Ukrainian military says it sees signs of Russian movement into Crimea
The Ukrainian military announced it is seeing signs of a movement among Russian forces from parts of the south into Crimea.
“It’s not exactly our area of responsibility, but it’s close, so we’re watching it too. We see and understand the attempts of the occupiers to flee to Crimea and regroup there. It will be easier for us: gatherings of military equipment are a big target,” Natalia Humeniuk, spokesperson for Operational Command South, said at a briefing Wednesday.
Humeniuk’s remarks follow comments from the mayor of Melitopol, Ivan Fedorov, on Tuesday, when he claimed that “columns of military equipment have already been recorded at the checkpoint in Chongar [from Kherson into Crimea.] This was expected — the rapid Ukrainian offensive leaves them no chance.”
Fedorov also claimed that in order to take stolen goods from the Zaporizhzhia region to Crimea, Russian soldiers were breaking into garages and stealing civilian cars.
EU Commission still exploring Russian gas price cap: Energy commissioner
The European Commission still wants a European Union price cap on Russian gas, but more work is needed to assess the impact of the measure, the bloc’s energy commissioner has said.
“We continue to believe that a gas price cap on Russian pipeline imports is warranted, but more work is needed to assess adverse impacts on some member states,” Kadri Simson stated, adding that Brussels was analysing how a broader price cap on all EU gas imports could work.
The Commission mooted a Russian gas price cap earlier this month, but EU countries rejected the idea, with some worried Moscow would retaliate by cutting off the remaining gas it still sends to Europe.
Ukrainian president visits recaptured Izyum
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited newly liberated Izium in the northeastern region of Kharkiv on Wednesday, days after the country’s forces recaptured the city.
“Earlier, when we looked up, we always looked for the blue sky. Today, when we look up, we are looking for only one thing — the flag of Ukraine,” Zelensky said in a post on the presidential Telegram channel.
“Our blue-yellow flag is already flying in the de-occupied Izium. And it will be so in every Ukrainian city and village. We are moving in only one direction — forward and towards victory,” he added.
“I want to thank you for saving our people, our hearts, children and future,” Zelensky continued.
“It has been extremely difficult for you in recent months. Therefore, I ask you to take care of yourselves, because you are the most valuable asset we have,” he said, adding, “It may be possible to temporarily occupy the territories of our state. But it is definitely impossible to occupy our people, the Ukrainian people.”
Ukrainian forces took back control of Izium on Saturday, marking a huge strategic blow to Russia’s military assault in the east.
Izium, which sits near the border between the Kharkiv and Donetsk regions, was under Russian occupation for over five months and became an important hub for the invading military.
Moscow was using Izium as a launching pad for attacks southward into the Donetsk region and Kupyansk, some 30 miles to the north of Izium, as a rail hub to resupply its forces.
Zelensky: Ukrainian troops recaptured some 8,000 square kilometres
Ukrainian forces have recaptured about 8,000 square kilometres (3,090 square miles) of territory from Russian forces so far this month, the country’s president has noted.
In a Tuesday evening address, Volodymyr Zelensky stated “stabilisation measures” had been completed in about half of that area.
The vast majority of the territory reportedly retaken by Kyiv’s troops during their multi-pronged counteroffensive lies in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region.
Putin ‘rejected deal that could have avoided invasion’
Reuters reports on a curious story about Russian officials supposedly striking a deal that would have avoided the invasion of Ukraine – one that Vladimir Putin rejected.
Putin’s chief envoy on Ukraine told the Russian leader as the war began that he had struck a provisional deal with Kyiv that would satisfy Russia’s demand that Ukraine stay out of NATO, but Putin rejected it and pressed ahead with his military campaign, according to three people close to the Russian leadership.
The Ukrainian-born envoy, Dmitry Kozak, told Putin that he believed the deal he had hammered out removed the need for Russia to pursue a large-scale occupation of Ukraine, according to these sources. Kozak’s recommendation to Putin to adopt the deal is being reported by Reuters for the first time.
But, despite earlier backing the negotiations, Putin made it clear when presented with Kozak’s deal that the concessions negotiated by his aide did not go far enough and that he had expanded his objectives to include annexing swathes of Ukrainian territory, the sources said. The upshot: the deal was dropped.
When asked about Reuters’ report, the Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov noted, “That has absolutely no relation to reality. No such thing ever happened. It is absolutely incorrect information.”
EU to unveil proposals to tackle energy crisis
The European Union will today propose a raft of measures to tackle the energy crisis, the head of the bloc’s executive arm has said.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen outlined the proposals – which include propositions on profit-sharing and electricity demand cuts, among other things – in a speech to the European Parliament in Strasbourg before they are expected to be published in full later on Wednesday.
The 27-member state EU is desperate to pull down surging gas and power prices triggered by Russian supply cuts that are stoking record-high inflation, hampering industrial activity and inflicting sky-high bills upon citizens ahead of winter.
“I stand here with the conviction that with courage and solidarity, Putin will fail and Europe will prevail,” von der Leyen stated.
“Europe’s solidarity with Ukraine will remain unshakeable,” she added.
Pope decries “senseless and tragic war” in Ukraine
Pope Francis has arrived in Kazakhstan for a three-day visit to the country.
The Pope addressed political leaders in the capital Nur-Sultan on Tuesday evening telling them that he had come at a time of “the senseless and tragic war that broke out with the invasion of Ukraine.”
“I have come to echo the plea of all those who cry out for peace, which is the essential path to development for our globalized world,” he said.
On Wednesday the Pope attends the VII Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions, a gathering of international religious leaders.
One religious leader who is noticeably absent is Russian Orthodox Patriarch, Kirill, who was due to meet Francis in Kazakhstan but announced at the end of August that he would not be attending.
Chinese President Xi Jinping is also due in Kazakhstan on Wednesday for separate political meetings.
The Vatican has announced that there is no planned meeting between the Pope and the Chinese President.
Pope Francis told journalists on the papal plane from Rome that “he was always ready to visit China.”
EU support for Ukraine ‘unshakeable’
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has vowed that the EU’s solidarity with Ukraine is “unshakeable.”
With Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska the guest of honour as she delivered her annual state of the union speech, von der Leyen was set to unveil proposals to curb the energy price spike that has hit Europe in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“Never before has this Parliament debated the State of our Union with war raging on European soil,” von der Leyen told the European Parliament in Strasbourg.
“And I stand here with the conviction that with courage and solidarity, Putin will fail and Europe will prevail,” von der Leyen said, adding, “Europe’s solidarity with Ukraine will remain unshakeable.”
“This is the time for us to show resolve, not appeasement,” she continued, noting, “We are in it for the long haul.”
Russia has probably used Iranian-made drones for first time: UK
Russia has probably used Iranian-made uncrewed aerial vehicles in Ukraine for the first time, Britain’s defence intelligence claimed on Wednesday, after Kyiv reported downing one of the UAVs – a Shahed-136 – on Tuesday.
The device is a “one-way attack” weapon, the MoD announced, and has been used in the Middle East.
It added, “Russia is almost certainly increasingly sourcing weaponry from other heavily sanctioned states like Iran and North Korea as its own stocks dwindle.”
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian did not confirm Washington claim that Tehran is providing Russia with military equipment, including unmanned aerial vehicles.
He assured that Tehran avoids any steps that may result in an escalation in Ukraine conflict.
Ukraine has made significant progress as it pushes back Russian forces but it is not possible to tell if the war is at a turning point, US President Joe Biden stated.
Asked whether Ukraine has reached a turning point in the war, he said: “The question is unanswerable. It’s hard to tell.”
“It’s clear the Ukrainians have made significant progress. But I think it’s going to be a long haul,” the president added.
