11:17
Neither Ukraine nor Poland “needs this grain war”
Neither Ukraine nor Poland “needs this grain war,” said the head of Ukrainian diplomacy Dmytro Kuleba in an interview with the Interfax-Ukraine agency published on Thursday. “We don’t need this grain war, neither does Poland,” said Dmytro Kouleba. “We did not cause this crisis and are absolutely inclined to end it,” he added, believing that the current Polish-Ukrainian tensions were due to the election campaign ahead of the October 15 elections in Poland.
06:43
Ukraine says it destroyed 31 drones in a Russian attack
The Ukrainian military said on Thursday that Russia had launched a “massive” drone attack overnight and that 31 of the 39 Russian drones deployed had been destroyed. Natalya Gumenyuk, a spokeswoman for Ukraine’s Southern Military Command, said the Russian drones were intercepted over coastal regions of the Black Sea and were targeting areas further inland.
Russia “continues to apply pressure and look for new tactics, including resorting to massive attacks,” Ms. Gumenyuk said on Telegram. “Last night, several groups of attack drones were launched… air defense worked almost in the entire southern direction – in the Odessa and Mykolaiv regions,” she said, adding that “much further north the enemy is launching its attacks on the center of Ukraine directed”.
05:09
According to Sergey Lavrov, Russia is ready to negotiate under certain conditions
In an interview with the official Russian agency Tass, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov assured that Russia was ready to conclude “agreements” on a ceasefire with Ukraine “provided that the current situation on the ground is taken into account.” He also emphasized “security interests “Russia, “including the need to prevent the emergence of a hostile Nazi regime near Russia’s borders.” Ukraine has repeatedly stated that it rejects any negotiations that would involve the cession of part of its territory, which Sergey Lavrov’s statements appear to imply.
04:19
Kiev says it repelled Russian attacks
The Ukrainian army has “repelled” several “intense attacks” by Russian forces trying to retake the initiative in the Bakmut region, a Ukrainian military spokesman said on national television, Portal reports. “The enemy continues to storm these positions in the hope of recapturing the lost positions, but to no avail,” he added.
04:04
Russia appears to be partially losing its supremacy over the Black Sea
While Russia has dominated the Black Sea since the start of the war, Ukraine has increasingly managed to maintain control over part of it, say experts quoted by The New York Times. In recent weeks, seven cargo ships have successfully used a new maritime corridor established by Ukraine “through a maze of sea mines” to bypass the Russian blockade of Ukrainian ports. Crossings that are due in particular to “Kiev’s new ability to attack Russian warships and deter them from approaching Ukrainian waters, as well as its efforts to weaken Moscow’s surveillance capabilities in the Black Sea,” writes the American daily. “We have seen Ukraine take an increasingly offensive approach in the Black Sea,” confirmed Thea Dunlevie, an analyst at the Center for Maritime Strategy in Washington.
The Times also cites a British Defense Ministry memo that notes that Russia’s ability to “continue broader regional security patrols and enforce its de facto blockade of Ukrainian ports is limited following recent attacks on the Russian fleet and naval bases in Crimea.”