That’s it for the Ukraine Live Blog today. Here is a reminder of what has happened so far:
Putin postponed a planned address to the Russian nation today to tomorrow morning, reported Russian media. The planned speech was going to cover new annexations of Ukrainian territory.
The proxy Russian authorities in four occupied areas of Ukraine – Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia – have all announced on Tuesday their intentions to hold referendums between 23-27 September on joining the Russian Federation.
The White House rejected Russia’s plans to hold referenda in parts of Ukraine, adding that Moscow may be making the move to recruit troops in those areas after suffering extensive losses on the battlefield.
Several world leaders have said they will not recognize any referenda or new annexations of Ukrainian territory, with French president Emmanuel Macron calling the plan a “parody”.
Thank you and good night!
Other world leaders have condemned the planned referenda from Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories about joining the Russian nation.
Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau called the referenda “unacceptable”, adding that Canada would never recognize any such territories as part of Russia, reported Reuters.
“Canada denounces Russia’s planned ‘referendums’ in occupied regions of Ukraine. We will never recognize them,” posted Trudeau to Twitter.
Canada denounces Russia’s planned “referendums” in occupied regions of Ukraine. We will never recognize them. This is a blatant violation of international law. It is a further escalation of war. And it is unacceptable.
— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) September 20, 2022
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell also said that the EU strongly condemns Russia’s plans to hold referenda, reported Reuters.
“Russia, its political leadership, and all those involved in these ‘referenda’ and other violations of international law in Ukraine will be held accountable, and additional restrictive measures against Russia would be considered,” Borrell said.
Here’s more analysis from the Guardian’s Andrew Roth on if Vladimir Putin is willing to risk a nuclear war versus admitting defeat in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine:
Vladimir Putin has backed himself into a corner in Ukraine. And true to form, the Russian leader is ready to escalate, perhaps up to the brink of nuclear war, rather than admit defeat.
Seven months after Putin launched his invasion, Russian troops have been driven back in the Kharkiv region, and Ukrainian forces are advancing in Luhansk and squeezing his troops and supply lines in Kherson.
It is not impossible that Russia could lose territories that it has held since 2014 if Putin’s forces cannot stop Ukraine’s counteroffensive.
Facing humiliation, Putin has issued a new threat: holding “referenda” in the regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, which could lead to them being annexed by Russia by early next week.
Putin address is postponed until tomorrow morning, Russian media reports
Vladimir Putin’s big speech on new annexations of Ukrainian territory has been postponed until tomorrow morning, Russian media are reporting. Putin’s televised address to the Russian public has reportedly been rescheduled to 8AM Moscow time. Forbes Russia citing two sources in the Kremlin administration said the speech would be broadcast “when the Far East wakes up.” It isn’t clear why the speech was postponed. Analysts have suggested that the speech may also serve to announce a partial mobilisation in Russia. Pro-Kremlin pundits have told their readers to go to bed. “Tomorrow!” posted TV presenter Vladimir Soloviev.
Biden will nominate diplomat Lynne Tracy as the US ambassador to Russia, announced the White House today, reported Reuters.
Tracy currently serves as U.S. ambassador to Armenia. The U.S. ambassador post in Russia has been vacant since Sept. 4, when envoy John Sullivan concluded his tenure there amid soaring bilateral tensions due to Moscow’s war in Ukraine.
Updated
US president Joe Biden will speak tomorrow at the United Nations General Assembly against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, saying that the invasion violates the UN’s 1945 charter, reports Reuters.
On Wednesday, Biden will first meet with UK prime minister Liz Truss and then join in on a summit about collecting pledges to help nations battle diseases.
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan has said that Wednesday’s speech will not be used to argue that Russia should be removed as a member of the UN Security Council, where it's one of five permanent members.
Sullivan said Biden will urge all nations to recognize that Russia’s war against Ukraine is a violation of the U.N.’s 1945 charter.
In other news, Turkish lenders have suspended the use of the Russian payment system Mir, says a senior US administration official, with other banks soon to follow.
A senior U.S. administration official on Tuesday said steps Turkish lenders Isbank and Denizbank took to suspend the use of Russian payment system Mir make a lot of sense, and added that the United States expects more banks will cut off Mir over sanctions risk.
“The steps these banks took make a lot of sense. Cutting off Mir is one of the best ways to protect a bank from the sanctions risk that comes from doing business with Russia. We expect more banks to cut off Mir because they don*t want to risk being on the wrong side of the coalition*s sanctions,” the official said on condition of anonymity.
We are currently waiting on Vladimir Putin to address the Russian nation.
In the meantime, international leaders are chiming in on recognizing referendums from Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories about joining the Russian nation.
French president Emmanuel Macron has said that the international community will not recognize such referendums, calling the plans “a parody” and “cynical”.
“If the Donbas referendum idea wasn’t so tragic it would be funny,” Macron told reporters in New York, reported Reuters.
“I think what was announced by Russia is a parody,” Macon said. “This is cynicism, and obviously it won’t be recognized by the international community.”
Referendums planned in Russian-occupied Ukrainian regions on joining #Russia will not be recognized by the international community, said Emmanuel Macron and called the plans "cynical" and "a parody."
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) September 20, 2022
Also, Macron guaranteed the continuation of arms deliveries to #Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/a2hCAGDW6k
Similarly, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said that Turkey will also not recognize the results of the referendums, reported NEXTA.
Erdogan said that #Turkey will never recognize the results of the referendums. pic.twitter.com/kCTPvLfoqF
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) September 20, 2022
Updated
Summary
Here is a round-up of today’s main headlines:
The proxy Russian authorities in four occupied areas of Ukraine – Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia – have all announced on Tuesday their intentions to hold referendums between 23-27 September on joining the Russian Federation. The sudden rush to hold a vote comes as Ukraine’s counteroffensive has reclaimed territory in the east of the country, including a small symbolic toehold in the Luhansk region, which had been totally under the control of Russian proxies.
Any referendums on joining Russia in Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories would destroy any remaining window for talks between Kyiv and Moscow, Ukrainian publication Liga.net cited the Ukrainian president’s office spokesman as saying on Tuesday. “Without the referendums, there is still the smallest chance for a diplomatic solution. After the referendums - no,” Liga.net quoted Serhiy Nykyforov as saying.
The White House rejected Russia’s plans to hold referenda in parts of Ukraine and said Moscow may be making the move to recruit troops in those areas after suffering extensive losses on the battlefield. Jake Sullivan, President Joe Biden’s national security adviser, called the referenda an affront to principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity.
With Germany’s gas storage facilities now at just over 90% capacity, Robert Habeck, the economy minister, has said Germany now stands “a good chance” of getting through the winter. Germany is ahead of its goal to have the subterranean stores 95% full by the start of November.
Russian president Vladimir Putin has condemned what he described as US efforts to preserve its global domination, saying they are doomed to fail. Speaking while receiving credentials from foreign ambassadors to Moscow, Putin said: “The objective development toward a multi-polar world faces resistance of those who try to preserve their hegemony in global affairs and control everything - Latin America, Europe, Asia and Africa.”
Ukraine has recaptured a village close to the eastern city of Lysychansk, in a small but symbolic victory that means Russia no longer has full control of the Luhansk region, one of Russian president Vladimir Putin’s key war aims. Luhansk’s governor, Serhiy Haidai, said Ukraine’s armed forces were in “complete control” of Bilohorivka. “It’s a suburb of Lysychansk. Soon we will drive these scumbags out of there with a broom,” he said. “Step by step, centimetre by centimetre, we will liberate our entire land from the invaders.”
The pace of Ukrainian forces’ advance in the north-east had thrown Russian forces into a “panic”, Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said in his nightly address. Zelenskiy said he was now focused on “speed” in liberated areas. “The speed at which our troops are moving. The speed in restoring normal life,” he said.
Ukrainian forensic experts have so far exhumed 146 bodies, mostly of civilians, at the mass burial site near Izium in eastern Ukraine, the regional governor said on Monday. Oleh Synehubov, governor of the Kharkiv region, said the exhumed bodies included two children. The Kremlin has denied allegations that Russian forces had committed war crimes in Ukraine’s Kharkiv province.
The pro-Russian separatist self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) has said 10 civilians were killed and 15 wounded overnight by shelling from Ukrainian forces on the territory that the DPR occupies. Officials of the similarly self-proclaimed separatist Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR) have informed the Russian news agency Tass that seven people were killed, including three children, in the village of Krasnorichenske, which it occupies.
Ukraine’s armed forces have sunk a barge carrying Russian troops and equipment across the Dnieper River near Nova Kakhovka in the Kherson region, the Kyiv Independent reports.
Security fears have almost certainly led Russia’s Black Sea Fleet to relocate its Kilo-class submarines from Sevastopol in Crimea to Novorossiysk in southern Russia, the UK Ministry of Defence says in its latest intelligence briefing on the war.
That’s it from me, Tom Ambrose, for today. My colleague Gloria Oladipo will be along shortly to continue bringing you all the latest news lines from Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Well, it’s 6.20pm UK time and still no sign of Vladimir Putin arriving to give his address to the Russian nation. The wait goes on, it seems.
Meanwhile, Joe Biden is heading for the United Nations summit in New York “with the wind at his back”, and will deliver a firm rebuke of Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, national security adviser Jake Sullivan is telling reporters at the White House.
He’s speaking at the daily press briefing and outlining what the president will be talking about in his address to the UN general assembly on Wednesday morning, as well as taking a dig at world leaders who won’t be there:
We’re making historic investments at home; our alliances are stronger than they’ve been in modern memory; our robust, united support for Ukraine has helped the Ukrainians push back against Russian aggression; and we’re leading the world in response to the most significant transnational challenges that the world faces from global health to global food security to global supply chains to tackling the climate crisis.
Meanwhile, our competitors are facing increasingly strong headwinds, and neither President Xi [Jinping of China] nor [Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin are even showing up to this global gathering.
For more on this, see our US politics blog here.
Putin to give address after four occupied areas of Ukraine announce ‘vote’ on joining Russia
The Russian president Vladimir Putin will be giving an address at 6pm UK time this evening, when he expected to address today’s news that parts of Ukraine held by Russian troops will hold referendums on joining Russia.
We will bring you all the news lines from that as it happens.
Updated
The White House rejected Russia’s plans to hold referenda in parts of Ukraine and said Moscow may be making the move to recruit troops in those areas after suffering extensive losses on the battlefield.
Jake Sullivan, President Joe Biden’s national security adviser, called the referenda an affront to principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity.
He said Biden, at his speech on Wednesday at the United Nations General Assembly, will issue a “firm rebuke” to Russia for its war against Ukraine.
Ukraine says Russian referendums will destroy possibility of talks
Any referendums on joining Russia in Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories would destroy any remaining window for talks between Kyiv and Moscow, Ukrainian publication Liga.net cited the Ukrainian president’s office spokesman as saying on Tuesday.
“Without the referendums, there is still the smallest chance for a diplomatic solution. After the referendums - no,” Liga.net quoted Serhiy Nykyforov as saying.
He made the comments in response to Russian-installed officials in four occupied Ukrainian regions announcing plans for referendums over the next week on formally joining Russia, Reuters reported.
The inmates of penal colony No 8, in the Tambov region 300 miles south of Moscow, rushed to their cell windows when they heard the sound of a helicopter approaching on a late afternoon in July.
“No one ever uses a chopper to get down here. We were curious what the big occasion was,” recalled Ivan, one of the inmates.
Half an hour later, he and the others were ordered to report to the prison’s main square where two heavily guarded men were waiting.
“We couldn’t believe our eyes, he would really come all the way to visit us,” said Ivan, who is halfway through a 23-year sentence for murder and, like other inmates interviewed, asked to use a pseudonym out of concerns for his safety.
“But there he was standing in front of us: Prigozhin, in the flesh, urging us to join the Wagner private military group and fight in Ukraine.”
Four Russian-occupied regions in Ukraine have said they are planning to hold “referendums” on joining the Russian Federation in a series of coordinated announcements that could indicate the Kremlin has made a decision to formally annexe the territories.
Moscow may be betting that a formal annexation would help halt Russian territorial losses, after a successful Ukrainian counteroffensive that has reclaimed large portions of territory in Kharkiv region.
The occupied Donetsk and Luhansk regions have said they are ready to hold “polls”, which will be universally viewed as rigged, as soon as this week, with announcements also made in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. Some Russian media have reported that Vladimir Putin may deliver a speech this evening on a potential annexation.
As Ukrainian troops now begin making advances in the Luhansk region, Russia may be worried that it can’t win on the battlefield and threaten a potential escalation, including a formal declaration of war or even a nuclear attack, by claiming to defend its own territory.
“Everything that’s happening today is an absolutely unequivocal ultimatum to Ukraine and the West,” wrote Tatiana Stanovaya, an expert on Kremlin politics and founder of R.Politik. “Either Ukraine retreats or there will be nuclear war.”
“To guarantee ‘victory’, Putin is ready to hold referendums immediately in order to obtain the right (in his understanding) to use nuclear weapons to defend Russian territory.”
With Germany’s gas storage facilities now at just over 90% capacity, Robert Habeck, the economy minister has said Germany now stands “a good chance” of getting through the winter.
Germany is ahead of its goal to have the subterranean stores 95% full by the start of November.
On the sidelines of a visit to Lubmin in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, where building work has started on a floating platform for LNG facilities which are due to open in January, Habeck said:
If we succeed in saving gas, and if we’re lucky with the weather, then we have a good chance of getting through the winter.
What Habeck means, in short, is if the winter is harsh, the storage facilities may not be capable of compensating for the higher usage of gas. Last year, Germany used around 999 terawatt hours (TWh) of gas.
The storage facilities are capable of storing around a quarter to 28% of that amount. Around 220 TWh is currently available. But a very cold January for example, like Germany experienced last year, could consume half of the available reserves.
On Tuesday the embattled Habeck who has come under fierce criticism in recent weeks for his energy policies, voiced doubt that his plans for a gas levy - to be paid by gas consumers to compensate gas suppliers that have had to buy in alternative sources of gas after Russia slowed down then cut off its supplies completely - were constitutionally viable.
His proposal had prompted a huge backlash over concerns that companies that had profited from the energy price surge might benefit from the levy.
The government’s plans to nationalise the gas provider Uniper, which were confirmed on Tuesday afternoon, have also further called the sense or fairness of such a levy into doubt.
Updated
The Guardian’s Shaun Walker has tweeted that whether intentional or not, the announcements of referendums in Russian-held parts of the Ukraine will result in escalation of the conflict.
He said:
It seems like the referendum move is either:
— Shaun Walker (@shaunwalker7) September 20, 2022
1. An attempt at escalation
2. An attempt at de-escalation that will actually end up with escalation because of course nobody will recognise the annexations, especially not the Ukrainian army… https://t.co/oPajRcH5Rz
Proxy Russian authorities in four occupied areas of Ukraine all announce referendums for joining Russia this weekend
The proxy Russian authorities in four occupied areas of Ukraine – Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia – have all announced on Tuesday their intentions to hold referendums between 23-27 September on joining the Russian Federation.
The sudden rush to hold a vote comes as Ukraine’s counteroffensive has reclaimed territory in the east of the country, including a small symbolic toehold in the Luhansk region, which had been totally under the control of Russian proxies.
Doubts have been cast on how effectively the occupying authorities will be able to organise referendums at such short notice, although preparations were previously being carried out.
According to Russian news agency RIA, in a direct appeal to Russian President Vladimir Putin, the self-proclaimed leader of the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic Denis Pushilin said: “I ask you to consider the issue of joining the Donetsk People’s Republic into the Russian Federation as soon as possible in the event of a positive decision on the results of the referendum, which we have no doubts about.”
Some Russian media outlets have reported that Putin may address the Russian nation later today on the topic, although this has not been confirmed by the Kremlin.
The move comes on the same day that Russia’s parliament, the Duma, voted to toughen punishments for desertion and insubordination in times of military mobilisation.
Updated
The news of a flurry of announcements that the proxy-Russian authorities in occupied areas of Ukraine will all be trying to hold referendums this weekend about joining the Russian Federation does not appear to have gone down well with the Russian stock market.
Reuters reports that stocks plunged to their lowest in a month as moves in Moscow reignited martial law fears with new legislation, and the plans to hold referendums in Ukraine sped forwards apace.
Russia’s parliament on Tuesday approved a bill to toughen punishments for a host of crimes such as desertion, damage to military property and insubordination if they were committed during military mobilisation or combat situations.
“Indices are clearly collapsing amid fears around the risks of mobilisation and martial law,” Tinkoff Investments analyst Kirill Komarov told Reuters, adding that Tuesday’s collapse would likely be the rouble-based MOEX index’s sharpest drop since June 30.
My colleague Shaun Walker points out that there may be some issues with the planned referendums at the weekend.
I’m not a legal scholar but it feels like there may be some legality issues with organising a referendum in three days in the middle of a war on territory you only partially control.
— Shaun Walker (@shaunwalker7) September 20, 2022
Denis Pushilin says DPR will hold referendum 23-27 September, and makes direct appeal to Putin – reports
The RIA Novosti news agency is now also reporting that the occupied Ukrainian territories of Donetsk and Luhansk will hold referendums on joining the Russian Federation from 23 to 27 September.
Its report quotes the self-proclaimed leader of the Donetsk People’s Republic Denis Pushilin, and says:
The long-suffering people of Donbas have earned the right to be part of Russia, which they have always considered their homeland, Pushilin said in an address to Vladimir Putin.
“I ask you to consider the issue of joining the Donetsk People’s Republic into the Russian Federation as soon as possible in the event of a positive decision on the results of the referendum, which we have no doubts about,” the message says.
According to the DPR authorities, 9,044 residents of the republic, including 120 children, were killed during the hostilities.
The figures given by RIA have not been independently verified. The Donetsk People’s Republic and the Luhansk People’s Republic are not recognised as legitimate authorities by any other UN member states apart from Russia, Syria and North Korea.
If you want some background reading on the issue of a possible referendum in the occupied Kherson region of Ukraine, a month ago Shaun Walker and Pjotr Sauer were able to conduct a series of telephone interviews with people there. At the time they wrote:
Residents remain unsure about what the next few months might bring: a swift Ukrainian counteroffensive to regain control, a protracted battle that turns the city to rubble, or Russia carrying out its sham referendum and annexing the territory.
You can read more of their article from August here: ‘A referendum is not right’: occupied Kherson looks to uncertain future
Ukraine's foreign minister: Ukraine 'will keep liberating' territories 'whatever Russia has to say'
Ukraine’s foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba has responded to the hurried calls to hold a series of referendums in occupied territories in eastern and southern Ukraine to join the Russian Federation. He has tweeted:
Sham “referendums” will not change anything. Neither will any hybrid “mobilisation”. Russia has been and remains an aggressor illegally occupying parts of Ukrainian land. Ukraine has every right to liberate its territories and will keep liberating them whatever Russia has to say.
Sham ‘referendums’ will not change anything. Neither will any hybrid ‘mobilization’. Russia has been and remains an aggressor illegally occupying parts of Ukrainian land. Ukraine has every right to liberate its territories and will keep liberating them whatever Russia has to say.
— Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) September 20, 2022
Updated
A destroyed bridge across Siverskyi-Donets river in the recently retaken area of Izium, Ukraine.
Updated
The Russian-controlled part of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region may stage a referendum to join Russia in the coming days, the RIA Novosti news agency reported, citing a local Russian-installed official.
It comes as Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said it was up to the people living in separatist-controlled areas of Ukraine if they wanted to hold referendums on joining Russia.
“From the very beginning ... we’ve been saying that the peoples of the respective territories should decide their fate,” Lavrov said on state TV when asked about several coordinated moves by Russian-backed separatists in Ukraine on Tuesday to stage votes on joining Russia.
Proxy authorities in the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR) will hold a referendum on joining Russia between 23 and 27 September, the TASS news agency reported on Tuesday.
The Russian-backed separatist parliament had passed a law outlining the details of the proposed vote, though the document made no mention of a date for the vote, Reuters reported.
The Kremlin has yet to comment on the prospect of votes to incorporate these regions into Russia. It previously said the votes were a matter for local Russian-installed officials and people living in the regions.
Updated
Proxy Russian authorities in Kherson say they will hold vote on joining Russia
Russian-installed officials in the Kherson region of Ukraine have said they have decided to hold a referendum on joining Russia and have urged the Kremlin to give its permission as soon as possible, the separatist head of the region said on Tuesday.
In a post on the Telegram messaging app, Volodymyr Saldo, the Russian-appointed head of Kherson, said he hoped Kherson would become “a part of Russia, a fully fledged subject of a united country”, Reuters reported. Russian forces control around 95% of Ukraine’s Kherson territory in the south of the country. Saldo did not name a date for the proposed vote.
Officials in parts of Ukraine controlled by Russian forces, including the two breakaway Russian-backed regions of Donbas – the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR) – have stepped up preparations for long-discussed votes to join Russia this week in a coordinated move.
Saldo said Kherson joining Russia would “secure our region” and be a “triumph of historical justice”. “I am sure that the Russian leadership will accept the results of the referendum,” he added.
The Kremlin has repeatedly said the issue is a matter for the local Russian-installed officials and citizens of the regions to decide. Saldo’s remarks echoed those made by Kremlin ally and former president Dmitry Medvedev earlier on Tuesday in which he called for the Kremlin to let the separatists join Russia.
Shortly after Saldo’s announcement about plans for a vote in Kherson, the head of Russia’s parliament said he would support the regions joining Russia.
“Today, we need to support the republics with which we have signed mutual assistance agreements,” Russia’s state Duma speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said, referring to agreements signed between Moscow and the DPR and LPR which paved the way for the Kremlin to dispatch tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in February.
Updated
Russian president Vladimir Putin has condemned what he described as US efforts to preserve its global domination, saying they are doomed to fail.
Speaking while receiving credentials from foreign ambassadors to Moscow, Putin said: “The objective development toward a multi-polar world faces resistance of those who try to preserve their hegemony in global affairs and control everything - Latin America, Europe, Asia and Africa.”
He added that “the hegemony has succeeded in doing so for quite a long time, but it can’t go on forever... regardless of the developments in Ukraine”.
He has repeatedly cast his decision to send troops into Ukraine as a response to alleged western encroachment on Russia’s vital security interests, the Associated Press reported.
The Russian leader said western sanctions against Moscow over its action in Ukraine were part of efforts by the US and its allies to strengthen their positions but claimed they have backfired against their organisers and also damaged poor countries.
Updated
Summary of the day so far …
Ukraine has recaptured a village close to the eastern city of Lysychansk, in a small but symbolic victory that means Russia no longer has full control of the Luhansk region, one of Russian president Vladimir Putin’s key war aims. Luhansk’s governor, Serhiy Haidai, said Ukraine’s armed forces were in “complete control” of Bilohorivka. “It’s a suburb of Lysychansk. Soon we will drive these scumbags out of there with a broom,” he said. “Step by step, centimetre by centimetre, we will liberate our entire land from the invaders.”
The pace of Ukrainian forces’ advance in the north-east had thrown Russian forces into a “panic”, Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said in his nightly address. Zelenskiy said he was now focused on “speed” in liberated areas. “The speed at which our troops are moving. The speed in restoring normal life,” he said.
Ukrainian forensic experts have so far exhumed 146 bodies, mostly of civilians, at the mass burial site near Izium in eastern Ukraine, the regional governor said on Monday. Oleh Synehubov, governor of the Kharkiv region, said the exhumed bodies included two children. The Kremlin has denied allegations that Russian forces had committed war crimes in Ukraine’s Kharkiv province.
The pro-Russian separatist self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) has said 10 civilians were killed and 15 wounded overnight by shelling from Ukrainian forces on the territory that the DPR occupies. Officials of the similarly self-proclaimed separatist Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR) have informed the Russian news agency Tass that seven people were killed, including three children, in the village of Krasnorichenske, which it occupies.
Ukraine’s armed forces have sunk a barge carrying Russian troops and equipment across the Dnieper River near Nova Kakhovka in the Kherson region, the Kyiv Independent reports.
Security fears have almost certainly led Russia’s Black Sea Fleet to relocate its Kilo-class submarines from Sevastopol in Crimea to Novorossiysk in southern Russia, the UK Ministry of Defence says in its latest intelligence briefing on the war.
The pro-Russian separatist “public council” of the occupied Kherson region in Ukraine appealed Tuesday to the Russian-installed regional leader Vladimir Saldo to hold a referendum on joining the Russian federation without delay. It said “the need for such a step was caused, among other things, by acts of terror by the Ukrainian authorities and Nato.”
It follows similar moves in the Donbas on Monday, where Denis Pushilin, self-appointed head of the DPR, called on his fellow separatist leader in Luhansk to combine efforts toward preparing a referendum on joining Russia. “Our actions should be synchronised,” Pushilin said in a video posted to social media on Monday.
Dmitry Medvedev, the hawkish long-term ally of Vladimir Putin, on Tuesday backed calls for referendums in occupied areas, saying that bringing them into the Russian Federation would mean “the geopolitical transformation in the world will become irreversible. Encroachment on the territory of Russia is a crime, the commission of which allows you to use all the forces of self-defence.”
British prime minister Liz Truss is expected to vow to match the UK’s spending on military support to Ukraine next year at the same level as this year when she speaks at the UN general assembly. Truss told reporters as she travelled to New York: “Ukraine’s victories in recent weeks have been inspirational. My message to the people of Ukraine is this: the UK will continue to be right behind you every step of the way. Your security is our security.”
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has told PBS in the US in an interview that all the land invaded by Russia should be returned to Ukraine, including Crimea, which was annexed by Putin’s forces in 2014. He said “If a peace is going to be established in Ukraine, of course, the returning of the land that was invaded will become really important.”
Erdoğan also repeated Turkey’s objections to Sweden joining Nato, saying “Sweden has been a cradle for terrorism and the terrorists have infiltrated all the way into their parliaments. And, in Stockholm, we see terrorists are demonstrating all the time. And they’re attacking the innocent Turkish descendants. We have given all the evidence relevant to these developments to our Swedish interlocutors.”
Hungary’s foreign minister said Tuesday the European Union should not consider new sanctions against Russia as that would only deepen the energy supply crisis and hurt Europe.
A US defence official has told CNN that the possibility of the US providing tanks to Ukraine is “absolutely on the table” but wouldn’t happen immediately because of issues with training, maintenance and sustainment.
That is it from me, Martin Belam, for now. I will be back later on. Tom Ambrose will be here shortly to take you through the next few hours of our coverage.
Updated
Russia’s RIA Novosti news agency is reporting that “the public council of the Kherson region” in occupied Ukraine has appealed to the Russian-installed regional leader Vladimir Saldo to hold a referendum on joining the Russian federation without delay. RIA reports:
The Public Council emphasised that the need for such a step was caused, among other things, by acts of terror by the Ukrainian authorities and Nato. The authors of the appeal are sure that the inhabitants of the region will support the idea of returning to Russia. They added that this would secure the region and allow historical justice to be restored.
Kherson overwhelmingly voted to join an independent Ukraine in 1991 rather than remain part of the unravelling Soviet Union.
Updated
In his interview with PBS NewsHour, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was very vocal in his country’s continued opposition to the expansion of Nato to include Finland, but most particularly Sweden. He said:
Here especially, Sweden has been a cradle for terrorism and the terrorists have infiltrated all the way into their parliaments.
And, in Stockholm, we see terrorists are demonstrating all the time. The banners, the poster of the leader of the terrorist organisations abound. They are demonstrating. They’re throwing slogans. And they’re attacking the innocent Turkish descendants in Stockholm. And we have given all the evidence relevant to these developments to our Swedish interlocutors.
Finland, on the other hand, they’re not like Sweden. They’re a bit more calm, and they have more control over the developments. But Sweden is not like that. They’re always using certain reasons. They’re always using certain excuses. They always talk about the constitution. And, as the reigning principle of the constitution, they value the freedom of expression.
And, in return, I say terrorism has nothing to do with the freedom of expression. And the Turkish Parliament is the eventual decision-maker.
Updated
Ukraine has recaptured a village close to the eastern city of Lysychansk, in a small but symbolic victory that means Russia no longer has full control of the Luhansk region, one of Vladimir Putin’s key war aims. Video footage shared on Telegram showed Ukrainian soldiers patrolling on foot down a ruined street as their counteroffensive continues to force Russian solders to flee previously occupied territories.
Putin ally Dmitry Medvedev calls for referendums on joining Russia in separatist regions of eastern Ukraine
Dmitry Medvedev, the hawkish long-term ally of Vladimir Putin, has posted to Telegram this morning suggesting that the self-proclaimed separatist regions of eastern Ukraine should hold referendums as soon as possible to join the Russian Federation.
He said: “Referendums in the Donbas are essential, not only for the systematic protection of residents of the LPR, DPR and other liberated territories, but also for the restoration of historic justice.”
He argues that incorporating the occupied areas of Ukraine into Russia would change the dynamic of the war, writing: “After their implementation and the acceptance of new territories into Russia, the geopolitical transformation in the world will become irreversible. Encroachment on the territory of Russia is a crime, the commission of which allows you to use all the forces of self-defence. This is why these referendums are so feared in Kyiv and the west. This is why they need to be carried out.”
Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia’s security council, is referring here to concerns that should referendums be staged and produce a “yes” vote for areas like Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia joining Russia, that would in effect make any attempts to take back Ukrainian territory a direct attack on Russia itself.
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Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said that all the land invaded by Russia should be returned to Ukraine, including the Crimea, which was annexed by Vladimir Putin’s forces in 2014.
Overnight PBS NewsHour published a full transcript of its interview with Turkey’s president, in which he said: “If a peace is going to be established in Ukraine, of course, the returning of the land that was invaded will become really important. This is what is expected. This is what is wanted. Putin has taken certain steps. We have taken certain steps. The lands which were invaded will be returned to Ukraine.”
Pressed specifically on the issue of Crimea, Erdoğan replied: “Since 2014, we have been talking to my dear friend Putin about this, and this is what we have requested from him. We asked him to return Crimea to its rightful owners … unfortunately no step has been taken forward.”
Erdoğan declined to say who he thought had the upper hand in the war, saying: “As a leader, I’m not willing to consider this. All we want to do and what we want to see is to end this battle with peace, whether it be Putin, whether it be Zelenskiy, I have always requested and recommended this. This is a conflict that ended up in casualties. The people are dying, and nobody will be winning at the end of the day.”
He also said he had discussed the conduct of the war directly with Putin, telling Judy Woodruff: “In Uzbekistan, I got together with President Putin, and we had very extensive discussions with him. And he is actually showing me that he’s willing to end this as soon as possible. That was my impression, because the way things are going right now are quite problematic; 200 hostages will be exchanged upon an agreement between the parties. I think a significant step will be taken forward.”
During the interview he said “no invasion can be justified”, and remained diplomatic when asked if Putin had made a miscalculation by staging the invasion. Erdoğan said: “No leader in the aftermath would say that it was a mistake. Nobody will say, yes, I made a mistake. The same thing can be applied to Ukraine as well. Zelenskiy, do you think when he was moving forward, does he feel he made a mistake? The leaders, when they take a path, they will find it very difficult to go back. It’s very difficult for the leaders to go back.”
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The pro-Russian separatist self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) in occupied eastern Ukraine has issued its daily bulletin on Telegram. In it, the DPR claims that 12 of the settlements it occupies were fired upon by Ukrainian forces. It claims that “33 housing construction and nine civil infrastructure facilities were damaged”, and gives casualty figures of 10 civilians killed and 15 wounded.
The claims have not been verified. The DPR is recognised as a legitimate authority by only three UN member states: Russia, Syria and North Korea.
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Liz Truss to use UN speech to reiterate British financial support for Ukraine
British prime minister Liz Truss is expected to vow to match the UK’s spending on military support to Ukraine next year at the same level as this year when she speaks at the UN general assembly.
The UK has spent £2.3bn on military aid to Ukraine so far in 2022, making it one of the leading sources of finance for Ukraine’s attempt to repel the latest invasion launched by Russia on 24 February.
Truss told reporters as she travelled to New York: “Ukraine’s victories in recent weeks have been inspirational. Time and time again these brave people have defied the doubters and showed what they can do when given the military, economic and political support they need. My message to the people of Ukraine is this: the UK will continue to be right behind you every step of the way. Your security is our security.”
The prime minister was also critical of Russia’s actions over energy supplies and concerned over energy dependence, telling the media: “By turning off the taps of the Nord Stream gas pipeline, [Russian president Vladimir] Putin has consigned millions of people in Europe to a colder and more difficult winter. Too many lives – in Ukraine, in Europe and around the world – are being manipulated by a dependence on Russian energy. We need to work together to end this once and for all.”
Truss is also expected to met Joe Biden while she is in the US, and said her “number one” focus in talks with the US president on Wednesday would be global security, especially working with the US and European partners to deal with the Russian aggression in Ukraine.
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Officials of the self-proclaimed separatist Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR) have informed the Russian news agency Tass that seven people were killed, including three children, in the village of Krasnorichenske, which it occupies. The claims have not been independently verified. Russia, Syria and North Korea are the only UN member states to recognise the LPR as a legitimate authority in eastern Ukraine.
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Hungary’s foreign minister has said the European Union should not consider new sanctions against Russia as that would only deepen the energy supply crisis and hurt Europe.
“The EU should stop mentioning an eighth package of sanctions, should stop flagging measures that would only further deepen the energy supply crisis,” Reuters reports Peter Szijjarto said in his statement.
Serhai Haidai, Ukraine’s governor of Luhansk, has posted a status update to Telegram. In it he points out that anyone accepting jobs with the pro-Russian separatist authorities in the Donbas are only doing so on a short-term basis because “everyone already understands that the armed forces are close”.
He goes on to say that “during the past day, the airforce hit 24 areas of concentration of enemy manpower and military equipment, four positions of anti-aircraft missile systems and one ammunition depot. In addition, our air defence units destroyed a Su-25 aircraft, a guided air missile and three enemy UAVs in various directions.”
The claims have not been independently verified.
This is Martin Belam taking over our coverage of Ukraine from London for the next few hours. You can contact me at martin.belam@theguardian.com.
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Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine sentenced two employees of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe to 13 years in jail on treason charges, according to Russian news agencies. Agence France-Presse reports:
In April, authorities in Luhansk announced the arrest of two OSCE staffers Dmitry Shabanov and Maxim Petrov for alleged espionage.
“The judges found Dmitry Shabanov guilty … and sentenced him to 13 years in prison,” the RIA Novosti news agency reported, quoting the supreme court of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic. A few hours later, the court pronounced the same sentence on Petrov.
The OSCE “unequivocally” condemned the sentences as “totally unacceptable so-called ‘legal proceedings’”.
OSCE secretary general Helga Maria Schmid on Monday demanded their immediate release as well as that of another unnamed colleague being held.
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A US defence official has told CNN that the possibility of the US providing tanks to Ukraine is “absolutely on the table”, but wouldn’t happen immediately because of issues with training, maintenance and sustainment.
“We’re looking at the entirety of the Ukrainian armed forces and considering for the future what capabilities they will need and how the US and our allies will be able to support Ukraine in building out those capabilities,” said the official on a background call with reporters.
In case you missed it, here is our report on Ukrainian forces recapturing a village close to the eastern city of Lysychansk, a small but symbolic victory that means Russia no longer has full control of the Luhansk region – one of Vladimir Putin’s key war aims.
Urgent calls by Russian-backed authorities in the occupied regions of Luhansk and Donetsk for referendums on becoming part of Russia show that Ukraine’s counteroffensive is causing panic among proxy forces and some Kremlin decision-makers, the Institute for the Study of War has said in its latest report.
The thinktank also said the counteroffensive was reducing morale in Russian units previously considered elite, with intercepted documents showing Russian soldiers making repeated pleas to be dismissed due to “persistent physical and moral fatigue”.
Shattered buildings, captured Russian equipment and the grim work of examining the mass burial site near Izium – these are some of the latest images from Ukraine.
A top Russian security official declared during a visit to China that the Kremlin considers beefing up ties with Beijing as a top policy goal, AP reports.
Nikolai Patrushev, secretary of the national security council chaired by Russian President Vladimir Putin, described the “strengthening of comprehensive partnership and strategic cooperation with Beijing as an unconditional priority of Russia’s foreign policy”.
Patrushev is one of Putin’s closest associates. Speaking during a meeting with Guo Shengkun, a top official of China’s Communist party, he said “in the current conditions, our countries must show even greater readiness for mutual support and development of cooperation.”
Patrushev’s office said in a terse statement after the talks in the Chinese city of Nanping that the parties agreed to “expand information exchanges on countering extremism and foreign attempts to undermine the constitutional order of both countries in order to derail independent policies of Russia and China serving their national interests.”
War in Ukraine to dominate UN summit agenda
With the UN to hold its first in-person general debate since the start of the pandemic in New York this week, the Guardian’s world affairs editor Julian Borger and diplomatic editor Patrick Wintour have prepared this preview.
The UN general assembly summit this week will be dominated by a struggle – between the US and its allies on one side and Russia on the other – for global support over the fate of Ukraine, as the global south fights to stop the conflict from overshadowing the existential threats of famine and the climate crisis.
With a return to fully in-person general debate, presidents and prime ministers will be converging on New York, many of them direct from London, where the diplomacy got underway on the sidelines of the Queen’s funeral.
Russia is currently in retreat on the battlefield and in the contest for global hearts and minds over Ukraine’s fate. The general assembly voted 101-7 with 19 abstentions to allow Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy to deliver a prerecorded video address, granting him an exemption from the requirement that speakers should appear in person.
India, a longstanding Moscow ally which has tended to abstain in votes on Ukraine, voted in Zelenskiy’s favor. The vote was on the same day that India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, publicly scolded Vladimir Putin, telling him “today’s time is not a time for war” when they made a joint appearance at a regional Asia summit in Uzbekistan. Putin said he was aware of Indian “concerns”, echoing what he had said the day before about China.
The weeklong session of United Nations general assembly meetings and leaders’ speeches begins as mass graves are being discovered after the Russian retreat from the Ukrainian town of Izium.
You can read the full story here:
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Security fears have almost certainly led Russia’s Black Sea Fleet to relocate its Kilo-class submarines from Sevastopol in Crimea to Novorossiysk in southern Russia, the UK Ministry of Defence says in its latest intelligence briefing on the war.
The move comes as Ukraine’s long-range strike capacity grows, and undermines one of Russia’s key objectives in annexing Crimea in 2014.
Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine - 20 September 2022
— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) September 20, 2022
Find out more about the UK government's response: https://t.co/gmR2GIiKs1
🇺🇦 #StandWithUkraine 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/svK8sD2icX
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Ukraine’s armed forces have sunk a barge carrying Russian troops and equipment across the Dnieper River near Nova Kakhovka in the Kherson region, the Kyiv Independent reports. In a statement on Facebook, Ukraine’s military said: “Attempts to build a crossing failed to withstand fire from Ukrainian forces and were halted.”
After Ukraine’s recapture of the Kharkiv region, new details of the Russian takeover are emerging. Luke Harding and Isobel Koshiw travelled to Shevchenkove to speak to locals about their time under Russian occupation.
Until last week, a portrait of Vladimir Putin hung on the wall of the mayor’s office in the town of Shevchenkove. There was a Russian flag. Around a cabinet table, a pro-Kremlin “leader”, Andrey Strezhko, held meetings with colleagues. There was a lot to discuss. One topic: a referendum on joining Russia. Another: a new autumn curriculum for Shevchenkove’s two schools, minus anything Ukrainian.
Strezhko’s ambitious plans were never realised. On 8 September, Ukraine’s armed forces launched a surprise counteroffensive. They swiftly recaptured a swathe of territory in the north-eastern Kharkiv region, including Shevchenkove. Most residents greeted the soldiers with hugs and kisses. Strezhko disappeared. He is believed to have fled across the Russian border, along with other collaborators.
You can read the full report here:
Britain’s prime minister, Liz Truss, will tell world leaders this week that the UK will next year match or exceed the £2.3bn (US$2.63bn) it committed to Ukraine’s war effort against Russia in 2022, the Financial Times has reported.
Truss, making her first trip overseas as PM, will address the UN general assembly on Wednesday. Speaking ahead of the trip, Truss vowed to the people of Ukraine: “The UK will continue to be right behind you every step of the way.”
Ukraine’s stunningly successful counteroffensive caught many commentators off guard, after months of predictions that the war had settled into an indefinite stalemate. Orysia Lutsevych, head of Chatham House’s Ukraine Forum, asks why experts keep underestimating Ukraine, and overestimating Russia.
The war in Ukraine will be the most important issue at the UN general assembly in New York this week, EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell says.
“The war in Ukraine is not just a war in Ukraine,” Borrell said on Monday. “The Ukrainians are fighting, they are being bombed with missiles; and the rest of the world is being affected by the prices increase on energy, on food, by growing insecurity and high interest rates.”
Among other issues, UN representatives will discuss “how to counter the Russian narrative that tries to convince people around the world that this problem is being caused by our sanctions, when in fact this is a consequence of the war itself,” he added.
Summary and welcome
Welcome back to our live coverage of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. At 7.30am Kyiv time, these are the latest developments.
Ukraine has recaptured a village close to the eastern city of Lysychansk, in a small but symbolic victory that means Russia no longer has full control of the Luhansk region, one of Russian president Vladimir Putin’s key war aims. Luhansk’s governor, Serhiy Haidai, said Ukraine’s armed forces were in “complete control” of Bilohorivka. “It’s a suburb of Lysychansk. Soon we will drive these scumbags out of there with a broom,” he said. “Step by step, centimetre by centimetre, we will liberate our entire land from the invaders.”
Ukrainian forensic experts have so far exhumed 146 bodies, mostly of civilians, at the mass burial site near Izium in eastern Ukraine, the regional governor said on Monday. Oleh Synehubov, governor of the Kharkiv region, said the exhumed bodies included two children. The Kremlin has denied allegations that Russian forces had committed war crimes in Ukraine’s Kharkiv province.
The leaders of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic were beginning to panic, Haidai claimed. There have been numerous reports of snatch squads detaining men on the street and drafting them into the army, while mobile communications and the internet have been jammed to prevent people from learning about Moscow’s military setbacks, he claimed.
The leader of the Moscow-backed administration in Donbas has called for urgent referendums on the region becoming part of Russia. Denis Pushilin, head of the Moscow-based separatist administration in Donetsk, called on his fellow separatist leader in Luhansk to combine efforts toward preparing a referendum on joining Russia. “Our actions should be synchronised,” Pushilin said in a video posted to social media on Monday.
The pace of Ukrainian forces’ advance the north-east had thrown Russian forces into a “panic”, Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said in his nightly address. Zelenskiy said he was now focused on “speed” in liberated areas. “The speed at which our troops are moving. The speed in restoring normal life,” he said.
Russian troops struck the Pivdennoukrainsk nuclear power plant in Ukraine’s southern Mykolaiv region early on Monday but its reactors have not been damaged and are working normally, Ukraine’s state nuclear company Energoatom said. A blast took place 300 metres away from the reactors and damaged power plant buildings shortly after midnight, Energoatom said in a statement. The attack also damaged a nearby hydroelectric power plant and transmission lines.
Ukrainian officials say 200 Russian soldiers died in a strike on Sunday when a missile hit a former bus shelter where they were based, in the frontline city of Svatove. According to the Institute for the Study of War, Russia has failed to send reinforcements. It is now under pressure and vulnerable to a further counteroffensive, the thinktank said.
Ukraine’s armed forces said troops had crossed the Oskil River over the weekend, marking another important milestone for the counteroffensive in the north-eastern Kharkiv region. The river flows south into the Siversky Donets, which snakes through the Donbas, the main focus of Russia’s invasion.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine may cause long-term grain prices to rise by 7% and drive up greenhouse gas emissions if production in other parts of the world expand to meet any shortfalls, a study published in Nature Food found. Russia and Ukraine together export about 28% of the world’s wheat supply.
A court in rebel-held Luhansk has sentenced two employees of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe to 13 years in prison on treason charges. OSCE chairman Zbigniew Rau condemned the “unjustifiable” detention of the mission’s members since the outbreak of the war, calling it “nothing but pure political theatre … inhumane and repugnant”.
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