WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy arrived in the United States on Sunday to attend sessions at the U.N. General Assembly and urged his partners to help achieve "a shared victory for a truly just peace."
21 September 2024
UKRAINE WAR REPORT:
Mash-Up of different stories + different sources
Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 939
Here is the situation on Saturday, September 21, 2024.
- Four people were injured after a Russian missile attack on the Ukrainian port city of Odesa. Governor Oleh Kiper said some port facilities and an Antigua-flagged civilian vessel were also damaged.
- Ukraine’s air force said 61 out of 70 Russian attack drones and one out of four missiles across 13 regions of Ukraine were destroyed.
- Some 70,112 Russian soldiers have died in Ukraine since the full-scale invasion began in February 2022, according to the BBC and the independent Russian news site, Mediazona.
- The toll was documented from publicly available information such as official statements, death notices in the media and announcements on social media, as well as tombstones in Russian cemeteries.
- The “actual number is believed to be considerably higher”, the BBC said.
- Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia would regain control of its Kursk region “in a timely manner”, but declined to say how soon this could be achieved. Ukraine launched a surprise cross-border incursion into Kursk on August 6, taking swaths of territory.
Politics and diplomacy
- Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council banned the use of the Telegram messaging app on official devices used by government officials, military personnel and key workers amid concerns about Russian surveillance.
- Visiting Kyiv, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced the European Union would lend Ukraine as much as 35 billion euros ($39bn) backed by revenues from frozen Russian assets to help the country “keep warm” through the third winter of war with Russia.
- Russia charged four of its soldiers serving in occupied Ukraine with the torture and killing of Russell Bentley, a 64-year-old US citizen living in Russian-held Donetsk who was found dead in April. Bentley was a longtime supporter of Russia. His wife said he had been abducted and killed by Russian soldiers.
- Norway will increase civilian aid to Ukraine by five billion kroner ($475m) this year and extend its aid package by three years to 2030, Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store said.
- Prominent Russian opposition leader Vladimir Kara-Murza, who was released from prison in a high-profile prisoner swap earlier this year, said Russian President Vladimir Putin should not be allowed to win the war in Ukraine.
Weapons
- The United States is preparing a $375m military aid package for Ukraine, two senior officials told the Reuters news agency.
- The aid package, expected to be announced next week, includes patrol boats, additional ammunition for high-mobility artillery rocket systems (HIMARS), 155mm and 105mm artillery ammunition, spare parts and other weapons, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
- Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said Italy would send Ukraine another Samp-T antimissile system to “protect hospitals, schools, universities”.
- President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said senior Ukrainian officials including the defense and foreign ministers and top military commanders agreed in an “emotional” discussion that the country needs to make more weaponry domestically and speed up production.
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Оригінал статті - на сайті Українського кризового медіа-центру: https://uacrisis.org/en/pro-nas
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Zelenskiyy to purge more top defense officials – media
- The report comes less than two weeks after Zelensky sacked half of the country’s ministers.
“The fact is that there is serious tension between Budanov and [Yermak],” an anonymous source told the news site, describing Budanov as “one of the few remaining influential people in Zelensky’s inner circle who are an alternative to Yermak.”
The source did not mention any clash between Umerov and Yermak, but Strana claimed that the defense minister had recently fallen out of favor with pro-Western media outlets and activists in Kiev.
- Budanov has led Ukraine’s Main Directorate of Military Intelligence since 2020.
- Umerov has served as defense minister since last September, when his predecessor, Aleksey Reznikov, was sacked following the Ukrainian military’s disastrous summer counteroffensive against Russian forces.
Throughout the conflict with Russia, Zelensky has typically responded to battlefield setbacks by purging senior military and political leaders. Those purged include the former commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s armed forces, Valery Zaluzhny, who like Reznikov was sacked after the failed counteroffensive.
- Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba and Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration Olga Stefanishina were among those culled.
The firings were viewed in the West as evidence of the “increasing dysfunction” within Zelensky’s government, according to The Economist.
Zelensky, however, insisted that a cabinet reshuffle was necessary in order to “give new strength” to state institutions.
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Defense Support, Energy, Use of Frozen Russian Assets, and EU Membership: Volodymyr Zelenskyy Met with Ursula von der Leyen
20 September 2024 - 15:02
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy held talks in Kyiv with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
– Address by the President
21 September 2024 - 20:28
We See a Threat from Russia to Our Generation, We Will Counter It – Address by the President
20 September 2024 - 19:35
President:
The Plan for Victory Relies on Swift Decisions from Our Partners
20 September 2024 - 15:08
President: The Plan for Victory Relies on Swift Decisions from Our Partners
20 September 2024 - 15:08
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy intends to present the Plan for Victory to U.S. President Joseph Biden on September 26. He announced this during a joint press conference with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
- According to the President of Ukraine, the implementation of some points of the Plan depends solely on decisions from the United States.
- The Ukrainian President is counting on support from the U.S. President and the swift execution of the Plan in collaboration with partners.
“The Plan is based on decisions that should take place from October through December, without delaying the process. That is our hope. In this case, we will consider the Plan will work out,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy added.
ph | Meeting of the President of Ukraine with the President of the European Commission in Kyiv 20 September 2024 - 12:43 |
Zelenskyy expects Biden to make "important decisions" for Ukraine before his presidency ends
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy believes that his US counterpart Joe Biden can make "important decisions" to strengthen Ukraine's defense capabilities before the end of his term. Zelenskyy said during a meeting with journalists on Friday, Interfax-Ukraine reported.
Zelenskyy expressed his belief that Biden can "strengthen Ukraine and adopt important decisions to make Ukraine stronger and protect its independence while he is still the president of the United States".
"I believe this is still a historic mission, at least from the Ukrainian perspective. Because he has his own life and his own political career. I can't speak to what matters most to him. I am speaking only from the perspective of this war," Zelenskyy added.
He noted that Biden's decision "depends on many factors", particularly whether he is receptive to Ukraine's arguments.
"We have made some decisions in the history of our relationship with Biden, and we had very interesting and difficult dialogues. He changed his mind later," the president said.
Zelenskyy further noted that he wants to hear the opinion of Kamala Harris, Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate, regarding Ukraine's Victory Plan.
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21 September 2024
Tomorrow Zelensky to visit U.S. factory producing 155mm ammunition
Zelensky to visit U.S. factory producing 155mm ammunition for Ukraine
- media
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday will visit the Pennsylvania ammunition factory that is producing one of the most critically needed munitions for his country's fight to fend off Russian ground forces.
Issued on: Modified:
The Saudi foreign ministry posted pictures on X of Zelensky meeting Saudi de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, though details of their discussion were not immediately available.
Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest crude exporter, works closely with Moscow on oil policy and has touted its ties to both Moscow and Kyiv since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, positioning itself as a possible mediator in the war.
He has visited traditional allies in the European Union as well as countries in the Middle East and Asia with closer relations with Russia.
Earlier this month, he visited Singapore, the Philippines and Qatar.
- Zelensky has convinced many officials to attend after in-person visits.
It will take place as Russia has made some gains on the battlefield in eastern Ukraine, with Kyiv's forces struggling with a lack of troops and ammunition.
'Multi-polar' diplomacy
As Zelensky arrived in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, Kyiv said a Russian strike on his hometown of Kryvyi Rig killed eight people and wounded two dozen more.
- In September 2022, Riyadh played an unexpected role in brokering the release of foreign fighters detained in Ukraine, including two from the United States and five from Britain.
Zelensky then attended an Arab League summit in May 2023 in Jeddah where he accused some leaders of turning "a blind eye" to the horrors of Russia's invasion.
In August last year, Saudi Arabia hosted talks on the war that drew representatives of more than 40 countries, excluding Russia.
Saudi officials said at the time that the meeting, which included officials from China and Brazil, demonstrated the benefits of its "multi-polar" approach to foreign policy.
- Zelensky most recently visited Saudi Arabia in February, when he held talks Prince Mohammed to promote his peace plan and discuss a potential exchange of prisoners of war.
Russia says it will take no part in follow-up to 'peace summit'
Russia was not invited to the June meeting, attended by delegations from more than 90 countries, and dismissed its deliberations as meaningless without Moscow's participation.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said he hopes to organize a follow-up meeting by the end of the year with Russia attending.
Ukraine and its Western backers were "not thinking about peace," she said, citing Ukraine's incursion into southern Russia's Kursk region, launched last month, and to Zelenskiy's persistent appeals for long-range Western weaponry.
On the eve of the June summit, Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin set conditions for holding talks with Ukraine, including a demand that Kyiv abandon all four of the regions Moscow now claims as its own. Moscow has since said it can hold no talks while Ukrainian troops are in its Kursk region.
Zelenskiy has based Kyiv's position on a "peace formula" presented at the end of 2022, including withdrawal of all Russian troops, reaffirming Ukraine's post-Soviet borders and a mechanism to bring Moscow to account for the invasion.
(Reporting by Ron Popeski and Oleksander Kozhukhar; Editing by Matthew Lewis)
"This fall will determine the future of this war," he said in a post on X alongside his nightly video address, delivered from a plane he said was en route to Pennsylvania. Ukrainian media later reported he had arrived in New York. He is also due to visit Washington later in the week.
- Zelenskiy did not say what his plans were in Pennsylvania, but the state is home to a munitions plant in President Joe Biden's hometown of Scranton that is a key producer of crucial 155-millimeter artillery shells.
In his video, Zelenskiy said Ukraine was doing everything it could, by acquiring weapons and through diplomacy, "to consolidate our partners' support and force Russia into peace."
The Ukrinform state news agency reported separately that Zelenskiy had arrived in New York and that he would meet heads of U.S. companies to discuss his country's energy needs as well as leaders of states and international organizations on Sunday.
Zelenskiy's visit coincides with U.S. efforts to prepare a $375 million military aid package for Ukraine, breaking a months-long trend toward smaller packages for Kyiv's military operations.
- Zelenskiy said he would present a "victory plan" in Ukraine's war against Russia first to Biden. He is also expected to discuss the plan with Vice President Kamala Harris in a separate meeting on Thursday, as well as with other world leaders.
- Zelenskiy also hopes to meet Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, who has called U.S. aid to its eastern European ally a waste of money and has declined to say he wants Ukraine to win. Trump has said he will probably meet with Zelenskiy this week but no date has been announced.
The officials said the contents and size of the package could change in the coming days ahead of Biden's expected signature.
Ukrinform said Zelenskiy would speak at a UN summit on Monday, participate in Security Council meetings on Ukraine on Tuesday, and speak during the General Assembly on Wednesday.
(Additional reporting by Bogdan Kochubey in Kyiv Editing by Chris Reese and Lisa Shumaker)
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