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4:32 PM

Media: Russian air regiment command hit in drone attack near Kursk.

Russia's 14th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment was inside a building of the Khalino air field near Kursk at the time it was hit by a drone strike on Sept. 24, Ukrainian media outlet Babel reported, citing a source in Ukraine's military intelligence (HUR).

4:17 PM

Bild: Ukrainian military needs 3 months of training for Taurus missiles.

The Ukrainian military personnel would require around three months to learn to operate Germany's Taurus long-range missiles, Bild reported on Sept. 24, citing the weaponry's manufacturer MBDA.

3:31 PM

Russia puts top ICC officials on wanted list.

The Russian Interior Ministry put the Chairman of the International Criminal Court Piotr Hofmanski, his deputy Luz del Carmen Ibanez Carranza, and Judge Bertram Schmitt on the list of wanted persons, the Mediazona news outlet reported on Sept. 25, referencing the ministry's database.

3:18 PM

Zelensky confirms first Abrams tanks already in Ukraine.

President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed on Sept. 25 that the first U.S.-made Abrams tanks had arrived in Ukraine, without mentioning how many of the 31 tanks pledged had been delivered.

2:50 PM

Duda: Poland could send Ukraine older weapons after replacing them with modern arms.

Polish President Andrzej Duda sees no problem in providing Ukraine with older weapons from Poland's arsenal after they are replaced by modern arms, he said in an interview with Super Express on Sept. 25.

2:44 PM

US, Ukraine sign memorandum on strengthening Ukrainian energy system.

Subject to the availability of funds, the U.S. plans to supply Ukraine with $522 million in energy-related assistance, including $100 million provided on the condition Kyiv makes progress in some energy sector reforms.

2:38 PM

Military: 34 Russian Black Sea Fleet officers, including commander, killed in Sevastopol strike.

Last week's strike against the Russian Black Sea Fleet headquarters in Sevastopol killed 34 Russian officers, including the fleet's commander, and injured 105 more soldiers, the Special Operations Forces Command of Ukraine's Armed Forces said on Sept. 25.

1:42 PM

Update: Russian overnight attack on Odesa kills 2, injures 1.

Rescuers have found the bodies of two people under the rubble of a grain warehouse in Odesa hit in Russia’s overnight attack, the regional governor Oleh Kiper reported on Sept. 25.

1:15 PM

Russian airstrike on Beryslav in Kherson Oblast kills 2, injures 2.

A Russian airstrike against Beryslav in Kherson Oblast in the morning of Sept. 25 killed two people and injured two others, Governor Oleksandr Prokudin reported.

12:51 PM

FT: Russia avoids G7 price cap on most oil exports.

Russia is growing increasingly less reliant on Western services when shipping out its oil, allowing it to more successfully avoid the $60-per-barrel price cap set by the Group of Seven (G7), the Financial Times reported on Sept. 25.

11:36 AM

Odesa port infrastructure damaged in Russian overnight missile attack, 1 injured.

The attack also damaged a hotel on the Odesa Sea Port’s territory, which has been abandoned for several years, and destroyed several granaries, Ukraine's Southern Defense Forces said on Telegram.

10:17 AM

The Guardian: War crimes dossier to accuse Russia of using hunger as weapon of war.

Human rights lawyers and Ukrainian prosecutors are preparing a war crimes dossier to submit to the International Criminal Court (ICC) accusing Russia of intentionally causing starvation during the full-scale war in Ukraine, the Guardian reported on Sept. 24.

8:46 AM

General Staff: Russia has lost 276,270 troops in Ukraine since Feb 24, 2022.

Ukraine's General Staff reported on Sept. 25 that Russia had also lost 4,667 tanks, 8,927 armored fighting vehicles, 8,746 vehicles and fuel tanks, 6,260 artillery systems, 791 multiple launch rocket systems, 533 air defense systems, 315 airplanes, 316 helicopters, 4,895 drones, and 20 boats.

7:25 AM

Ukrainian forces down 19 Shahed drones over southern oblasts.

Russian forces launched 19 Shahed-136/131 attack drones overnight on Sept. 25 targeted against Odesa Oblast, as well as two Onyx supersonic missiles, according to Ukrainian military. At least 19 Shahed drones and 11 Kalibr cruise missiles were downed by Ukraine's air defense mostly over Odesa Oblast.

5:57 AM

National Resistance Center: Occupation forces prepare mobilization in Ukraine's south.

Russian-installed occupation officials are forming a system of military registration of conscripts among the residents of the occupied territories, the Ukrainian military's National Resistance Center reported on Sept. 24.

4:37 AM

BBC: British military bomb disposal teams training Ukrainian engineers to clear minefields.

As Ukraine remains the world's most heavily mined nation, the U.K. Army has stepped up training Ukrainian engineers at a military base in Poland, helping them clear large anti-tank mines, smaller anti-personnel mines, and other deadly devices planted by Russian forces.

2:46 AM

Russia shells 6 communities in Sumy Oblast.

Russian forces shelled six communities in Sumy Oblast on Sept. 24, firing almost 80 rounds from various types of weapons, the Sumy Oblast Military Administration reported on Telegram.

12:22 AM

Russia claims drones shot down over Kursk, Bryansk oblasts.

The Russian Defense Ministry claimed that air defense units destroyed two drones over the border Kursk and Bryansk oblasts on the evening of Sept. 24.

11:19 PM

Power outage reported in St Petersburg airport.

On the evening of Sept. 24, power went out in Russia's Pulkovo Airport and the St. Petersburg district of Shushary, east of the airport.

11:10 PM

War update

Ukraine war latest: Zelensky praises new American aid package as 'historic'

9:58 PM

Zelensky praises new American aid package as 'historic'.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky praised the new American defense package in his evening address on Sept. 24 as "historic."

9:35 PM

Ukrainian wrestler Zhan Beleniuk wins bronze at World Wrestling Championship, earns spot in 2024 Olympics.

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.

9:07 PM

Ukrainian forces push forward near Melitopol.

The Ukrainian counteroffensive continues operations in the Melitopol sector, the General Staff of Ukraine's armed forces announced on Sept. 24.

8:32 PM

UPDATE: Russia attacks Kherson, injures 7.

Russian forces dropped two aerial bombs on the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson on Sept, 24, Governor Oleksandr Prokudin reported.

8:00 PM

Armenian, Azerbaijani leaders to meet in Spain in October.

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.

MORE NEWS

Ukraine strikes Russian military base of drone operators

Uncertain Triumph: Ukraine picks apart Russia's best air defenses in Crimea

General: Ukraine had only 1,500 soldiers in south when Russia launched full-scale invasion

UK Defense Ministry: Thousands of Russian airborne troops redeployed to Robotyne as infantry

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Founder: 32,000 prisoners who fought for Wagner returned to Russia

by The Kyiv Independent news desk June 19, 2023 2:14 AM 1 min read

Screenshot from a video published on May 5 by Wagner Group head Yevgeny Prigozhin's press service announcing the mercenary group's planned exit from Bakhmut. (Prigozhin's press service/Telegram)

This audio is created with AI assistance

As many as 32,000 former prisoners have returned home after their contracts with Russian mercenary group Wagner expired, the group's founder Yevgeny Prigozhin said on June 18, as cited by his press office.

Prigozhin added that the prisoners whose Wagner contracts expired had committed 83 crimes after they returned to Russia. He claimed that this crime rate is less than for other former convicts.

In January Mykhailo Podolyak, an advisor to Presidential Office head Andriy Yermak, said that nearly 80% of Russian prisoners recruited by Wagner had been killed, injured, or captured by Ukraine.

In May, Prigozhin said that about 10,000 prisoners, or one fifth of the total number of prisoners recruited by Wagner, had been killed on the battlefield in Ukraine.

In 2022, the Russian authorities allowed Wagner to recruit prisoners in Russian jails. Under this procedure, they were pardoned in exchange for military service.

In January, Prigozhin announced that the mercenary group had stopped recruiting prisoners. Currently, the Defense Ministry is recruiting inmates from Russian prisons instead of Wagner.

The Kyiv Independent news desk

We are the news team of the Kyiv Independent. We are here to make sure our readers get quick, essential updates about the events in Ukraine. Feel free to contact us via email with feedback and news alerts.

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