Moscow-installed proxies have begun military training of Russia's newly-drafted personnel in Sevastopol, Crimea, Ukraine's General Staff reported on Sept. 26. Russia's proxies have also started handing out summonses to residents of Luhansk Oblast.
The first tranches of men enlisted under Russia's mobilization have started to arrive at military bases, but many of them will end up on the front lines "with minimal relevant preparation," the U.K. Defense Ministry reported on Sept. 26.
In the past 24 hours, Russian forces have killed three civilians and injured 11 in Donetsk Oblast, not including Mariupol and Volnovakha, reported Pavlo Kyrylenko, the oblast governor. Russian troops have also shelled Kharkiv Oblast, wounding six civilians and causing a fire at one of the agricultural enterprises, said Kharkiv Oblast Governor Oleh Syniehubov.
Ukraine’s General Staff reported on Sept. 26. that Russia had also lost 2,290 tanks, 4,857 armored fighting vehicles, 3,711 vehicles and fuel tanks, 1,369 artillery systems, 330 multiple launch rocket systems, 172 air defense systems, 260 airplanes, 224 helicopters, 970 drones, and 15 boats.
Conscripts do not undergo any military training before being sent to the war against Ukraine, Ukraine's General Staff said. With this step, Russian military commanders aim to replenish units that have suffered colossal losses.
Ukraine's Center for Countering Disinformation reported that the Russians are creating a Cossack battalion out of Ukrainian POWs and forcing them to take part in a sham referendum on Donetsk Oblast's annexation to Russia. According to the report, 57 POWs have already been forced to vote in the annexation referendum. Over 50 Ukrainian prisoners of war were killed by an explosion in Russian-occupied Olenivka, Donetsk Oblast, on July 29.
U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said that President Joe Biden’s administration had privately communicated with the Kremlin regarding the “decisive” response of the U.S. and other Western allies if Russia uses nuclear weapons. “We have been clear and specific about what that will entail,” Sullivan said.
In the city of Kirovsk, Leningrad Oblast, a military enlistment office was set on fire with a fuel canister attached to a window. In Kaliningrad Oblast and the republic of Mordovia, two other enlistment offices were set on fire with Molotov cocktails.
A number of videos posted on social media show protesters shouting "Down with the war!" in Makhachkala, the capital of Dagestan. The footage also shows demonstrators trying to prevent the police from arresting other protesters.
Serbian Foreign Minister Nikola Selakovic said that Serbia, a country considered a close ally of Russia, would comply with international law and the UN Charter. “(The annexation referendums) completely contradict our state and national interests, our policy of dealing with territorial integrity, sovereignty and the principle of inviolability of borders," Selakovic said. The sham annexation referendums are being held in Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia oblasts.
President Volodymyr Zelensky added, however, that the NASAMS air defense systems were not enough to protect civilian infrastructure.
Protests were held in Makhachkala, the capital of Dagestan in the North Caucasus, and other locations. Demonstrators in the village of Endirey blocked a federal highway. The demonstrations were triggered by Russian dictator Vladimir Putin's Sept. 21 decision to announce the mobilization of conscripts for the war against Ukraine. More than 1,300 people have already been detained for participating in the protests.
Ukrainian air defense shot down an Iranian-made Shahed-136 kamikaze drone operated by Russian troops, Ukraine's Southern Operational Command said. Early in the morning, the Russian army hit the center of Odesa with the same type of drones.
Air Force spokesman Yuriy Ignat reported that the Ukrainian military is studying the strengths and weaknesses of Iranian Shahed-136 drones.
Zaporizhzhia Oblast Governor Oleksandr Starukh reported that Russian missiles hit the city early on Sept. 25. He urged the residents to remain in shelters.
Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Oleg Nikolenko said on Sept. 24 that Ukraine “has requested an urgent meeting” of the UN Security Council over Russia’s sham referendums in the occupied parts of Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia oblasts. “Russia must be held accountable for its further attempts to change Ukraine’s internationally recognized borders in a violation of the UN Charter,” Nikolenko said.
The General Staff reported on Sept. 24 that Ukrainian forces had recently repelled Russian attempts to advance near the settlements of Bakhmutske, Zaitseve, Opytne, Petropavlivka, Vyimka, Odradivka, Nevelske, and Novomykhailivka.
Specifically, Russian advances were repelled near Spirne, Soledar, Bakhmutske, Odradivka, Kurdyumivka, Zaitseve, Mayorsk, Kamyanka, Avdiivka, and Opytne, Ukraine's General Staff said.
In a joint statement, the Group of Seven leaders condemned Russia's illegal referendums on the annexation of occupied Ukrainian territories. “We will never recognize these referenda, which appear to be a step toward Russian annexation, and we will never recognize purported annexation if it occurs," the statement reads.
Kharkiv Oblast Governor Oleh Synehubov said that 436 bodies had been exhumed from the graves, mostly with signs of violent death, including 30 bodies with signs of torture. Only 21 people were soldiers, while the rest were civilians, including children. He said that medical experts recorded bodies with ropes around their necks, bound hands, broken limbs, and gunshot injuries. Several men had missing reproductive organs. “All crimes will be documented, and the guilty will pay for what they did,” said Synehubov.
Ukraine's air defense shot down Iranian-made Shahed-136 long-range kamikaze drones used by Russian troops, according to Ukraine's Air Force. On Sept. 23, one person was killed as a result of a Russian kamikaze drone attack on Odesa.
European Council President Charles Michel said that Russia should be suspended for launching an “unprovoked and unjustified war.” Currently, Russia is among the five permanent member states that have a veto right on the UN Security Council. Michel said that the right to veto should be an exemption but it has become the rule - an apparent reference to Russia's efforts to block Security Council resolutions.
Men must obtain permits from local military enlistment offices before leaving the peninsula, Crimea-based news agency Kryminform reported, citing the Russian occupation government of Ukraine's Crimea. Permits can be issued to men who have reasons to leave Crimea, such as business trips, education, or medical treatment.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said in an interview with CNN that the alliance seeks to prevent any use of nuclear weapons by Russia. “The threats that President Putin is putting forward again and again increase tensions, are dangerous and are reckless,” he said. On Sept. 21, Putin threatened to use nuclear weapons, saying that “this is not a bluff.”
The decision was made on Sept. 23 by Finnish President Sauli Niinisto and the country's government. The move is a response to the mobilization and annexation of Ukrainian territories announced by Russian dictator Vladimir Putin. It seeks to prevent "serious damage to Finland's international position.”
Meduza, a Russian media outlet, cited a government source. In Moscow, the authorities seek to mobilize up to 16,000 people, according to a source close to Moscow's City Hall. On Sept. 21, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said that the army planned to mobilize 300,000 conscripts for the war against Ukraine.
President Volodymyr Zelensky has appointed Oleksiy Makeyev, 46, as the ambassador to Germany, according to a presidential decree published on Sept. 23. Makeyev's predecessor, Andriy Melnyk, was fired after regularly triggering scandals by making controversial statements on Ukrainian nationalism and other topics.
Russian forces attacked Odesa with Iranian Shahed-136 drones from the sea, killing one civilian and destroying an administrative building in the port area, Operational Command "South" reported on Sept. 23. One drone was shot down over the sea by Ukraine's Air Force.
Residents of the occupied village of Snihurivka have gathered for a protest against the pseudo-referendum organized by Russia's proxies in Mykolaiv Oblast, local news outlet Prestupnosti Net reported on Sept. 23. "Snihurivka has always been and will be Ukraine. We never wanted and will not want to join the Russian Federation," protesters said at the rally.
Ukraine's Armed Forces have established control over the village of Yatskivka in Donetsk Oblast and regained previously lost positions in the Bakhmut direction, the General Staff reported on Sept. 23. Russian troops continue to conduct offensive actions to dislodge Ukrainian units from taken positions around Bakhmut, but Ukraine's military is holding their defense, according to Deputy Chief of Ukraine's General Staff Oleksii Hromov.
Russia's proxies in occupied Luhansk Oblast come to locals' houses accompanied by armed men and force them to take part in the pseudo-referendum on joining Russia, Serhii Haidai, the oblast governor, said on Sept. 23. "If a person doesn't open the door, (Russian forces) threaten to break in. When a person ticks 'no' in the 'ballot,' they make notes," Haidai said.
The largest number of casualties was documented in Donetsk Oblast, where 400 children have been killed or injured, Prosecutor General's Office reported on Sept. 23. The numbers are not final – they do not include casualties in the Russian-occupied territories and areas where hostilities are still ongoing, the statement reads.
(Updated: )
