Ukraine-Russia war live: Frontline ‘very, very difficult’, says Zelensky as Putin issues new conscription order
Russia is ramping up its military recruitment before ground conditions deteriorate
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Volodymyr Zelensky has warned the situation on the battlefield against Russia is “very, very difficult” as Vladimir Putin’s invasion enters its third autumn.
“Reports on each of our frontline sectors, our capabilities, our future capabilities and our specific tasks: The situation is very, very difficult,” he said in his nightly video address.
“Everything that can be done this autumn, everything that we can achieve must be achieved,” he said.
Russia is ramping up its military recruitment before ground conditions deteriorate with the arrival of winter, ordering the conscription of 133,000 new servicemen in an autumn draft campaign that starts today.
That figure is on top of the additional 180,000 active servicemen Putin ordered in an expansion of the regular Russian army last month.
Meanwhile, outgoing Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg has said the alliance’s members should not be deterred from giving more military aid to Ukraine by “reckless Russian nuclear rhetoric”.
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Ukrainian citizens in occupied areas won’t be prosecuted for holding Russian passports
Ukrainian citizens in the occupied territories who were forced to obtain Russian passports will not be prosecuted, the Ministry of Justice has confirmed.
The Ministry said in a statement that depriving a person of choice is a common tactic used by Russia to “influence a person’s behaviour”, so they act not of free will but out of “fear of repression or the imposition of illegal restrictions”.
It added: “One example is the forced passportisation in the temporarily occupied territories (TOT) of Ukraine, which is one of the numerous proofs of the violation of citizens’ rights.”
Such documents have no legal force and aren’t recognised anywhere other than the occupied territories, the ministry said.
It added that Russia’s forced passportisation is “illegal” and “contradicts the principles and norms of international law”.
What to know from the UN: China, Russia have their say, and a frog metaphor makes a cameo
China and Russia got their turns at the U.N. General Assembly podium on Saturday, but — per usual — their top leaders didn't speak. Instead, they turned to their foreign ministers, Wang Yi and Sergey Lavrov.
Lavrov, meanwhile, waded into the topic of nukes three days after Russian President Vladimir Putin aired a shift in his country’s nuclear doctrine, “I’m not going to talk here about the senselessness and the danger of the very idea of trying to fight to victory with a nuclear power, which is what Russia is,” he said.
Read the full report byJennifer Peltz and Michael Weissenstein here:
What to know from the UN: China, Russia have their say, and a frog metaphor makes a cameo
China and Russia got their turns at the U.N. General Assembly podium on Saturday, but — per usual — their top leaders didn't speak. Instead, they turned to their foreign ministers, WANG YI and SERGEY LAVROV.
Russia formalising new nuclear doctrine that lowers threshold, says Kremlin
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov says amendments to Russia’s nuclear doctrine have been prepared and are about to be formalised.
“The amendments have been prepared, and will now be formalised,” Mr Peskov told a Russian state TV reporter yesterday.
Last week, president Vladimir Putin warned the West that under proposed changes to the doctrine Russia could use nuclear arms if it was struck with conventional missiles and would consider any assault on it supported by a nuclear power to be a joint attack.
Mr Peskov cited the international situation, escalating tensions near Russia’s borders and the growing proximity of Nato infrastructure to them, and what he called the deeper involvement of Western nuclear powers’ in the Ukraine war on Kyiv’s side, as the backdrop for the changes to the doctrine.
He did not mention Russia’s arms imports from Iran and North Korea, including drones and ballistic missiles, which are widely reported to have been used to strike Ukrainian cities.
US must change approach to Russia, government agency says
A bipartisan committee which promotes human rights and democracy in post-Soviet states is urging the US to adjust its stance on Russia.
The Helsinki Commission, a US government agency, is calling for the US to officially recognise Moscow as a “persistent” threat to global security, and end its port-Cold War approach to the country.
A report issued by the commission and obtained by The Hill before its release has urged the US to adopt an approach more similar to its recent approach to China.
One part of the proposed strategy includes “massive” military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine in order to guarantee its victory in war, The Kyiv Independent reports.
It also calls for the US to allow Ukraine’s forces to strike deep inside Russia with American weapons - one of the key debates surrounding military aid for Ukraine.
The report said the US should be reasoned in its approach to the Russian nuclear threat, stating that while it “cannot simply be dismissed”, the US “can’t let fear dominate how we think about this kind of stuff”.
In pictures: Kyiv air defences strike down Russian drone attacks
More on Russia’s Sunday night attacks on Kyiv
More on Russia’s Sunday night attacks on KyivA large-scale Russian drone attack on Kyiv was successfully defended by the capital city’s defence systems.
The attack caused fires and damage to a residential building but no casualties were reported, according to Ruslan Kravchenko, head of the military administration in the Kyiv region.
Authorities said every drone which attacked Kyiv was shot down, according to Serhii Popko, the head of the city’s military administration.
Kravchenko said: “The enemy assets have been destroyed. There were no casualties. There were no hits to critical or residential infrastructure.
Wreckage from the downed drones was found in six districts of the Kyiv region. Grass and rubble caught fire due to the fall of the wreckage.
The fire in a residential building was contained by firefighters, police in the district said.
Ukraine’s new foreign minister visits Hungary
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha visited Budapest on Monday at the request of president Zelensky.
Syhbiha held talks with his Hungarian counterpart Péter Szijjártó as Ukraine seeks to strengthen relations with its neighbour on the south west border.
The foreign minister, who replaced former foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba earlier this month, is continuing his regional tour after he visited Romania earlier this month.
The foreign ministry’s press office said: “Key topics for discussion will include the development of good neighbourly relations, the implementation of joint projects, particularly in the areas of economy and border infrastructure, the protection of national minorities’ rights, advancing Ukraine’s accession to the EU and NATO and the Peace Formula as a path to a just end to Russian aggression.”
Kyiv defends several waves of overnight drone attacks on Sunday
Kyiv went through multiple waves of drone attacks over Sunday night, the city’s authorities said.
An air raid alert was in place in the capital from 1am until just after 6am this morning, as Ukrainian air defense systems battled the drones.
Vitalii Klitschlo, the mayor of Kyiv, warned residents shortly before 5am to “stay in shelters” due to a wave of drones “over and near the capital”, The Kyiv Independent reported.
There have been no casualties or damage to the city reported.
Ukraine’s Air Force said Russian forces launched 73 Shahed-type drones across Ukraine overnight, with 67 intercepted.
Serhii Popko, head of the Kyiv City Military Administration, said: “All Russian attack drones that threatened Kyiv were neutralized.” It is not clear how many drones attacked Kyiv.
Far-right party against Ukraine aid wins Austria election
The Freedom Party (FPÖ) in Austria won a momentous general election yesterday.
Led by Herbert Kickl, the far-right party has voiced its opposition to aiding Ukraine in its fight against Russia.
It won 29.2 per cent of the vote over the centre-left Social Democrats and the ruling conservative Austrian People’s Party,The Kyiv Independent reported.
The FPÖ has failed to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, opposes EU sanctions on Russia, and many MPs walked out of a speech to the Austrian parliament by President Zelensky last year.
It comes as the far-right continues to succeed in European general elections, with Italy’s Giorgia Meloni leading a right-wing coalition in government while the AfD in Germany run high in the polls.
But Meloni, in contrast to Kickl, has given her full backing to EU support for Ukraine.
Russia launched more than 75 drones and missiles in overnight attack
Russia fired 76 drones and missiles in an overnight attack on Ukraine, the country’s air force said on Telegram Monday morning.
In the attack, Russia used 73 drones and three missiles, including one ballistic and one guided cruise missile, Ukraine’s air force said.
“One drone flew in the direction of Belarus, three more were lost in location in the northern regions of Ukraine as a result of countermeasures. One UAV remains in the airspace of Ukraine, combat work is underway,” it said in a statement.
It said the attack was repulsed by a combination of aviation, anti-aircraft missile forces, electronic warfare units and mobile fire groups of the air force and the wider Ukrainian military.
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