September 22, 2023 - Russia-Ukraine news

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called the signing of an updated Free Trade Agreement with Canada on Friday “the basis for the reconstruction of Ukraine” in a post on Telegram.

“Canada is one of our biggest donors, that’s very important,” Zelensky said.

The document “will facilitate the development of trade in goods and services, investment and the formation of a developed competitive market economy in line with national priorities,” among other things, according to the Ukrainian Presidency statement. 

Zelensky also said he was very grateful to Canada for “the decision to join F-16 pilot training” of Ukrainian soldiers. 

This came after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Friday that Canada “will direct instructors to train Ukrainian pilots and service personnel on the F-16s.” 

Zelensky also thanked Trudeau for his government’s decision to purchase “a new batch of missiles for air defense systems for the needs of Ukraine.”

New sanctions against Russia are not needed because they “cause more harm to Europe than Russia,” Peter Szijjarto, Hungarian foreign minister, said Friday in an interview with Russian state media TASS.

The comments come after his meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Friday. 

Szijjarto said supplies of Ukrainian grain to Central European countries will destroy their agricultural sector. 

“If Ukrainian grain starts to spread into Central European countries, it will definitely destroy the agricultural markets of Central Europe. Not to mention our farmers, whom we obviously need to protect,” Szijjarto said, as cited by TASS.

According to Szijjarto, Hungary is ready to provide free transit of Ukrainian grain through its territory. He also noted that initially, the agreement on lines of solidarity implied permission for the transit of Ukrainian agricultural products only. 

“As I understand it, they (Ukraine) would prefer to distribute grain in Central Europe, but the original agreement on lines of solidarity was not about that,” he said, according to TASS, adding that the agreement implied “permission for transit, and not for bilateral trade.” 

Szijjarto said Hungary’s energy resources are “largely dependent on supplies from Russia,” and Moscow guaranteed the continuation of oil and gas supply to the country at the meeting with Lavrov in New York, according to TASS.

Szijjarto will visit Moscow to participate in Russian Energy Week, he said, which will take place in Moscow between October 11 and 13. He said he will also meet with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, TASS said. 

The general leading Ukraine’s counteroffensive along the southern frontline spoke to CNN’s Frederik Pleitgen in an exclusive interview Friday.

Gen. Oleksandr Tarnavsky told Pleitgen that strikes on Crimea, like the one on Friday, are important for the success of Kyiv’s counteroffensive. He also said winter won’t slow down Ukraine’s counteroffensive, that Kyiv’s biggest breakthrough is still to come and that Wagner fighters continue to pop up “here and there” on the frontlines.

If you’re just now reading in, here are other headlines you should know:

The Defense Department Inspector General has been selected as the lead watchdog for aid flowing to Ukraine.

Robert Storch will begin the new role on October 18, according to the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency. He will work with the State Department and watchdogs from the US Agency for International Development to monitor approximately $113 billion in aid that has been sent to Ukraine and other countries since the start of the war last year. 

Republican Sen. Roger Wicker, the ranking member of the Armed Services Committee, along with several of his colleagues, welcomed the announcement of a lead inspector general.

“Appointing a lead Inspector General will help ensure that Congress supports Ukraine’s defense in the most responsible and effective way possible,” said Wicker in a statement Friday.

As the Biden administration has continued to send billions of dollars in aid to Ukraine, some members of Congress, particularly Republicans, have called for more oversight to prevent fraud and abuse. 

Last week, the Pentagon’s inspector general established a new team in Ukraine to better monitor US security assistance to Kyiv. The organization said a senior US representative began work in Ukraine in late-August, and additional personnel are expected to arrive by the end of September.

It marked the first time the Defense inspector general will have personnel based in Ukraine since Russia’s invasion in February 2022, said spokesperson Megan Reed.

Wagner fighters continue to pop up “here and there” on the frontlines in Ukraine, said the general leading the country’s counteroffensive along the southern frontline.

“In some directions, I can’t say whether it’s the Kherson region, or our direction, or somewhere else they do pop up,” Gen. Oleksandr Tarnavsky said when asked about reports that Wagner fighters had been redeployed to Kherson. “The fact is that their badges appear here and there — that’s been constant.”

Tarnavsky went on to say that his men usually speculated about the presence of Wagner whenever their enemy started behaving more competently.

“We suspect the presence of Wagner if we see the deterrence of our offensive forces with the involvement of a category of military personnel who perform these tasks in a more interesting (more non-standard) way,” he explained. “This makes one think: ‘Maybe it’s Wagner has showed up?’”

“But there is no such unit in my area of the front today,” he said. “Regarding Kherson direction — I can’t say.”

Speaking at the United Nations General Assembly on Friday, Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar called Russia’s threats to use nuclear weapons on Ukraine “outrageous” and warned of a second nuclear arms race.

“Among the many horrors of the situation in Ukraine has been the threat and indeed multiple threats to use nuclear weapons. Such threats are in themselves outrageous. Russia knows, as we all do, that their use would result in devastating humanitarian and environmental disaster,” the Irish leader said. Taoiseach is Gaelic for prime minister.

Ireland has been a vocal critic of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, providing more than $224 million (or about 210 million euros) in humanitarian aid to Ukraine since the war broke out. 

The country, which is militarily neutral, has “long been committed to building a world free of nuclear threats,” according to Varadkar. 

“But we see a world in which their place in security doctrines is growing rather than diminishing. This must be reversed. The stark alternative is a new nuclear arms race that must not pass. The devastation on innocent civilians of the use of explosive weapons in populated areas cannot continue to echo down generations. We must never witness that again,” Varadkar stressed.

Ukrainian forces have made a breakthrough in Verbove as they continue to advance, said Oleksandr Tarnavsky, the general leading Ukraine’s counteroffensive along the southern frontline.

“On the left flank [near Verbove] we have a breakthrough and we continue to advance further,” Tarnavsky told CNN’s Frederik Pleitgen during an exclusive interview Friday.

Tarnavsky conceded they were moving slower than anticipated.  

“The main thing is not to lose this initiative (that we have). And, well, not to lose it in practice, with actions,” he said.

One of the reasons for the slow advance, Tarnavsky said, was the fact that Russia had been able to learn some lessons from other Ukrainian offensives. 

“The Russians are learning quite fast, as they don’t have any other choice. If they don’t learn, they will be defeated sooner,” he explained. “I wouldn’t say they are adapting to our actions, as we also change our tactics.”

Tarnavsky added that Ukraine had also been adapting to using Western equipment, as well as Western tactics. 

“The attention was paid to the basics, to the application of the equipment itself, adjustment and maneuver skills, ability to use the weapon that is available at the certain object,” Tarnavsky said of the training that Ukrainian troops received from US and NATO allies.
“But during combat it’s a totally different story, it’s a complex combination of an infantryman and an infantryman on equipment and an infantryman with equipment, in combination with an armored vehicle, more specifically, tanks and even when using artillery.”

Tarnavsky went on to say the war would not truly come to an end, while Russian President Vladimir Putin remained in power.

“For me the end to the war is not just reaching the state border and defeat or eliminating the enemy, who is on our land. The end of war for me is when the Russians of the territory of Russia realize that they have made, and continue making a mistake of supporting their state’s leadership,” he explained. “[The war] may end with success for us but for the whole society there will still be a threat.”

A person has died and at least 31 others were injured, including three children, after a Russian missile struck the central Ukrainian city of Kremenchuk on Friday, according to the head of the Poltava regional military administration.

According to Dmytro Lunin, the search and rescue operations have been completed, and “a specialized commission will work in the city to inspect the facilities and record all the damage” on Saturday. 

 The attack also damaged surrounding buildings, he said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called Russia’s war in Ukraine a genocide during his address to Canada’s Parliament in Ottawa Friday.

“It is genocide,” Zelensky said, adding that Russian aggression “must end with our victory” so Russia can never “bring back genocide to Ukraine.”

The president thanked Canada for its political support and said he was grateful for Canada’s leadership in supporting the “Ukrainian movement to NATO.” Ukraine has been trying to obtain membership for the international organization. 

Zelensky said he and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau discussed a Canadian initiative for “G7 efforts” to confiscate Russian assets on Friday. 

“Those funds that Russian and its henchmen use to pay for their war,” Zelensky said, should be used to “compensate for the damage caused by war and terror.” 

He went on to say that Canada’s support, specifically through weapons, has saved thousands of lives.

The Ukrainian president also said that Russia was trying to break the sovereignty of other nations through “its manipulation of energy resources.” 

“The more nations are free from Russian energy resources, the sooner energy in the world will once again become just an energy resource,” and “not a weapon,” Zelensky explained. 

“Freedom and justice will will, Zelensky said, “not the Kremlin.” 

Winter won’t slow down Ukraine’s counteroffensive and Kyiv’s biggest breakthrough is still to come, the general leading the country’s fight along the southern front line told CNN.

“The weather can be a serious obstacle during advance, but considering how we move forward, mostly without vehicles, I don’t think [the weather] will heavily influence the counteroffensive,” Gen. Oleksandr Tarnavsky told CNN’s senior international Correspondent Frederik Pleitgen during an exclusive interview Friday.

Intense rains in the fall can make the ground in Ukraine soggy and make movement with heavy machinery, like tanks, more difficult, but Tarnavsky says Ukraine’s forces move in small groups, mostly on foot. 

The general also said he believes Ukraine’s big breakthrough — the biggest of this counteroffensive — is yet to come. 

“I think it will happen after Tokmak,” Tarnavsky said of the breakthrough. “At the moment they are relying on the depth of their defensive line there.”

Rather than the “Surovikin line,” which is a defensive line built on the orders of former Gen. Sergey Surovikin, Tarnavsky says the bigger issues are the “crossroads, tree lines and minefields between the tree lines.” 

“[There’s] a combination of small harmful enemy defense groups that currently are planted very precisely and competently,” he said. “But the actions of our fighters force them to slowly pull back when they face our assault squads.”

Positive about the ultimate outcome, the general conceded that for the counteroffensive to be a success, Ukrainian forces need to at least reach the city of Tokmak. 

“Tokmak is the minimum goal,” he said. “The overall objective is to get to our state borders.”

When asked about rising resistance to continuing weapons supplies to Ukraine, especially in the US, where some have voiced doubt about Kyiv’s chances of success, Tarnavsky said he respected their view. 

He also thanked Ukraine’s Western allies for their continuous support, especially for the tanks and other armored vehicles they’ve been providing, and promised Kyiv was treating them with great care. 

Strikes on Crimea, like the one on Friday, are important for the success of Kyiv’s counteroffensive, according to the general leading Ukraine’s military efforts along the southern front line, Oleksandr Tarnavsky.

“The success of offensive operations is not only about destroying the enemy in front of you, it’s also about destroying places of concentration of equipment, personnel and especially destroying the command centers,” Tarnavsky told CNN in an exclusive interview on Friday.

“Disorganizing their forces by destroying their command centers at a higher level leads to a mess on the battlefield,” Tarnavsky explained. “A destroyed commander means a destroyed command link and without it, there are no coordinated actions.”

Crimea, the general elaborated, is especially important on that front because it houses a high concentration of Russian military equipment. “We know where they strike from, both their air assets, as well as the ground ones,” he said.

Striking the Russian Black Sea Fleet headquarters helps Ukraine and also “gives us hope for the future,” Tarnavsky said.

At least one person was killed and 15 people, including one child, were injured by a missile strike on the central Ukrainian city of Kremenchuk on Friday, according to a local official.

Russian forces carried out strikes on Friday on civilian infrastructure in the industrial city, according to Dmytro Lunin, the head of the Poltava regional military administration.

Ukrainian air defenses managed to shoot down one Russian missile, Lunin added in his post on Telegram Friday.

Kremenchuk is located in Ukraine’s Poltava region. 

The Ukrainian missile attack on the headquarters of the Russian Black Sea Fleet is politically a sign that despite the slow progress on the front lines in its counteroffensive, Ukraine can still inflict serious damage on the Russian military. Targets such as the Crimea bridge have considerable symbolic value as well as strategic purpose.

It’s also part of a broader effort – in Crimea, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk and Luhansk – to hit Russian logistics, fuel, maintenance and command centers, in order to disrupt their ability to supply the front lines.

The Russian Black Sea Fleet has been involved in hundreds of cruise missile attacks against Ukraine and threatens merchant shipping using Ukrainian ports. Any disruption to its operation and command facilities (as well as the targeting of vessels at sea and in dock) is a win, especially after the Russian withdrawal from the Black Sea Grain Initiative in July. And, this week, the Ukrainians went after a drone facility in Crimea. Russia has used drones to target Ukraine’s Danube River ports.

Ukraine has devoted considerable effort to degrading Russian air defenses in Crimea. That effort now appears to be paying off – as Ukrainian Neptune missiles (and most probably UK-provided Storm Shadows) are capable of reaching targets deep inside Crimea.

While some US officials have been critical of Ukraine’s concentration on Crimea, the Ukrainians argue that targeting anything to do with the Black Sea Fleet is worthwhile. As the Institute for the Study of War noted Thursday, “elements of the Black Sea Fleet’s 810th Naval Infantry Brigade are engaged in critical defensive operations in western Zaporizhzhia Oblast, and the Black Sea Fleet’s 22nd Army Corps is defending positions on the east bank of Kherson Oblast.”

Read the full analysis here.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked Canada for its support of Ukraine during in a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday in Ottawa. 

“I want to thank that in this tough period you hosted Ukrainians, and you helped us on the battlefield, military, financially, and humanitarian, which is crucial,” Zelensky said. 

The Ukrainian president hinted that he may visit Canada with his children “after the victory” in Ukraine’s war with Russia. 

“Thank you that you stayed with us,” Zelensky said, adding that Canada supported Ukraine since before the invasion.

Trudeau said this meeting serves as an opportunity for him to “sit down and talk about all the things we need to do together” and to stand strongly against Russia. The prime minister said Canada “strongly and unequivocally” stands with Ukraine. 

Ukraine’s defense minister, Rustem Umerov, is also in Ottawa holding bilateral talks with his Canadian counterpart in an effort to shore up military support.

Canada has warned the cyber community to be in a heightened state of vigilance during Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to Canada.

The Canadian cyber security community — especially the operators of government and critical infrastructure websites — should adopt a heightened state of vigilance and bolster their awareness of and protection against malicious cyber threats, a statement from Canada’s Communications Security Establishment (CSE) warned Friday.

“We have observed that it’s not uncommon to see increased distributed denial of service (DDoS) campaigns against NATO countries that support Ukraine, or host visits from Ukrainian government officials,” the statement continued.

About the Ukrainian president’s visit: Zelensky is set to deliver an address to the Canadian Parliament on Friday and meet with the Canadian finance minister and business leaders in Toronto.

The situation in the Black Sea remains “tense,” a Ukrainian military spokesperson said Friday, adding that Ukraine still has “a long way to go” to “destroy all the enemy’s capabilities” in Crimea.

Natalia Humeniuk, a spokesperson for the Security and Defense Forces of the South of Ukraine, said in a video address that Russia is “realizing that it is no longer safe for them in the Black Sea and in their bases.”

Earlier Friday, Ukraine launched a missile attack on the headquarters of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, in perhaps the most dramatic example yet of the confidence with which Kyiv is going after Russian facilities in Crimea.

The spokesperson, however, acknowledged the challenges ahead.

“There are still many such points on the map of Crimea, and we have a long way to go,” Humeniuk said. 

Humeniuk also said that “explosion season” will continue, adding, “there will be many more informative and interesting things to come.” 

Over the past month, Ukraine has stepped up attacks on Russian military bases and other installations, including air defenses, in Crimea. In recent weeks, Ukraine launched a missile attack on a shipyard in Sevastopol, said it destroyed Russia’s S-400 missile system in Crimea, and most recently said it hit a Russian command post near Sevastopol on Wednesday.

The Strategic Communications Department of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (Stratcom) confirmed on Friday that Ukraine successfully targeted the headquarters of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol on Friday.

“On the 22nd of September at about 12 noon, the Defense Forces of Ukraine have inflicted a successful hit on the Headquarters of the Russian Black Sea Fleet Command in the temporarily occupied Sevastopol,” Stratcom posted on Telegram on Friday.  

Sevastopol is one of the largest cities in the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea and was illegally annexed by Moscow’s forces in 2014.

Over the past month, Ukraine has stepped up attacks on Russian military bases and other installations, including air defenses, in Crimea.

Crimean Internet providers have faced an “unprecedented” cyberattack, leading to Internet access issues for residents on the peninsula, the local Russian-appointed official said Friday.

According to Oleg Kryuchkov, adviser to the head of occupied Crimea, “an unprecedented cyber-attack” has been launched on Crimean Internet providers.

“We are detecting interruptions in the Internet on the [Crimean] peninsula. All services are working to eliminate the threat,” Kryuchkov said in a Telegram post, adding that efforts are underway to mitigate the threat.

Earlier Friday, Ukraine launched a missile attack on the headquarters of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, the Russian-appointed governor of Sevastopol, Crimea, said.

Over the past month, Ukraine has stepped up attacks on Russian military bases and other installations, including air defenses, in Crimea. Sevastopol, home to Russia’s Black Sea Fleet headquarters, is one of the largest cities on the Crimean peninsula and was illegally annexed by Moscow’s forces in 2014.

CNN’s Olga Voitovych, Jessie Gretener and Tim Lister contributed reporting to this post.

Ukrainian officials are commenting on the Ukrainian missile attack that targeted the Russian Black Sea Fleet headquarters in Sevastopol, one of Crimea’s largest city, on Friday.

Oleksii Danilov, secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine warned that Russia has two options for the future of its fleet, “voluntary or forced self-liquidation.” He added, “the best and safest way to preserve the integrity of the property and economic complex” of Sevastopol and its surrounding areas “is voluntary sinking.”

Mykola Oleshchuk, commander of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, posted on Telegram Friday and pointed to recent warnings by Ukrainians regarding increased attacks on Russian military bases in Crimea. “We promised that ‘to be continued…’ So, while the occupiers are recovering in Melitopol, and air raid sirens are still heard in Sevastopol, I would like to thank the Air Force pilots once again!” 

Refat Chubarov, the chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People in Ukraine, thanked those involved in the operation to “liberate” Crimea. “My friends, congratulating me on my birthday, write that today’s strikes on the most important military targets of the Russian barbarians in Crimea are a gift from the Ukrainian Defense Forces,” said Chubarov, who is currently working from Ukrainian-controlled territory outside of Crimea.

Ukraine has launched a missile attack on the headquarters of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet located in Sevastopol, the largest city in the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea, which was illegally annexed by Moscow’s forces in 2014.

Russian state media TASS reported that debris was “scattered for hundreds of meters” following the missile strike. TASS added that a large number of ambulances were on their way to the scene of the attack.

Ukrainian officials have yet to comment on the incident.

If you are just joining us, here are the latest developments:

A Russian soldier was missing as a result of the Ukrainian missile attack on the headquarters of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol in Crimea on Friday, Russian’s Ministry of Defense said.

Meanwhile, Russian-appointed Gov. Mikhail Razvozhayev had earlier said on Telegram that another attack was possible and advised residents to avoid the city center. Later, he updated to say there was no more “missile and aviation danger.”

Ukrainian officials have not yet commented on the incident.

Poland’s Agriculture Minister said he is willing to discuss grain shipments with Ukraine, as long as “the interests of the Polish farmer are secured and Ukrainian grain does not enter Poland.”

“I am glad that Ukraine started talking to us, and not over our heads with the European Union or individually with various countries outside us, because it was a ridiculous thing,” Poland’s Agriculture Minister Robert Telus told journalists on Friday, according to CNN affiliate TVN24. 

On Thursday, Polish President Andrzej Duda said he is willing to talk to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as “friends” to resolve “difficult situations” between their countries after Warsaw signaled it would stop sending arms to Kyiv amid a dispute over grain imports.

Grain dispute: Pressure has been building for months over a ban on Ukrainian grain, initially put in place earlier this year by several European Union nations to protect the livelihood of local farmers worried about being undercut by low Ukrainian prices.

Last week, the EU announced plans to suspend the rule. But three nations — Poland, Hungary and Slovakia — said they intended to defy the change and keep the restrictions in place.

“This matter needs to be resolved, it is a dispute that is in fact a legal dispute,” Duda told TVN24 on Thursday. “I understand that [Ukraine] are looking for help in their situation at all costs and therefore they do not care where they sell their grain, but it is not indifferent to us, and we want to help them and we do help them.”

Ukraine launched a missile attack on the headquarters of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, the Russian-appointed governor of Sevastopol, Crimea, said on Friday. 

“The enemy launched a missile attack on the headquarters of the fleet,” Sevastopol governor Mikhail Razvozhayev said on Telegram. 

Sevastopol, home to Russia’s Black Sea Fleet headquarters, is the largest city in the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea that was illegally annexed by Moscow’s forces in 2014.

Russian state media TASS reported that debris was “scattered for hundreds of meters” following the missile strike. TASS added that a large number of ambulances were on their way to the scene of the attack.

Razvozhayev also said that a piece of shrapnel fell near the Lunacharsky Theater. 

The Russian-appointed governor said operational services went to the scene of the attack and said information about any casualties is being clarified. 

Ukrainian officials have not yet commented on the incident. 

Last week, Ukraine launched an extensive assault on the ship repair base for Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, which damaged two Russian warships, according to officials. Russia’s Defense Ministry said Ukrainian armed forces attacked the Sergo Ordzhonikidze shipyard in Sevastopol on September 13 with 10 cruise missiles and three unmanned boats, in what appeared to be Kyiv’s most ambitious strike on the port since the war began.

The Russian government predicts that tensions will likely increase between Ukraine and Poland, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday. 

“As we can see, there are certain tensions between Warsaw and Kyiv. We predict that these tensions will increase,” Peskov said during a regular call with reporters, when asked to comment on Poland signaling that it would stop sending arms to Ukraine.

“We understand that tensions between Kyiv and other European capitals will also increase over time. It’s unavoidable. In the meantime, we continue our special military operation to fulfill the tasks that we have set for ourselves,” Peskov said. 

When asked to comment on the Polish government’s remarks that the country will focus on arming its own forces, and whether that’s causing concern in Russia and Belarus, Peskov said work to ensure Belarus and Russia’s security is “underway.”

“As for weapons, the neighborhood with Poland is not the most comfortable for our Belarusian comrades. The country is quite aggressive. It does not refrain from subversive activities and interference in internal affairs,” Peskov said. “But our Belarusian friends and allies are on alert against the background of the potential threats that could come from Poland, as are we.”

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is holding a bilateral meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Ottawa on Friday “to reiterate Canada’s ongoing military, economic, humanitarian, and development support for Ukraine as it continues to defend itself against Russia’s brutal war of aggression.”

In a statement released by his office on Thursday ahead of Zelensky’s visit to Canada, Trudeau said his country “will continue to stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes.”

“The two leaders will continue to work closely together to strengthen ties between our countries and help ensure the Ukrainian people can continue to defend themselves against Russia’s brutal and unjustifiable invasion,” the statement said.

Both leaders will participate in a signing ceremony “to continue strengthening economic ties between our two countries.”

Trudeau later posted a video on X of himself welcoming Zelensky and First Lady Olena Zelenska as they disembarked in Canada.

Zelensky will also deliver an address to the Canadian Parliament on Friday and meet with the Canadian finance minister and business leaders in Toronto.

The prime minister’s office said in a statement that Canada will “apply more economic pressure on Putin’s regime until it respects Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, including in sectors that are strategically important for Russia, such as oil and gas.”

Since January 2022, Canada “has committed more than $8.9 billion [$6.62 billion USD] in multifaceted support to Ukraine, including $4.95 billion [$3.68 USD] in direct financial support and over $1.8 billion [$1.34 billion] in military aid ranging from Leopard 2 tanks and air defense and artillery systems to armored vehicles, ammunition, and more,” the statement said.

Russia’s Ministry of Defense said it foiled another Ukrainian drone attack “against facilities on the territory of the Russian Federation” on Friday morning, in addition to destroying two drones earlier in the day.

The Defense Ministry said Russian air defenses detected and destroyed one guided missile and two drones near the Crimean Peninsula, which they alleged were Ukrainian. 

Earlier on Friday, the ministry said it destroyed one drone in the southern Krasnodar region and intercepted another over the Black Sea near the southeastern coast of occupied Crimea.

It did not mention any damage or casualties.

A Russian missile attack overnight hit a two-story residential building in the city of Kurakhove in the Donetsk region, injuring 16 people, the Donetsk Regional Prosecutor’s Office said on Friday. 

The prosecutor’s office said two missiles struck the city late Thursday night, with one of them hitting the residential building. Windows and roofs in other apartment buildings were also damaged, as well as cars and garages. 

Authorities said preliminary information indicates that they were Russian Iskander missiles.

The Donetsk regional military administration also reported other attacks overnight in the region, which they say injured two people in Petropavlivka, two people in Molodetske, one person in Toretsk, and one person in the village of Kostiantynivka.

A second grain ship has left the Ukrainian Black Sea port of Chornomorsk, near the city of Odesa, after making the inbound journey last weekend, Ukrainian officials announced Friday.

The Palau-flagged vessel, called the Aroyat, left the port “after loading 17,600 [tons of] Ukrainian wheat for Egypt,” according to Ukraine’s Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov. 

It’s the second ship carrying grain to leave the port this week after a smaller ship left Chornomorsk under Ukraine’s temporary humanitarian corridor, Kubrakov said.

Ukraine established the temporary corridor last month after Russia pulled out of a UN-brokered agreement guaranteeing safe passage for grain ships across the Black Sea.

At least seven civilian ships have now made the journey, sailing south from Ukraine’s main ports around Odesa, since the corridor was announced.

Meanwhile, three more cargo vessels are en route to the port, Kubrakov announced Friday.

Three bulk carriers – called Azara, Ying Hao 01, and Eneida – are using the temporary corridor to export more than 100 tons of agricultural products and iron ore destined for China, Egypt, and Spain, the infrastructure minister said on social media. 

Polish President Andrzej Duda on Thursday said he is willing to talk to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as “friends” to resolve “difficult situations” between their countries after Warsaw signaled it would stop sending arms to Kyiv amid a dispute over grain imports.

The decision by Poland, one of Ukraine’s staunchest supporters, was a major reversal that threatens to upend Europe’s strategic relationship Kyiv as it wages a counteroffensive against Russia.

Referring to Zelensky’s remarks Tuesday at the UN General Assembly that “some of our friends in Europe play out solidarity in a political theater,” Duda told Polish channel TVN24 that although his Ukrainian counterpart did not mention Poland specifically, “the suggestion was there and we all understood it.”

Asked whether he was upset by Zelensky’s comments, Duda said, “maybe upset is a too strong word.” 

“I was embittered, I would rather put it that way. I say this: ‘let’s stay calm, please do not raise the temperature, because this is a dispute that concerns a small part of our relations. Let’s not allow it to affect the whole, because there is no justification for it and only others will benefit from it,’” Duda said. 

Pressure has been building for months over a ban on Ukrainian grain, initially put in place earlier this year by several European Union nations to protect the livelihood of local farmers worried about being undercut by the low price of Ukrainian grain.

Last week, the EU announced plans to suspend the rule. But three nations — Poland, Hungary and Slovakia — said they intended to defy the change and keep the restrictions in place.

“This matter needs to be resolved, it is a dispute that is in fact a legal dispute,” Duda told TVN24. “I understand that [Ukraine] are looking for help in their situation at all costs and therefore they do not care where they sell their grain, but it is not indifferent to us, and we want to help them and we do help them.”

Arms shipments: Duda said Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki’s statement Wednesday that Warsaw would no longer transfer weapons to Kyiv was “interpreted in the worst possible way.”

Duda clarified that the prime minister was talking about new weapons earmarked for Polish army modernization and that Poland’s existing pledges to Ukraine — including for howitzers, ammunition and mine clearing vehicles — would be honored.

He also did not rule out the possibility of resuming arms transfers to Kyiv in the future.

President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday vowed to liberate the embattled eastern city of Bakhmut and two other key Ukrainian cities from Russian occupation during a discussion with US editors in Washington.

Bakhmut, which has been the scene of the some of the fiercest fighting of the war, has long been a target for Ukraine after Russian forces claimed control of the city in May following a months-long slog in which soldiers had to grind for every inch of territory.

“We will de-occupy Bakhmut,” Zelensky said. “I think that we will de-occupy two more cities,” he added. “I will not tell you what cities, sorry. And so we have the plan. Very, very comprehensive plan.”

Here’s what else Zelensky addressed:

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday announced $128 million in new US security assistance to Ukraine as well as $197 million in arms and equipment.

The announcement comes amid President Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to the White House, where he met with President Joe Biden. 

During a meeting with Cabinet members, Biden reaffirmed the US commitment, along with its partners, to Ukraine. Zelensky in turn thanked Biden and the American people for their support. 

Here are the latest developments: 

The Pentagon has determined that the training and support of Ukrainian forces is exempt from a potential government shutdown, according to the Defense Department, and will continue even in the increasingly likely event that Congress fails to pass a spending bill in the coming days.

The determination allows critical elements of American support for Kyiv, such as the training of Ukrainian forces and the ongoing transfer of weapons to Ukraine, to proceed in the midst of an ongoing counteroffensive.

“Operation Atlantic Resolve is an excepted activity under a government lapse in appropriations,” said Defense Department spokesman Chris Sherwood. Operation Atlantic Resolve refers to the US effort to support Ukraine and to bolster NATO’s eastern flank. It was established in 2014 following the Russian invasion of Crimea.

But as recently as Tuesday, Sherwood had cautioned that a government shutdown could disrupt US aid to Ukraine, warning that the delivery of equipment and the US training efforts “could be impacted by furloughs of personnel and DoD’s suspension” of activities deemed not essential to US national security.

Politico first reported on the designation.

With prospects growing of a potential government shutdown, a disruption to US support and training for Ukraine would have come at a critical juncture, with US M1A1 Abrams tanks set to arrive on the battlefield soon and Ukrainian pilots about to start a training program for F-16 fighter jets.

The decision to shield the US military’s operations related to Ukraine from the effects of a possible shutdown come as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited Washington, DC, meeting with President Joe Biden, as well as top leaders at the Pentagon.

The blue-and-gold flag draped hero worship of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s last Washington trip, which stirred comparisons to Winston Churchill’s wartime stand against Nazism, was a distant memory on Thursday.

Nine months later, Zelensky was back in town and he and his hosts learned some jarring lessons about one another at a moment when a path to ultimate victory in the war against Russia seems increasingly distant.

Zelensky got an abrupt preview of how Donald Trump’s possible return to power after the 2024 election and how the ex-president’s current sway over the ungovernable Republican-led House of Representatives could rupture the multi-billion dollar lifeline on which Ukraine’s survival depends. 

There’s also a question of whether Zelensky’s relentless efforts to shame the world into action might be reaching the point of diminishing returns. The pugnacious president might think so too judging by his multiple and poignant expressions of gratitude for previous help as polls show more Americans are skeptical of aid to Ukraine. He may need to develop new political skills to adapt to a vicious phase in American politics when Ukraine is being dragged into an impeachment saga for the second time and is a central general election issue.

Zelensky’s trip to the United States – whose democracy, while battered, is still a bulwark of free political systems around the world – was a mirror image of another journey made by Russian President Vladimir Putin last week to restock his own arsenal in a meeting with North Korean tyrant Kim Jong Un in Russia’s Far East.

Read more about potential implications of mixed response to Zelensky’s visit.

The United States will give $128 million in new security assistance to Ukraine as well as $197 million in arms and equipment in previously authorized drawdowns, the secretary of state announced. 

The package includes additional air defense munitions “to help strengthen Ukraine’s air defenses against aerial assaults from Russia now and in the coming winter, when Russia is likely to renew its attacks against Ukrainian critical infrastructure,” Antony Blinken said Thursday.

“It also contains artillery ammunition and anti-armor capabilities, as well as cluster munitions, which will further enhance Ukraine’s capacity to continue its counter-offensive against Russia’s forces,” he added.

This is the second time the US has provided the controversial cluster munitions to Ukraine, the Defense Department said. In late July, shortly after the US first provided cluster munitions, the White House said Ukrainian forces were using the weapons “effectively” and “appropriately” against Russian defensive positions.

The US will not be providing Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) to Ukraine, however, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said, despite requests from Ukraine. He said while not providing it in this package, Biden is “not taking it off the table in the future.”

The announcement comes as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with President Joe Biden in Washington, DC.

One of Ukraine’s closest and most vocal allies has said it will stop sending arms to Kyiv, a major reversal that threatens to upend Europe’s strategic relationship with the country as it wages a counteroffensive against Russia.

Poland’s decision was both sudden and predictable, coming after months of tensions over a temporary ban on Ukrainian grain imports to a number of European Union countries.

It also follows a pattern of increasingly confrontational behavior towards Kyiv from Poland’s government, just weeks before a tight general election.

And it could have implications for Ukraine’s attempts to push Russian forces out of the country’s southern regions, in an ongoing assault that has been making slow and grinding progress.

What has Poland announced? “We no longer transfer weapons to Ukraine because we are now arming Poland,” Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said in a blunt social media statement on Wednesday.

Morawiecki added in a television interview that Poland will now focus on supplying “the most modern weapons” for its own purposes, state news agency PAP reported. “If you want to defend yourself you have to have something to defend with,” the prime minister said.

It marks a major change in policy. In the spring, Poland became the first NATO country to send fighter jets to Ukraine – months ahead of the United States, which only agreed last month to approve the transfer of F-16 jets, pending the completion of training by Ukrainian forces.

It has also previously sent more than 200 Soviet-style tanks to Ukraine, and most Western military equipment and other supplies reach Ukrainian forces by crossing Polish territory.

Poland will now only carry out the supplies of ammunition and weapons to Kyiv that were agreed before Warsaw made its decision to stop shipments, government spokesman Piotr Muller said Thursday, according to PAP.

Muller emphasized that Ukraine has made a series of “absolutely unacceptable statements and diplomatic gestures” and that “Poland does not accept this type of unjustified actions,” PAP reported.

How did we get here? Pressure has been building for months over a ban on Ukrainian grain, initially put in place earlier this year by several EU nations to protect the livelihood of local farmers worried about being undercut by the low price of Ukrainian grain.

Last week, the EU announced plans to suspend the rule. But three nations – Poland, Hungary and Slovakia – said they intended to defy the change and keep the restrictions in place. It prompted protests from Ukraine, which this week filed lawsuits against all three countries over the issue.

Read more here about Poland’s reversal and how it might impact the war.

Ukraine’s state energy provider Ukrenergo said Thursday that Russian missile attacks caused damage to power facilities in western and central regions in Ukraine.

Ukrenergo said it was the first time that Russia had launched attacks on the power infrastructure in six months. The strikes come as Ukraine prepares for the winter months. Last year, Russia began a series of intense attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure in October.

“Due to the consequences of the attack, there were partial blackouts in Rivne, Zhytomyr, Kyiv, Dniproptrovsk and Kharkiv regions. The power supply is being restored to consumers,” Ukrenergo said. 
“Due to the hostilities and other reasons, 398 settlements remain without electricity as of the morning.

Vitalii Koval, head of the Rivne regional military administration, said the region suffered several missile strikes. “Unfortunately, there are hits on the energy and civilian infrastructure,” he said.

Speaking in front of a service station that was damaged, Koval said that there were no casualties, but added: “There is also no power supply in part of Rivne district.”

Some context: Last year, Russia ramped up strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure as temperatures dropped. 

In October 2022, the country’s energy facilities were attacked at least 82 times — more than in all previous months of the full-scale invasion combined.

From October through to January, Russia hit infrastructure throughout most of Ukraine.

Ukrainian air defenses shot down 36 of 43 missiles launched by Russia on Thursday in attacks across the country, Ukraine’s army chief said.

Valerii Zaluzhnyi, commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, said in a Telegram post that cruise missiles launched from aircraft in southern Russia were “constantly changing course along the route.”

In an update Thursday, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said Russian forces launched “a massive missile attack” on civilian infrastructure in multiple regions: