived. He died on the spot from his wounds. I express my sincere condolences to the family and friends of the deceased.
Another man was injured; he was also moving along the highway at the time of the shooting. The victim has shrapnel wounds to the abdominal cavity and upper extremities. He is taken by an ambulance to City hospital No 2 in Belgorod. All necessary medical care is provided.
As a result of the shelling, two residential buildings, two cars and a bus stop were damaged.
The village is to the north of Ukraine’s border. The claims have not been independently verified.
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The Kremlin has confirmed that President Vladimir Putin will meet the Chinese foreign minister, Wang Yi, for talks in St Petersburg later today, Reuters reports.
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Vyacheslav Gladkov, governor of the Belgorod region in Russia, has reported on Telegram that three settlements in the region have lost power as a result of cross-border shelling by Ukrainian armed forces. He claimed in the message that two residential buildings were damaged, and that a woman was injured but refused to go to hospital.
China is willing to work with Russia and Mongolia to seek ways to deepen cooperation, promote regional prosperity and stability, and share the outcome of regional development, top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi said on Wednesday.
Reuters reports Wang made the comments at a high-level security affairs consultation in Moscow with delegates from Russia and Mongolia.
Interfax in Russia is reporting that a Su-34 bomber crashed in the Voronezh region during a training flight. Voronezh borders the partially occupied Ukrainian region of Luhansk. The pilots are reported to have ejected.
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The all clear has been sounded in Kherson.
Russia’s defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, has said that cooperation between Russia and Iran has reached a new level.
Tass quotes the minister saying:
We aim to implement the entire range of planned activities, despite opposition from the US and its western allies. We note with satisfaction that today the Russian-Iranian dialogue is developing especially intensively.
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An air raid has now been declared in Kherson. A few minutes ago Suspilne reported, citing local authorities, that “the Russian army attacked various districts of Kherson”.
More details soon …
Explosions have been heard in Kherson, according to reports. This isn’t unusual, as the Ukrainian-controlled city is opposite the southern portion of Kherson region which is occupied by Russian forces, and which Russia has claimed to annex.
A fire at a fuel tank near an airport in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi has been extinguished, the city’s mayor said on Wednesday.
“There were no casualties,” the mayor, Alexei Kopaigorodskyi, said on the Telegram messaging platform. “The airport and the entire transport system are operating as normal.”
Reuters report he said the cause of the fire is being investigated.
Suspilne, Ukraine's state broadcaster, offers this round-up of overnight news:
On the night of 20 September, air defence forces over Ukraine destroyed 17 drones. In total, Russian troops launched 24 unmanned aerial vehicles, the air force reported.
At night, the Russian army hit an oil refinery in Kremenchuk. As a result, a fire started. The work of the plant was temporarily stopped.
As a result of shelling in Kherson oblast, two people were killed and four others were injured. Two people were injured in Zaporizhzhia, and five in Donetsk region.
Reuters: Russia’s air defence systems destroyed Ukraine-launched drones over the Belgorod and Oryol regions late on Monday, the Russian defence ministry said, with local officials saying that there was no destruction or casualties. Russia’s air defence systems destroyed Ukraine-launched drones over the Belgorod and Oryol regions late on Monday, the Russian defence ministry said, with local officials saying that there was no destruction or casualties.
The ministry, in posts on the Telegram messaging platform, said that two drones were destroyed over the Oryol region in Russia’s southwest and one over the Belgorod region, which border with Ukraine.
Governors of both of the regions said there was no destruction or casualties. Reuters could not independently verify the reports. There was no immediate comment from Ukraine.
Olena Zelenska calls for return of 19,000 ‘abducted’ children
Ukraine’s first lady urged world leaders on Tuesday to help return Ukrainian children forcibly taken to Russia, where she said they are being indoctrinated and deprived of their national identity, AFP reports.
Speaking on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, Olena Zelenska said that more than 19,000 Ukrainian children have been transferred by force or deported to Russia or occupied territories.
So far, only 386 have been brought back.
In Russia, “they were told that their parents don’t need them, that their country doesn’t need them, that nobody is waiting for them,” Zelenska said.
“The abducted children were told that they are no longer Ukrainian children, that they are Russian children.”
Opening summary
Welcome back to our live coverage of the war in Ukraine. This is Helen Sullivan with the latest.
Our top story this morning: Ukraine’s first lady urged world leaders on Tuesday to help return Ukrainian children forcibly taken to Russia, where she said they are being indoctrinated and deprived of their national identity.
Speaking on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, Olena Zelenska said that more than 19,000 Ukrainian children have been transferred by force or deported to Russia or occupied territories.
And Russia’s air defence systems destroyed Ukraine-launched drones over the Belgorod and Oryol regions late on Monday, the Russian defence ministry said, with local officials saying that there was no destruction or casualties.
More on these stories shortly. Elsewhere:
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy implored world leaders gathered at the UN general assembly on Tuesday to stand united against Russia’s invasion and said Moscow had to be pushed back so the world could turn to solving pressing global challenges. Zelenskiy drew applause as he took his place at the United Nations General Assembly lectern in New York for his first in-person appearance at the annual gathering since Russia invaded his country in 2022.
UN secretary general António Guterres said countries such as Russia are creating a “world of insecurity” for everyone after its invasion of Ukraine, which he says has “unleashed the next phase of our lives: historic human rights abuse, families torn apart, children traumatised, hopes and dreams shattered.”
The US president, Joe Biden, said the UN gathering this week is “darkened by the shadow of war”, which he described as an “illegal war of conquest without provocation by Russia” against Ukraine. “No nation wants the war to end more than Ukraine”, he said, reiterating US support for Kyiv and its efforts to bring about “a diplomatic resolution to a just and lasting peace”.
Ukrainian children who had been illegally deported to Russia have arrived in Belarus. The 48 children come from the occupied Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia, which Moscow claims it has annexed. Officials in Belarus have previously denied allegations that the country was involved in the illegal removal of children from Ukraine, but on Tuesday, Belta reported that the removal of the children from Ukraine was organised by a Belarusian charity – supported by the president, Alexander Lukashenko.
Ukraine appealed to three neighbouring countries in the European Union on Tuesday to embark on “constructive dialogue” to end a dispute over agricultural trade, and approved what it called a “compromise scenario.” Poland, Slovakia and Hungary announced restrictions on imports from Ukraine on Friday in a move they said was to protect farmers from a surge of grain and food imports from Ukraine since its invasion by Russia last year.
The US secretary of defence, Lloyd Austin, said air defence will continue to be Ukraine’s “greatest need” in the war against Russia. In closing remarks after a meeting the Ukraine defence contact group, secretary Austin said: “Air defence will continue to be Ukraine’s greatest need to protect the skies, its civilians, and its cities as well as innocent people far away from the battlefield.”
Britain will supply “tens of thousands” more artillery shells to Ukraine this year, the government’s defence department announced on Tuesday.
A missile strike that hit a crowded market in the Ukrainian city of Kostiantynivka killing at least 17 civilians earlier this month, could have been caused by an errant missile fired by Ukraine, the New York Times has reported. A further 32 people were wounded on 6 September by the impact of the missile 12 miles (20km) from the frontlines in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine. The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, a few hours later accused Russia of responsibility for the attack.
Two people were killed by Russian attacks on Ukrainian cities overnight, according to local authorities in Lviv and Kherson. Russia struck three industrial warehouses in a drone strike on the western Ukrainian city of Lviv early on Tuesday, causing a huge fire and killing at least one person.
Lviv’s mayor, Andriy Sadovyi, said the body of a man who worked at one of the warehouses had been found under the rubble. Reuters reports Sadovyi said the warehouses stored windows, household chemicals, and humanitarian aid.
Russian forces also shelled the southern city of Kherson, killing a policeman and wounding two civilians on a trolleybus, the head of the city’s military administration said.
Ukraine’s air force said Russia had launched a total of 30 drones and one Iskander ballistic missile in attacks on Ukraine overnight, and that 27 of the drones had been shot down.
At least three people were killed in a Russian attack on the north-eastern Ukrainian town of Kupiansk on Tuesday, a regional official said. “Today, the enemy attacked the town of Kupiansk with a guided air bomb,” Reuters reports the Kharkiv region governor, Oleh Synehubov, said on the Telegram messaging app.
Ukraine told the UN’s highest court in The Hague on Tuesday that Russia justified waging war against Ukraine by invoking “a terrible lie”, namely that Moscow’s invasion was to stop an alleged genocide. “The international community adopted the Genocide Convention to protect; Russia invokes the Genocide convention to destroy,” Ukraine’s representative Anton Korynevych told judges.
