Ukraine Counteroffensive Update for Sept 13 (Europe Edition): ‘Our Enemies Attacked Sevastopol’

Overview

• Huge strike on Sevastopol Shipyard
• Putin meets with Kim Jong-Un
• US Senate leader assures Congress that corruption in Ukraine is under control
• Russian officials debate need for more conscripts for invasion
• Occupying forces continue to deport Ukrainian children
• Ukrainian troops advance near Bakhmut but situation remains fluid

Huge strike on Sevastopol Shipyard

A shipyard in Russian-occupied Crimea used to repair Moscow’s Black Sea Fleet was targeted by ten Ukrainian missiles and three attack speedboats, the Kremlin said early on Wednesday morning.

In a post on Telegram, the Russian defense ministry said “two ships under repair were damaged” and that seven missiles and all three vessels had been intercepted and destroyed in the attack on the Sevastopol Shipyard.

Mikhail Razvozhayev, the Russian governor of the city, said the strike caused a large fire and injured 24 people.

“Our enemies attacked Sevastopol," he added.

You can read more about this breaking news story here.

Putin meets with Kim Jong-Un

President Vladimir Putin shook hands with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at a Russian space center Wednesday, Sept. 13, images released by the Kremlin showed, kicking off a meeting that could see the leaders forge an arms deal that would defy global sanctions, AFP reports.

The internationally-isolated pair are meeting at the Vostochny Cosmodrome, a Russian spaceport some 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) from Vladivostok, with Putin saying the location was chosen as Moscow plans to help North Korea build satellites, RIA Novosti reported.

Wearing a dark suit and smiling widely, Kim shook Putin's hand enthusiastically, video released by the Kremlin showed, with the two leaders then walking around the vast space center.

Other Topics of Interest

EU Aid to Ukraine Could be Under Threat by Rassemblement National’s Rise to Power

With the French legislative elections approaching on June 30, concerns are rising in both Brussels and Kyiv about the far-right Rassemblement National’s (RN) long-standing ties with the Kremlin.

“The leader of the DPRK shows great interest in rocket technology, and they are trying to develop (their presence in) space,” Putin said, referring to North Korea by its official name.

US Senate to hear from watchdog on Wednesday about Ukrainian aid accountability

The US Senate Republican conference will hear from a leading oversight official on Wednesday about funding for Ukraine’s counteroffensive, said Senate Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. He did not specify the identity of the official but said it would include the inspector general for the US State Department and for the Department of Defense.

Over the course of the Russian invasion and coinciding US aid for Ukrainian defense, the conservative ranks of US Congress have loudly voiced their displeasure about “blank checks” sent to Ukraine without proper accountability, including unsubtle winks and nods at what they perceive as rife corruption among Ukrainian counterparts.

Since the war began, the Biden administration and the U.S. Congress have directed more than $75 billion in assistance to Ukraine, according to the Council on Foreign Relations.

McConnell assured that there has been a “misconception” about Ukrainian use of funds, and that America’s partners are trustworthy and committed.

“Ukraine is not Iraq or Afghanistan. It’s a modern democracy firmly committed to integration with the West,” he said. McConnell insisted that the corruption that exists in Ukraine has declined sharply since the onset of the full-scale war.

Russian officials argue about need for mobilizations outside of its Oct. 1 semi-annual drive

Some Russian officials are “seriously preparing for a second wave of reserve mobilization and are hoping to conduct another reserve mobilization wave in the fall,” the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reported Tuesday, citing a Russian Telegram channel with alleged connections to Russian security sources.

The ISW said that there are multiple layers of Russian conscription to consider: There is “Russia’s normal semi-annual conscription call up, a large-scale reserve mobilization like the one that brought more than 300,000 reservists into the Russian armed forces in Fall 2022, crypto-mobilizations that bring reservists into the force at lower numbers over a long period of time, and various efforts to encourage or coerce Russians to sign ostensibly voluntary contracts with the Russian military,” the ISW wrote.

Ukrainian Media Center says Russia sending more reserves to front line for fear of Ukrainian breakthrough

The Ukrainian Military Media Center, meanwhile, said that evidence already exists that Russian forces are increasingly pulling reserves from deep within Russian territory to the front line in Ukraine out of fear of a Ukrainian breakthrough, ISW reported.

Occupying forces send 37 children from Kherson region on “recreational vacation” to Russia.

Russian occupation officials continue to deport children from Ukraine to Russia under the auspices of recreational programs.

The Telegram post from the Kherson regional occupation administration announced on Tuesday that 37 children from the Skadovsk area of went on a 21-day “recreational vacation” to the Kabardino-Balkaria Republic and will receive medical and psychological assistance at the “Rainbow” rehabilitation center there.

Footage suggests further Ukrainian advances southwest of Bakhmut

Video evidence verified by the Institute for the Study of War suggests that Ukrainian forces conducted offensive operations near Bakhmut on Tuesday and recently advanced.

The footage shows that Ukrainian forces made limited gains north of Kurdyumivka (13 km southwest of Bakhmut) and southwest of Mayorsk (21 km southwest of Bakhmut).