Speaking to Lithuanian media outlet LRT, retired Lieutenant General Ben Hodges said: "I hope that by the end of this year, Ukrainian forces will push Russian forces to the positions of Feb. 23, and that by the middle of next year, the Ukrainians will be in Crimea."
As of Sept. 28, Russia's popular homegrown social network VK (formerly VKontakte) and email service Mail.ru are no longer available for download on the App Store in any country. In a statement, Apple cited conflicts with British sanctions as the reason for the removal. Apps that are already downloaded can continue to be used, according to Apple.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development forecasted a 30% shrinkage in Ukraine's GDP in 2022. With high levels of uncertainty about the progress of the war and Ukraine's economic recovery, the EBRD also updated its expectations for a GDP rebound in 2023 from 25% to 8%.
The world-famous Spanish soccer club announced the figure, collected as part of their "All for Ukraine" campaign, in their annual review of last season's accounts. The funds were distributed to numerous Spanish humanitarian aid organizations working in Ukraine, as well local partners on the ground.
In a video address on Sept. 28, head Russian proxy in Luhansk Oblast Leonid Pasechnik called upon Russian dictator Vladimir Putin to officially pass a decree on the "joining" of the region to Russia. Less than an hour later, head Russian proxy in Kherson Oblast Volodymyr Saldo also called for the region's annexation, according to Russian state media.
A further 10 people were wounded over Sept. 27 in multiple Russian attacks on civilians in the region, according to Donetsk Oblast Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko. In Kharkiv Oblast, civilian areas in Kupiansk district were heavily shelled, with five wounded.
President Volodymyr Zelensky named the figure in a video address to students and staff of Harvard University. In his speech, Zelensky also emphasized the contributions of millions of ordinary Ukrainians to the war effort. "These are thousands of volunteers. These are our heroic doctors and nurses," he said.
Ukrainian forces continue to push east into the occupied parts of Kharkiv, Donetsk, and Luhansk oblasts after making successful crossings of the Oskil and Siversky Donets rivers in several locations, the U.K.'s Defense Intelligence wrote in their daily brief. These advances come despite Russian efforts to consolidate defensive lines after Ukraine's rapid counteroffensive in Kharkiv Oblast earlier in September.
Russia is being monitored closely for any signs of an order given by Russian dictator Vladimir Putin to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine, Politico reports, citing five unnamed current and former U.S. officials.
Twelve people, including two children were in the bomb shelter of the school in the town of Mykolaivka in Donetsk Oblast at the time of the strike, according to Donetsk Oblast Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko. The bomb shelter survived the hit, but one school worker remains unaccounted for.
Only one week after Russia announced "partial" mobilization, the Russian conscripts have already arrived, sent to replenish the ranks of the 1st Tank Regiment of the 2nd Motorized Rifle Division of Russia's 1st Tank Army, according to Luhansk Oblast Governor Serhiy Haidai. "They didn't undergo any training at all," Haidai said on Telegram.
Ukraine’s General Staff reported on Sept. 28. that Russia had also lost 2,312 tanks, 4,889 armored fighting vehicles, 3,742 vehicles and fuel tanks, 1,331 artillery systems, 331 multiple launch rocket systems, 175 air defense systems, 262 airplanes, 224 helicopters, 989 drones, and 15 boats.
European countries may import almost 40% more liquefied gas in the coming winter year over year and increase purchases next summer by about 14% to rebuild lost inventories, according to BloombergNEF. "Those shipments are enough (for Europe) to cover a complete halt in Russian pipeline flows from Oct. 1," it wrote.
After the pseudo-referendums on occupied Ukrainian territories, Russia may establish a new "Crimean Federal District" that will include the Crimean peninsula and Russian-controlled parts of Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson oblasts, Russian news outlet Vedomosti referring to unnamed sources reported on Sept. 27.
Kharkiv Oblast Governor Oleh Syniehubov said on Sept. 27 that the village of Kupiansk-Vuzlovyi, located on the left bank of the Oskil River, has been liberated. About 6% of the oblast remains under Russian control, according to Syniehubov.
Two offshore lines of the Russian-owned Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline have sustained "unprecedented" damage and started leaking into the Baltic Sea, Reuters reported on Sept. 27. The leaks on the Nord Stream 1 sprung after a leak on the North Stream 2 pipeline was discovered on Sept. 26. The Kremlin does not rule out sabotage as a reason behind damage.
The Kremlin calls the widespread violations of mobilization law "individual errors" and promises to punish "careless employees of the military-recruitment centers," but such messages won't solve Russia's problems, according to the Institute for the Study of War. "Unlike Russian failures in Ukraine, which the Kremlin has been able to minimize... violations of the mobilization decree are evident to many Russians," the ISW reported.
Russian troops have banned residents of occupied Enerhodar, Zaporizhzhia Oblast, from leaving the city; they threaten people who voted against joining Russia in the sham referendum with mobilization, Ukraine's Defense Ministry reported on Sept. 27. "They point weapons at people, give them these 'ballots' and tell exactly which box to check," the report reads.
Dmitry Medvedev, acting deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council, said Russia would use nuclear weapons "if (Russia) or our allies are attacked with this type of weapon or if aggression with the use of conventional weapons threatens the very existence of our state."
Ukraine's Air Force reported that its air defense destroyed three Iranian Shahed-136 drones that attacked Mykolaiv Oblast on the morning of Sept. 27. The Ukrainian military says it is gaining more experience in destroying kamikaze drones.
"We have seen nothing as of yet at least to indicate that (China) is taking a different approach when it comes to security assistance, when it comes to efforts to systematically help Russia evade sanctions," said U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price.
Russia's leaders hope this announcement will be seen "as a vindication of the 'special military operation' and will consolidate patriotic support for the conflict," the U.K. Defense Ministry reported on Sept. 27. However, "increasing domestic awareness of Russia's recent battlefield sets-backs and significant unease about the partial mobilization" will likely ruin their aspiration, according to the ministry.
In the past 24 hours, Russian forces have killed three and injured 13 civilians in Donetsk Oblast, not including Mariupol and Volnovakha, said Pavlo Kyrylenko, the oblast governor. Russian troops have also shelled Kharkiv Oblast, killing one and wounding five people, according to Kharkiv Oblast Governor Oleh Syniehubov.
Ukraine’s General Staff reported on Sept. 27. that Russia had also lost 2,306 tanks, 4,881 armored fighting vehicles, 3,730 vehicles and fuel tanks, 1,378 artillery systems, 331 multiple launch rocket systems, 175 air defense systems, 261 airplanes, 224 helicopters, 977 drones, and 15 boats.
Russia may impose martial law in its border regions after pseudo-referendums in the occupied territories of Ukraine to stop Russian men from leaving the country, LRT reported on Sept. 26, citing Lithuania's Defense Minister Arvydas Anusauskas.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development has projected global economic growth to slow to just 2.2% in 2023, which is $2.8 trillion lower than the OECD forecast before Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Russian troops have launched a missile attack on civilian infrastructure in Pervomaiskyi, killing a 15-year-old girl, Kharkiv Oblast Governor Oleh Syniehubov reported on Sept. 26. Two houses were completely destroyed, according to him.
Russian news outlet Meduza reported that at least 11 military enlistment offices had been set on fire in Russia since Vladimir Putin announced mobilization on Sept. 21. Russians have also tried to set on fire six administrative buildings over the last six days.
Russia fires fewer expensive missiles, as in some cases it can now replace them with cheaper Iranian drones, according to Ukraine's Air Force spokesperson Yurii Ihnat. According to him, Iran could have sold "several hundred" kamikaze drones to Russia.
Kazakhstan has no intention of recognizing Russia's sham referendums in Kherson, Luhansk, Donetsk, and Zaporizhzhia oblasts, news agency KazTAG reported on Sept. 26, citing the spokesperson of Kazakhstan's Foreign Ministry.
The Japanese government has banned the export of materials that could be used for chemical weapons production to 21 Russian organizations, including science laboratories, Associated Press reported on Sept. 26, citing Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno.
Ukraine's Security Service has found another Russian torture chamber in the liberated village of Lyptsi, where Russia's proxies and military kept pro-Ukrainian residents and brutally tortured them. So far, the Ukrainian police's main investigation department has discovered 18 Russian torture chambers in Kharkiv Oblast.
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