• Kiev calls on Ukrainians abroad to return and enlist in the war
• Europe and the USA are examining the use of Russian resources to support Ukraine
• US Senate postpones approval of new aid to Kiev until next year, but Biden says “support for Ukraine is necessary for world peace.”
• Conflicting news from the war front. Zelensky admits the difficulties on the ground and continues to ask “friendly” countries for weapons and ammunition, but also says: “We are not losing the war.” Moscow instead claims continued military successes (difficult to verify)
11.28 a.m. – Italian foreign fighter Yuri Previtali in Ukraine: “I am ready to die for a better future”
(by Federico Rota) For almost ten months, the Donetsk region has been the theater of war in which Yuri Previtali has been moving: “It's hell.” There he celebrated his 28th birthday in August with other foreigners who, like him, decided to leave To as volunteer soldiers. From March to July, Yuri was in the ranks of the Karpatska Sich battalion in the trenches, repelling the attacks of the Russian army. Then he went home for a few weeks to “treat a concussion and meniscus defect.” But he left immediately and fought in the Ukrainian International Legion south of Bakhmut until mid-December. He belonged to an attack unit whose task was to attack bunkers and other positions occupied by the Russians. He remembers this place: “A lot of injuries.” Once – says Previtali – twelve of us left and in the evening nine were injured.”
Read the full article here.
10:34 a.m. – WSJ: “Putin's right-hand man killed Prigozhin.” Kremlin: “It's Pulp Fiction”
According to the Wall Street Journal, it was Putin who ordered the assassination of Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin, who died in a plane crash on August 23 along with 10 other senior members of his military group. The American newspaper writes that the attack was organized and planned by the tsar's right-hand man, the former spy Nikolai Patrushev, on behalf of the Kremlin chief. The information was provided to the newspaper by Western intelligence sources and a former Russian intelligence officer. And a new detail emerges in the story: the assassination plan would have required two months of preparation before it could be implemented. Let us recall that just two months earlier, in June, the Wagner group led by Prigozin attempted an uprising and marched towards Moscow.
Previously, as early as the summer of 2022, Petrushev had warned Putin that Prigozhin was becoming dangerous and warned him: his power was growing, both military with the successes in Ukraine and political with the ongoing public statements and attacks on the Russian Ministry of Defense . But the warnings fell on deaf ears until the uprising failed. And so it was at this point, a year later, that the Tsar decided to eliminate Wagner's boss.
Moscow rejects all of the Wall Street Journal's allegations and says they are fake news. “This is Pulp Fiction,” said Kremlin spokesman Peskov.
10:26 a.m. – “The new decree for the shipping of vehicles has been sent to the Senate”
The decree introducing urgent measures to extend the authorization to send military vehicles and equipment to Ukraine was sent to the Senate yesterday: Senate Vice President Gian Marco Centinaio announced it at the beginning of the session in the plenary hall.
10:15 a.m. – Kiev: 24 of the 28 Russian drones launched during the night shot down
Of the 28 kamikaze drones the Russians used to attack Ukraine that night, 24 were shot down. The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said that the four landed drones hit an energy power plant in Mykolaiv Oblast and damaged a grain warehouse in Odessa Oblast, as well as buildings in Kiev and the capital region.
10:11 a.m. – The new Polish Foreign Minister visits Kiev
Poland's new Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski has arrived in Kiev for his first foreign mission. This was reported by Ukrainian government sources.
10:07 a.m. – Russian forces destroy an armored vehicle with Ukrainian command staff
An armored vehicle carrying the command staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces was destroyed by a “walking” mortar fired by Moscow troops in the direction of Kupiansk. The Russian Defense Ministry reported this to the Tass agency. “The mortar immediately reached the firing position and, with the help of the controller, destroyed the armored vehicle with the soldiers of the Ukrainian army inside,” the operational report says. It is not known whether Ukrainian soldiers died in the attack.
7:48 a.m. – Kiev: “The number of Russian soldiers killed so far is 351,350”
The number of Russian soldiers killed in the war in Ukraine rises to around 351,350, including 1,080 in the last 24 hours. This was announced by the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces on Facebook, quoted by Ukrinform, and also added a long list of enemy vehicles and weapons that would have been destroyed
6:35 a.m. – Novosibirsk, 2,000 North Korean workers for construction projects
The Russian region of Novosibirsk wants to hire 2,000 workers from North Korea as helpers for various construction projects. This was announced yesterday by the regional construction minister Alexei Kolmakov, explaining that there is a labor shortage in the industry due to the conflict in Ukraine.
5:19 a.m. – Russian drone attack on Kiev in the evening, a fire and two injured
In the evening, the Russians attacked Kiev with kamikaze attack drones. In a district of the capital, rubble fell on a residential building and a fire broke out. Two people were injured in the attack, one was taken to hospital and another was treated at the scene. “A building in Kiev was hit by a Shahed,” Zelensky's chief of staff Andriy Yermak wrote on Telegram, explaining that this type of Iranian-made drone is also commonly used by the Russian army. According to Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko, the attack also hit the Solomianskyi district, where “flames were recorded on the upper floors.”