Closing summary
This blog is now closing. Below is a roundup of today’s stories:
Poland and the Baltic states will close their borders with Belarus entirely if a “critical incident” involving Wagner mercenaries takes place, the Polish interior minister, Mariusz Kamiński, said on Monday.
Three people were killed in an overnight Russian missile strike on Ukraine, and a fourth was killed in shelling on Monday morning, Ukrainian officials have said.
Finland plans to spend 2.3% of its gross domestic product (GDP) on defence next year.
Vladimir Putin will not visit India for the G20 summit next month, with the foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, representing the country instead.
A Russian-born Swedish citizen has reportedly been charged with collecting information for the Russian military intelligence service GRU for almost a decade.
Russian air defences downed two Ukrainian drones over Russian-annexed Crimea on Monday, Sergei Aksyonov, the Russian-appointed head of the region, wrote on Telegram.
Moscow said on Monday it had detained a Russian citizen and former US consulate employee in Vladivostok for allegedly passing information about the war in Ukraine to US diplomats.
Ukraine said on Monday its troops had liberated the south-eastern settlement of Robotyne and were trying to advance farther south in their counteroffensive against Russian forces, Reuters reports.
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has said he will ask parliament in the coming week to increase penalties for those found guilty of corruption during wartime.
Updated
Olga Stefanishyna, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister for European and Euro-Atlantic integration, had a “productive exchange” with Romanian foreign minister Luminița Odobescu on Monday where the pair discussed a European-Ukrainian “integration calendar”.
Had a productive exchange w/🇷🇴Minister of Foreign Affairs @Odobes1Luminita on 🇺🇦🇪🇺integration calendar & ongoing reforms.
— Olga Stefanishyna (@StefanishynaO) August 28, 2023
Highly appreciate your resolute support on our way towards EU membership.
Welcome the initiative to launch a special training program for 🇺🇦 civil servants.
Updated
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has written on Twitter, now known as X, that he held a meeting with government and military officials in which discussions included implementing a plan “to protect critical and energy infrastructure”, preparations for the winter and the “development of a program for the transition to future aircraft types”.
A Staff meeting.
— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) August 28, 2023
Today, maximum attention is being paid to offensive actions and providing the front with weapons and everything necessary. Reports from Commander-in-Chief Zaluzhny, Commanders Syrskyi and Tarnavskyi.
Implementation of the plan to protect critical and energy…
Updated
Putin will not be visiting India next month for G20 summit
Reuters has some more detail from the phone call held between the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, and the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, earlier on Monday.
Putin will not visit India for the G20 summit next month, with the foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, representing the country instead.
In a statement, the Indian government said: “While expressing an understanding for Russia’s decision, PM thanked President Putin for Russia’s consistent support to all initiatives under India’s G20 presidency.”
Updated
Ukraine’s foreign minister on Monday slammed neighbouring countries over plans to curb grain imports from his country after an EU ban expires, vowing to “fiercely defend our rights”, the AFP reports.
Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Hungary and Bulgaria – which is not Ukraine’s direct neighbour – said last week they wanted the EU to extend the ban, due to expire on 15 September, until the end of the year.
They threatened to take individual measures on a national scale if the EU failed to act.
“We are absolutely adamantly against it because this move will violate the rules of the common market,” the Ukrainian foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, said during a visit to Prague.
“This rule will violate the Ukraine-EU association agreement, but most importantly this move will go against the principle of solidarity that the European Union is based on,” he told reporters.
Kuleba said his country was ready to work with the five EU members on a solution.
He also called on them “not to take the issue of the export of grain hostage of their domestic political processes” as Poland in particular is bracing for a general election.
“If they behave like this, they will leave us with no chance but to fiercely defend our rights and the rights of Ukrainian farmers,” Kuleba added.
Updated
Ukraine’s main strategic objective is to cut the land bridge to Crimea by advancing south towards Melitopol from Robotyne and from Velyka Novosilka farther east towards Berdiansk. Russia has been fortifying in the area for months, and unless there is a breakthrough it is not expected Ukraine will achieve the goal this year.
Some experts hope Russia’s mine-laying and fortifications may be less dense in some places, while Ukraine’s two months of attacks, particularly into the rear, have weakened the defenders’ logistics and reserves.
Emil Kastehelmi, an open source analyst with Black Bird Group, said in a post on X, formerly Twitter, that a study of aerial photography showed that “fortifications are not as strong in all areas of the first main defensive line” and that they appeared weaker around Verbove, about five miles east of Robotyne.
You can read the full report by my colleague, Dan Sabbagh, here:
Updated
Reuters has more information on Ukraine’s claim it has liberated the south-eastern village of Robotyne (see post at 07.21).
In its statement, Russia’s defence ministry said Moscow’s troops had repelled attacks by Kyiv’s forces near Robotyne and Verbove.
The deputy defence minister, Hanna Maliar, told Ukrainian television earlier that Kyiv’s troops, who began their counteroffensive in early June, were now moving south-east of Robotyne and south of nearby Mala Tokmachka.
Updated
The Kremlin has made a statement after the phone call between the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, and the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi. (see post at 14.41).
The statement read:
Topical issues of Russian-Indian relations, which are progressively developing in the spirit of a particularly privileged strategic partnership, were considered (in the call).
The positive dynamics of trade and economic cooperation was affirmed.
The Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, will visit Russia’s Black Sea resort of Sochi soon and there may be developments regarding the deal that allowed the maritime export of Ukrainian grain, Reuters reports, citing a spokesperson for Erdoğan’s ruling AK party.
The UN and Turkey-brokered grain deal ended after Moscow quit last month. Ankara has been trying to persuade Russia to return to the agreement, under which Odesa’s three seaports shipped tens of millions of tonnes of grain during Russia’s invasion.
Omer Celik, the party spokesperson, did not specify whether Erdoğan would meet with the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, but the Kremlin said on Friday that there was an understanding the two would meet in person soon.
Updated
Putin has a phone call with Indian PM, Kremlin says
The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, had a phone call with the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, in which they discussed bilateral ties including space cooperation, the expansion of the BRICS group and an upcoming summit of the G20, Reuters reports, citing the Kremlin.
The two leaders took part in a summit of the BRICS group of emerging economies in South Africa last week.
Updated
Finland to spend 2.3% of GDP on defence next year
Finland plans to spend 2.3% of its gross domestic product (GDP) on defence next year, Reuters reports citing its defence ministry.
Nato’s 31 member nations agreed to spend a minimum of 2% of their GDP on defence. Previously the 2% target had been a goal to aim for over time and only seven allies met the target in 2022, according to Nato.
Finland joined the alliance in April, in a historic security policy U-turn in response to neighbouring Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
It said it planned to spend €6b ($6.48bn), or 2.3% of its GDP, on defence in 2024, which is €116m less than the estimate for 2023.
Updated
The EU must be ready to admit new member states by 2030, the European Council president, Charles Michel, told a forum in the Slovenian lake resort Bled on Monday, Reuters reports.
“I believe we must be ready by 2030 to enlarge,” Michel said. “This is ambitious, but necessary. It shows that we are serious.”
Updated
Vladimir Putin has sent his condolences to the family of the Wagner group head, Yevgeny Prigozhin, the Kremlin has said, adding that it did not know when the warlord’s funeral would take place and whether the Russian president would attend.
“The Kremlin does not yet have information about the format and date of Prigozhin’s funeral, so there can be no answer to the question of whether Putin will attend it,” Putin’s spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said, speaking to journalists during his daily call.
“As soon as a decision is made, it will be communicated to the public. Such decisions are always made together with the relatives,” Peskov added.
Russia’s investigative committee on Sunday confirmed Prigozhin was among the people killed in a plane crash last Wednesday. The committee said in a statement that after forensic testing, all 10 bodies recovered at the site had been identified, and their identities “conform to the manifest”.
You can read the full story by my colleague, Pjotr Sauer, here:
We have more on the circumstances under which borders with Belarus could be closed (see earlier post at 11.56).
The Lithuanian interior minister, Agnė Bilotaitė, told reporters there were two criteria that could lead to a border closure, Reuters reports.
“First of all, an armed incident at the border of one of the countries. The incident would need to pose serious threat to national security,” she said.
“The other criterion is a mass breakthrough of migrants through the border of one of the states.”
Bilotaitė said Lithuania’s interior ministry will propose to the government closing two out of the country’s four remaining border crossing points with Belarus, a move she said would help concentrate more officers at the remaining border crossings.
Updated
Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, has tweeted about his meeting with his Czech counterpart, Jan Lipavský, thanking him for inviting him to address Czech ambassadors today.
Good to meet @JanLipavsky and thank him for inviting me to address Czech ambassadors today. Ukrainian and Czech diplomacies work shoulder to shoulder to defend freedom, advance Ukraine’s path to the EU and NATO, strengthen ties with African nations, and other shared priorities. pic.twitter.com/DiFVYLxe8L
— Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) August 28, 2023
Updated
Summary of the day so far...
Poland and the Baltic states will close their borders with Belarus entirely if a “critical incident” involving Wagner mercenaries takes place, the Polish interior minister, Mariusz Kamiński, said on Monday.
Three people were killed in an overnight Russian missile strike on Ukraine, and a fourth was killed in shelling on Monday morning, Ukrainian officials have said.
A Russian-born Swedish citizen has reportedly been charged with collecting information for the Russian military intelligence service GRU for almost a decade.
Russian air defences downed two Ukrainian drones over Russian-annexed Crimea on Monday, Sergei Aksyonov, the Russian-appointed head of the region, wrote on Telegram.
Moscow said on Monday it had detained a Russian citizen and former US consulate employee in Vladivostok for allegedly passing information about the war in Ukraine to US diplomats.
Ukraine said on Monday its troops had liberated the south-eastern settlement of Robotyne and were trying to advance farther south in their counteroffensive against Russian forces, Reuters reports.
Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has said he will ask parliament in the coming week to increase penalties for those found guilty of corruption during wartime.
Poland and Baltic states will shut Belarus border if 'critical incident' occurs, minister says
Poland and the Baltic states will close their borders with Belarus entirely if a “critical incident” involving Wagner mercenaries takes place, the Polish interior minister, Mariusz Kamiński, said on Monday.
Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, EU members that share a border with Belarus, have been increasingly concerned about border security since hundreds of Wagner mercenaries arrived Belarus at the invitation of president Alexander Lukashenko.
Poland has also seen an increase in the number of mainly Middle Eastern and African migrants trying to cross the border in recent months and has accused Belarus of facilitating them.
Kamiński said:
We demand from the authorities in Minsk that the Wagner Group immediately leave the territory of Belarus and that illegal migrants immediately leave the border area and are sent back to their home countries.If there is a critical incident, regardless of whether it is at the Polish or Lithuanian border, we will retaliate immediately. All border crossings that have been opened so far will be closed.
Updated
Lithuania’s interior ministry will propose to the government to close two out of the country’s four remaining border crossing points with Belarus, news agency BNS reported on Monday, quoting Lithuanian interior minister Agne Bilotaite.
The Lithuanian government on 16 August announced the closure of two other Belarus border crossing points, cutting the number to four from six, blaming “geopolitical circumstances” weeks after Russian Wagner mercenaries took refuge in the country.
Neighbouring Poland has closed all but one border crossing point with Belarus this year after the imprisonment of a journalist of Polish origin and expulsions of Polish diplomats, Reuters reports.
Four killed in Russian attacks across Ukraine, officials say
Three people were killed in an overnight Russian missile strike on Ukraine, and a fourth was killed in shelling on Monday morning, Ukrainian officials have said.
The interior minister, Ihor Klymenko, said the three people killed overnight were workers at an industrial facility that was hit in the central Poltava region (the death toll has been revised from earlier), Reuters reports.
Oleksandr Prokudin, governor of the Kherson region, meanwhile, said a 63-year-old woman had been killed in shelling of the village of Sadove at about 10.40am on Monday. These claims are yet to be independently verified.
Updated
Sweden charges man with collecting information for Russian intelligence service
A Russian-born Swedish citizen has been charged with collecting information for the Russian military intelligence service GRU for almost a decade, the Associated Press reports.
Sweden’s prosecution authority said Sergey Skvortsov, 60, was accused of “gross illegal intelligence activities against Sweden and against a foreign power”.
Skvortsov was arrested in November with his wife in a predawn operation in Nacka, outside Stockholm.
Skvortsov has been in custody since his arrest and denies any wrongdoing, according to his defence lawyer, Ulrika Borg. His wife was released without charge after an investigation by Sweden’s security agency.
Prosecutors said Skvortsov used his import-export business to illicitly obtain technology and hand it over to the GRU.
Swedish broadcaster SVT said Skvortsov had lived in Sweden for 25 years and obtained Swedish citizenship in 2012. The trial is to start 4 September.
Updated
The Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, and his Turkish counterpart, Hakan Fidan, will hold talks in Moscow “in the nearest future”, the TASS news agency reported on Monday, citing the Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova.
Turkey is trying to persuade Russia to return to a deal that allows for the export of grain via Ukraine’s Black Sea ports.
The Kremlin has said Vladimir Putin is likely to hold talks in person soon with Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, but no date or venue has yet been announced.
Updated
In its latest intelligence update, the UK’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) said it’s likely that Russia cancelled a major military exercise amid sensitivity to domestic criticism.
The MoD’s official account wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter:
Russia has highly likely cancelled Exercise Zapad (‘West’) 23, its planned ‘joint strategic exercise’ (JSE) and major annual event intended to be the culmination of the military’s training year. The exercise should have taken place in September 2023.
From 2010 Russia ran a four-year cycle, rotating JSEs around the country. However, since 2021, Russia has based the JSE in western Russia at least every second year as it prioritises confronting what it perceives as the threat from Nato. This follows Zapad 21, the largest Russian exercise since Soviet times.
The Russian military’s under-performance in Ukraine has highlighted how JSEs have had limited training value and have largely been for show. Russia has likely cancelled Zapad 23 because too few troops and equipment are available.
There is a realistic possibility that the Russian leadership is also sensitive to domestic criticism liable from running another slickly presented JSE during wartime.
Updated
Ukraine’s ministry of defence has provided more information on the reported missile attack on Ukraine’s Poltava region (see earlier post at 07.00):
It tweeted:
On the night of 28 August, Russian terrorists attacked Ukraine with 4 Kalibr cruise missiles and two Kh-59 guided aviation missiles. The air defence systems destroyed four out of six targets.
Unfortunately, there was a direct hit on an oil refinery in the town of Hoholeve in the Poltava region, which was operating during the night shift. Currently, there are reports of two casualties and five injured.
These claims are yet to be independently verified.
Updated
Russian air defences downed two Ukrainian drones over Russian-annexed Crimea on Monday, Sergei Aksyonov, the Russian-appointed head of the region, wrote on Telegram.
He said one drone was downed in the northern part of the Black Sea peninsula, which Moscow annexed from Ukraine in 2014, and the other one in the west, Reuters reports.
Russia accuses ex-US consulate employee of passing information about Ukraine war to US diplomats
Moscow said on Monday it had detained a Russian citizen and former US consulate employee in Vladivostok for allegedly passing information about the war in Ukraine to US diplomats.
Agence France-Presse reports:
The Federal Security Service (FSB) said in a statement it had “suppressed the illegal activities of Robert Robertovich Shonov”, accusing him of being an informant for the US embassy in Moscow.
The announcement is the latest in a series of diplomatic spats building pressure on strained ties between Moscow and Washington, particularly over the conflict in Ukraine.
The FSB said Shonov had begun handing information to US diplomats in September last year about the conflict and mobilisation, an unpopular move in Russia that saw an exodus of military-aged men.
It added that Shonov had been tasked with gauging protest sentiment in Russia’s regions ahead of presidential elections scheduled for next year.
The FSB said Shonov is suspected of “gathering information about the special military operation, mobilisation processes in Russian regions, problems and the assessment of their influence on protest activities of the population in the runup to the 2024 presidential election”.
Shonov’s arrest was first reported in May, but Russian authorities provided no details at the time. The US state department has condemned his arrest.
Updated
Ukraine’s deputy defence minister, Hanna Maliar, has described the battlefield situation in the east of the country as “very hot” in the past week.
She said Russian troops were gathering new forces there and regrouping, and Moscow was aiming to deploy its best troops, Reuters reports.
Ukrainian forces had continued to advance south of Bakhmut, she said, referring to the nearly devastated eastern city that was captured by Moscow’s troops in May after months of fierce fighting.
She added that in the past week Ukrainian forces had retaken 1sq km around Bakhmut, and Russian troops had not made any advances. These claims are yet to be independently verified.
You can read more about the significance of Bakhmut in the war here:
Updated
The Russian authorities have announced a drive to boost production of films glorifying Moscow’s war in Ukraine, AP reports.
Vladimir Putin has ordered the culture ministry to ensure theatres screen documentaries about the “special military operation”, as the Kremlin calls its invasion of Ukraine.
The ministry has also reportedly prioritised certain themes when allocating state funding for films.
These include “heroism and selflessness of Russian warriors” in Ukraine and “battling modern manifestations of the Nazi and fascist ideology” – a false accusation Putin makes about Kyiv’s leaders.
Updated
We have more details on the reported missile attack on Ukraine’s Poltava region (see earlier post at 07.00).
Ukraine’s presidential chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, said the missiles struck a vegetable oil factory in the Myrhorod district, killing two people and injuring five others.
“The people were working the night shift,” Yermak wrote on Telegram.
He posted photos showing tankers engulfed in flames and the destroyed metal structures of the plant, Reuters reports.
These claims have not yet been independently verified.
Updated
Mykhailo Podolyak, a key adviser to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has tweeted:
All of Putin’s domestic legitimacy is built on the belief among Russian elites that he has ‘not lost the war yet’.
The Kremlin understands the inevitable: the more Russia loses the occupied territories, the faster support for the regime will decline.
The murder of Prigozhin and the preparation of a new mobilisation to saturate the front is a time-saving measure. But the clock is already counting down.
It won’t be easy, but it is naive to think that Ukraine will have to regain territory by winning every kilometre with blood.
As Ukrainian forces advance in the south and reach the administrative border with Crimea, events will take on a different shape. In the end, it will all end quickly and in an instant, just as it began.
Updated
Hello everyone, this is Yohannes Lowe. I’ll be running the blog until 4pm (UK time). Please do feel free to get in touch on Twitter if you have any story tips.
Ukraine says troops advancing southeast of Robotyne
Some more now on Ukraine claiming it has captured the village of Robotyne on the southern front.
The confirmation came from the deputy defence minister, Ganna Malyar, who appeared on Ukrainian television:
Robotyne has been liberated. Our forces are advancing south-east of Robotyne and south of Mala Tokmachka.
Malyar said troops were advancing south of Bakhmut and that they had recaptured 1sq km there over the last week of fighting.
She also acknowledged a Russian push to take back territory in the north-east of Ukraine, describing fighting in the Kharkiv region as “very intense” over the past week.
- with Agence France-Presse
Updated
Zelensky flags ‘aircraft infrastructure’ decisions
Ukraine president, Volodymyr Zelensky, posted a short video on Sunday evening outlining some priorities for the week ahead. Here’s a section of his video statement linked below:
As usual, there will be more meetings with staff this week. The agenda is already set. In particular; there will be decisions that will allow us to further strengthen our warriors, that allow military commanders to prepare the infrastructure for new Ukrainian aircraft more accurately, and allow diplomats to promote everything that our warriors need more actively in communication with partners. The requests from each of the units are very clear.
More decisions will be made to strengthen our warriors next week. The military command is in charge of developing infrastructure for new Ukrainian jets. Diplomats — engaging more actively with partners to get what our warriors need. The needs are specific. So should the results. pic.twitter.com/kV7qRq80Qm
— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) August 27, 2023
Russia’s aviation agency says flights temporarily restricted
Authorities in Russia have provided some more information after confirming its air defences had destroyed a drone approaching Moscow, as well as two other regions bordering Ukraine, early on Monday.
According to the Russian defence ministry, the drones appear to be probing Moscow’s air defences from different angles, with Monday’s brought down in the Lyubertsy region to the south-east of the capital.
Reuters reports the state aviation agency, Rosaviatsia, said three airports temporarily restricted flights but later returned to normal operation.
Moscow reported the first drone attacks on the capital in early May, when two were fired at the Kremlin without causing damage. Since then they have become a frequent occurrence.
Most have been intercepted by Russian air defences, but several have hit buildings in a business district of the capital. Ukraine hardly ever takes responsibility for strikes on Russian territory, though officials have often expressed satisfaction over them.
Reuters
Updated
Ukraine says it has liberated south-eastern village of Robotyne
Ukraine said on Monday its troops had liberated the south-eastern settlement of Robotyne and were trying to advance further south in their counteroffensive against Russian forces, Reuters reports.
“Robotyne has been liberated,” the deputy defence minister Hanna Maliar was quoted as saying by Ukraine’s military.
The military said last week that its forces had raised the national flag in Robotyne, but also said at the time that they were still coming under fire in the settlement.
Ukraine reported its troops had entered the strategically important village on 22 August, signalling a potentially significant advance in its counteroffensive against Russia.
At the time, Maliar said Ukrainian soldiers were organising the evacuation of civilians, but were still coming under fire from Russian forces.
Updated
Zelenskiy says he will propose tougher corruption measures this week
Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has said he will ask parliament in the coming week to increase penalties for those found guilty of corruption during wartime.
Here’s a snippet of a television interview he shared on his Telegram channel on Sunday, reported by Reuters.
I have set a task for the legislation and the Ukrainian legislators will be offered my proposals to equate corruption with high treason in wartime. I think the parliament will get it in the next week and then the ball is in the parliament’s court.
Ukraine ranks 116th out of 180 countries on campaign group Transparency International’s latest Corruption Perceptions Index.
Zelenskiy, who says ending graft is key to defeating Russia, also hopes that by fighting corruption he will make it easier for partners to support rebuilding efforts that will cost billions of dollars.
A series of government shake-ups over corruption included Zelenskiy’s dismissal this month of all the regional military recruitment chiefs after a nationwide audit.
Updated
Two killed in Russian missile attack on Ukraine’s Poltava region
Two people were killed in an overnight Russian missile attack on Ukraine‘s central Poltava region, governor Dmytro Lunin said on Monday.
Lunin has provided an update on the Telegram messaging app, as reported by Reuters. He said the attack was on an industrial facility, but he did not provide further details.
Here’s Lunin’s statement:
As a result of the hostile attack, two people were killed, two people were taken to hospital with minor injuries, and the whereabouts of two more people are currently unknown.
The Ukrainian military has said Russia launched four missiles from the Black Sea overnight, two of which were shot down.
The military reported that Kryvyi Rih region was also hit by missiles in a separate attack. Local authorities said several private houses were damaged, but they did not report casualties.
Updated
Ukraine reports killed and wounded civilians in latest update
Ukrainian authorities have reported four Russian cruise missiles were intercepted on Sunday.
Here’s a portion of a statement issued the general staff of Ukraine’s armed forces a short time ago:
During the day of August 27, the enemy launched a total of 11 missiles and 48 air strikes, 54 multiple launch rocket system attacks at the positions of Ukrainian troops and various settlements.
Unfortunately, the Russian attacks have killed and wounded civilians. Residential buildings, schools and other civilian infrastructure were damaged.
Zelenskiy says elections could happen under fire if West helps
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has indicated democratic elections could take place during wartime if certain conditions are met, Reuters reports.
Elections cannot currently be held in Ukraine under martial law, which must be extended every 90 days and is next due to expire on 15 November, after the normal date in October for parliamentary polls, but before presidential elections which would normally be held in March 2024.
In a television interview with the 1+1 Channel, Zelensky said he discussed the issue of elections with US Republican senator Lindsey Graham, who visited Kyiv last week. He said elections could occur provided partners shared the cost, legislators approved, and everyone got to the polls:
I gave Lindsey a very simple answer very quickly. He was very pleased with it. As long as our legislators are willing to do it.
Zelensky said it would cost USD $135m to hold elections in peacetime.
“I don’t know how much is needed in wartime. So I told him that if the US and Europe provide financial support ...
He added:
“I will not take money from weapons and give it to elections. And this is stipulated by the law.
Zelensky said he told Graham that election observers would have to go to the trenches:
I told him: You and I should send observers to the frontlines so that we have legitimate elections for us and for the whole world.
Graham told reporters during a briefing in a bunker with fellow Senators Richard Blumenthal and Elizabeth Warren, both Democrats, that his message to Zelenskiy would be they would fight to keep weapons flowing “so you can win a war that we can’t afford to lose”. Graham then added this:
But I am also going to tell him this: You’ve got to do two things at once. We need an election in Ukraine next year. I want to see this country have a free and fair election even while it is under assault.
Welcome and summary
Hello and welcome to our continuing coverage of the war in Ukraine. My name’s Henry Belot and I’ll be bringing you all the latest as it happens.
There was another attempted drone attack on Moscow overnight – the latest in a series of strikes on the Russian capital over the last few weeks.
Authorities say that air defence systems brought down the drone on its approach to the city, and there were no injuries.
More on that shortly – here are the rest of the headlines:
A senior Ukrainian government official has confirmed the safe passage of a second vessel through the Black Sea from Ukraine’s port of Odesa, after Russia’s withdrawal in July from a UN-brokered deal allowing the export of grain.
Russia’s defence ministry said it sent a fighter plane in response to a US air force reconnaissance drone over the Black Sea. The Tass news agency said the drone had not breached Russia’s state border.
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said national elections could take place during wartime if international partners shared the cost, legislators approved, and everyone got to the polls. Zelenskiy was responding to comments from the US senator Lindsey Graham who, while praising the war effort, said Ukraine needed to show it was different by holding elections in wartime.
The co-founder of Russian tech company Yandex has made a formal request to have EU sanctions on him lifted, in a potential test of whether the EU will take a more sympathetic view of figures who distance themselves from the Kremlin.
Drones attacking Moscow and Russian border destroyed - Russian officials
Authorities in Russia say that air defences destroyed a drone approaching Moscow and as well as two other in a region bordering Ukraine, early on Monday.
Air defences in the Lyubertsy district southeast of the capital “destroyed a drone flying towards Moscow,” the city’s mayor Sergei Sobyanin wrote on Telegram, without naming an attacker.
“There were no casualties or damage, according to initial reports. Emergency services are on the scene.”
Air traffic at Moscow’s Domodedovo and Vnukovo airports was suspended, the state-run TASS news agency reported earlier, citing the aviation service.
Two other drones were destroyed by air defences over the Bryansk region bordering Ukraine, Russia’s defence ministry said on Telegram.
It did not say whether there had been damage or casualties.
The capital and other Russian regions have been targeted by a barrage of Ukrainian drone attacks in recent days after Kyiv vowed earlier this summer to “return” the conflict to Russia.
Updated
