As the war marks its 921st day, here are the key developments.
- Russia launched a significant attack on Kyiv early in the morning, using drones and missiles coinciding with the first day of school. The assault injured at least three people and caused damage to a boiler house at a Kyiv water plant and a metro station used as an air raid shelter.
- Russian aerial attacks also targeted other parts of Ukraine. Ukrainian forces reported intercepting 22 of 35 missiles and 20 of 23 drones over Kyiv, as well as in the Kharkiv, Dnipro, Poltava, Mykolaiv, and Zaporizhia regions.
- Dnipropetrovsk Regional Governor Serhiy Lysak reported one death and three injuries from a Russian missile attack on Dnipro. In Kharkiv, Governor Oleh Syniehubov said at least 13 people were injured when four Russian guided bombs struck a residential area.
- Intense fighting continued on the eastern front, with Russia claiming control of the village of Skuchne in the Pokrovsk district. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy acknowledged the difficulties faced against "the most combat-focused Russian brigades" but noted that Russia had made no advances in the past two days. Russia achieved its largest monthly territorial gain in August, capturing 477 square kilometers (184 square miles) of Ukrainian land, according to the Institute for the Study of War.
- Russian President Vladimir Putin, visiting Russia’s Tuva region, claimed that Russian forces were reclaiming territory in the Kursk region and that Ukraine's August 6 incursion had failed to halt Russian advances in Donetsk.
- Belgorod Regional Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov announced that kindergartens in Belgorod near the Ukrainian border would close for a week, and several schools would shift to online classes following a Ukrainian attack that destroyed a childcare center.
**Politics and Diplomacy**
- Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs criticized Mongolia for not arresting Vladimir Putin during his visit, despite an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant for war crimes. Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi condemned Mongolia’s inaction as a significant setback for the ICC. Amnesty International also called for Mongolia to arrest and surrender Putin to the ICC.
- Russia has detained Major General Valery Muminjanov on bribery charges, the latest in a series of arrests related to alleged corruption in the Ministry of Defence. Muminjanov is accused of accepting bribes to facilitate state contracts for private companies supplying army uniforms.
- Ukrainian President Zelenskyy announced plans to meet Rafael Grossi, Director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), in Kyiv after Grossi’s visit to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, which was occupied by Russian forces early in the invasion.
**Weapons**
- Zelenskyy urged Western allies to not only permit strikes deep inside Russia but also to provide Ukraine with additional long-range weaponry. He expressed optimism about securing such permissions after a meeting with Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof in Zaporizhzhia.
- Romania’s coalition government approved a draft law to donate a Patriot missile defense system to Ukraine, with the condition that its allies replace it with a similar system. The law now awaits a vote in Parliament.
No comments: