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October 2, 2022

Russia-Ukraine war live updates: Ukraine declares full control of Lyman in latest setback for Putin | Ukraine

Ukraine declares full control of Lyman

Ukraine is in full control of the eastern logistics hub of Lyman, Kyiv’s most significant battlefield gain in weeks, which a senior official said could provide a staging post for further gains to the east, Reuters reports.

“As of 1230 (0930 GMT), Lyman is fully cleared,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a short video clip on his Telegram channel.

There was no comment from the Russian armed forces on Sunday on the status of the city. The Russian defence ministry said on Saturday it was pulling troops out of the area “in connection with the creation of a threat of encirclement”.

The latest stinging setback for Russian President Vladimir Putin came after he proclaimed the annexation of four regions covering nearly a fifth of Ukraine on Friday, an area that includes Lyman.

Kyiv and the West have condemned the proclamation as an illegitimate farce.

Russian forces captured Lyman from Ukraine in May and had used it as a logistics and transport hub for its operations in the north of the Donetsk region.

Losing it is Russia’s largest battlefield loss since Ukraine’s lightning counteroffensive in the northeastern Kharkiv region last month.

Serhiy Gaidai, governor of the Luhansk region that neighbours Donetsk, said control over Lyman could help Ukraine reclaim lost territory in his region, whose full capture Moscow announced in early July after weeks of grinding advances.

“The liberation of this city in the Donetsk region is one of the key factors for the further de-occupation of the Luhansk region,” Gaidai wrote on the Telegram messaging app on Sunday.

Key events

Summary

It is 2pm in Kyiv, here’s a rundown of the latest news

Ukraine is in full control of the eastern logistics hub of Lyman, Kyiv’s most significant battlefield gain in weeks, which a senior official said could provide a staging post for further gains to the east, Reuters reports.
The Pope has said it is “absurd” that the world is facing a nuclear threat over Ukraine. Calling for a ceasefire “in the name of God”, he appealed to the Russian and Ukrainian presidents to find a way out of the crisis.
The US defence secretary Lloyd Austin has welcomed the capture by Ukrainian forces of Lyman, a key Russian stronghold in eastern Ukraine. Austin said he was “very encouraged” by the Ukrainian victory on Saturday, which is an embarrassment for Vladimir Putin, who declared on Friday that the city – in the Donetsk region – was Russia’s “for ever”.
Germany’s defence minister, Christine Lambrecht, made a surprise visit to Ukraine – her first since Russia’s invasion in February – as Kyiv urged Berlin to send it battle tanks. Lambrecht visited the southern port city of Odesa on Saturday and met her Ukrainian counterpart, Oleksii Reznikov, the German defence ministry said.
Russia has now restricted access to the music-streaming app SoundCloud, Reuters reports. SoundCloud was accused of distributing “false information” about the war by communications watchdog, Roskomnadzor (RKN). It follows existing bans on Facebook and Instagram.
The Nord Stream 2 pipeline is no longer leaking under the Baltic Sea because an equilibrium has been reached between the gas and water pressure, pipeline spokesman Ulrich Lissek told AFP. The British prime minster, Liz Truss, has said the series of explosions that severely damaged Russia’s gas pipelines were an act of sabotage.
Belarus is preparing to receive Russian soldiers and equipment, the Kyiv Independent reports. There are about 1,000 Russian soldiers in the country.
Russia failed to win enough votes for re-election to the ICAO’s governing council. The French representative told the assembly after Saturday’s ballot: “When we have votes in our countries, if we don’t like the result, we don’t ask for another vote.” Russia had a place on the UN aviation agency’s 36-member council as one of the “states of chief importance in air transport”.
The head of Russia’s region of Chechnya said Moscow should consider using a low-yield nuclear weapon in Ukraine after its battlefield defeat in Lyman. Ramzan Kadyrov said in a message on Telegram addressing Russia’s loss of its stronghold: “In my personal opinion, more drastic measures should be taken, right up to the declaration of martial law in the border areas and the use of low-yield nuclear weapons.”
Russian authorities informed the International Atomic Energy Agency that the head of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant was “temporarily detained” for questioning. Ihor Murashov was detained on his way from the Russian-occupied plant – Europe’s largest – to the town of Enerhodar at about 4pm on Friday. Russia is trying to transfer the Zaporizhzhia plant to the Russian energy firm Rosatom, the head of Ukraine’s atomic energy company, Petro Kotin, has told the BBC.
Turkey, which has been at the centre of mediation between the west and Russia, rejected Russia’s annexations in Ukraine, calling the Kremlin’s move on four regions a “grave violation” of international law.

Ukraine declares full control of Lyman

“As of 1230 (0930 GMT), Lyman is fully cleared,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a short video clip on his Telegram channel.

The latest stinging setback for Russian President Vladimir Putin came after he proclaimed the annexation of four regions covering nearly a fifth of Ukraine on Friday, an area that includes Lyman.

Kyiv and the West have condemned the proclamation as an illegitimate farce.

Russian forces captured Lyman from Ukraine in May and had used it as a logistics and transport hub for its operations in the north of the Donetsk region.

Losing it is Russia’s largest battlefield loss since Ukraine’s lightning counteroffensive in the northeastern Kharkiv region last month.

“The liberation of this city in the Donetsk region is one of the key factors for the further de-occupation of the Luhansk region,” Gaidai wrote on the Telegram messaging app on Sunday.

Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins’s pro-Western centrist party has won elections in Latvia while parties supported by the Baltic state’s large Russian-speaking minority have suffered major setbacks, AFP reports.

With almost all ballots from Saturday’s vote counted, Karins’s New Unity party was in first place with 18.94 percent while the Harmony party, traditionally backed by Russian speakers, may not have won enough votes to enter parliament.

Harmony came first in the last election in 2018.

The results showed other centrist parties coming second and third and just one party associated with Russian-speakers, Stability!, scraping past the threshold to enter parliament with 6.75 percent.

The Russian-speaking minority in Latvia makes up around 30 percent of the population.

AFP has an interesting report on Germany’s rush to find home-grown energy and escape reliance on Moscow. Here’s a taste of it:

Germany’s most strategically important building site is at the end of a windswept pier on the North Sea coast, where workers are assembling the country’s first terminal for the import of liquefied natural gas (LNG).

Starting this winter, the rig, close to the port of Wilhelmshaven, will be able to supply the equivalent of 20 percent of the gas that was until recently imported from Russia.

Since its invasion of Ukraine, Moscow has throttled gas supplies to Germany, while the Nord Stream pipelines which carried huge volumes under the Baltic Sea to Europe were damaged last week in what a Danish-Swedish report called “a deliberate act.”

In the search for alternative sources, the German government has splashed billions on five projects like the one in Wilhelmshaven.

Altogether the new fleet should be able to handle around 25 billion cubic metres of gas per year, roughly equivalent to half the capacity of the Nord Stream 1 pipeline.

Lyman is now “fully cleared” of Russian forces, Zelenskiy has declared in a short video on his Telegram channel.

The Pope has said it is “absurd” that the world is facing a nuclear threat over Ukraine, Reuters reports.

Calling for a ceasefire “in the name of God”, he appealed to the Russian and Ukrainian presidents to find a way out of the crisis.

This is Robyn Vinter, taking over the Ukraine blog for a while.

Russian shelling of the Kharkiv region is continuing alongside urgent attempts to demine the area, its governor says.

Governor Oleg Sinegubov said on Telegram that shelling had been particularly heavy in the city of Kupyansk and its surrounding area as well as Vovchansk and the village of Gatishche in Chuguyiv district.

A 71-year-old woman was hospitalised with an injury during the day in Kupyan district, he said the regional centre of emergency medical assistance had reported.

He also said that 704 explosive devices had already been neutralised in the last day.

Mark Hamill at the world premiere of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker in Hollywood. Photograph: Valérie Macon/AFP/Getty Images

Star Wars actor Mark Hamill has said Ukraine needs more drones to fight off the Russian invasion and compared Moscow to the dark side of the Force in the film series.

Hamill, who played Luke Skywalker in the films, was made an ambassador to the United24 project – which Ukraine set up to elicit donations of drones to the Ukrainian army – by President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

He told the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg that he had discussed parallels with the cult films and the current war in Ukraine with Zelenskiy.

“[Zelenskiy] did reference the movies and it’s not hard to understand why,” Hamill said, “I mean, Star Wars was always a fairy tale for children and fairy tales are morality tales of good versus evil, where good is clearly defined, evil is clearly defined and it’s not hard to extrapolate an evil empire with Russia invading a sovereign nation.”

Asked whether the platform would be used to supply lethal technology, he answered: “Ukraine needs drones. They have some drones, but not nearly as many as the Russians.”

Hamill also paid tribute to President Zelenskiy, saying: “I was really fascinated with this man… because he’s been absolutely heroic. And the Ukrainian people have been inspirational. He’s an amazing man.”

Hamill said participating in the project was “a chance to use [the popularity of the films’] for good and I feel a great responsibility to try and do everything I can to further the Ukrainian cause.”

Luke Harding reporting in Kyiv has contrasted Ukraine’s success in Lyman with the propaganda about the state of the war on the streets of Moscow. He writes in The Observer today:

The banner hanging near Red Square was triumphant. It read: “Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Russia! Together for ever!” On Friday Vladimir Putin formally announced the annexation of these Ukrainian territories and celebrated with a victory concert in Moscow. Russia’s president addressed a cheering crowd waving white blue and red tricolours. “Welcome home,” he said. “Russia! Russia!” they replied.

For ever turned out to mean less than 24 hours. As workmen dismantled the stage, put up on the cobbled square outside the Kremlin, Ukrainian troops marched into the eastern city of Lyman, from where Putin’s army had just made an inglorious retreat. At one point Lyman’s liberators even performed a victory dance, hopping cheerfully from side to side along a sandy forest path.

They were, according to the Kremlin’s version of reality, encroaching on Russia’s sovereign territory. In his angry west-bashing speech on Friday, delivered before Russia’s supine government, Putin had declared that Donetsk province which includes Lyman would be officially incorporated into the Russian federation. It was, he suggested, a restoration of historical Russian lands.

You can read more here

In its continued information war, Russia has now restricted access to the music-streaming app SoundCloud, Reuters reports.

SoundCloud was accused of distributing “false information” about what Moscow calls a “special military operation” in Ukraine by communications watchdog, Roskomnadzor (RKN). It follows existing bans on Facebook and Instagram.

“Roskomnadzor restricted access to the SoundCloud service in connection with placement of materials containing false information regarding the nature of the special military operation on the territory of Ukraine,” the Interfax news agency reported on Sunday, citing RKN.

It said the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office had ordered the blocking of service. The ban-worthy information apparently related to warfare methods, including “attacks on civilians, strikes on civilian infrastructure, about numerous civilian casualties at the hands of Russian soldiers”.

September 30, 2022

Russia-Ukraine war live: 23 dead in shelling of civilian convoy near Zaporizhzhia; Putin to announce formal annexations | Ukraine

Ukrainian president condemns ‘terrorist state’ rocket attack

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has posted a response on Telegram to the earlier attack on the convoy in Zaporizhzhia. He wrote:

The terrorist state fires rockets at the civilian population in Zaporizhzhia, Mykolaiv, and Dnipropetrovsk. It strikes Ukrainian regions from rocket launchers and drones. The occupiers fired 16 rockets in one morning in Zaporizhzhia district alone. Only complete terrorists can do this, who should have no place in the civilised world. The enemy rages and seeks revenge for our steadfastness and his failures. It cynically destroys peaceful Ukrainians, because it lost everything human a long time ago. Bloodthirsty scum. You will definitely answer for every lost Ukrainian life.

Key events

Russian-held Lyman ‘semi-encircled’ by Ukrainian forces, says Donetsk self-proclaimed leader

The head of the Moscow-installed administration in east Ukraine’s Donetsk region has admitted that the Russian stronghold of Lyman is “semi-encircled” by the Ukrainian army.

It comes after western analysts said Russian forces faced “imminent defeat” in the key north-eastern city of Lyman as Ukrainian soldiers continue their counteroffensive in the east of the country.

The villages of Yampil and Drobysheve near the Russian-occupied Lyman “are no longer fully controlled” by Russian forces, Denis Pushilin, the Russian-backed leader of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), said in a message posted on Telegram today.

The Ukrainian army “is trying with all its might to blacken this historic event for us”, Pushilin said, as Russian president Vladimir Putin stands poised to formally annex the Donetsk region from Ukraine.

Lyman, a key railway juncture about 100 miles (160km) south-east of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, was captured by Russia in May after an extended battle.

Bellingcat’s Christo Grozev, citing Russian reports, said Ukrainian forces have now surrounded Lyman. The loss of this key city would be a major embarrassment for Vladimir Putin, he writes.

Russian war channels acknowledge niw that Ukraine has now surrounded Liman, a town of strategic military importance in Donbass. The loss of Liman just a day after Putin signed the annexation of “DNR”, which has claimed the city since May this year, will be a major embarrassment.

— Christo Grozev (@christogrozev) September 30, 2022

Ukrainian soldiers have also claimed they have retaken the village of Yampil, while pro-Russian Telegram channels said Russian troops have “withdrawn from Yampil to Lyman”.

On Thursday, the US thinktank the Institute for the Study of War said a possible collapse of the Lyman pocket would allow Ukrainian troops to “threaten Russian positions along the western Luhansk” region.

Hello everyone. It’s Léonie Chao-Fong here again, taking over the live blog from Martin Belam to bring you all the latest developments from the war in Ukraine. Feel free to drop me a message if you have anything to flag, you can reach me on Twitter or via email.

Peter Beaumont

Volodymyr Marchuk, a spokesperson for the governor’s office, explained to the Guardian what had happened:

It’s a logistics hub to allow people go into the temporarily Russian occupied territories. The Russians only accept 150 cars a day so that’s why we created a programme, where people could come register and get their number in line.

So at 7.15 in the morning there were a large number of cars waiting for the turn to cross, mostly people who want to go to and drop off aid to relatives and maybe pick up people who want to leaver on the way back.

They hit that queue with an S-300 missile. There’s no doubt it is a deliberate war crime. They always say they are aiming at a military object and hit something else. But there are no military objects near that site. That’s why there’s no doubt that’s it’s a terrorist act.

Peter Beaumont

The Guardian’s Peter Beaumont reports from Zaporizhzhia, after a civilian convoy of cars was hit by Russian forces this morning:

Even five hours after the attack it remained a scene of utter carnage with broken bodies spread around the site.

Many, it appears, had been standing outside of their vehicles, not far from a registration point with white tents and a desk when the missile flew in exploding some 10 metres from the cars leaving a huge crater.

In one car, a victim sat slumped dead with one hand gripping his steering wheel, the windows blown out.

Another body was slumped on its knees, covered with a blanket next to the luggage the person was pulling a few metres away.

Summary of the day so far …

A civilian convoy of cars heading to pick up relatives trying to flee Russian occupied territory in Ukraine has been hit by Russian forces near the city of Zaporizhzhia, with initial reports saying at least 25 people were killed and 50 people injured. Footage posted on social media showed a horrific scene with dead and injured people lying on a road on the south-eastern outskirts of the city.
The governor of Zaporizhzhia region, Oleksandr Starukh, said in a statement: “The enemy launched an attack on a civilian convoy and the outskirts of the city. People were standing in line to leave for the occupied territory to pick up their relatives and to deliver aid. There are dead and wounded. Emergency services are at the site.
According to locals, 60 cars had gathered on a road in two lines after registering for a convoy that was due to take people back into the Russian-occupied territories in the south, some planning to return to homes in places such as Mariupol, others planning to fetch relatives and bring them to government-occupied territory for fear that Russia will prevent people from leaving. In the hours before the attack, Russia launched strikes on several cities, including the centre of the nearby city of Dnipro.

Ukraine: footage shows aftermath of deadly Russian strike on civilian convoy – video

The attack on the convoy on Friday morning came amid a feared Russian escalation in its war in Ukraine, as the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, prepared to publicly sign annexation orders for four regions.
Putin will sign accession documents at the Kremlin before delivering a speech. A pop concert is also planned on Red Square, where a stage and screens have been set up. The territory Russia controls amounts to about 15{515baef3fee8ea94d67a98a2b336e0215adf67d225b0e21a4f5c9b13e8fbd502} of Ukraine’s total area.
The Kremlin said again on Friday that it would consider attacks against any part of the regions of Ukraine that it is about to annex – Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson – as acts of aggression against Russia itself.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Russia would “de jure” incorporate parts of Ukraine which are not under the control of Russian forces. Of the four regions, Luhansk and Kherson are the only territories that Russia is close to having total control over.

A map of occupied areas of Ukraine

US ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink has reiterated her country’s opposition to Russia’s planned annexations, saying “Russia’s sham ‘referenda’ were a spectacle, an effort to mask a further attempted land grab. We will never recognise Russia’s purported annexation of Ukrainian territory.”
The UN secretary general has warned Russia that annexing Ukrainian regions would mark a “dangerous escalation” that would jeopardise the prospects for peace in the region. António Guterres said any decision to proceed with the annexation of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions “would have no legal value and deserves to be condemned”.
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, warned of a “very harsh” response by Ukraine if Russia went ahead with the annexations.
British prime minister, Liz Truss, has said that the UK will never accept the Russian annexations, and accused Putin of acting in violation of international law with clear disregard for the lives of the Ukrainian people he claims to represent.
A large number of Russian forces in the strategic Donbas town of Lyman were reported to have been encircled in the latest setback in the battlefield for Russia.
Ukrainian forces have secured all of Kupiansk and driven Russian troops from their remaining positions on the east bank of the river that divides the north-eastern Ukrainian city. Most of Kupiansk, a strategic railway junction, was recaptured earlier this month as part of a counteroffensive by Ukrainian troops. AFP reported that those Russian troops who held out on the east bank of the Oskil river have been driven out.
The so-called “People’s militia of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR)” has stated that the first Russian troops from the partial mobilisation have arrived in Donetsk, and are undergoing training.
The Kremlin has reiterated calls for an international investigation into the circumstances of the suspected attack on the Nord Stream pipelines in the Baltic Sea. Without providing any evidence, the head of Moscow’s foreign intelligence service, Sergei Naryshkin said “We have materials that point to a western trace in the organisation and implementation of these terrorist acts.”

That is it from me, Martin Belam, for now. I will be back later on. Léonie Chao-Fong will be with you shortly.

A civilian convoy of cars heading to pick up relatives trying to flee Russian occupied territory in Ukraine was hit earlier this morning by Russian forces near the city of Zaporizhzhia, with initial reports suggesting at least 25 people have been killed and at least 50 wounded.

Footage from the horrific scene shows dead and injured people lying on a road on the south-eastern outskirts of the city.

Please be warned that this video includes graphic images that some viewers may find distressing.

The US ambassador to Ukraine, Bridget Brink, has reiterated her country’s opposition to Russia’s planned annexations. She tweeted:

Russia’s sham “referenda” were a spectacle, an effort to mask a further attempted land grab. We will never recognise Russia’s purported annexation of Ukrainian territory and, as President Joe Biden has said, the United States will support Ukraine for as long as it takes.

Russia’s sham “referenda” were a spectacle, an effort to mask a further attempted land grab. We will never recognize Russia’s purported annexation of Ukrainian territory and, as @POTUS has said, the United States will support Ukraine for as long as it takes. https://t.co/g1NE7NgYgT

— Ambassador Bridget A. Brink (@USAmbKyiv) September 30, 2022

The so-called “People’s militia of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR)” has stated on Telegram that the first Russian troops from the partial mobilisation have arrived in Donetsk. It posted to Telegram:

The first military personnel called up for military service in the partial mobilisation announced in Russia arrived in the zone of the special military operation, on the territory of the DPR. Now they are undergoing an intensive combat training course at the training grounds, which takes into account the experience of the battles of recent months. Residents of the People’s Republic enthusiastically met the approaching forces and thank the President of the Russian Federation for the decision.

Russia, Syria and North Korea are the only UN member states to recognise the DPR as a legitimate authority. Russia is expected to announce the annexation of Donetsk, a territory it does not fully control, into the Russian Federation later today.

Kremlin: Russia will ‘de jure’ incorporate parts of Ukraine it does not control

The Kremlin said again on Friday it would consider attacks against any part of the regions of Ukraine that it is about to annex as acts of aggression against Russia itself, which appears to also include the areas it does not currently control on the ground.

Reuters reports the Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters Russia would “de jure” incorporate parts of Ukraine which are not under the control of Russian forces into Russia itself as part of its move to annex four regions of Ukraine.

Vladimir Putin will sign a decree incorporating occupied Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson into the Russian Federation later today.

Of the four regions, Luhansk and Kherson are the only territories that Russia is close to having total control over. The line of contact between Ukrainian and Russian forces runs through significant parts of Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia, with Ukraine maintaining control of the northern areas of each region.

Map of the occupied areas of Ukraine

The Kremlin has reiterated calls for an international investigation into the circumstances of the suspected attack on the Nord Stream pipelines in the Baltic Sea.

Declining to comment on earlier reports by the head of Russia’s foreign intelligence service that it held unspecified “materials” pointing the finger of blame at the west, Reuters reports the Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said there was a need for a thorough international investigation.

My colleague Peter Beaumont is in Zaporizhzhia, and has just posted this video showing several hundred cars escaping the occupied areas of southern Ukraine.

The head of Moscow’s foreign intelligence service has said Russia has “materials” to show western forces had responsibility for the Nord Stream pipeline incident.

Without providing any evidence, Sergei Naryshkin said “We have materials that point to a western trace in the organisation and implementation of these terrorist acts.”

Reuters notes that Naryshkin’s remarks are the most direct accusation yet against the west from a senior Russian official.

Footage shows aftermath of Russian strike on civilian convoy in Zaporizhzhia – video

Peter Beaumont and Artem Mazhulin are in Zaporizhzhia for the Guardian:

A civilian convoy of cars heading to pick up relatives trying to flee Russian occupied territory in Ukraine has been hit by Russian forces near the city of Zaporizhzhia, with initial reports saying dozens were killed and injured. That casualty figure could not immediately be confirmed.

Footage posted on social media showed a horrific scene with dead and injured people lying on a road on the south-eastern outskirts of the city. In one video, taken from inside a nearby building, a woman can be heard sobbing, saying repeatedly: “Dead people are lying there.”

At least one crater was visible in other images showing cars that had taken the full force of the blast.

At the site of the blast, in a wooded area just outside the city, police and military were clearing the area after discovering another unexploded munition, with the dead and wounded removed to nearby hospitals.

According to locals, about 60 cars had gathered on a road in two lines after registering for a convoy that was due to take people back into the Russian occupied territories in the south, some planning to return to homes in places such as Mariupol, others planning to fetch relatives and bring them to government occupied territory for fear that Russia will prevent people from leaving following Friday’s annexation ceremony.

Police officers and medics work near damaged cars after a Russian rocket attack in Zaporizhzhia. Photograph: Viacheslav Tverdokhlib/AP

Standing on the road outside, Dalina Yakushava, 48, had arrived after the explosion to see if she could register for a convoy.

“This is where people are told to come and register by the authorities to join a convoy. You register online but I came to make sure my permission had been received. I live in Mariupol. We just drove our daughter to Poland but we need to go back because my parents are there. It’s terrible but it is our home.

“There were a lot of cars waiting to leave this morning because no one has been able to go into the occupied areas for the past week.”

Read more of Peter Beaumont and Artem Mazhulin’s report from Zaporizhzhia: Dozens feared dead after Russian strike on civilian convoy near Zaporizhzhia

Ukrainian president condemns ‘terrorist state’ rocket attack

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has posted a response on Telegram to the earlier attack on the convoy in Zaporizhzhia. He wrote:

The terrorist state fires rockets at the civilian population in Zaporizhzhia, Mykolaiv, and Dnipropetrovsk. It strikes Ukrainian regions from rocket launchers and drones. The occupiers fired 16 rockets in one morning in Zaporizhzhia district alone. Only complete terrorists can do this, who should have no place in the civilised world. The enemy rages and seeks revenge for our steadfastness and his failures. It cynically destroys peaceful Ukrainians, because it lost everything human a long time ago. Bloodthirsty scum. You will definitely answer for every lost Ukrainian life.

My colleague Andrew Roth highlights in this map just how much of Ukraine Putin is planning to annex today that he is yet to control. Our Moscow correspondent notes that “under Russia’s amended constitution, no Kremlin leader can cede territories once they are annexed”.

Useful @guardian map showing how much of the territory Putin is “annexing” isn’t even under Russian control. The total territory is about 15{515baef3fee8ea94d67a98a2b336e0215adf67d225b0e21a4f5c9b13e8fbd502} of Ukraine and includes major cities. Under Russia’s amended constitution, no Kremlin leader can cede territories once they are annexed. pic.twitter.com/HVgTGP1QFC

— Andrew Roth (@Andrew__Roth) September 30, 2022

UK PM Liz Truss rejects annexation of Ukrainian regions

The British prime minister, Liz Truss, has said that the UK will never accept the Russian annexation of Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson.

She accused Vladimir Putin of acting in violation of international law with clear disregard for the lives of the Ukrainian people he claims to represent.

Reuters reports she said in a statement that Putin could not be allowed to alter international borders by brute force.

The Ukrainian governor of Zaporizhzhia, Oleksandr Starukh, has declared tomorrow to be a day of mourning in the region following the strike on a convoy this morning that has killed at least 23 people and wounded 28 others.

In a message posted to Telegram, Starukh said:

This morning, the Rashists fired at civilians who were waiting in a civilian humanitarian convoy to leave the regional centre. These people went to their relatives in the occupied territories, brought humanitarian aid. They were supposed to take our fellow citizens and take them to the free part of Ukraine. The occupiers struck defenceless Ukrainians. This is another terrorist attack by a terrorist country. In connection with the tragedy and in order to honour the memory of the dead, 1 October 2022 is declared a day of mourning in the Zaporizhzhia region.

Reuters is carrying a witness report from the scene of the attack on the civilian convoy that happened earlier on Friday.

Jonathan Landay writes for the agency that police and emergency workers had rushed to the scene of the missile strike, the impact of which threw chunks of dirt into the air and sprayed the vehicles with shrapnel. The windows of the vehicles – mostly cars and three vans – were blown out.

The vehicles were packed with the occupants’ belongings, blankets and suitcases. A body leaned from the driver’s seat into the passenger seat of a yellow car, his left hand still clutching the steering wheel.

Reuters reports plastic sheets were draped over the bodies of a woman and young man in a green car in the next car in front. A dead cat lay next to the young man in the rear seat.

Two bodies lay in a white mini-van in front of that car, its windows blown and the sides pitted with shrapnel.

A woman who gave her name to reporters as Nataliya said she and her husband had been visiting their children in Zaporizhzhia.

“We were returning to my mother who is 90 years old. We have been spared. It’s a miracle,” she said, standing with her husband beside their car.

The proxy Russian authorities have already issued a denial that the incident was caused by Russian munitions, instead blaming Ukrainian forces for the attack. The Russian news agency RIA quotes Volodymyr Rogov, one of the pro-Russian leaders imposed on occupied Zaproizhzhia, saying: “Ukrainian militants hit a convoy with dozens of civilian cars queuing.”

Russia has repeatedly denied targeting civilians since its latest invasion of Ukraine began on 24 February, despite the clear evidence of damage to civilian infrastructure and discovery of mass burial sites in areas that had been occupied by Russian forces.

September 28, 2022

Russia-Ukraine war live: Kremlin-backed officials ask Putin to annex regions; EU announces new sanctions on Russia | Ukraine

EU proposes new sanctions package to ‘make Kremlin pay’

The head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has announced a fresh round of proposed sanctions on Russia.

The new package of Russian sanctions is designed “to make the Kremlin pay” for escalating the conflict in Ukraine through mobilisation and “sham referenda that are an illegal attempt to grab land and change international borders by force”, she said.

The proposed eighth sanctions package includes further import bans on Russian products, expected to deprive Moscow of an additional €7bn in revenues.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen — The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen. Photograph: Kenzo Tribouillard/AFP/Getty Images

The EU will also extend export bans on key technology used for the military such as aviation items, electronic components and specific chemical substances. This will “weaken its capacity to modernise” Russia’s military base, she said.

The sanctions package will lay the legal basis for an oil price cap and ban EU citizens from sitting on governing bodies of Russian state-owned companies, she said.

Speaking to reporters, von der Leyen said:

We do not accept the sham referenda and any kind of annexation in Ukraine, and we are determined to make the Kremlin pay for this further escalation.

Russia has escalated the invasion of Ukraine to a new level.

And we are determined to make the Kremlin pay the price for this further escalation.

Today, we are proposing a new package of biting sanctions against Russia ↓
https://t.co/MrirRm1m4l

— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) September 28, 2022

Key events

Britain’s prime minister, Liz Truss, told President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in a phone call that the UK would never recognise Russian attempts to annexe parts of Ukraine, Downing Street said.

In a statement, a No 10 spokesperson said:

The Prime Minister spoke to President Zelenskiy this afternoon to underline the UK’s steadfast support in light of Russia’s sham referendums in Ukraine.

The Prime Minister made clear that the UK would never recognise Russian attempts to annexe sovereign territory. She reiterated that Ukraine could depend on the UK’s support until President Putin was defeated.

President Zelensky updated the Prime Minister on the current military situation and welcomed her strong backing, including at the UN General Assembly last week.

Truss also thanked the Ukrainian president for his work in securing the release of five British nationals held by Russian-backed proxies in eastern Ukraine, the spokesperson continued.

They added:

The leaders also discussed how the UK and Ukraine could work together to secure Ukraine’s gas supplies in the long term. Both agreed to stay in close touch in the coming days and weeks.

Zelenskiy also tweeted about the call and said he expected London’s leadership in response to what he called the “sham referenda” in occupied parts of Ukraine.

Had a phone conversation with 🇬🇧 PM @trussliz. The UK has always been among the leaders in supporting Ukraine. We expect London’s leadership in reaction to Russian sham referenda as well. Defense and financial aid to Ukraine must be enhanced in response.

— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) September 28, 2022

Serbia’s president, Aleksandar Vučić, has said he will not recognise the results of the so-called referendums held in four regions of Ukraine partly occupied by Russian forces.

Speaking to reporters, Vučić said:

Serbia … will not recognise that (referendums) as it adheres to international law, the United Nations Charter and UN resolutions.

Belgrade normally has strong ties with Moscow; Serbia is solely reliant on Russia for its natural gas supplies and has refused to join western sanctions against Russia.

Vučić added:

We are protecting our own territorial integrity and it is in our best interest to protect the territorial integrity of other internationally recognised countries.

Isobel Koshiw

Ukrainian authorities say they have identified five Russian soldiers who allegedly shot at civilian cars in the Kyiv region during the first days of the war.

CCTV footage gathered by Ukrainian investigators shows Russian units shooting at civilian cars along roads just outside Hostomel, a town north-west of Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv.

In one of the clips, a car catches fire after being shot by troops stationed in the forest opposite. The driver of the car died, according to Ihor Klymenko, the head of Ukraine’s national police force.

A damaged car is seen in Hostomel, Kyiv region, Ukraine, in April. Photograph: Future Publishing/Getty Images

Klymenko said the Russian soldiers shot as if they were on “safari”. One of the cars examined as part of the case had 178 bullet holes, he said.

The Russian soldiers are charged with killing five people, and injuring a further six, who were trying to flee Hostomel on 25 February, a day after Russia invaded. A total of 11 people were killed and 14 injured on the stretch of road in question, say Ukraine’s authorities.

Ukraine’s security services alleged in a statement that the charged Russian soldiers had shot at 12 cars over a period of six hours. According to security services, three of the five men identified gave the orders to shoot at the vehicles.

Read the full story here:

Summary of the day so far

It’s just past 6pm in Kyiv. Here’s where we stand:

Moscow stands poised to formally annex Russian-occupied regions following so-called referendums that have already been denounced by the west. The Russian-installed leaders of Ukraine’s Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions have formally asked President Vladimir Putin to annex the occupied territories into Russia. Once annexed, Russia’s leadership has said it will consider attacks on the Russian-controlled areas as a direct attack on Russia.
Denis Pushilin and Leonid Pasechnik, the pro-Russian leaders of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) and Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR) have headed to Moscow, according to Russian state media. The pair have gone there to “complete the procedure for joining Russia”, Russian news agency RIA Novosti reported.
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, says Ukraine will “defend” its citizens in Russian-occupied regions following what he described as ‘“an imitation of referendums”. “We will act to protect our people: both in the Kherson region, in the Zaporizhzhia region, in the Donbas, in the currently occupied areas of the Kharkiv region, and in the Crimea,” he said in a video posted on Telegram.
Ukraine’s foreign ministry has said the “propaganda show called ‘referendums’ in the temporarily occupied territories” is “yet another Russian crime”. Ukraine and its allies “condemn such actions of Russia and consider them null and worthless”, it said in a statement which also called on the west to increase pressure on Russia, including by imposing new sanctions, and significantly increase military aid to Ukraine.
The head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has announced a fresh round of proposed sanctions on Russia designed “to make the Kremlin pay” for escalating the conflict in Ukraine. The proposed eighth package of “biting” sanctions includes further import bans on Russian products, expected to deprive Moscow of an additional €7bn in revenues, as well as extend export bans on key technology used for the military.
The EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, also denounced the holding of “illegal referenda and their falsified outcome” in occupied parts of Ukraine. He also promised “a robust and united response” from the EU over attacks on energy infrastructure, describing damage to the Nord Stream 1 and 2 as “not a coincidence and affect us all”.
Israel has strengthened its hitherto cautious stance on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, saying it will “not accept the results of the referendum in the eastern districts” of the occupied country. Tuesday night’s statement from the Israeli foreign ministry, which also said it “recognises the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine”, has been received as an unprecedented show of support for Ukraine, and a rare Israeli rebuke to Moscow.
Gas prices have risen on fears that Russia could halt supplies to Europe through Ukraine, adding to turmoil caused by damage to the Nord Stream pipelines under the Baltic Sea. The statement came after the discovery of leaks on the two Nord Stream gas pipelines under the Baltic Sea near the Danish island of Bornholm in a suspected act of sabotage, although exactly by whom or why remains unconfirmed.
European leaders have said sabotage is the most likely cause of leaks in two Nord Stream gas pipelines between Russia and Europe, after seismologists reported explosions around the Baltic Sea lines. German authorities reportedly fear the Nord Stream 1 could become “unusable forever” if leaks in the two lines are not repaired quickly. Sweden’s national police force has opened an investigation into leaks from the Nord Stream pipeline after authorities in Stockholm suggested the “blasts” were “probably a deliberate act”. Norway’s foreign minister Anniken Huitfeldt said “the explosions and gas leakage in the Baltic Sea are a matter of deep concern to the Norwegian government”.
The Kremlin dismissed claims that Russia was behind the attack on the Nord Stream gas pipeline, describing them as “quite predictable and also predictably stupid”. In a call with reporters, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the incident needed to be investigated and that the timings for the repair of the damaged pipelines were not clear.
Authorities in the Russian region of North Ossetia, which borders Georgia, are reportedly putting in place travel restrictions to prevent people fleeing to Georgia to avoid conscription. The report by the Moscow Times cites the head of the region, Sergey Menyaylo, as saying that more than 20,000 people had entered Georgia through the section of the border in just the last two days alone.
The US embassy in Moscow has issued a security alert and urged American citizens to leave Russia immediately. In a statement on its website, the US embassy warned that dual Russian-US nationals may be called up as part of the Russian government’s mobilisation. US citizens “should not travel to Russia” and that those residing or travelling in the country “should depart Russia immediately while limited commercial travel options remain”, it said.
The governments of Bulgaria and Poland are urging any citizens that remain in the Russian Federation to leave urgently. That may be in anticipation of border crossings becoming much more difficult as routes out close, and more people flee forced mobilisation in Russia.
Russian authorities say they are establishing checkpoints at some of the country’s borders to forcibly mobilise Russian men who are seeking to avoid forced mobilisation by fleeing the country. Social media footage shows Russian military vehicles moving toward the border, reportedly to establish the mobilisation checkpoint.
Russia is mounting a more substantive defence than previously” as Ukraine attempts to press forward “on at least two axes east”, according to the UK’s Ministry of Defence. Heavy fighting also continues in the Kherson region where the Russian force on the right bank of the Dnipro remains vulnerable, it said in its latest intelligence update.

Hello everyone, it’s Léonie Chao-Fong still with you today with all the latest news from Ukraine. Feel free to get in touch on Twitter or via email.

EU proposes new sanctions package to ‘make Kremlin pay’

The head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has announced a fresh round of proposed sanctions on Russia.

The proposed eighth sanctions package includes further import bans on Russian products, expected to deprive Moscow of an additional €7bn in revenues.

The sanctions package will lay the legal basis for an oil price cap and ban EU citizens from sitting on governing bodies of Russian state-owned companies, she said.

Speaking to reporters, von der Leyen said:

We do not accept the sham referenda and any kind of annexation in Ukraine, and we are determined to make the Kremlin pay for this further escalation.

Russia has escalated the invasion of Ukraine to a new level.

And we are determined to make the Kremlin pay the price for this further escalation.

Today, we are proposing a new package of biting sanctions against Russia ↓
https://t.co/MrirRm1m4l

— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) September 28, 2022

Russia intends to call a UN security council meeting over damage to two Nord Stream undersea gas pipelines, according to the Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova.

Russians who are managing to exit the country at the border with Georgia are being greeted by anti-war protesters with Ukrainian flags and protest banners.

Georgian activists protest against Russians crossing the Kazbegi / Verkhnii Lars border point between the two countries. Photograph: Vano Shlamov/AFP/Getty Images

Georgian activists with a sign in Ukrainian colours which reads ‘Glory to Ukraine! Glory to heroes!’ at the border of Georgia and Russia. Photograph: Vano Shlamov/AFP/Getty Images

Earlier, ITV news editor Emma Burrows, who has been at the border, tweeted a picture of one of the banners, which reads: “In surveys, most of you support the war. So why now are you leaving?”

Near the Georgia border crossing into Russia, protesters are playing the Ukrainian national anthem and trolling the Russians who are leaving.

‘In surveys, most of you support the war. So why now are you leaving?’ reads the sign carried by the man draped in the Ukraine flag. pic.twitter.com/909lrQeFxx

— Emma Burrows (@EJ_Burrows) September 28, 2022

The German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, told Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in a call on Wednesday that Germany would never accept the results of “sham” referendums on joining Russia in occupied regions of Ukraine, a German government spokesperson said.

Scholz also said Germany’s financial, political and humanitarian support for Ukraine would not waver and it would continue to back Ukraine in defending its sovereignty and territorial integrity, including weapons deliveries, Reuters reports the spokesperson said in a statement.

North Ossetia introduces travel restrictions to stop people fleeing conscription entering Georgia – reports

The Moscow Times is reporting that authorities in the Russian region of North Ossetia, which borders Georgia, is putting in place travel restrictions to prevent people fleeing to Georgia to avoid conscription.

It cites a Telegram message from head of the region, Sergey Menyaylo. The message says:

Today I signed a decree on the introduction of a high alert regime on the territory of North Ossetia. The decree restricts the entry of passenger vehicles into the territory of the republic. The decision to introduce a high alert regime is a forced temporary measure: the situation cannot be left to chance.

A huge number of transit vehicles, many kilometres of queues at the Verkhnii Lars checkpoint. In the last two days alone, more than 20,000 people have entered Georgia through our section of the border. We will not be physically able to ensure order and security if this flow continues to grow.

At the entrances to the republic and at the checkpoint, mobile task forces are organised – they will check those entering the republic. If a citizen is subject to conscription, in accordance with the federal list, he will be handed a summons on the spot. This will apply to citizens who are registered with the military not only in North Ossetia, but also in other regions of the country.

Persons subject to mobilisation will be explained what consequences, in accordance with the law of the Russian Federation, await them in case of evasion from military service. This work will be carried out in strict accordance with the criteria prescribed in the decree of the president of the country.

Bethan McKernan

Israel has strengthened its hitherto cautious stance on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, saying it will “not accept the results of the referendum in the eastern districts” of the occupied country and that it “recognises the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine”.

Israel, which relies on Moscow to facilitate its operations against Iranian-linked actors in Syria, has refrained from providing military assistance to Kyiv. It has instead focused on providing humanitarian aid and absorbing the thousands of Ukrainian and Russian citizens with Jewish ancestry who have emigrated to Israel since the war broke out in February.

Tuesday night’s statement from the Israeli foreign ministry has been received as an unprecedented show of support for Ukraine, and a rare Israeli rebuke to Moscow.

Israel is also thought to be displeased by Russia’s new deployment of Iranian armed drones.

Some Iranian-made drones were on Tuesday fired towards the central Ukrainian city of Uman, one of the most important pilgrimage centres in Hasidic Judaism.

Despite pleas from officials to stay away from the conflict zone, this week thousands of Israeli citizens travelled to Uman for the town’s Rosh Hashanah celebrations, which are often described as an all-male, Ultra Orthodox version of Nevada’s Burning Man festival.

The Moscow-installed leader of the occupied part of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region has appealed to President Vladimir Putin to incorporate the region into Russia, state-owned media reported.

Yevgeny Balitsky, the head of the pro-Russia administration in the region, joined calls by the Russian-installed leaders of Ukraine’s Luhansk and Kherson regions to annex the occupied territories.

German authorities fear that the Nord Stream 1 could become “unusable forever” after major leaks into the Baltic Sea, according to reports.

Tagesspiegel has cited government sources as warning that large volumes of salt water will flow into the pipelines and cause corrosion if leaks in the two lines are not repaired quickly.

The paper writes that due to the complexity of the attack, experts and those in government circles believe that it could only be carried out by a state actor.

Germany’s defence minister, Christine Lambrecht has said the country’s navy is contributing to the investigation into the leaks, adding that the situation must be clarified and those responsible must be identified quickly.

In a statement, Lambrecht said:

The presumed sabotage of the Baltic Sea pipelines is yet another reminder that we are dependent on critical infrastructure, also underwater.

Russia’s defence ministry said training for newly mobilised reservists has started across the country, including the Rostov region on the Ukrainian border and the Crimean peninsula seized from Ukraine in 2014.

Training has also begun in the Kaliningrad exclave, which borders Nato members Poland and Lithuania, it said.

Around 2,000 reservists had already received weapons in Crimea, it said.

In a statement, the ministry said:

Citizens called up from the reserve are restoring their skills in the operation and maintenance of weapons, and military and special equipment.

Courses had been also held to improve firing skills and prepare military personnel for “confident actions on the battlefield”, it added.