Key developments on Sept. 23-24:
* Zelensky praises new American aid package as 'historic'
* Duda says Poland prepares transit corridors for Ukrainian grain, Zelensky presents state awards to Polish volunteers
* Ukrainian forces push forward near Melitopol
* Shmyhal, Pritzker hold first meeting
* U.S. House speaker drops plan to strip $300 million
Ukrainian Greco-Roman wrestler and politician Zhan Beleniuk won bronze at the World Wrestling Championship in Belgrade on Sept. 22 and earned a spot in the 2024 Summer Olympics. The two-time world champion was defeated by Turkish wrestler Ali Cengiz in the 87 kg division.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev will meet in Granada, Spain, with the leaders of France, Germany, and the European Council on Oct. 5.
"Unknown saboteurs" attacked military facilities in Russia's Moscow and Kaluga oblasts overnight on Sept. 24, Ukraine's military intelligence agency reported.
JERUSALEM — Following nearly two years of increasing tensions between Ukraine and Israel, President Volodymyr Zelensky met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly on Sept. 19.
Their talk, at which Netanyahu's staff nearly caused a diplomatic incident by bringing a Soviet-era map
The number of injured in the Russian attack on Kremenchuk on Sept. 22 has risen to 55 people, including six children, Kremenchuk Mayor Vitalii Maletskyi reported on Sept. 24.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan hinted on Sept. 24 that his country can no longer rely on Russia's protection after Azerbaijan's forces quickly defeated ethnic Armenian forces in the restive Nagorno-Karabakh region.
A second freighter with Ukrainian grain has reached Turkey since Russia's withdrawal from the Black Sea Grain Initiative in July, France24 reported on Sept. 24, citing maritime tracking data.
Poland has prepared transit corridors for Ukrainian grain to pass through and be "exported to where it is needed," Polish President Andrzej Duda said in an interview with local channel TVP1 on Sept. 24.
A Russian airstrike killed one person and injured three in the town of Beryslav in Kherson Oblast on Sept. 24, Governor Oleksandr Prokudin reported on his Telegram channel.
A drone struck an administrative building in the Russian city of Kursk on Sept. 24, according to Roman Starovoit, the governor of the eponymous Russian region.
Kevin McCarthy, speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, said on Sept. 23 he would support keeping a $300 million aid package for Ukraine in the defense funding bill, walking back a comment he made the day before.
Ron DeSantis, a leading Republican candidate in the 2024 U.S. presidential election, said in a Sept. 23 podcast he believes that it's not in NATO's best interests to admit Ukraine as a member.
Russian forces shelled Nikopol in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast overnight on Sept. 24, injuring a 25-year-old man and damaging a supermarket and a kindergarten, according to Serhiy Lysak, head of the regional military administration.
The General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces reported on Sept. 24 that Russia had lost 275,850 troops in Ukraine since the beginning of its full-scale invasion on Feb. 24 last year.
The coming winter will not necessarily stop the advance of Ukrainian counteroffensive troops, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) wrote in its Sept. 23 report.
The pope spoke to reporters about his "frustrations" with the war and the arms industry aboard the papal plane while returning to the Vatican from a visit to France.
Azerbaijan's Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov accused Armenia of revanchism and military provocations in an address to the United Nations General Assembly on Sept. 23.
Russian military strongholds in Kursk Oblast are largely abandoned and only imitating defensive positions, the National Resistance Center reported on Sept. 23.
Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak believes that Poland will amass a force of 300,000 soldiers, making it the largest land army in Europe, Polskie Radio reported on Sept. 23.
In a Sept. 23 conversation with Voice of America, Ukrainian military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov addressed CNN's report that Ukraine likely participated in drone strikes against a Wagner-backed Sudanese militia.
Russian forces shelled Donetsk Oblast on Sept. 23, killing an elderly woman and injuring one man, the Donetsk regional prosecutor's office reported to Suspilne news.
The Sumy Oblast Military Administration reported on Sept. 23 that Russian forces shelled populated areas along the border of Sumy Oblast 21 times throughout the day, killing one person.
Speaking at the U.N. on Sept. 23, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov claimed that Moscow was open to negotiations with Ukraine but not a ceasefire.
The Ukrainian military's Southern Command reported on Sept. 23 that two Russian Orlan-10 drones were shot down over Mykolaiv Oblast by Ukraine's air defense.
President Volodymyr Zelensky presented state awards to two Polish volunteers during a stop in Lublin, Poland, on Sept. 23 for their efforts in supporting Ukraine's war effort.
Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal and the first U.S. Special Representative for Economic Recovery in Ukraine Penny Pritzker had their first online meeting on Sept. 23 to discuss energy, demining, housing restoration, critical infrastructure, and the economy.
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If Tbilisi's proposed foreign agents bill is ultimately approved by Georgia's parliament, the U.S. would be compelled "to fundamentally reassess" its relationship with Georgia, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on May 14.
Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed on May 12 that Andrei Belousov, a former aide and Russia's economy minister from 2012-2013, should replace Sergei Shoigu as defense minister in a surprise reshuffle of Russia's security and defense apparatus.
Ukraine's state-owned energy operator Ukrenergo said it had to introduce additional restrictions due to the damage from the recent Russian strikes against Ukrainian energy infrastructure and the increase in electricity consumption after the temperature drop.
Serhii Bolvinov, the head of the investigative department of the regional police, wrote on Facebook that preliminary information indicates that the two could have been shot by the Russian military.
"If Russia or anyone else were to attack Ukraine, we will work with Ukraine immediately at the highest levels to coordinate how to help you beat back the threat," U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.
The comments follow reporting by the Sunday Times that U.K. Foreign Secretary David Cameron had allegedly personally pitched a peace plan to presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.
Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that Russia is intent on pushing this unsubstantiated narrative because it wants to "shift the blame for the war...to Ukraine."
Integrating the military with Russia's economy is a key task for its Defense Ministry, soon-to-be-appointed Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov told the Federation Council, Russia's upper house of parliament, on May 14.
The Estonian government has held no specific discussions on sending the country's troops to Ukraine, Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur said on May 14, according to public broadcaster ERR.
Losses caused by the Polish blockade of the Ukrainian border amounted to $500 million in lost imports and $160 million in exports in its first month, the National Bank of Ukraine said on May 14.
The Ukrainian government has appointed on May 14 Taras Vysotskyi and Vasyl Shkurakov as the acting agriculture and infrastructure ministers, respectively, Taras Melnychuk, the government's representative in parliament, said.
Ukraine's military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov's statement came after he reportedly told the New York Times a day before that the situation in the region "was on the edge" and "moved toward critical every hour."
The approval of the plan will allow the European Commission to disburse up to 1.89 billion euros ($2 billion) in an additional pre-financing tranche until the start of regular payments tied to the implementation of the reforms.