Prepared by Sofia Oliynyk, Maryana Zaviyska, Anna Dovha
Photo: Zelenskyi Official Telegram channel
Foreign policy.
International leaders and officials gathered in New York for the United Nations Global Assembly meeting. Significant attention of the meeting has been focused on denouncing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, as Moscow-installed leaders in occupied areas of four Ukrainian regions announced plans to hold fake referendums on joining Russia in coming days. Earlier yesterday Russian State Duma announced that Russia immediately will recognise the results of the fake referenda in Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia regions. The announcement comes in response to Russian collaborators’ announcement of fake referendums for September 23-27 in Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia regions, which in total would count around 15% of Ukrainian territory. Dmytro Kuleba, Minister of Foreign Affair underlined ‘Sham ‘referendums’ will not change anything. Neither will any hybrid ‘mobilization’. Russia has been and remains an aggressor illegally occupying parts of Ukrainian land. Ukraine has every right to liberate its territories and will keep liberating them whatever Russia has to say.’
‘I think what was announced by Russia is a parody,’ Macron said. ‘This is cynicism, and obviously it won’t be recognized by the international community,’ said French President Emanuel Macron. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz underlined at the UNGA that ‘the return of imperialism, with Putin’s war on Ukraine, was not just a disaster for Europe but for the global, rules-based peace order’ previously he admitted that the reaction to Russia’s illegal occupation of the Crimean peninsula in 2014 should have been stronger.
The Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned Belarus’ chargé d’affaires to Romania after the Belarusian illegitimate president Oleksandr Lukashenko accused Romania of inciting war in Ukraine on September 17.
Citizens of Russia who have a Schengen visa issued for the purpose of tourism, sports and attending cultural events will not be able to enter the territory of the EU through Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland in accordance with the entry restrictions for citizens of the Russian Federation with Schengen tourist visas.
Partial mobilization.
In a video address on September 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared a partial mobilization. It will primarily target the Russian Armed Forces’ reserve personnel. ‘Mobilization measures will begin today,’ Putin said.
Cities under attack.
Kharkiv region. On September 19, the Russian invaders attacked the border districts of the region. As a result of the shellings, 3 people were injured and 2 people were blown up on mines. In the evening of September 20, the Russian military fired at the village of Grushivka. As a result of the shelling, 2 people were killed and 9 people were injured, 4 of them are children. Mykolaiv region. On September 19, Mykolaiv was under attack. As a result of the attack, about 300 meters of contact wire of the tram network were damaged. No casualties were reported. On the same day, the city of Nova Odessa was shelled. As a result, private houses, stalls, a pharmacy, and a store were damaged. Also, as a result of the shelling, a fire broke out in a garage on the territory of a private house. On September 20, the coastal zone of the city of Ochakiv was under attack. At the same time, the Russian invaders shelled the settlement of Bereznehuvate. As a result, the educational institution was damaged – the windows of the building were blown out. Dnipropetrovsk region. On the night of September 19, the Nikopol district of the region was shelled. In Nikopol and its surroundings, Russian shells damaged up to 10 houses, several farm buildings, cars, a water pipe and a power line. In the Marganets community, due to the destruction more than 2,500 families were left without electricity. During the day, the Russian military continued shelling the districts of the region. As a result, one person was injured. The next night on September 20, the Russian invaders fired again at Nikopol district. No casualties were reported. Sumy region. On September 20, the Russian invaders attacked the villages of Yunakiv and Obody. Fragments of explosives damaged the power line, windows were broken in two houses. Also, a dispensary was damaged.
Cities under occupation.
Crimea. The Russian occupiers have restricted the residents of Novofedorivka in the occupied Crimea from leaving the settlement. Local residents were asked not to spread information about the situation in the village and to limit communication with people outside the community. Mariupol. 135 children were illegally taken to Moscow by the plane of the Russian Ministry of Defense. The children were immediately given Russian citizenship and planned to be resettled among Russian families. Currently, the children are kept in a camp near Moscow. Melitopol. The Russian invaders removed all Ukrainian books from Melitopol libraries. Acording to the occupation authorities, Ukrainian books “distort” the history of Ukraine and impose ‘Nazi values’. Kherson region. Armed Russian soldiers kidnapped 54-year-old journalist Zhanna Kiselyova from her home in Kakhovka. The journalist previously headed the local newspaper ‘Kakhovska Zorya’, which ceased publication with the beginning of the full-scale Russian-Ukrainian war. In Chornobaivka, armed soldiers of the Russian Federation kidnapped a volunteer. The Russian occupiers came to the man’s place of residence, tortured him and his wife, ransacked the house, and stole all the food and alcohol products. After that, the occupiers took the car from the yard, and the man was taken in an unknown direction. Armed Russian invaders stole an official car worth more than 300,000 hryvnias from the district center of primary medical and sanitary care, leaving residents of 20 villages without the possibility to quickly receive medical care. Luhansk region. In the occupied territory of Luhansk region, the so-called ‘Supreme Court of the Luhansk People’s Republic’ sentenced to 13 years in prison the OSCE employees Dmytro Shabanov and Maksym Petrov, who were detained by militants in the summer and accused of ‘treason’.
In the temporarily occupied territories in the Kherson, Zaporizhia, Donetsk and Luhansk regions, the illegal authorities announced that they would hold “referendums” on joining the Russian Federation on September 23-27. After the announcement, Serhiy Nikiforov, the press secretary of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi, stated that this would close any diplomatic way to resolve the military conflict between Ukraine and Russia.
Human rights violations.
Another burial site of two civilians tortured by the Russians was discovered in Bucha district, Kyiv region. The murdered have their hands tied behind their backs, and tape around their necks.
Another operation was held to transfer the bodies of fallen soldiers. Ukraine returned the bodies of 25 Ukrainian defenders. The process of returning bodies takes place in accordance with the norms of the Geneva Convention.
The founder of the human rights project Gulagu.net, Russian human rights defender Volodymyr Osechkin, who exposes torture in prisons and the recruitment of convicts for the war with Ukraine, reported that he survived an assassination attempt.
Economic security.
The Council of the European Union adopted the decision to provide € 5 billion of additional macro-financial assistance to Ukraine.
Turkish lenders Isbank and Denizbank have suspended use of Russian payment system Mir, the banks said on Monday, following a U.S. crackdown on those accused of helping Moscow skirt sanctions over the war in Ukraine, Reuters reported.
Energy security.
Russian invaders fired at the Southern Ukrainian Nuclear Power Plant. As a result of the attack, the Russian missile fell 300 meters from the nuclear reactors. The shock wave damaged the buildings of the NPP, over 100 windows were broken. One of the hydraulic units of the Oleksandrivska HPP, which is part of the South Ukrainian energy complex, has shut down. Three high-voltage power lines were also disconnected. Another shelling of the NPP took place this night. As a result the communication equipment of power unit No. 6 with the open switchgear of the Zaporizhzhia NPP was damaged.
Shares of Russian energy companies collapsed after the announcement of the illegal ‘referendums’ in the occupied territories of Ukraine from 23 to 27 September.
More than 30 German energy associations and private sector companies have provided support to Ukraine’s energy sector. The companies provided energy equipment to the Ukrainian energy sector and helped provide logistical support for delivery.
Food security.
Ukraine will provide free grain worth 420 million hryvnias to the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and the Federal Republic of Somalia to prevent famine.
Digital security.
The Ukrainian IT-Army hacked the website of private paramilitary ‘Wagner’s group’, which collects Russian prisoners for the war in Ukraine, and have collected all personal data of mercenaries.
Destructions.
The Russian military destroyed seven medical facilities in the Kharkiv region and damaged 166. Also, the Russian invaders damaged and stole 95% of the medical equipment from the hospitals that were under their occupation in the Kharkiv region. Russia damaged the stone sculptures of Polovtsian women on Mount Kremenets near Izyum, which are dated to the 9th-13th centuries.
Sport.
UEFA suspended the Russian national team from participating in the 2024 European Championship. Russia is urging UEFA to ban the manager of the Ukraine men’s national team from football after he expressed a wish to fight Vladimir Putin’s invading forces, the Guardian reported. Volodymyr Zelensky had a conversation with UEFA President Alexander Ceferin regarding the release of Ukrainian athletes from Russian captivity.
Recent polls.
The Kyiv International Institute of Sociology conducted a poll about the prevalence of ‘split’ narratives in Ukrainian society. The majority of Ukrainians positively assess the unity of the leadership of Ukraine and the dedication to the goal of winning the war against Russia. But a fairly significant share of Ukrainians believe and agree with Russian narratives of “split” on issues of unity (14-29%) or do not have a clear opinion (15-20%).
Reading corner.
Statistics.
- General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine announced the total estimated losses of the Russian military as of 10 a.m., September 21, 2022: personnel – around 55110, tanks ‒ 2227, APV ‒ 4748, artillery systems – 1340, MLRS – 318, anti-aircraft warfare systems – 168, fixed-wing aircraft – 253, helicopters – 217, operational-tactical level UAV – 932, cruise missiles –239, boats and light speed boats – 15, soft-skinned vehicles and fuel tankers – 3610, special equipment – 125.
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