Worth noting, korrespondent.net has compiled its Invasion of Ukraine series into separate months, beginning May 9th, 2023. Linked in the title.
[Korrespondent] 20:53 Washington plans to announce tomorrow a new aid package for Ukraine worth $325 million, but without ATACMS, Reuters writes, citing sources. The package is expected to include a second batch of 155mm cluster munitions, Avenger short-range air defense systems, TOW and AT4 anti-tank systems, HIMARS missiles, Javelin anti-tank missiles and other equipment. The package is still being finalized and may change.
20:27 Blinken said that Ukraine shows “intolerance for corruption” and the United States controls the funds spent. The US Secretary of State also commented on the dismissal of the leadership of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense: “Whether they were all fired because of corruption is an open question. I think that in some cases there are other reasons. But for us, for me, the fact that Zelensky is taking decisive acting wherever he sees something is proof that they take it seriously."
20:01 The Russians hit Toretsk, Donetsk region and its environs with a 240-mm active-reactive mine of the Tulip system. As a result of the attack, the city itself and the village of Severny were damaged, the prosecutor's office reported. Two people died in Toretsk, two more in Severny.
19:55 At a meeting of the UN Security Council, Zelensky named two steps to stop hostilities in Ukraine: the complete withdrawal of all Russian troops, military formations, mercenaries and quasi-military forces from the territory of Ukraine within the 1991 borders, as well as the full return to Ukraine of effective control over the state border.
19:12 Zelensky at a meeting of the UN Security Council called for reforming the United Nations, especially in terms of the use of the veto: “A veto in the hands of an aggressor is what has driven the UN into a dead end. Whoever you are, the existing UN system still makes you smaller than the right of veto, which only a few have and is used by one - Russia - to the detriment of all other members of the UN... Subject to the presence of two-thirds of the votes, which will reflect the freedom of nations from Asia, and from Africa, and from Europe, and from the Americas, and from the Pacific region - the global qualified majority - the veto must actually be overcome, and such a resolution of the General Assembly must be binding on all member states."
Zelensky called for expanding the number of permanent members of the Security Council and introducing preventive sanctions: “The UN Security Council must be fully accountable to the nations of the world. The African Union must be here permanently. Asia deserves wider permanent representation. Germany deserves a place among the permanent members of the Security Council. Latin America must be represented here - constantly. And the states of the Pacific Ocean."
In addition, according to the president, it is necessary to expand participation and access to the work of the Security Council and its subsidiary bodies for all members of the General Assembly who are not recognized as aggressors. “And at the same time, any participation of any state member of the Security Council must be suspended for the time when such a state, in violation of the UN Charter, commits aggression against another nation,” Zelensky emphasized.
18:25 822 Ukrainian nuclear workers are now working at the occupied Zaporozhye nuclear power plant. The occupiers are not allowing another 2,083 workers into the station, said Energoatom President Petr Kotin. According to him, Ukrainian plant personnel are still being detained and tortured to force them to cooperate with Rosatom.
18:22 North Korea has been supplying Russia with 152-mm shells and Katyusha-type missiles for about a year, The Economist writes.
18:17 Zelensky will take part in open debates of the UN Security Council. Thus, for the first time since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the Ukrainian president will be with the Russian delegation in the same space - on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, Radio Liberty reports.
17:49 During Zelensky’s visit to the White House on September 21, Biden will announce a “significant” aid package for Ukraine, Voice of America reports.
17:46 On the morning of September 20, the Ukrainian Armed Forces attacked the command post of the Russian Black Sea Fleet near Verkhnesadovoy near Sevastopol , reported the Department of Strategic Communications of the Office of the Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces (StratCom).
17:37 All relevant departments in the United States approved the provision of ATACMS missiles to Ukraine, Foreign Policy writes, citing a source in Congress. According to him, “if it doesn’t happen, it’s because President Biden himself said no.”
16:58 The Russian army has intensified airstrikes on coastal communities in the Kherson region, said the head of the OVA, Alexander Prokudin. Since the beginning of this day alone, the Russians have dropped at least nine guided bombs on populated areas in the region. Tyaginka, Nikolaevka and Otradokamenka came under fire.
16:24 Ukraine may receive “a certain number” of Mirage 2000D fighter-attack aircraft from France, Intelligence Online writes. According to the publication, a delegation of commanders of the Ukrainian Air Force headquarters went to France to agree on the details of the future agreement. In particular, Ukraine is interested in a specialized assault version of the Mirage 2000D. France has probably already begun training Ukrainian pilots, the publication notes. The exercises will take place over several months at four bases: Nancy-Auch, Mont-de-Morsan, Wellis and Romorantin-Lantenay.
16:20 The German Spinner machine for the production of Russian ammunition is right now moving from Turkey to the Russian Federation, reports the Trap Aggressor project of the StateWatch analytical center.
15:59 Russia is now conducting reconnaissance of the state of the energy infrastructure of Ukraine, said the representative of the Main Intelligence Directorate Andrey Yusov. According to him, the largest missile attack of the Russian Federation on Ukraine was with 120 missiles simultaneously, but so far the enemy does not have reserves for such an intensity and number of attacks. However, this does not mean that new Russian attacks will be less dangerous and destructive, so Ukraine is preparing for new attacks on the energy sector.
15:54 The head of the IAEA, Rafael Grossi, said that he will visit the Zaporozhye NPP by the end of the year.
15:23 Spain will transfer to Ukraine a new package of military assistance, which will include, in particular, armored personnel carriers, launchers for anti-aircraft equipment, anti-aircraft missiles, military trucks, ambulances and inflatable boats, the country's Ministry of Defense reported.
14:52 GUR representative Andrey Yusov called today’s explosions in Crimea “planned work”: “Planned work is underway by the Ukrainian Security and Defense Forces on the military facilities of the occupiers in the temporarily occupied territories, including in the Ukrainian Crimea. Very soon the details will be made public by the General Staff.” .
He added that in recent days there has been a lot of news from Crimea: “This is all within the framework of one set of events. All these events are effective, believe me.” According to Yusov, at this stage the goal of the measures is to weaken the Russian Federation, since Crimea is still used by it as a logistics hub, in particular for the transfer of forces and equipment to other sectors of the front. “In order to destroy this logistics hub, certain operations are applied and implemented at sea, on land, and in the air. To be continued,” Yusov noted.
14:08 The death toll in Kupyansk, Kharkov region, as a result of a missile attack on September 19 increased to eight - the bodies of two more local residents were found. Two of the dead were volunteers who evacuated people, said the head of the OVA Oleg Sinegubov. The Russians launched a strike with a Grom-E1 missile, law enforcement officers are investigating all the circumstances of the crime.
13:23 Zelensky will visit Canada this week for the first time since the start of the war, CBC reports, citing sources. According to the channel, during the visit the Ukrainian president will speak before parliament in Ottawa and then go to Toronto.
13:19 Crimean publics report explosions in the Inkerman area, as well as near the Belbek and Kacha airfields. Local residents say that they had previously seen a plane and rockets in the sky. “Governor” of Sevastopol Mikhail Razvozhaev said that as a result of the “operation of air defense systems,” downed drones allegedly fell in Verkhnesadovoy and Kutch, and there was also a “small grass fire” in Verkhnesadovoy. In Kutch, a drone fell on the territory of vineyards, and the grass there is also allegedly “on fire.” And in the area of the Sevastopol Bay, according to Razvozhaev, “standard means of aerosol camouflage” are used.
12:29 "People's satellite" ICEYE, which volunteers handed over to the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine exactly a year ago, on September 20, 2022, played a very important role in the attack on Sevastopol Bay on September 13, 2023, when the Russian landing ship Minsk and the submarine Rostov were destroyed -on-Don, intelligence reported. This is just one example of how the capabilities of the “people’s satellite” make it possible to daily receive intelligence data critical for combat operations and burn tons of enemy equipment, the Main Intelligence Directorate added.
12:12 Against the backdrop of trade disagreements between Poland and Ukraine, relations between the two countries have suffered a serious crack. Ukrainian refugees were the first to fall out of favor with Warsaw, and the next step could be Poland blocking Ukraine’s entry into the European Union. Read more in the material A Portion of Troubles .
11:57 "Unknown saboteurs" blew up two planes and a helicopter in the Moscow region at the Chkalovsky airfield, reports the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine. According to intelligence data, a group of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation is investigating sabotage, as a result of which two planes and one helicopter were significantly damaged on September 18. Government aircraft, so-called “doomsday planes” and reconnaissance aircraft are based at the airfield.
Unknown persons planted explosives at the airfield and blew up AN-148 and IL-20 aircraft (both belonging to the 354th Special Purpose Aviation Regiment), as well as an MI-28N helicopter, which had previously been actively involved in shooting down attack drones over the Moscow region. According to the Main Intelligence Directorate, the damage to the aircraft will not allow us to count on their speedy recovery. The tail section of the helicopter was damaged by the explosion; another AN-148, which was parked next to the others, received minor damage.
11:45 The “authorities” of occupied Crimea stated that the “nationalized” apartment of the Zelensky family in Livadia was valued at 24 million rubles, and it will be put up for “auction.”
11:13 At an oil depot in Sochi, where there was a strong fire at night, fragments of a drone were found, Russian media report.
10:27 Zelensky said in an interview with CNN that Ukraine and the United States have reached the “finish line” on the issue of supplying ATACMS long-range missiles to Kiev. The President assured that these missiles will not be used on Russian territory.
09:56 A fire occurred at an oil depot in Sochi at night. Russian public pages write that it was caused by a drone attack. According to preliminary data, a kamikaze drone crashed into a tank with diesel fuel.
09:33 British intelligence believes that the liberation of Kleshcheevka and Andreevka brought the Ukrainian Armed Forces closer to one of the main supply routes to Bakhmut from the south - road T 05-13. However, Russia continues to hold the railway track that runs along the embankment between Kleshcheevka and T 05-13, creating an obstacle that is easily defended. Intelligence also suggests that the recent redeployment of Russian airborne forces from Bakhmut to southern Ukraine has weakened the Russian defense around Bakhmut.
08:57 As a result of an enemy kamikaze drone strike on Stepnogorsk, Zaporozhye region, two people were injured, said the head of the OVA, Yuriy Malashko.
08:35 The General Staff announced the estimated losses of the Russian Federation as of the morning of September 20:
- personnel - about 273,980 (+520) people,
- tanks - 4635 (+7),
- armored combat vehicles - 8868 (+17),
- artillery systems - 6096 (+34),
- MLRS - 779 (+1),
- air defense systems - 526 (+0),
- aircraft - 315 (+0),
- helicopters - 316 (+0),
- UAV of operational-tactical level - 4821 (+37),
- cruise missiles - 1479 (+0),
- ships/boats - 20 (+0),
- submarines - 1 (+0),
- automotive equipment and tank trucks - 8633 (+32),
- special equipment - 906 (+3).
08:28 During the night, air defenses destroyed 17 of approximately 24 Shahed attack drones , the Air Force Command reported. The UAVs were launched by several groups from the south-eastern and northern directions, their exact number is being clarified. The drones were destroyed along the route within the Sumy, Poltava, Kirovograd and Dnepropetrovsk regions.
07:56 Over the past 24 hours, 24 military clashes took place at the front, the General Staff reported in its morning report . In the Bakhmut direction, the Defense Forces repelled enemy attacks in the Yagodnoye and Andreevka areas of the Donetsk region and continue to attack in the area south of Bakhmut. In the Maryinsky direction, the enemy unsuccessfully tried to advance in the Maryinka area; in the Avdeevsky and Shakhtarsky directions, the defense forces are holding the defense on occupied lines.
In the Zaporozhye direction, the enemy unsuccessfully tried to attack in the areas of Malaya Tokmachka, Rabotino and Novodanilovka of the Zaporozhye region. In the Melitopol direction, the Defense Forces continue their offensive.
07:39 At night, the Russians attacked the Poltava region with drones; an oil refinery in Kremenchug was hit. A fire broke out and the plant's operations were temporarily suspended. No people were injured, said the head of the OVA, Dmitry Lunin.
05:55 Zelensky called on Trump to publicly present his peace plan to end the war in Ukraine. At the same time, the Ukrainian president emphasized the importance of red lines and warned that Ukraine will not consider any peace plan that provides for the abandonment of its territories. “So if the idea is to take away part of our territory and give it to Putin, then this is not a formula for peace,” Zelensky said after his speech at the UN General Assembly.
02:18 Zelensky held a number of bilateral meetings in New York. In particular, he met with the leaders of the Republic of South Africa, Kenya, Israel, as well as the head of the European Council and the UN Secretary General.