September 12, 2023 Russia-Ukraine news

Our live coverage for the day has moved here.

Vladimir Putin arrived at the Russia’s space rocket launch site, the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Amur region, Russia.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has arrived at the country’s remote space rocket launch site, the Vostochny Cosmodrome, Russian state media TASS reported. 

Russian state television journalist Pavel Zarubin posted several videos purportedly showing Putin at the site, in the country’s far east.

This comes amid speculation the space center is where Putin may meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, who arrived in Russia on Tuesday.

US officials have warned the two leaders may hold arms talks that could see Pyongyang provide weapons for Moscow to use in its war against Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday he has plans to visit the Vostochny Cosmodrome, in the Amur province of Russia’s Far East, amid speculation this is where he may meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Putin said neither when he would visit nor what he would do while there.

This comes after South Korean news agency Yonhap reported Tuesday that the train believed to be carrying Kim appears to be moving in a more northerly direction beyond Vladivostok, and towards Khabarovsk province bordering China instead, citing multiple local sources in Vladivostok.

Amur province, where Vostochny Cosmodrome is located, lies just northwest of Khabarovsk province. 

North Korea and Russia have both confirmed Kim Jong Un has entered Russia on his heavily armored private green train.

Possible arms talks: US officials have repeatedly warned that North Korean and Russia are “actively advancing” arms negotiations, which could lead to Pyongyang selling weapons to Russia in exchange for sanctioned ballistic missile technology. 

Analysts also warn that North Korea could seek improved launch capabilities for submarine-launched ballistic missiles, satellite reconnaissance capabilities, and even help with launching satellites. 

North Korea has attempted two satellite launches this year; both ended in failure.

Were Kim to get his hands on technology from Russia, a world leader in nuclear missile forces for decades, it would be a great boost for his programs and a great concern for leaders in the West, analysts say.

Moscow, in turn, badly needs fresh supplies of ammunition and small arms on the front lines in Ukraine, after more than 18 months of war have left its military battered. These are areas where analysts say North Korea has strong production capabilities.

North Korea has launched a second possible ballistic missile, Japan said Wednesday morning, ahead of an expected meeting between Kim Jong Un and Vladimir Putin in Russia.

The Japanese Coast Guard, citing the country’s defense ministry, said the first ballistic missile launched earlier that morning had already fallen. It did not specify where.

South Korean authorities said the missile had been fired off the east coast of the Korean Peninsula.

Possible weapons talks: Kim and Putin could meet as early as Wednesday morning local time, according to the host of one of the most popular programs on Russian state television.

US officials have warned that arms negotiations could be on the table during their talks, which could see North Korea provide weapons for Russia to use on the battlefield against Ukraine.

Mikhail Razvozhaev attends an event in Saint Petersburg, Russia on June 16, 2022.

A missile strike on a shipyard in the Crimean city of Sevastopol early Wednesday morning has wounded 24 people, according to the Russian-backed governor Mikhail Razvozhaev. 

Razvozhaev posted an update shortly after arriving at the scene of the strike, saying four people were “in moderate condition” due to the attack.

In an earlier statement, he said the attack had caused a fire, and that the location was “not a civilian facility.”

Some background: Crimea was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014, and is internationally recognized as being part of Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has vowed to “liberate” all of the country’s territory including the occupied peninsula.

An important port and a major naval base for Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, Sevastopol has been the site of multiple suspected Ukrainian attacks.

North Korea fired at least one ballistic missile into waters off the east coast of the Korean Peninsula on Wednesday morning, said South Korean authorities, as Kim Jong Un prepares to meet Vladimir Putin in Russia.

Kim’s private train, which departed Pyongyang Sunday, crossed into Russia on Tuesday, according to state media. The two leaders could meet as early as Wednesday morning local time, according to the host of one of the most popular programs on Russian state television.

US officials have warned that arms negotiations could be on the table during their talks, which would see North Korea provide weapons for Russia to use on the battlefield against Ukraine.

Japan issues alert: The Japanese coast guard also said Wednesday morning that a possible ballistic missile had been launched by North Korea, warning vessels in the area to stay away from falling objects and to report relevant information to the coast guard.

Ukraine launched a missile attack on the Crimean city of Sevastopol in the early hours of Wednesday, the city’s Russian-backed governor said.

He added that the missile attack caused a fire, “according to preliminary information.”

The fire broke out at what Razvozhaev described as “not a civilian facility” in the Kilen-Balka area of Sevastopol.  

Some background: Crimea was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014, and is internationally recognized as being part of Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has vowed to “liberate” all of the country’s territory including the occupied peninsula.

An important port and a major naval base for Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, Sevastopol has been the site of multiple suspected Ukrainian attacks.

The European Council has established a register to record damages caused by the war in Ukraine and to hold Russia accountable, the council announced Tuesday. 

The register was set up during a conference held in the Latvian capital of Riga that included representatives from more than 40 countries.   

The so-called Register of Damage is a digital platform set up “to record the evidence and claims of damage, loss or injury caused to all natural and legal persons concerned, as well as to the State of Ukraine, by Russia’s internationally wrongful acts in or against Ukraine” the council said. 

According to the statement, the Register’s budget is “funded by annual assessed contributions of participant states, as well as voluntary contributions.” It added that the Netherlands and European Union “have made substantial voluntary contributions to the startup costs of the Register.”

The European Commission published a survey on Monday indicating that the majority of EU citizens are in favor of continued support for Ukraine. 

According to the survey results, “86% approve of the EU continuing to provide humanitarian support to the people affected by the war, 77% accept welcoming in the EU people fleeing the war and 71% back imposing economic sanctions against Russia.”  

Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un could meet as early as Wednesday morning local time, according to the host of one of the most popular programs on Russian state television.

While discussing the highly anticipated meeting, Olga Skabeeva, host of the show 60 Minutes, told her co-anchor Evgeny Popov the meeting was set for early Wednesday morning local time.  

Skabeeva did not specify if she meant early Wednesday, Moscow time, or early Wednesday in Vladivostok, which is in the Russian Far East.

It’s currently 3:12 a.m. in Moscow while it’s 10:12 a.m. in Vladivostok.

Kim arrived in Khasan, near the North Korean border, on Tuesday while Putin has been in Vladivostok, attending an economic summit. The locations are around 168 miles apart (270 kilometers.)

North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un is welcomed by Russia's Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Alexander Kozlov at Khasan train station on September 12.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is in Russia for the first time in four years after his heavily armored private train arrived at the border town of Khasan at 6:00 a.m. (local time) on Tuesday, North Korean state media reported.

Kim began his visit by meeting with senior officials, according to state media, and is expected to meet at some point with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The meeting between the two leaders would be a significant development, analysts say, bringing together two leaders who are increasingly isolated on the world stage. The US has warned that the meeting could lead to a deal that would provide weapons for Moscow’s war on Ukraine.

Kim’s arrival in Russia is his first visit abroad since the Covid-19 pandemic, during which North Korea’s borders were sealed.

Here are other headlines you should know:

At least two people were killed and three others injured as a result of Russian shelling in the Donetsk region, according to Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office.

The town of Krasnohorivka came under Russian artillery fire in the early hours of Tuesday, the office said in a statement, noting that a private house was hit by a 152mm projectile that killed “an 84-year-old woman and a 71-year-old man living there.” 

A 70-year-old woman temporarily residing in the house suffered burns and a concussion as a result of the attack, the office added. 

Another two people were wounded as a result of the Russian attack on the Ukrainian town of Avdiivka: an 82-year-old mother and her 55-year-old daughter, the office said.

Those injured were taken to a medical facility for emergency treatment, the statement added.

Both Krasonohorivka and Avdiivka are located close to the frontline running through the partially Russian-occupied Donetsk region. The situation in the town of Avdiivka in particular, north of the city of Donetsk, has been “really intense” for months. The Ukrainian military has called Avdiivka one of the main areas of focus for Russian offensive operations.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un shakes hands with Russian Natural Resources Minister Alexander Kozlov in Khasan, Russia, on Tuesday, September 12.

North Korean state media on Wednesday reported that leader Kim Jong Un arrived at Khasan, Russia, at 6:00 a.m. (local time) on Tuesday — confirming previous reports that Kim had visited the Russian-North Korean border town.

Kim, along with senior officials, met with Russia’s minister of natural resources and ecology and the regional governor, KCNA reported. 

Russian media had earlier described him meeting with Oleg Kozhemyako, the governor of the Primorsky Krai region that borders North Korea, as well as Alexander Kozlov, Russian minister of natural resources.

President Vladimir Putin had “personally sent them to the border station to greet him, adding that the Russian government and people are doing their best to offer him sincerest hospitality, hoping his visit would be significant,” KCNA reported.

Kim described his trip as a “clear manifestation of the stand of the WPK and the government of the DPRK prioritizing the strategic importance of the DPRK-Russia relations,” noting he was pleased to be visiting Russia again since his last visit four years ago in 2019, KCNA said.

Video footage showed Kim disembarking his private armored train at the station in Khasan, which lies on the banks of the Tumen River, near the point where the borders of North Korea, Russia and China converge.

Thirteen more children have returned home from Russia-occupied territories, according to Save Ukraine, a non-governmental organization working to bring home Ukrainian children.

One of the returned children was a girl named Olesia, whose mother “hid her from the occupation authorities and her fellow villagers for a whole year so that no one would find out that the girl lived with her mother and force her to study at a Russian school,” Save Ukraine said. 

Another three siblings – Polina, Taras and Matvii – had a split in the family following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Their divorced parents took different stances on the war. 

According to Save Ukraine, the mother was “painfully worried about Ukraine, and dad became pro-Russian.” The father banned his former wife and the kids from leaving the Russian-occupied territory, the organization said.

The office of Ukraine’s president recently estimated that at least 20,000 Ukrainian children have been forcibly removed from their homes. Thousands of cases are already under investigation, Kyiv has said. 

Russia has denied it is doing anything illegal and says it is bringing Ukrainian children to safety.

Zelensky discussed the package in his nightly address on Tuesday, September 12.

Denmark will send Ukraine a military aid package worth over $800 million, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his nightly address on Tuesday. 

“In terms of content, it is exactly what we agreed on with Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and her government team,” Zelensky said. 

Zelensky called the package “a significant decision” and “a good reinforcement,” noting that it was “the largest defense package for the entire period of a full-scale war.” 

Last month, Denmark and the Netherlands pledged to provide Ukraine with much sought-after F-16 fighter jets as Kyiv continues to pressure allies for continued aid and military support to help in its counteroffensive.

Kim Jong Un’s heavily armored private train has arrived in Russia as the North Korean leader is expected to participate in a summit with President Vladimir Putin.

It’s a meeting that would be a significant development, analysts say, bringing together two leaders who are increasingly isolated on the world stage.

Kim’s arrival in Russia also marks a rare foreign trip for the leader of one of the world’s most isolated nations, and it’s his first visit abroad since the Covid-19 pandemic, during which North Korea’s borders were sealed.

Since assuming power in 2011, Kim has only ventured abroad 10 times — all in 2018 and 2019 — and came as the North Korean leader engaged in a series of talks over the country’s nuclear weapons and missile programs.

Kim last visited Russia in April 2019 on a trip to Vladivostok where he met Putin for the first time amid the ongoing and unresolved crisis over North Korea’s nuclear program and failed dialogue between Pyongyang and Washington.

As in 2019, the North Korean leader traveled to Russia Tuesday in his famed, characteristically green train that has by now become a symbol of the hermit nation’s isolation and secrecy.

Like his grandfather, Kim Il Sung, and his father, Kim Jong Il, it is said Kim prefers traveling in the upscale armored train, which has long been the subject of intrigue.

High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs James Cleverly, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, German Minister of Foreign Affairs Annalena Baerbock, Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly and Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani ahead of the G7 Foreign Ministers summit at the historical city hall on November 3, 2022 in Muenster, Germany.

Foreign ministers of the Group of Seven (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, UK and US) and the High Representative of the European Union have “unequivocally condemned” the staging of “sham elections” held by Russia in occupied Ukrainian territories over the weekend, according to a statement published on the UK’s government’s website Tuesday. 

“Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia oblasts and Crimea are part of Ukraine. We will never recognize Russia’s illegitimate claims to sovereign Ukrainian territory and call on all States to unequivocally reject them,” the G7 foreign ministers said. 

They also called the elections an attempt by Russia “to create a situation of fait-accompli,” adding the move would “not alter” their approach nor their support to Ukraine “as it fights to reclaim its internationally-recognized territory.” 

“We will stand with the Ukrainian people and continue to provide the financial, humanitarian, security and diplomatic support Ukraine requires for as long as it takes,” the statement concluded.

Some background: Kremlin-installed officials held what they have described as “local elections” in the occupied regions, a process that Ukrainian officials have also described as a sham and a propaganda move.

Russian state media reported that Putin’s United Russia party largely won the so-called elections.

In this July 2023 photo, sailors stand at attention on the deck of a Russian Black Sea Fleet warship during the Navy Day celebrations in the port city of Novorossiysk.

The Russian Black Sea fleet is now unable to operate in the area around drilling platforms near Crimea that the Ukrainians seized earlier this week, according to the Ukrainian Navy.

The platforms are known as the Boyko Towers.

“There is still a threat from the air in the area where these towers are located, as Russian aviation continues their presence there,” said Dmytro Pletenchuk, a spokesperson for the Ukrainian Navy.

However, Pletenchuk said that Ukrainian coastal artillery as well as man-portable air defense systems (MANPADS) and missile systems meant that the Russian fleet “cannot approach these towers.” 

Some background: Ukraine said Monday that it had regained control of the Boyko Towers. They have been controlled by the Russians since soon after the annexation of Crimea in 2014.

Defence Intelligence of Ukraine said the towers had been used by the Russians as helicopter landing sites and for the deployment of radar equipment.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell Speaks to reporters after a closed-door GOP strategy meeting, at the Capitol in Washington D.C., on September 6.

A top oversight official is expected to address the Senate Republican conference on Wednesday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell announced. The lawmaker is pushing back on arguments against Ukraine aid, focusing on the “misconception” that there is a lack of oversight into how American resources are used in the war.

He argued that “Ukraine is not Iraq or Afghanistan. It is a modern democracy firmly committed to integration with the West,” and that government corruption in Ukraine has plummeted during the conflict.

McConnell added that American officials like diplomats and military officers have returned to Kyiv and “their presence allows for more oversight and accountability of our systems.” 

“Through these coalition efforts, we have unprecedented insight into how nearly 30 types of Western weapons systems and vehicles are being used by Ukraine, often down to the serial number,” he said.

A civilian ship was deliberately shot at in the Black Sea in August, according to British intelligence that made public.

Several Russian missiles were headed for a Liberian-flagged cargo ship last month, the United Kingdom Foreign Office said in a statement. The attack on August 24 was thwarted by the Ukrainian Air Force. 

Two Kh-59 guided missiles, fired from a Su-34 aircraft, and two Kalibr cruise missiles, fired from a small missile ship, were shot down over Ukraine’s Odesa region.

There’s been another drone attack on the Russian-occupied city of Enerhodar, which is adjacent to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. It’s at least the third in a month.

Ukrainian Defense Intelligence said one drone was targeted at an event being held in an office being used by the occupiers as a passport office. 

“As a result of the hit, a fire broke out in the room, and several ambulance crews arrived at the building,” it said.

Almost simultaneously, Defense Intelligence claimed, a radio communication center, located on the technical floor of a 14-story building, was also hit.

Another drone was targeted at accommodation used by Russian officers.

On Monday, a Russian-appointed official in Zaporizhzhia, Vladimir Rogov, said the Ukrainians had struck Enerhodar four times.

“Two UAVs hit a residential apartment building, the third one - the passport office. Another one exploded just minutes ago,” he said. 

Other local channels confirmed the attacks, saying they took place late on Monday afternoon. They also claimed that several drones were successfully eliminated.

There’s been no official word on casualties.