Ukraine Daily

Monday, September 26

Russia’s war against Ukraine

A woman carries beets she received from a food aid in Izyum on September 24, 2022, as the Ukrainian counter-offensive seized most of the northeast Kharkiv region, bringing hundreds of settlements back under Kyiv’s control after months of Russian occupation. (Photo by ANATOLII STEPANOV/AFP via Getty Images)

Meduza: Russia to ban men of conscription age from leaving country on Sept. 28. According to independent Russian media outlet Meduza, the ban will come into effect after the end of sham referenda in the four occupied regions of Ukraine.

General Staff: Russia sends newly mobilized conscripts directly to frontline. Conscripts do not undergo any military training before being sent to the war against Ukraine, Ukraine’s General Staff said. With this step, Russian military commanders aim to replenish units that have suffered colossal losses.

Minister: About 1.5 million Ukrainians in Russia unable to return home, contact relatives. Olha Stefanishyna, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister for European integration, said that about 1.5 million Ukrainian citizens, mostly women and children, are currently in Russia without the possibility of returning home, and their relatives can’t contact them. “Today, more than ever, it is important to use all available international instruments to protect fundamental human rights and double our joint efforts to prevent the violent exploitation of Ukrainian citizens,” she said during an event on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

Podolyak: Russian mobilization in Crimea aims to cleanse disloyal population. Mykhailo Podolyak, an advisor to the President’s Office, said that the forced mass conscription of Crimean Tatars in Crimea is “a real ethnic genocide and an enormous tragedy for the entire nation.”

Russian-installed proxies in Crimea say Moscow completed mobilization in occupied peninsula. According to the proxies, the Russian draft plan is “fulfilled” in Crimea. Earlier, Mykhailo Podolyak, an advisor to the President’s Office, said that the Russian mobilization in Crimea aims to cleanse the disloyal population.

Russia keeps 2,500 Ukrainian POWs. Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk told BBC that Russia holds civilians alongside the military. Russians didn’t agree to free civilians during the latest prisoner swap. On Sept. 21, Ukraine returned 215 POWs, including Azovstal defenders, from Russian captivity.

Mobilization sparks protests in Russia’s Dagestan. Protests were held in Makhachkala, the capital of Dagestan in the North Caucasus, and other locations. Demonstrators in the village of Endirey blocked a federal highway. The demonstrations were triggered by Russian dictator Vladimir Putin’s Sept. 21 decision to announce the mobilization of conscripts for the war against Ukraine. More than 1,300 people have already been detained for participating in the protests.

State Emergency Service: In total, 447 bodies found at mass burial site in liberated Izium. The State Emergency Service reported that bodies of men, women, and children were found in a forest on the outskirts of Izium. Earlier, Kharkiv Oblast Governor Oleh Syniehubov said that most of the bodies had signs of violent death, including 30 bodies with signs of torture. Out of all the bodies found, 21 people were soldiers.

Protesters opposing mobilization clash with police in Russia’s Dagestan. A number of videos posted on social media show protesters shouting “Down with the war!” in Makhachkala, the capital of Dagestan. The footage also shows demonstrators trying to prevent the police from arresting other protesters.

Media: 3 more military enlistment offices set on fire in Russia amid mobilization. In the city of Kirovsk, Leningrad Oblast, a military enlistment office was set on fire with a fuel canister attached to a window. In Kaliningrad Oblast and the republic of Mordovia, two other enlistment offices were set on fire with Molotov cocktails.

Head of Russian Orthodox Church says sacrificing life in war against Ukraine ‘washes away sins.’ Patriarch Kirill, the head of Russia’s Orthodox Church, said during a sermon that when a soldier, driven by a sense of duty, dies on the battlefield, his death is “equal to the sacrifice.”

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Ukraine’s political veteran Yulia Tymoshenko sues government to get diplomatic passport back amid war. Former prime minister and leader of the Batkivshchyna party (26 seats in parliament) Yulia Tymoshenko along with fellow lawmaker Hryhoriy Nemyria are suing the foreign ministry to return their diplomatic passports, the Kyiv Independent learned from court records.

Photo: Yulia Tymoshenko/ Facebook

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Ukraine war latest: Sham annexation ‘referendums’ in Ukraine’s occupied regions continue, Putin allies react to mobilization in Russia. Russia’s sham referendums with the goal of annexing nearly one-fifth of Ukrainian territory have reached a halfway point.

Photo: Getty Images

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The human cost of Russia’s war

Governor: 2 civilians killed, 8 injured in Donetsk Oblast on Sept. 24. According to Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko, Russian forces killed a civilian in Bakhmut and Krasnohorivka. At least 884 civilians have been killed in Donetsk Oblast thus far. These numbers don’t include people killed in occupied Mariupol and Volnovakha, where thousands have been murdered.

Prosecutor General’s Office: Russia’s war has killed 391 children, injured 773 since February. The highest number of casualties was documented in Donetsk Oblast, where 400 children have been killed or injured, the Prosecutor General’s Office reported on Sept. 25. Russian forces attacked 2,500 educational facilities, completely destroying 289 of them, the statement reads. The numbers do not include casualties in the Russian-occupied territories and areas where hostilities are still ongoing.

Governor: 8 civilians injured in Kharkiv Oblast on Sept. 24. Oleh Syniehubov reported on Sept. 25 that Russian forces shelled several municipalities in Kharkiv Oblast. Seven people were injured near Kupiansk, and one was wounded near Kharkiv after stepping on a mine.

International response

Polish PM: Russia escalates war effort, as Putin’s regime weakens. Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Sept. 24 that Russia is in deep crisis, while the country’s President Vladimir Putin is cornered after the recent defeats in Ukraine’s Kharkiv Oblast.

Zelensky: Ukraine receives NASAMS missiles from US. President Volodymyr Zelensky added, however, that the NASAMS air defense systems were not enough to protect civilian infrastructure.

Minister: Serbia won’t recognize Russian annexation ‘referendums’ in occupied Ukrainian areas. Serbian Foreign Minister Nikola Selakovic said that Serbia, a country considered a close ally of Russia, would comply with international law and the UN Charter. “(The annexation referendums) completely contradict our state and national interests, our policy of dealing with territorial integrity, sovereignty and the principle of inviolability of borders,“ Selakovic said. The sham annexation referendums are being held in Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia oblasts.

Bloomberg: White House warns Russia of ‘catastrophic consequences’ if it uses nukes. U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said that President Joe Biden’s administration had privately communicated with the Kremlin regarding the “decisive” response of the U.S. and other Western allies if Russia uses nuclear weapons. “We have been clear and specific about what that will entail,” Sullivan said.

Israel to treat 20 wounded Ukrainian soldiers. Israeli Ambassador to Ukraine Michael Brodsky reported on Sept. 25 that Israel will accept 20 wounded Ukrainian service members for medical treatment. “The treatment includes prosthetics and rehabilitation,” he said.

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