Friday, September 20

Russia’s war against Ukraine

Thé aftermath of a Russian aerial bombing attack on a retirement home in the city of Sumy on Sept. 19, 2024. (Vincenzo Circosta/Anadolu via Getty Images)

EU allocates over $100 million from Russian frozen assets to support Ukraine in winter. “Russia must pay for the destruction it caused,” von der Leyen said.

EU aims to cover 25% of Ukraine’s energy needs in winter, von der Leyen says ahead of Kyiv visit. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will visit Kyiv on Sept. 20 to discuss Ukraine’s energy needs with President Volodymyr Zelensky, she said on Sept. 19.

Zelensky to meet Biden, Harris in White House on Sept. 26. “The leaders will discuss the state of the war between Russia and Ukraine, including Ukraine’s strategic planning and U.S. support for Ukraine in its defense against Russian aggression,” White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement.

Germany delivers over 20 Leopard 1 tanks, Gepard anti-aircraft guns, other aid to Ukraine. Berlin has handed over 22 Leopard 1 A5 tanks, 61,000 155mm rounds of ammunition, three Gepard self-propelled anti-aircraft guns with spare parts, and other aid in its latest delivery of military aid to Ukraine, the German government said on Sept. 19.

Russia mining dams in Belgorod Oblast, Ukraine’s military claims. Russia is placing explosives at dams in its own Belgorod Oblast, possibly preparing provocations to accuse Ukraine of causing environmental damage, a spokesperson of Ukraine’s Kharkiv group of forces said on Sept. 19.

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Russia redeploys 40,000 troops to Kursk Oblast as Kyiv’s incursion continues, Zelensky says. The number of Russian troops pulled over to Kursk Oblast, announced by President Volodymyr Zelensky in early September, was higher — 60,000

Russia aims to increase drone production tenfold in 2024, Putin claims. In 2023, the Russian army received about 140,000 drones of different types, according to Russian President Vladimir Putin. This year, Moscow is planning to produce 1.4 million, he claimed.

MEPs vote in support of Ukrainian strikes inside Russia, Taurus missiles delivery. The European Parliament passed a resolution on Sept. 19 calling for EU member states to lift restrictions on Ukraine’s use of Western-supplied weapons inside Russia, and accelerate weapons deliveries, “including Taurus missiles.”

‘This winter will be the sternest test yet’ — IEA recommends 10 steps for Ukraine’s energy security. The measures recommended by the IEA include “bolstering the physical and cyber security of critical energy infrastructure, expediting the delivery of equipment and spare parts for repairs, (and) accelerating the decentralization of power supply,” according to a press release sent to the Kyiv Independent.

Blackouts caused by Russian attacks driving Ukrainians abroad, UN monitor says. Russia’s attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure caused a sharp rise in Ukrainians citing blackouts as a reason for leaving the country over the summer, the United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU) said in a report published on Sept. 19.

Read our exclusives

Ukraine war latest: Russian airstrike on Sumy retirement home kills 1, injures 14

Russian forces attacked a retirement home in the city of Sumy with a guided aerial bomb on Sept. 19, killing one person and injuring at least 14 others, regional officials said.

Photo: Denys Kryvopyshyn/cukr.city/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images

Ukrainian drones are burning Russia’s oil refineries, but not its economy

Ukraine’s strikes on Russia’s fuel industry have diminished its oil refining capabilities and boosted Ukrainians’ morale, but have yet to make strategic difference in the fight against the Kremlin.

Photo: Andrey Rudakov/Bloomberg via Getty Images

US Ambassador Brink: ‘We have some sense of contours of Zelensky’s victory plan’

The Kyiv Independent spoke with the U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink on Sept. 19 on the sidelines of the National Media Talk, an annual journalism conference held in Kyiv, and supported by USAID and Internews.

Photo: STR/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Georgian leader’s ‘apology’ for 2008 war could be a win for Russia, experts say

Controversial move by Moscow-friendly oligarch and de facto leader of Georgian Dream could backfire politically.

Photo: Thierry Tronnel/Corbis via Getty Images

Human cost of war

Russian attack on retirement home in Sumy kills at least 1, injures 14. Russian forces attacked a retirement home in the city of Sumy with a guided aerial bomb on Sept. 19, killing one person and injuring at least 14 others, regional officials said.

Opinions and insights

We asked 5 prominent Ukrainians to respond to Trump Jr’s ‘Negotiate with Russia’ op-ed

Two influential and controversial U.S. figures stepped into the debate over Ukraine’s potential long-range strikes on Russian territory by claiming such a move could result in “the end of the human species.”

Photo: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

International response

Indian shells flowing to Ukraine, despite protests from Russia, Reuters reports. Artillery ammunition manufactured in India is being diverted to Ukraine “despite protests from Moscow,” Reuters reported on Sept. 19, citing customs data and nearly a dozen Indian and European government and defense industry officials.

Polish FM reportedly suggests UN mandate and referendum in Crimea. “We could put it under a U.N. mandate with a mission to prepare a fair referendum after checking who the legal residents are and so on… And we could postpone it for 20 years,” Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski suggested as one possible option, according to Interfax-Ukraine.

Moldova’s ex-military chief charged with treason over alleged espionage for Russia. The Prosecutor’s Office for Combating Organized Crime and Special Cases said on Sept. 18 that Igor Gorgan stands “accused in the case concerning alleged espionage on behalf of Russia.”

Bulgaria to ask EU to suspend egg imports from Ukraine. “When the import of a certain type of product or commodity — vegetables, meat, eggs — reaches certain limits that the European Commission has outlined in advance, then we can activate the mechanism of banning their import. We are currently doing this in terms of eggs,” Bulgarian Agriculture Minister Georgi Takhov said.

African POWs on how they ended up fighting for Russia

In other news

Ukrainian parliament renames over 300 settlements relating to Russia, Soviet Union. Ukraine’s parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, voted on Sept. 19 to rename 327 settlements that had names related to the Russian Empire or the Soviet Union.

Controversial MP dismissed from Ukrainian Parliament’s National Security Committee. Ukraine’s parliament voted unanimously on Sept. 18 to dismiss the controversial lawmaker Mariana Bezuhla from her position as deputy head of the Parliamentary Committee on National Security and Defense.

JP Morgan CEO: Top global risks include Ukraine’s fight against ‘an evil axis’. Jamie Dimon said Russia is in cahoots with Iran and North Korea “working every day on how to make it worse for the Western world and for America.”

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Today’s Ukraine Daily was brought to you by Elsa Court, Roman Olearchyk, Martin Fornusek, Kateryna Denisova, Francis Farrell, Nate Ostiller, and Dmytro Basmat.

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