Ukraine calls on the West to increase military aid as authorities in four Moscow-held regions declare victory in annexation votes, with the conflict entering its 217th day.
Ukraine and its allies have denounced the Moscow-backed referendums as a sham, saying the West would never recognise the results of the ballots, which have dramatically ratcheted up the stakes of the seven-month conflict. (AA)
Wednesday, September 28, 2022
Pro-Kremlin leaders of Ukraine’s Luhansk, Kherson ask Putin to annex regions
Pro-Moscow leaders of Ukraine's Luhansk and Kherson regions have called on President Vladimir Putin to formally annex the territories into Russia, claiming residents had backed the move in a referendum.
The Kremlin-backed leader of the breakaway Luhansk region, Leonid Pasechnik, made the appeal to Putin on Wednesday, claiming residents there had been under attack for eight years by Ukraine's army.
His announcement was quickly followed by a similar appeal from Vladimir Saldo, the Moscow-backed leader of Ukraine's southern Kherson region, which was captured by Russia after the start of Moscow's military campaign on February 24.Kremlin says ‘absurd’ to accuse Russia of Nord Stream gas leaks
The Kremlin has said it is "stupid and absurd" to conclude that Russia was behind gas leaks on the Nord Stream pipelines to Europe, deemed to be a "deliberate act" by the EU.
"It's quite predictable and also predictably stupid to give voice to these kinds of narratives — predictably stupid and absurd," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Wednesday after Ukraine said the leaks were a "terrorist attack" by Moscow.
Kremlin: Offensive to continue at least until all Donetsk region comes under controlThe Kremlin has said its "special military operation" in Ukraine must continue until Russia takes full control of east Ukraine's Donetsk region.
In a call with reporters, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that the military campaign in Ukraine would continue "at a minimum" until the "liberation" of the "Donetsk People's Republic", referring to the region's Russian-backed administration.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg attributes the leaks on the NordStream pipelines to acts of sabotage pic.twitter.com/Ey6YRfUfDF
— TRT World Now (@TRTWorldNow) September 28, 2022
New Russian recruits train in Crimea and near Ukrainian border
Moscow has said training for newly mobilised reservists has started across Russia, in places including the Rostov region on the Ukrainian border and the Crimean peninsula seized from Ukraine in 2014.
The Defence Ministry said on its Telegram channel on Wednesday that training had also begun in the Kaliningrad exclave, which borders NATO members Poland and Lithuania.
In Rostov, where Russian forces massed before attacking Ukraine on February 24, the ministry said all personnel had already been "provided with the necessary clothing, received weapons and started firing training".
One or two weeks before Nord Stream leaks can be inspected: Denmark
It could take up to two weeks before the unexplained gas leaks on the Nord Stream pipelines in the Baltic Sea can be inspected, the Danish defence minister has said.
Due to the pressure inside the pipes and the amount of gas leaking "the reality is that it can easily take one or two weeks for the area to calm down enough to actually see what has happened," Defence Minister Morten Bodskov told reporters on Wednesday on the sidelines of a meeting with NATO's secretary general in Brussels.
"It is a very large blast that has taken place, therefore it will take time before we can get down there," the minister said.
Russian strikes cut power in much of Ukraine’s Kharkiv
Russia fired a salvo of missiles at Ukraine's second city Kharkiv overnight, officials said on Wednesday, hitting a railway yard and knocking out power to more than 18,000 households.
Kharkiv governor Oleg Synegubov said on Wednesday Russian forces had fired S-300 missiles, an anti-aircraft weapon now often re-purposed to hit civilian targets in Ukrainian cities.
No casualties were reported, but the regional energy company said 18,500 customers in the Shevchenkivsky, Kholodnogirsky and Novobavarsky districts of the city had lost electricity.
Opposition says 'political suicide' if Belarus joins fighting
Exiled Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya has said President Alexander Lukashenko would commit "political suicide" if he involved Belarus's military in the fighting in neighbouring Ukraine.
Tikhanovskaya claimed victory in Belarus's contested 2020 presidential election but now lives in exile in Lithuania after Lukashenko launched a brutal crackdown on the opposition.
"If he will make our army participate (in Ukraine) it will be political suicide for him," she told AFP news agency before a speech to the annual conference of Britain's main opposition Labour party, in Liverpool, northwest England. "Even those people who are for this regime (and) allies of Lukashenko, they are against the war in Ukraine."Russian defence ministry says Ukrainian offensive on Lyman in Donetsk failed
Russia's Defence Ministry has said that a Ukrainian offensive on the Russian-held town of Lyman in Donetsk region has failed, with 70 Ukrainian soldiers killed.
Reuters could not verify the battlefield report.
Lyman, which had a population of around 20,000 before Russia ordered troops into Ukraine on Febryary 24, has been at the centre of fighting since Ukraine's lightning counteroffensive earlier this month. In recent days, both Ukrainian and Russian analysts have suggested that Kiev's forces are close to encircling the town.
Ukraine says it will 'never agree to Russian ultimatums'
Ukraine has said Russia-organised votes in four Ukrainian regions on becoming part of Russia were "null and worthless", and that Kiev will press on with efforts to free Ukrainian territory occupied by Russian forces.
Urging its international partners to impose tough new sanctions on Moscow and provide Kiev with more military aid, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Ukraine would never agree to Russian ultimatums.
Describing the "referendums" organised by Russia as a sham, it said they had "nothing to do with expression of will" and had no implications for Ukraine’s "administrative-territorial system and internationally recognised borders."
Forcing people in these territories (where separatist votes were held) to fill out some papers at the barrel of a gun is yet another Russian crime in the course of its aggression against Ukraine
Occupied Ukrainian regions to ask Putin to annex them
Occupied Ukrainian regions to ask Putin to annex them
Russian-backed officials in occupied regions of Ukraine have said they will ask President Vladimir Putin to incorporate them into Russian Federation, after claiming that their residents overwhelmingly supported such a move in votes that the West views as illegitimate.
Pro-Moscow officials in the eastern Luhansk region and the partially occupied southern region of Zaporizhzhia said they will make the request on Wednesday. The Russian-backed administration of the neighbouring occupied Kherson region said such a request to Putin will be made “in the coming days."
EU slams 'falsified outcome' of votes in Ukraine
The EU slammed "illegal" annexation votes Russia held in four occupied regions of Ukraine and their "falsified" results, the bloc's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said.
"EU denounces holding of illegal 'referenda' and their falsified outcome," Borrell said on Twitter.
EU denounces holding of illegal “referenda” and their falsified outcome.
— Josep Borrell Fontelles (@JosepBorrellF) September 28, 2022
This is another violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty + territorial integrity, amidst systematic abuses of human rights.
We commend the courage of Ukrainians, who continue to oppose & resist Russian invasion.
EU sees Nord Stream pipeline leaks as ‘deliberate act’
The EU considers leaks from two Russia-Germany undersea gas pipelines this week "are not a coincidence", with indications they were "a deliberate act", the bloc's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has said.
Expressing "deep concern" over the Nord Stream 1 and 2 leaks and calling for an investigation, Borrell said in a statement that "all available information indicates those leaks are the result of a deliberate act".
Canada to impose new sanctions on Russia over ‘sham’ referendums in Ukraine
Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he intends to impose new sanctions over Russia's "sham" referendums in occupied regions of Ukraine.
"Canada does not and will not ever recognise the results of these sham referendums or Russia's attempted illegal annexation of Ukrainian territories," Trudeau said in a statement.
European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen warns of the "strongest possible response" if active EU energy infrastructure is attacked pic.twitter.com/5e7ZIj7xGd
— TRT World Now (@TRTWorldNow) September 28, 2022
Ukraine conflict hammers growth in ex-Soviet bloc: EBRD bank
Rocketing inflation and dwindling gas supplies fuelled by Russia's attack against Ukraine will hammer growth in the ex-Soviet bloc next year, Europe's development bank forecasts.
The bank's investment zone is set for growth of three percent next year. But the EBRD had previously forecast a stronger expansion of 4.7 percent for its region that includes nations ranging from Albania to Poland and Morocco.
The bank remains mindful that many EBRD nations are "highly" dependent on gas for their energy needs.
Negative factors related t o high energy prices, the Ukraine war, inflation and the anticipated slowdown in western Europe, make the prospects for next year bleaker.
Italy’s Meloni tells Ukraine it can count on her
Nationalist leader Giorgia Meloni, set to become Italy's next prime minister, has pledged her full support for Kiev after receiving congratulations from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for her election victory.
In a tweet late on Tuesday, a day after Meloni and her right-wing allies won a commanding parliamentary majority, Zelenskyy said he was looking forward to "fruitful cooperation with the new government".
Meloni replied swiftly. "Dear Zelenskyy, you know that you can count on our loyal support for the cause of freedom of Ukrainian people."
Congratulazioni a @GiorgiaMeloni e al suo partito per la vittoria alle elezioni. Apprezziamo il sostegno costante dell’Italia all'Ucraina nella lotta contro l'aggressione russa. Contiamo su una proficua collaborazione con il nuovo governo italiano.
— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) September 27, 2022
US readies $1.1B new arms package for Ukraine
The United States is preparing a new $1.1 billion arms package for Ukraine's battle with Russia that will be announced in coming days, US officials have said on condition of anonymity.
The package will include HIMARS launcher systems, accompanying munitions, various types of counter-drone systems and radar systems, along with spares, training and technical support, a source briefed on the plan said.
It is expected to use funds from the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative appropriated by Congress to allow the Biden administration to procure weapons from industry rather than from existing US weapons stocks.
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