September 29, 2023 Russia-Ukraine news

Ukrainian authorities are calling on ordinary Russians to oppose the forced deportation of children to Russia and help bring them home to Ukraine.

The mass deportations of Ukrainian children to Russia or Russian-occupied territories over the course of the war have resulted in the International Criminal Court issuing arrest warrants for Russia’s Children’s Rights Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova and President Vladimir Putin. 

On Wednesday, Ukraine's state-run Freedom TV launched the "If You Know, Tell" campaign in partnership with the Presidential Commissioner for Children's Rights and Ukraine's Police child protection team, according to a statement.

The campaign is part of the "Bring Kids Back UA" plan approved by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Organizers hope to bring back an estimated 20,000 Ukrainian children who were forcibly removed from their families and trafficked to Russia or Russian-occupied territories following the invasion last year.

Individuals who decide to provide such information through Freedom TV's digital platforms or dedicated Telegram channel "are guaranteed anonymity," Freedom TV said.

Ukrainian troops are "gradually gaining ground," in their sweeping counteroffensive against tight Russian defense lines in southeast Ukraine, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said during an unannounced visit to Kyiv on Thursday.

"Today your [Ukraine’s] forces are moving forward, they face fierce fighting, but they are gradually gaining ground," Stoltenberg said alongside Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. "Every meter that Ukrainian forces gains is a meter that Russia loses."

NATO has donated billions of dollars-worth of weapons to Ukraine but it has so far stopped short of granting the country accession to the alliance, despite repeated requests from Kyiv.

Stoltenberg said Thursday NATO has framework contracts in place for more than $2.5 billion worth of "key ammunition" for Ukraine, including more than $1.5 billion of firm orders.

Here's what else you need to know:

Poland on Thursday denied its aircraft had violated Belarus' airspace, in response to an accusation from Minsk's defense ministry.

Tensions have risen in recent months between NATO member Poland and Belarus, a key Russian ally, with Warsaw deploying more troops at the two countries' shared border amid an increasingly volatile security landscape in Europe.

Belarus' defense ministry claimed earlier Thursday that Polish aircraft “repeatedly violated the state border” between the countries in a statement on its Telegram channel.

Belarusian forces recorded the aircraft encroaching about a mile inside Belarus' territory, it claimed.

In its response, Poland said any information provided by Belarus "must always be approached with caution and prudence, as it has often been an element of provocation and disinformed the public."

At least three women were killed in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson on Thursday following shelling from Russian artillery, according to Andriy Yermak, head of the Ukrainian President’s Office.

Russian forces attacked a residential area, where the victims were standing on the street, the Kherson region prosecutor's office said. Two children were evacuated from the scene, it added.

Russian attacks are an almost daily occurrence in Kherson, which lies near the southern frontline. At least six people died following shelling of the region on Monday, according to Ukrainian officials.

Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich remains “defiant” six months after he was detained in Russia on spying charges, which he and the Journal strenuously deny, his mother told CNN's Anderson Cooper Thursday night.

Gershkovich’s parents have been able to go to Russia twice. They saw him in June and were able to talk to him, though Cooper noted he was essentially in a glass box.

“Being there, it was like having him back,” his father, Mikhail Gershkovich, said. “Just the physical presence and his voice made you very happy.”

Gershkovich was arrested in March during a reporting trip. The FSB, Russia’s main security service, accused him of trying to obtain state secrets — a charge Gershkovich and his employer have extensively denied.

If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison.

Gershkovich’s parents left the Soviet Union to come to the United States. Evan’s initial reporting trips in the country didn’t worry the two of them.

“He came to Russia in 2017. Things were a lot different at the time,” Milman said.

The family keeps in touch with Gershkovich through letters, which are up to 10 pages long and include printed pictures. His sister, Danielle Gershkovich, says they can hear his voice through his writing — fitting, Cooper noted, as he’s a print journalist.

Read more about Gershkovich's detention in Russia.

Ukraine has been elected to serve on the board of governors for the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN nuclear watchdog said in a statement on Thursday. 

The 11 newly elected countries to the 35-member board are Algeria, Armenia, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Ecuador, Indonesia, South Korea, the Netherlands, Paraguay, Spain and Ukraine, the statement said. 

The IAEA has repeatedly raised concerns as to the safety of Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which is held by Russian forces but mostly operated by a Ukrainian workforce. Shelling around the plant, Europe’s largest nuclear power station, has raised fears of a nuclear disaster.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the board position would give Kyiv "real opportunities" to influence decisions "that are binding for all IAEA members and the entire international community.”

Ukraine would work to implement the first point of its 10-point peace formula, which is "nuclear and radiation security," and Kyiv is focused on ensuring the "complete liberation" of the Zaporizhzhia plant from Russian forces, he added.

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba also praised the decision in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

A “small number” of Ukrainian pilots have started language training in preparation for training on F-16 fighter jets, according to a spokesperson for the US Air Force.

The language training is taking place at the Defense Language Institute English Language Center at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas.  

More on the training: Language training is a critical step for the Ukrainian Air Force as they learn to fly, operate and maintain the jet, since the F-16's instrumentation is in English, as are all the manuals and information pertaining to it.

The language training does not yet include Ukrainian maintenance personnel, who will learn how to sustain the complex system. The total number of Ukrainians who will come for maintenance training will be “upwards of 200,” the spokesperson said.

The language center at Lackland Air Force Base “is considering multiple options for training maintainers," the spokesperson added.

Moscow is set to boost its military spending, with the Kremlin citing what it described as an ongoing "hybrid war" the government claims is being waged against Russia.

The Russian finance ministry's draft budget for 2024 indicates a 68% surge in defense expenditures compared to 2023, with a new allocation of up to 10.77 trillion rubles ($111.04 billion) for "national defense."

Asked about the priorities of Russia's budget for 2024 at a financial forum in Moscow on Thursday, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov highlighted its primary focus on military spending.

"The structure of the budget shows that the main emphasis is on ensuring our victory — the army, defense capabilities, armed forces, fighters — everything necessary for the front, everything necessary for victory is in the budget," Siluanov said.

Remember: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has accused the United States and other allies providing Ukraine with assistance of being "directly at war" with Russia.