Russia-Ukraine war: These are the key events as the war approaches its 958th day.
Fighting
- Following a Russian ballistic missile attack on the port infrastructure in southern Odesa region of Ukraine, at least six persons were killed and eight injured. The third attack in the area in the last four days, according to Deputy Prime Minister Oleksii Kuleba, damaged the container ship Shui Spirit, which is flying the flag of Panama.
- Russia-Ukraine war: The military of Ukraine claimed to have attacked a base where Shahed drones were being kept in the southern Krasnodar region of Russia. According to a General Staff statement, the SBU intelligence service and naval forces worked together to carry out the strike. Russia did not issue an official statement, but emergency services did notice a sizable fire near the suspected bombing site.
- According to Ukraine, the strike also targeted a Russian weapons stockpile in the Bryansk area, which held ammunition for artillery and missile weapons, including those supplied by North Korea. A state of emergency was later proclaimed by Bryansk authorities in response to “detonations of explosive objects.”
- According to the Ministry of Defense, Russian air defense units shot down 47 Ukrainian drones that were aiming at Russia’s western areas. There were no reports of casualties, according to regional officials.
- The villages of Novaya Sorochina and Pokrovsky in the Kursk area were taken by Ukraine in an unexpected attack in August, but Russia’s Defense Ministry declared it had retaken them.
Politics and diplomacy
- At a summit of leaders from Southeast Europe in Croatia, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that there was a “opportunity” to take “decisive action” to end the war by 2025. The president of Ukraine did not explain how or why he thought there was such a chance.
- Zelenskyy is scheduled to meet with French President Emmanuel Macron, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and other European leaders on Thursday. Zelenskyy is pressing his country’s Western allies to grant Ukraine permission to use long-range weapons on military targets located deep inside Russia.
- A proposal to lend Ukraine up to 35 billion euros ($38 billion), secured by assets from the frozen Russian central bank, was agreed by envoys from the European Union.
President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen claimed that Hungary’s strong connections to Russia were endangering European security. During a debate at the European Parliament with populist Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, von der Leyen criticized Budapest for its unwillingness to work with other EU members to support Ukraine against Russia’s invasion. The horrors of Russia’s conflict have been seen by the entire world. Nevertheless, some people continue to attribute the war to the invaded rather than the invader, she added.
Serhiy Gnezdilov, 24, was detained by Ukrainian investigators for desertion after he left his army unit in protest at the absence of term limits for long-serving personnel. Should Gnezdilov be found guilty, he could spend up to 12 years behind bars.
Russia-Ukraine war
A Russian court sentenced former US Marine Trevor Reed, who was freed in a 2022 prisoner swap, to 14.5 years in prison after finding him guilty in absentia of acting as a mercenary for Ukraine. According to investigators, Reed enlisted in the Ukrainian military in July 2023.
Russia-Ukraine war: Yevgeny Mishchenko, an activist, was sentenced to 12 years in a penitentiary colony by a Russian court for allegedly preparing to join the Freedom of Russia Legion, a banned group of Russians that supports Ukraine. Mishchenko was one of a few volunteers watching over a temporary memorial in Moscow for opposition lawmaker Boris Nemtsov, who passed away in 2015. Evidence from a security guard who pretended to be a volunteer at the memorial and recorded talks with Mishchenko served as the foundation for the case.
According to Vasyl Bodnar, Ukraine’s ambassador to Turkey, the country wants Russia to join the next peace summit, which it hopes to host before the end of the year. During the meeting, he ruled out having direct bilateral talks with Moscow, stating that any talks would probably take place through third-party intermediaries.
Source: Aljazeera