September 15, 2023 Russia-Ukraine news

Our live coverage for the day has ended. Follow the latest Ukraine news here or read through the updates below.

The liberation of Andriivka village in the fiercely contested areas around the city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine was essential for “further advancement,” a top commander said Friday. 

“The task of Ukrainian forces in this area is to surround Bakhmut, and without Andriivka it is impossible to achieve this,” Maksym Zhorin, deputy commander of the 3rd Assault Brigade, said on Telegram.

Zhorin also noted that liberating Andriivka means “full control over the railroad, which is a stronghold for further offensive.” 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky congratulated the 3rd Assault Brigade and all involved in retaking Andriivka in his nightly address Friday, calling it “a significant and much-needed result.” Active battles continue around the villages of Klishchiivka and Kurdiumivka near Bakhmut, he said.

Ukraine’s military leadership, in an update Friday, said its forces were partially successful around Klishchiivka. 

Some context: Ukraine’s recapture of Andriivka, a village south of Bakhmut, marked a symbolic and strategic victory for Kyiv’s forces. 

Bakhmut sits toward the northeast of the Donetsk region, about 13 miles from the Luhansk region, and has long been a target for Russian forces.

Russian forces claimed control in May following a months-long slog in the city where soldiers had to grind for every inch of territory. The Russian advance was bolstered by members of the Wagner mercenary group, which incurred heavy losses in the fierce fighting.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky welcomed the European Commission’s decision to cancel restrictive measures against Ukraine’s agricultural exports on Friday. 

“Restrictive measures against our agricultural exports by the European Union have been cancelled,” Zelensky said in his nightly address. “Now, it is important that European unity works on a bilateral level – with the neighbors,” he said.  

The European Commission wrote in a statement Friday that “Ukraine has agreed to introduce any legal measures (including, for example, an export licensing system) within 30 days to avoid grain surges.”

Until then, Ukraine must put in place effective export control measures to “prevent any market distortions in neighboring member states.” Kyiv must submit “an Action Plan” to the European Commission’s Coordination Platform no later than September 18, according to the commission.

“The European Commission will refrain from imposing any restrictions as long as the effective measures by Ukraine are in place and fully working,” the statement read.  

On May 2, the EU adopted a temporary measure that banned wheat, maize, rapeseed and sunflower seed originating in Ukraine from being exported to Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia, after those countries raised concerns over local farmers being undercut by cheap Ukrainian grain.  

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was “deeply impressed by the rich independent potential and modernity of the Russian aircraft manufacturing industry” at the Komsomolsk-on-Amur Yuri Gagarin Aviation Plant he visited on Friday, North Korean state media KCNA reported Saturday.

Kim toured a designing institute, a fighter jet fuselage assembly shop, a wing production shop, a painting shop and an airliner assembly shop, according to KCNA. 

Kim met test pilots and got on a Su-57 to hear a detailed explanation and flight performance of the fifth-generation fighter jet, KCNA said, adding that he watched the test flight of the fighter jet.

The North Korean leader “expressed sincere regard for Russia’s aviation technology undergoing rapid development, outpacing the outside potential threats, and wished the plant success in its future development,” KCNA reported. 

After the tour and a luncheon, Kim left a message in the visitor’s book saying:

“Witnessing the rapid development of Russia’s aviation technology and its gigantic potential 2023. 9. 15 Kim Jong Un” and left for his next destination, without revealing the destination, according to KCNA.

Some context: This was Kim’s fourth day in Russia and followed a lengthy meeting with President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday.

The two leaders did not sign any agreements during their summit, a Kremlin spokesperson said Friday

However, ahead of the meeting, the US government had warned that Russia and North Korea were “actively advancing” their negotiations over a potential arms deal that could see Pyongyang provide weapons for Moscow to use in its invasion of Ukraine in exchange for sanctioned ballistic missile technology.

President Vladimir Putin met with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on Friday in the southwestern city of Sochi where the two leaders discussed the state of their economies, as well as recent talks between Moscow and Pyongyang, according to the Russian leader.

The meeting comes just days after the European Parliament labeled Lukashenko “an accomplice” in the war crimes committed by Russia in Ukraine, and labeled Belarus “a satellite state of Russia.”

Here are other headlines you should know:

National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan met with Senate leadership last week and House leadership Thursday to discuss support for Ukraine.

He told reporters on Friday that he got the sense there was backing for bipartisan support for Ukraine from leaders on both sides of the aisle even as some House Republicans have signaled they may block additional aid.

“I’ve got to say, in those conversations, I felt the basic vibe, so to speak, the idea that the United States needs to come together on a bipartisan basis to support Ukraine felt as strong as it did a year ago, on both sides of the aisle,” he said.

Last week, CNN reported the White House was ramping up pressure on House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to approve its request to tie aid for Ukraine with increased disaster relief funding ahead of a government funding showdown.

But tension among Republicans in Congress is mounting as lawmakers face an end-of-month deadline to avoid a government shutdown. The White House has called on Congress to pass a short-term spending bill to keep the government running while congressional leaders hash out major differences.

Though Sullivan expressed optimism that there was an appetite for a bipartisan aid package, he admitted the dynamics have changed since Republicans took control of the House last year.

“I acknowledge that there’s a difference between this Congress in the last Congress, and we’ll have to contend with that as we go through the discussions that will continue in the days ahead on how to get Ukraine the resources it needs,” he said.

Still, he pointed to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to Washington — and Capitol Hill — next week as a sign there might be progress on Ukraine aid soon.

US national security adviser Jake Sullivan defended the final declaration from last week’s Group of 20 summit, which stopped short of explicitly condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Sullivan hasn’t received “any kind of formal — or really, informal — reaction from Ukraine with respect to the G20 communique,” he said at a briefing Friday.

Rather, the national security adviser said, Ukraine remains focused on engaging with other countries at peace summits — like the ones held this summer in Denmark and Saudi Arabia — where leaders can “find a way forward toward a common understanding of the principles upon which the just peace should be based.”

Sullivan said the conversations at those two summits actually “bear a strong resemblance” to the propositions laid out in the G20 communique.

He listed the declaration’s four key tenets in regard to Ukraine: “First, the paramount centrality of territorial integrity and sovereignty; second, the statement that it is totally unacceptable for any country to use force to violate the territorial integrity of another country; third, that attacking grain infrastructure and civilian infrastructure should be totally off limits; and fourth, the threat or use of nuclear weapons in a conflict like this should be inadmissible.”

Sullivan pushed back against the idea that the communique was “tepid” in its support for Ukraine, saying those four propositions are “powerful.”

Rather than statements of neutrality, he argued, they “really say to Russia, ‘What you are doing is not acceptable.’”

US President Joe Biden will host Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House on Thursday.

This will be Zelensky’s third White House meeting, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters during Friday’s press briefing. 

It “certainly comes at a critical time, as Russia desperately seeks help from countries like North Korea for its brutal war in Ukraine, as Ukrainian forces continue to make progress in their counteroffensive,” Sullivan said.

“President Biden looks forward to hearing President Zelensky’s perspective on all of this, and to reaffirm for the world, and for the United States, for the American people his commitment to continuing to lead the world in supporting Ukraine as it defends its independence, its sovereignty and its territorial integrity,” he added. 

Zelensky’s visit to Washington comes at a crucial time as some House Republicans have signaled displeasure at additional funding for Ukraine.

“I think he’s looking forward to the opportunity, not just to see President Biden here at the White House, but also to see congressional leaders from both parties, to make the case that the United States has been a great friend and partner to Ukraine throughout this entire brutal war and that the United States should continue to do that,” Sullivan said.

CNN reported yesterday that Zelensky would also visit Capitol Hill during the trip.

Ukraine identified the ships hit in its attack against a Russian naval base in occupied Crimea, claiming the vessels are beyond repair.

The attack early Wednesday morning in Sevastopol, the largest city in Crimea, marks Ukraine’s most ambitious strike on the port since the war began and comes as Kyiv steps up missile and drone strikes on the peninsula.

On Wednesday, Andrii Yusov, a representative of the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine, said the landing ship Minsk and the submarine Rostov-on-Don had been destroyed in the attack. Both had been undergoing repairs at the time.

Speaking to Ukrainian media, Yusov called the destruction of the landing ship an “irreparable loss” to the Russian sea fleet, because, as he claimed, Russians do not produce such ships any longer. He added that the Defense Intelligence doesn’t want to get into the details of what weapon was used to hit the shipyard, but that the demilitarization of occupied Ukrainian territories is underway. 

CNN cannot independently verify Ukraine’s claims.

Some context: In recent weeks Ukraine has focused its efforts on Crimea, which was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014, and is a strategically vital logistics hub for Russia’s war effort due to its location on the Black Sea.

Kyiv insists its strikes on naval bases and vessels in Crimea are an integral part of their counteroffensive strategy, intended to isolate the peninsula and make it more difficult for Russia to sustain its military operations on the Ukrainian mainland, a Ukrainian source familiar with the strategy told CNN.

Read more here.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Friday that Russia had approved a request previously sent by the US Embassy to visit Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Gershkovich, who is in a Russian detention center and accused of espionage.

“I mentioned the request to visit Gershkovich — back then this request was granted. Currently there are no new requests,” Ryabkov said while speaking to journalists.  

US Ambassador Lynne Tracy on Friday visited Evan Gershkovich in the Lefortovo pre-trial detention center in Moscow.

“He remains strong and is keeping up with the news – including his parents’ appearance at the UN this week. We reiterate our call for his and Paul Whelan’s immediate release,” the US embassy in Russia said in a statement published on X, the social media outlet formerly known as Twitter.

Russian state media reported that the Moscow City Court will consider an appeal against the decision to extend the arrest of Gershkovich next Tuesday.

More about the case: Gershkovich has been detained in Russia since March following his arrest on charges that he, the Wall Street Journal and the US government vehemently deny.

His arrest was the first detention of an American reporter in Russia on allegations of spying since the Cold War, rattling White House officials and further straining ties between Moscow and Washington.

The US State Department has officially designated Gershkovich as wrongfully detained in Russia. US President Joe Biden has also been blunt about Gershkovich’s arrest, urging Russia to “let him go.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin has traveled from the far eastern corner of his country – where he met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un – to the far western, for talks with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.

Putin said he would brief his Belarusian counterpart on his talks with Kim, as well as discussing “the Ukrainian crisis,” which he described as Russia’s “most pressing issue.”

Meanwhile, Ukraine has enjoyed “some success” on the eastern front lines, where its troops have retaken the village of Andriivka, close to the city of Bakhmut.

Catch up on the top developments in the war:

Russian President Vladimir Putin is criticizing the United States for its alleged use of economic sanctions, financial restrictions and threats of military force to achieve its objectives on the global stage.

Commenting on a statement by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken about peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, Putin referred to international relations as a dance, saying, Americans “do not know how to dance this tango.”

“The United States is trying to solve everything from a position of strength or with the help of economic sanctions or financial restrictions, with the threat of using military force, or by using it,” Putin said Friday.

Expanding on the dance analogy, Putin emphasized the importance for Ukraine to remember the “hopak,” a traditional Ukrainian folk dance, alluding to the need for Ukraine to maintain its independence from external influences.

“I think that for Ukraine, it is important not to forget the hopak. This is what is important, otherwise, they will dance to someone else’s tune all the time,” he said, responding to media questions after a meeting with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko in Sochi. 

Putin reiterated that Russia has never refused to negotiate.

“Therefore, if the other side wants to, they should say it directly,” he added.

In turn, Lukashenko claimed the United States was instructing Ukraine not to “tango” with Russia and “therefore, they have no reason to blame others,” he said. 

Some context: The US has been working to continue its pressure on Moscow through further sanctions as cracks emerged this summer in Russia’s economy and society because of the war and unprecedented sanctions against the regime from the US and its Western allies. 

On Thursday, the Biden administration announced its latest tranche of sanctions against the Kremlin that targets Russian elites profiting off the war as well as sectors critical to Moscow’s military effort. 

Additionally, on the heels of a meeting between Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, the US is also targeting elites and families involved in the deepening relations between Russia and North Korea. The US has been warning about a deal between the two countries that could provide Russia weapons in exchange for ballistic missile technology. 

CNN’s Sam Fossum and Michael Conte contributed reporting to this post.

One child is dead and six other people were wounded by Russian shelling in Ukrainian-controlled areas of the Kherson region, a local official said Friday.

Oleksandr Prokudin, the head of the Kherson region military administration, said Russia carried out 91 attacks and fired 349 shells from various weapons systems “over the past day.”

Russian forces fired 20 of those shells at the city of Kherson, he said. Residential areas as well as infrastructure facilities were hit, Prokudin said. 

Prokudin also said officials are organizing evacuation efforts in the region for children and their families.

A curfew will be in place from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. local time starting on September 18, he said. 

New concepts for submarines and unmanned underwater vehicles are being developed for the Russian Navy, the defense minister said.

“Today, we are actively working on designing multipurpose nuclear submarines, robotic systems and unmanned underwater vehicles,” Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Friday, according to Russian state news agency TASS. 

Shoigu was speaking during a meeting at the Russian Pacific Fleet Headquarters while on a visit to the Primorsky Krai region in Russia’s Far East.

During his visit, the defense minister also checked the fulfillment of state procurement contracts at the Zvezda submarine shipyard in the town of Bolshoy Kamen and at the Progress helicopter plant in Arsenyev, according to TASS.

The UK has officially proscribed the Russian mercenary Wagner Group as a terrorist organization, after an order was laid in parliament and backed on September 6 by lawmakers, which will make it illegal to be a member or to support it.

“This order comes into force with immediate effect and will make belonging to the Wagner Group or actively supporting the group in the UK a criminal offence, with a potential jail sentence of 14 years which can be handed down alongside or in place of a fine,” the UK government said Friday in a news release.

More context: Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin and the group’s field commander Dmitriy Utkin died last month in what Western officials believe was a deliberate plane crash, two months after Prigozhin staged a short-lived rebellion against the Kremlin, the biggest threat to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s power in more than two decades.

Most security experts doubt Wagner will survive in its current form without Prigozhin, but that has not stopped the UK to move against the group.

CNN’s Ivana Kottasová and Niamh Kennedy contributed reporting to this post.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday that Russia is detecting foreign mercenaries in Ukraine and that several of them have been captured over the last few days.

“We are detecting foreign mercenaries and foreign instructors both on the battlefield and in the units where training is carried out. In my opinion, yesterday and the day before yesterday someone was taken prisoner once again,” Putin said at a news conference following talks with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko in Sochi. 

Putin added that Russia does not need to invite people from outside to fight, since it signed up nearly 300,000 people as volunteers to the military recently.

“This morning I got the report — 300,000 contracts were signed by people who, I want to emphasize, are ready to sacrifice their lives in the interests of their homeland, protecting the interests of Russia,” he said. 

Putin said the new unites fighting in Ukraine are being equipped with modern weapons and equipment.

Russian-appointed authorities and Ukrainian officials shared conflicting accounts of a bombing incident Friday in Nova Kakhovka, in the occupied part of Kherson region, with each accusing the other of hitting a residential area in the city.

The Russian-appointed acting head of the Kherson regional administration, Vladimir Saldo, said Ukrainian forces hit an area with apartment buildings in the city, killing one civilian and injuring twelve others. 

“According to preliminary data, one civilian was killed, twelve people were injured. Four apartment buildings on Gorky and Dovzhenko streets were damaged: windows were broken in many apartments, external walls were cut, entrances to the buildings and balconies were damaged, yards were covered with debris,” Saldo said in a Telegram post.

However, Ukrainian officials said Friday the Ukrainian military did not attack Nova Kakhovka – and that Russian forces had bombed a residential area of the city by accident. 

“This morning, when trying to launch another air strike on Beryslav district with guided aerial bombs, Russians again demonstrated their ineptitude and clumsiness in their work, dropping one of the bombs on Nova Kakhovka, in a residential area,” Natalia Humeniuk, head of the United Coordinating Press Center of the Security and Defense Forces of the South of Ukraine, said during a briefing on Friday. 

“Several apartment buildings were damaged. According to preliminary information, there are victims among the local population. In turn, the occupiers are trying to spread the idea that it was the activity of the Ukrainian Defense Forces. But in fact, everything is recorded, all the acts are known,” she said. 

“This is not the first time the occupiers have dropped their bombs like this, even on their own territory. We remember Belgorod, where a fighter jet ‘unloaded’ in the center of the city,” Humeniuk said. 

Some context: Earlier this summer, the city of Nova Kakhovka became the site of one of the biggest industrial and ecological disasters in Europe in decades. The collapse of the Nova Kakhovka dam on June 6 destroyed entire villages, flooded farmland, and deprived tens of thousands of people of power and clean water.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un did not sign any agreements during their Wednesday meeting, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday. 

In the days leading up to Putin and Kim’s meeting, the United States government had warned that Russia and North Korea were “actively advancing” their negotiations over a potential arms deal that could see Pyongyang provide weapons for Moscow to use in its invasion of Ukraine in exchange for sanctioned ballistic missile technology.

The national security advisers of the United States, South Korea and Japan jointly issued a stern warning regarding potential violations of international sanctions by North Korea and Russia, according to a statement released by South Korea’s presidential office.

Responding to the speculation during a regular call with journalists, Peskov said, “No agreements were signed neither on this nor on any other topics.”

“There were no such plans,” he added, echoing the Kremlin’s previous remarks.

Ahead of the summit, US officials warned that Washington “will not hesitate to impose sanctions” if the meeting between Putin and Kim resulted in weapons transfers between the two countries.

The two leaders spoke for a total of five hours Wednesday. Putin described the talks as “highly productive,” but what exactly was discussed – or potentially agreed – has not yet become clear.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said it was too soon to comment on what caused Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin’s plane to crash in August.

Asked by journalists on Friday about the investigation of the crash – and whether the Kremlin thought it was progressing too slowly – Peskov said: “This is a complex investigation, a complex incident.”

“An investigation is ongoing, so it would be premature to give any comments now,” he added. 

Some background: Prigozhin died in an airplane crash in Russia’s western Tver region on August 23 – exactly two months after leading an abortive mutiny on Moscow that posed the greatest threat to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s authority in his 23 years in power.

Rosaviatsia, Russia’s civil aviation agency, said at the time that it had launched an investigation into “the circumstances and causes of the accident.” Russia’s Investigative Committee also launched a criminal probe.

CNN reviewed flight data and videos, and interviewed aviation and explosive experts, to piece together what happened in the minutes leading up to the crash. The analysis suggests that the private aircraft experienced at least one “catastrophic inflight incident” before it dropped out of the sky. But available video did not show that catastrophic event.

Read more here:

A view shows smoke rising above a plane on fire following an alleged air accident at a location given as Tver region, Russia, in this still image from video published August 23, 2023. Yevgeny Prigozhin, chief of Russian private mercenary group Wagner, was reportedly listed as a passenger on a private jet which crashed north of Moscow on August 23, 2023. Ostorozhno Novosti/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES. MANDATORY CREDIT. WATERMARK FROM SOURCE.

Related article Explosion likely brought down aircraft purportedly carrying Wagner boss, flight data and video analysis suggest | CNN

Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov said Moscow sees “the potential for cooperation both in aircraft manufacturing and in other industries” with North Korea, according to a Russian government press release Friday.

Manturov, who is also minister of industry and trade, accompanied the North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on his tour of the aircraft manufacturing facility in Komsomolsk-on-Amur on Friday, the statement said.

“We see the potential for cooperation both in aircraft manufacturing and in other industries – this is especially relevant for achieving the tasks our countries face to achieve technological sovereignty,” Manturov said, after touring the plant with Kim.

At the Yuri Gagarin Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aircraft Plant – named after Yuri Gagarin, the Soviet cosmonaut who became the first person to travel to space – Kim and Manturov saw the assembly complex for the Su-35 aircraft and the fifth-generation Su-57 aircraft. They also watched a demonstration flight of the Su-35.

They also visited the facility responsible for producing parts for the military jets as well as the civilian Superjet-100 aircraft.

International sanctions since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have made it harder for the country to import parts for aircraft manufacturing, among other industries.

Manturov was sanctioned by the UK government since December last year for “overseeing the Russian weapons industry and [being] responsible for equipping mobilized troops [in Ukraine].” 

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has arrived in Russia for talks with President Vladimir Putin in the southwestern city of Sochi, according to a statement by the Kremlin. 

In his opening remarks ahead of the meeting, Putin said he would inform Lukashenko on the state of Russia’s economy, which he said was “stable and reliable,” on his meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and their discussion of the “situation in the region,” as well as on Ukraine.

“I would like to inform you in detail that we are completing the budget process. Everything here is stable and reliable, which is good news. I say this because you and I know well: The state of the Russian economy, of course, is reflected in our interaction within the Union State. We have mutual questions, mutual obligations in this regard,” Putin told Lukashenko. 

Russia and Belarus signed the Union State Treaty in 1999 – an agreement aiming to deepen the countries’ cooperation in economic and defense policy.

“You know, just recently I had a meeting with the leader of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. I would like to inform you about how the discussion went on, on the situation in the region, which is also important, and, of course, on our most pressing issue – the situation in the Ukrainian direction, around the Ukrainian crisis,” Putin said. 

“I am very glad to see you. Thank you for agreeing to come,” he added. 

The meeting will be the seventh between the two leaders this year, according to Russian state news agency TASS. The last one-on-one meeting took place on July 23 in St. Petersburg.

“Good neighborly relations”: Speaking at a press conference following talks with Lukashenko, Putin discussed his recent meeting with Kim in Russia’s far east.

Putin said Moscow will seek opportunities to develop “good neighborly relations” with North Korea, claiming that Russia will operate in the framework of international law and is “not going to violate anything.”

“We do not pose a threat to anyone,” Putin added.

Some background: Belarus has played a growing role in supporting Russia’s war effort in Ukraine – from treating wounded Russian soldiers to stationing Russian tactical nuclear weapons and even harboring mercenaries from the Wagner Group after its late chief Yevgeny Prigozhin staged an abortive mutiny on Moscow in June.

Belarus’ involvement in Russia’s war has been so extensive that the European Parliament this week called Lukashenko “an accomplice” in the war crimes committed by Russia in Ukraine.

In a resolution adopted Wednesday, the parliament also labeled Belarus a “satellite state of Russia” and suggested applying the same sanctions against Belarus as it currently does against Russia. 

A rare meeting between Russia’s Vladimir Putin and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un at a space launch center in the Russian Far East earlier this week has triggered alarm from countries from South Korea and Japan to Ukraine, the United States and its partners in Europe.

But China, the biggest economic lifeline for both Moscow and Pyongyang whose border lies less than 200 miles (321 kilometers) from where the two leaders met, may have a different view.

Rather than look to oppose or limit cooperation between Russia and North Korea, Beijing may see more benefits than risks for itself in this emerging axis, analysts say – particularly in regard to its great power rivalry with the US.

And while it’s unclear exactly how much insight Chinese officials have into negotiations between North Korea and Russia, analysts say the meeting itself may not have gone forward with some level of consideration of China’s ties to the two.

“(Given) the importance of the support that China provides to both, China is of course looming in the background,” said Alexander Korolev, a senior lecturer in Politics and International Relations at the University of New South Wales in Australia.

“China is too important for both North Korea and Russia, so for them it would be foolish to do something behind China’s back that it wouldn’t like,” he said. “The China factor is there.”

Read the full story here:

Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during their meeting in Russia in Tsiolkovsky, Russia on September 13, 2023.

Related article The West fears a closer Russia and North Korea. China may not | CNN

Ukrainian forces have retaken the village of Andriivka, south of the city of Bakhmut, the Ukrainian military brigade fighting in the area said Friday. 

“It’s official: The Third Separate Assault Brigade has liberated Andriivka. 72nd Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade of the Russian Federation - smashed to pieces!” the brigade said in a Telegram post. 
“As a result of a lightning-fast operation, the Russian garrison of Andriivka was surrounded, cut off from the main forces and destroyed.”

The brigade said fighting was ongoing and units “continue to consolidate their positions.”

“Taking and holding Andriivka is our way to a breakthrough on the right flank of Bakhmut and the key to the success of the entire offensive,” it added.

The Ukrainian and Russian sides have said that some of the most intense battles in the Bakhmut direction are happening south of the embattled city in the Andriivka area, as both sides strive to mark tangible progress. 

The liberation of the village of Andriivka marks a symbolic and strategic victory for the Ukrainian forces, and comes after Wagner fighters left the Bakhmut area. 

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine announced on its Facebook page Friday, “During the assault operations, they captured Andriivka, Donetsk region, inflicting significant losses on [enemy] manpower and equipment and entrenching themselves on the achieved lines.”

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has left Komsomolsk-on-Amur, Russian state media TASS reported Friday afternoon local time.

The report did not give any details on how many hours Kim spent in Komsomolsk-on-Amur since his arrival early Friday morning local time or where he’s headed next.

While in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, Kim visited the country’s largest aviation manufacturing plant which builds and develops fighter jets, including the Su-35S, according to TASS.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un received a red-carpet welcome as a “top-ranking guest” upon his arrival at Russia’s eastern city of Komsomolsk-on-Amur on Friday, according to state media.

“A red carpet was unfurled for the top-ranking guest”, Russian state media TASS said, adding that Kim was welcomed with bread and salt in keeping with the Russian tradition for “special guests”.

Kim, who arrived by train, was received personally by the city’s mayor, Alexander Zhornik, and the Khabarovsk Region Governor Mikhail Degtyarev at the railway station.

Degtyarev and Zhornik then accompanied Kim to the Yuri Gagarin Komsomolsk-on-Amur Aircraft Plant or KnAAZ – a part of the state-owned Sukhoi jet maker – United Aircraft Corporation (UAC).

The plant is one of the two major aircraft building plants in the city which manufactures “advanced warplanes for the Russian Defense Ministry, including Su-35 and Su-57 fighter jets.”

The tour of key sites in the Russian Far East region came after Putin said Russia is considering and discussing some military cooperation with North Korea, following a summit at which Kim appeared to endorse Moscow’s war on Ukraine.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un continued his days-long visit to Russia Friday, heading to an aircraft plant in the eastern city of Komsomolsk-on-Amur, according to Russian state media, after the two sides said military cooperation was a possibility. 

The facility is the country’s largest aviation manufacturing plant and builds and develops fighter jets, including the Su-35S, state media TASS reported. 

Kim is also expected to travel to the port city of Vladivostok where he will view the military capabilities of Russia’s Pacific Fleet, Russian President Vladimir Putin told state news agency Russia 1.

The tour of key sites in the Russian Far East region came after Putin said Russia is considering and discussing some military cooperation with North Korea, following a summit at which Kim appeared to endorse Moscow’s war on Ukraine.

Wednesday’s five-hour meeting at the Vostochny Cosmodrome signaled closer relations between the two countries, both of which face international isolation – Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine and Pyongyang for its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile program.

Asked if the two leaders discussed military and technical cooperation during the talks, spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it was a “sensitive sphere of cooperation” and reiterated Moscow’s commitment to further developing ties with Pyongyang.

The Kremlin said Thursday that Putin had accepted Kim’s invitation to visit North Korea and that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov would also visit the country in October, according to Peskov.

Putin was asked if he discussed military-technical cooperation with Kim during the leaders’ meeting. In response, Putin acknowledged there were certain restrictions in place, saying Moscow fully complied with them. But he also said there were areas open for discussion and consideration, suggesting potential points of cooperation.

Read more here.

Australia is “deeply concerned” about the meeting between North Korea’s Kim Jong Un and Russia’s Vladimir Putin amid “speculation about arms purchases,” the country’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong told state broadcaster ABC in a radio interview Friday.

“I’d make two points about that,” Wong said, “One, that any Russian purchase would be a violation of multiple resolutions of the UN Security Council which bans all arms transfers to and from North Korea. The second point is that I think this shows, if it is true, a degree of desperation from Mr. Putin.”

She added that Canberra “would join with the entire international community in urging [Putin] to observe the sanctions against North Korea that the entire international community has imposed.”

Wong is currently in Fiji to attend the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) Foreign Ministers’ Meeting.

The Russian defense ministry said its air defenses shot down 11 Ukrainian drones over Crimea early Thursday morning. The Kerch Bridge, which connects Crimea to the Russian mainland, was also closed to traffic Thursday but has since reopened.

Ukraine destroyed a Russian air defense system near the town of Yevpatoriya in annexed Crimea Wednesday night, according to a Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) source. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky hailed the destruction as a “triumph” in his nightly address Thursday. 

Ukraine also damaged two Russian warships in a strike on a Russian ship repair base in Sevastopol early Wednesday morning, in what was Kyiv’s most ambitious strike on the Sevastopol port since the war began.

The attacks are the latest to hit Crimea, which was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014. Ukraine is attempting to regain control of the area, using a strategy that focuses in part on attacking “occupation military objects,” according to Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to the head of the Ukrainian Presidential Office.

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Ukraine’s military claimed to have attacked two Russian patrol ships in the Black Sea on Thursday.

The military’s Strategic Communications Directorate said in a Telegram post that the ships sustained “some damage.”

Russia’s Defense Ministry acknowledged that Ukraine attempted to attack a patrol ship and the fleet’s missile hovercraft, but said the Ukrainian ships which attempted the attacks were destroyed.

“On September 14 at around 05:00 a.m., the AFU attempted to attack the Black Sea Fleet patrol ship Sergey Kotov in the waters of the Black Sea by five uncrewed boats,” the Russian ministry of defense said, adding that all uncrewed boats “were destroyed by fire from the ship’s standard weapons.”
Later on Thursday, they also claimed Ukraine “attempted to attack the Black Sea Fleet’s missile hovercraft Samum by an uncrewed boat in the waters of the Black Sea.”

This comes after Ukraine launched a missile attack on Sevastopol shipyard in the early hours of Wednesday that left two Russian ships damaged. 

Andrii Yusov, representative of the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine, told Ukrainian media on Wednesday that the Ukrainian strikes on the Russian fleet are a part of the “demilitarization of the occupied Ukrainian territories” that is currently underway.

US President Joe Biden plans to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky next week around the UN General Assembly meetings, according to multiple officials familiar with the plans.

It remained unclear whether the meeting would occur in New York or later in the week at the White House. One source familiar with the matter told CNN that Zelensky is expected to travel to Washington, DC, after his stop in New York.

Biden and Zelensky are both scheduled to address the assembly on Tuesday.

Zelensky is planning to use an in-person appearance at the annual meeting to appeal for more support for Ukraine as it continues to wage a counteroffensive against Russia. Aside from an address to the assembly, he plans several meetings with other world leaders in New York, according to people familiar with the plans.

Among his objectives will be trying to persuade nations that haven’t taken a firm stance against the war to be more forceful in their condemnation of Russia.

Among his meetings will be with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli government announced Thursday.

Past Biden-Zelensky meetings: Biden last met Zelensky on the sidelines of a NATO summit in Lithuania in July. Before that, the men sat for talks in May at the G7 summit in Japan. Despite support from the United States for an appearance at last week’s G20 summit in India, Zelensky wasn’t extended an invitation by the hosts. 

He last traveled to the United States in December, his first time leaving Ukraine since Russia’s invasion began in February of 2022.

A spokesperson for the National Security Council declined to comment.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Zelensky in Kyiv last week as part of a trip aimed in part at aligning the US and Ukraine ahead of the diplomatic gathering. The top US diplomat told the Ukrainian president that the US is “determined to continue to walk side-by-side” with Ukraine.

The national security advisers of the United States, South Korea, and Japan jointly issued a stern warning regarding potential violations of international sanctions by North Korea and Russia, according to a statement released by South Korea’s presidential office. 

They convened to discuss the recent North Korea-Russia summit and the regional security landscape during a phone call Thursday evening local time, the statement said. 

The advisers emphasized that both North Korea and Russia are obligated to adhere to the UN Security Council resolutions and sanctions, particularly those pertaining to arms trade and military cooperation. They underscored that there would be “clear consequences” if either country were to breach these obligations.

Additionally, the security chiefs highlighted Russia’s greater responsibility as a permanent member of the Security Council to comply with its resolutions, the statement said. 

All three countries expressed grave concerns over the discussions between President Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un, which included topics related to military cooperation, including the development of intercontinental ballistic missiles, despite repeated warnings from the international community, according to the statement.

The advisers also reached a consensus on the need for enhanced solidarity among their respective countries to monitor arms trade and military cooperation between North Korea and Russia, develop countermeasures, and strengthen international cooperation in this regard, the statement concluded. 

Putin met his North Korean counterpart Wednesday in Russia’s Far East, but it is unclear if they struck an agreement.