Russian attack hits Ukrainian infrastructure in west; Putin reaffirms referendums in illegally annexed regions
An infrastructure site was hit in a Russian attack early on Saturday in the western Ukrainian region of Vinnitsya, the regional governor said. Serhiy Borzov’s comments on Telegram came after reports of drones operating in the area. Ukrainian officials sometimes use the “infrastructure” term to refer to facilities involved in power generation or other industries.
Vladimir Putin said residents of Russian-held regions in Ukraine expressed their desire to be part of Russia in recent local elections, reaffirming referendums last year that western countries denounced as illegal. In a video address released early on Saturday on the one-year anniversary of Moscow’s announcement it was annexing four parts of Ukraine, the Russian president said the choice to join Russia was reinforced by this month’s local elections that returned officials supporting Russia’s annexation. Western countries dismissed the outcomes as meaningless, underpinned by mass coercion of voters. Flag-waving Russians gathered for a concert in Red Square on Friday as the Kremlin held celebrations to mark the annexations.
The UK government has imposed an asset freeze and travel bans on Russian officials in the annexed Ukrainian regions of Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Donetsk and Crimea as part of its broader sanctions against Russia.
Seven European Union countries have ordered ammunition under a landmark EU procurement scheme to get urgently needed artillery shells to Ukraine and replenish depleted western stocks, according to the EU agency in charge.
Vladimir Putin has signed a decree setting out the routine autumn conscription campaign, calling up 130,000 citizens for statutory military service, a document posted on the government website showed. Separately, Putin reportedly met Andrei Troshev, formerly a top Wagner mercenary commander, to discuss how voluntary fighting units are used in the war in Ukraine, the Kremlin said on Friday.
German chancellor Olaf Scholz and the leaders of five Central Asian nations on Friday pledged to cooperate closely on sanctions in a carefully worded statement that did not pinpoint Russia. The gathering of Scholz and the leaders of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan in Berlin was the first of its kind in an EU country.
Top US general Mark Milley was to retire on Friday after a four-year tenure as chair of the US joint chiefs of staff. Milley’s tenure included providing military assistance to Ukraine’s defence against Russia’s invasion in February 2022.
A Russian blogger who criticised highway patrol officers was jailed for eight-and-a-half years on Friday after a court alleged he posted “fake news” about Moscow’s offensive in Ukraine. Alexander Nozdrinov, 38, ran a small YouTube channel where he posted videos of highway patrol officers from his home region of Krasnodar allegedly breaking the law. He was detained in March 2022 after investigators accused him of posting a photo of destroyed buildings on social media with the caption: “Ukrainian cities after the arrival of liberators”.
Norway says it will start barring Russian-registered passenger cars from entering the country starting next week, in a move that mirrors sanctions already imposed by the European Union against Moscow over the war in Ukraine.
“Very difficult questions” would need to be answered before the EU could start membership talks with Ukraine, Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán has said.
Romania is moving air defences closer to its Danube villages across the river from Ukraine, where Russian drones have been attacking grain facilities, and is adding more military observation posts and patrols to the area, two senior defence sources told Reuters.
