10.09.2023

United Nations: Russia’s armed aggression is becoming synonymous with torture and other inhuman cruelty, a UN expert said.

Reuters: The G20 summit in New Delhi ended on Sunday as India handed over the bloc presidency to Brazil, while both the U.S. and Russia praised a consensus that did not condemn Moscow for the war in Ukraine but called on members to shun the use of force.

The Kyiv Independent: Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar announced on Sept. 10 that Ukraine and Sweden plan to jointly produce 1,000 CV-90 combat vehicles.

RFE/RL: Russia's regions have ramped up spending this year on national security and law enforcement as the state intensifies its crackdown on any form of dissent amid a failing war, according to a new report.

RBC-Ukraine: The government of Hungary plans to alter Russian to French nuclear fuel at the Paks Nuclear Power Plant in the future. This move aims to reduce Budapest's energy dependence on Russia, according to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Telex reports.

AP News: Two foreign aid workers were reportedly killed in eastern Ukraine on Sunday as Russian shelling hit a van carrying a team of four working with a Ukrainian nongovernmental organization, while dozens of Russian drones targeted Kyiv and wounded at least one civilian.

Yonhap News: South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol pledged Sunday to provide an additional US$2.3 billion in aid for Ukraine to help the nation restore peace and rebuild following its war with Russia.

Reuters: Romania's foreign ministry summoned the Russian charge d'affaires after the discovery on Romanian soil of new fragments of a drone similar to those used by the Russian military, the Agerpres website reported on Sunday.

WSJ: Kyiv’s military leaders say they could have Ukrainian pilots flying F-16s in combat as early as this winter, a more optimistic timeline than previous estimates.

AP News: Russia needs to replenish its supplies of ammunition for what could be a long war of attrition. Along with ramping up its domestic arms production, Moscow is turning to an old ally with a vast arsenal — North Korea. Estimates say the reclusive and isolated Asian country has tens of millions of artillery shells and rockets that could give a huge boost to the Russian army.

WSJ Exclusive: A Russian hit man serving a life sentence in Germany is central to a possible prisoner swap that could include U.S. Marine veteran Paul Whelan and Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich.

09.09.2023

Ukrinform: A former employee of Russia’s Federal Protection Service, who guarded Putin's residence in occupied Crimea, resigned from service and managed to cross out of Russia to Ecuador. He calls Putin a criminal and opposes the war in Ukraine.

Justin Trudeau: Canada will never recognize the results of the sham “elections” that Vladimir Putin organized in the temporarily-occupied regions of Ukraine this week. Putin cannot redraw the map as he pleases. Ukraine’s territory shall remain Ukraine’s.

Bloomberg: Ukraine is prepared to file a complaint at the World Trade Organization if Poland introduces a unilateral ban on Ukrainian grain, said Deputy Economy Minister Taras Kachka.

Reuters: Ukraine's counteroffensive against Russian forces will continue through the onset of cold and wet weather later this year, even though it would become harder to fight, Kyiv's intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov said on Saturday.

Bloomberg: Russia has more than 420,000 troops stationed in the areas of Ukraine it occupies, including Crimea, as it seeks to thwart Kyiv from retaking the territory, according to Ukraine’s military intelligence service.

Novaya-Europe: The Russian economy has been profoundly affected by the war in Ukraine, with the 37% of national spending that currently goes on defence predicted to rise to as much as 45% by the year’s end. As well as contributing to the ruble’s continuing fall, the massive increase in military spending is creating wider problems for the country’s economy that risk repeating the mistakes of the past.

AP News: The United Nations atomic watchdog warned of a potential threat to nuclear safety from a spike in fighting near Europe’s largest nuclear power plant in Ukraine, whose forces continued pressing their counteroffensive on Saturday.

Le Monde: Exasperated by Moscow's passivity in the face of Azerbaijan's attacks, Armenia is increasingly defiant towards the Kremlin. It has announced the delivery of humanitarian aid to Ukraine and joint military exercises with the United States.

ABC News: The Biden administration is likely to send Ukraine long-range Army Tactical Missile Systems, or ATACMS, to help in its fight to repel the Russian invasion of its territory, according to U.S. officials.

Reuters: Russia may be able to increase production of artillery in the next couple years to about 2 million shells annually, about double some previous Western expectations but still far short of Moscow's Ukraine war needs, a Western official said on Friday.

08.09.2023

Reuters: Elon Musk said he refused a Ukrainian request to activate his Starlink satellite network in Crimea's port city of Sevastopol last year to aid an attack on Russia's fleet there, saying he feared complicity in a "major" act of war.

The Council of the EU on Friday announced additional sanctions on six people for serious human rights violations in connection with their action towards members of ethnic groups in Crimea.

Reuters: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Friday that his country's allies had eased sanctions on Russia and called for a renewed drive to impose further punitive measures on Moscow.

The Kyiv Independent: Romania will introduce new security measures to protect the civilian population near the Danube River in response to Russian strikes against Ukrainian ports.

Reuters: Russia summoned the Armenian ambassador on Friday to present a protest about what it deemed "unfriendly steps" as tension in the South Caucasus surged over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

The Moscow Times: The Russian military has withdrawn a regional task force from neighboring Belarus, Ukrainian border authorities and independent Belarusian war monitors have said.

AFP: Two German men been charged with high treason for gathering state secrets from Germany's BND foreign intelligence agency and passing them to Russia, prosecutors said on Friday.

BloombergLaw: Estonia plans to be the first European Union nation to legalize the seizure of sanctioned Kremlin-linked assets to fund Ukrainian reconstruction this year, a move that the Baltic nation’s top envoy said would “really hit” Russia.

AFP: The first 10 Leopard 1 tanks donated by Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands have arrived in Ukraine and more are on their way, Denmark's armed forces said on Friday.

Reuters: Four people were killed and scores wounded on Friday in Russian air strikes on Ukraine, including a deadly attack in which a missile slammed into a police building in President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's hometown.

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