Ukraine-Russia war live: More than 1,000 people evacuated from Krasnodar amid Kyiv’s drone barrage
Russia was forced to down 18 Ukrainian drones fired at Krasnodar overnight, authorities said
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More than 1,000 people have been evacuated from Krasnodar, Russia, as Ukraine launched dozens of drones over the border.
Russia evacuated 1,200 residents from the region as Vladimir Putin’s troops were forced to down 18 Ukrainian drones overnight, Krasnodar’s governor said.
It comes as Moscow fired 108 deadly glide bombs - KABs - at Ukrainian positions on Friday, Kyiv authorities said.
They are old-fashioned “iron” aerial bombs of the sort that were dropped by bombers during the Second World War.
In Kryvyi Rih, central Ukraine, a 12-year-old boy was killed alongside two elderly women after a separate Russian overnight missile attack.
“Again, a terrifying enemy attack on Kryvyi Rih. In the middle of the night, when the city slept,” the city’s governor Serhiy Lysak said.
The two women killed in the attack were 75 and 79. Mr Lysak also said two buildings were destroyed and 20 more were damaged.
It comes after leaked documents revealed more than 70,000 Russian soldiers have died since the invasion began in February 2022.
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Ukraine bans Telegram messenger app on state-issued devices because of Russian security threat
Ukraine has banned government officials, military personnel and other defense and critical infrastructure workers from installing the popular Telegram messaging app on state-issued devices.
Ukraine bans Telegram messenger app on state-issued devices because of Russian security threat
Ukraine has banned government officials, military personnel and other defense and critical infrastructure workers from installing the popular Telegram messaging app on state-issued devices
US imposes new sanctions related to Russia and North Korea
The United States has imposed sanctions on a network of five groups and one person for facilitating payments between Russia and North Korea, aimed at supporting Russia’s war in Ukraine and North Korea’s weapons programmes, the US Treasury department said.
“Today’s action holds accountable parties that have assisted the DPRK (Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea) and Russian sanctions evasion,” the Treasury said in a statement.
It added that the move also indicated the US’s commitment to disrupting networks “that facilitate the funding of the DPRK’s unlawful weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and ballistic missile programmes and support Russia’s illegal war against Ukraine”.
“The growing financial cooperation between Russia and (North Korea) directly threatens international security and the global financial system,” US state department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement.
“Russia has become increasingly dependent on the DPRK as it faces mounting battlefield losses and increasing international isolation.”
Russia warns West and Ukraine of 'disastrous consequences' if Kyiv moves against Belarus
Russia warned the West and Ukraine on Friday of "disastrous consequences" if Kyiv moved against close Russian ally Belarus, making clear it would intervene to defend a country where it has deployed tactical nuclear weapons.
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters that Moscow was concerned by what she called increasingly "provocative" activity on the border with Belarus, saying she did not rule out that there could be attempts to escalate in the region.
Days after Ukraine's surprise Aug. 6 incursion into Russia's Kursk region, Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko - a loyal ally of President Vladimir Putin - suggested, without providing evidence, that Kyiv may have ideas about attacking Belarus.
Minsk, which has accused Ukrainian drones of violating its airspace, later announced it was sending extra troops to its border with Ukraine, though Kyiv said it had seen no major changes in the border area.
"We take due note of the information received about the intensification of the activities of Ukrainian forces in the border zone," said Zakharova.
"We see these facts ourselves and are aware of constant attempts from the Ukrainian side to use drones and to send terrorists into the republic," she added.
Ukraine's foreign ministry said last month that the country "has never taken and is not going to take any unfriendly actions against the Belarusian people".
Russia anticipated Kursk incursion for months — report
Russia’s military command had anticipated Ukraine’s incursion into the Kursk region and had been planning to prevent it for months, according to documents reportedly seized by the Ukrainian army from abandoned Russian positions, The Guardian reported.
These documents, the outlet reported, revealed concerns about troop morale, particularly after a soldier’s suicide who had been in a “prolonged state of depression due to his service in the Russian army”. Instructions were given to ensure soldiers consume state media to maintain morale.
The documents also reportedly outlined various warnings about potential Ukrainian attacks and the need for increased training and defensive preparations.
The documents came from units of Russia’s 488th Guards Motorised Rifle Regiment, specifically the second company of its 17th Battalion.
More than 70,000 Russian military personnel killed in Ukraine
More than 70,000 Russian military personnel have died in Ukraine, with volunteers making up the largest group of casualties since the 2022 invasion for the first time, accounting for about 20 per cent of deaths.
Among the casualties, 13,781 were volunteers — making up the largest chunk of casualties for the first time since the war began, according to data from BBC Russian and the independent website Mediazona.
For much of the first year of the conflict former prisoners made up the highest proportion of Russian casualties, but they now account for 19 per cent of all confirmed deaths. Citizens conscripted into joining the army – mobilised soldiers – account for 13 per cent.
Volunteers typically came from poorer parts of Russia and joined for better pay and benefits, often without realising their contracts were indefinite. The BBC noted that most of the volunteers seem to have signed up of their own free will, though there are reports from some in Chechnya who have described coercion and intimidation to join.
The Russian military is deploying these volunteers to the most challenging frontlines, contributing to high casualty rates, the outlet reported.
Putin ally warns of nuclear war if Kyiv uses long-range missiles
A senior Russian lawmaker, Vyacheslav Volodin, warned that if Ukraine were to strike deep into Russian territory using Western missiles, it could trigger a global conflict involving nuclear weapons.
He stated that Russia would respond forcefully with more powerful weapons. “Russia will give a tough response using more powerful weapons,” the speaker of Russia’s Duma, the lower house of parliament said.
His remarks followed a European Parliament vote supporting Ukraine’s ability to target Russian sites with Western weapons.
Mr Volodin emphasised the historical sacrifices of the Soviet Union in World War II, urging Europeans to recognise the speed at which Russia could retaliate with its RS-28 Sarmat missile, which could reach Strasbourg in just over three minutes.
Mapped: Ukraine’s incursion into the Russian Kursk region explained
Need a reminder on the Ukraine’s Kursk incursion? Here is an explainer piece.
Mapped: Ukraine’s incursion into the Russian Kursk region explained
Ukraine’s attack into Kursk has left Vladimir Putin’s forces scrambling
US says it expressed concern to China about signs of overcapacity, Russia support
US officials at an economic working group meeting in Beijing expressed concern to their Chinese counterparts about signs of increasing overcapacity in some sectors of China’s economy, the US Treasury Department said on Friday.
They also discussed concerns over Chinese firms’ support for the Russian war in Ukraine, the department said in a statement. The two sides met on Sept 19 and 20.
Russian recruitment ambitions hampered by challenges, including heavy losses
On 16 September, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree to increase the size of the Russian military with an additional 180,000 personnel to 1.5 million in total coming into effect from December 2024.
But despite the stated intent of Russia to expand its force, it is likely that this ambition will be hampered by continued heavy losses sustained in the war against Ukraine, in addition to recruitment challenges, the British Ministry of Defense has argued in its latest intelligence update.
61 out of 70 Russian attack drones destroyed by Ukraine
Ukraine’s forces destroyed 61 out of 70 Russian attack drones and one out of four missiles launched overnight, Ukraine’s air force said on Friday.
“The air defence system operated in Dnipropetrovsk, Kyiv, Vinnytsia, Cherkasy, Kirovohrad, Sumy, Poltava, Ivano-Frankivsk, Lviv, Khmelnytsky, Mykolaiv, Odesa and Kherson regions,” it said on the Telegram messenger.
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