Today's developments
Since 6 September, Ukrainian forces have recaptured more than 300 settlements in the Kharkiv region, taking back more than 3,800 sq km (1,467 miles) of Russian occupied territory, said Hanna Maliar, Ukrainian deputy minister of defence. At least 150,000 Ukrainians had been living under Russian occupation in these areas for almost the entirety of the invasion. Maliar said that these were only the confirmed figures and that the real number of reoccupied territories in the Kharkiv region “is almost twice as much”.
While Ukraine celebrates the tremendous gains its military has made in its dramatic counter-offensive, officials remain stoic about the challenges ahead in the newly reoccupied territory. Lesia Vasylenko, a member of the Ukrainian parliament, spoke of discovering the beheaded bodies of Ukrainian military, human faeces everywhere, widespread looting and terrorised teenagers who were still too scared to leave their basements. “Liberation uncovers many crimes. It’s as if we are on the verge of hundreds, if not thousands Buchas, just of a smaller scale,” Vasylenko said, referencing the civilian mass graves and evidence of torture uncovered in Bucha when Ukrainian forces recaptured the Kyiv region. “But whatever the scale there will be tribunals, retribution and justice.”
Ukrainian officials said there was a torture chamber set up by the Russian military in now liberated Balakliia. Serhiy Bolvinov, head of the Kharkiv Region National Police Investigation Department, said that 40 people had been detained during the occupation.
Speaking of looting, the general staff of Ukraine’s armed forces warned that Russian forces were continuing to loot as they withdrew from occupied territories. On a stretch of highway heading into Russian territory, Ukrainian officials spotted civilian vehicles with license plates from the Kharkiv region, driven by Russian military and weighed down with looted belongings. In the south, there were reports of Russian occupants breaking the gates of private garages and taking cars, as well as removing furniture.
Russian forces continued to hit a number of civilian and civilian infrastructure facilities today throughout the eastern and southern portions of Ukraine, the general staff of Ukraine’s armed forces said. Via air attacks and missile strikes and high mobility artillery rocket systems, Russian force attacked settlements in the Luhansk oblast and the Donetsk oblast in the east, and the Dnipropetrovsk, Mykolaiv and Cherkasy oblasts in the south.
Russia covertly spent more than $300m since 2014 to try to influence politicians and other officials in more than two dozen countries, according to declassified cables released by the US. Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, has said he is concerned Russia could try to “stir the pot” in the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia in order to distract from Ukraine. He added that Russia could also use its influence in the region to help “calm the waters”.
– Vivian Ho, Guardian staff
Russia has spent $300m since 2014 to influence foreign officials, US says
From the AP:
Russia has covertly spent more than $300m since 2014 to try to influence politicians and other officials in more than two dozen countries, according to a newly declassified state department cable.
The cable, signed by the secretary of state, Antony Blinken, and released on Tuesday, cites a new intelligence assessment of Russia’s global covert efforts to support policies and parties sympathetic to Moscow. The cable does not name specific Russian targets but says the US is providing classified information to select individual countries.
It is the latest effort by the Biden administration to declassify intelligence about Moscow’s military and political aims, dating back to ultimately correct assessments that Russia would launch a new war against Ukraine.
Many of Joe Biden’s top national security officials have extensive experience countering Moscow and served in government when Vladimir Putin launched wide-ranging campaigns to influence the 2016 and 2020 US presidential elections.
A senior administration official declined to say how much money Russia is believed to have spent in Ukraine, where President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and his top deputies have long accused Putin of meddling in domestic politics. The official noted allegations of Russian influence in recent elections in Albania, Bosnia and Montenegro.
Unlike declared efforts by foreign governments to lobby for preferred initiatives, Russia’s covert influence involved using front organizations to funnel money to preferred causes or politicians, the cable alleges. That includes thinktanks in Europe and state-owned enterprises in Central America, Asia, the Middle East and north Africa.
The US has historically also covertly funded political groups and been responsible for efforts to topple or undermine foreign governments. The official, who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity under rules set by the administration, rejected comparisons between Russia’s activities and current US financing of media and political initiatives.
