Ukraine Breaking News Today Live on 09-10-2024

Britain, France and Germany said they would cut aviation agreements with the Islamic republic and look set to sanction its national carrier Iran Air.

Western powers on Tuesday announced fresh sanctions on Iran for supplying Russia with short-range missiles for imminent use against Ukraine, calling it a dangerous escalation of the conflict that threatened European security.

Britain, France and Germany said they would cut aviation agreements with the Islamic republic and look set to sanction its national carrier Iran Air, claiming Tehran had repeatedly defied warnings about the weapons transfers.

A Belarusian official has announced the planned launch of a domestic video hosting service similar to YouTube on Sept. 12, though he has acknowledged it to be “a rather weak analog.”

Leaked documents have shown that Belarus’s planned state video hosting platform, scheduled to launch on Sept. 12, was developed with cooperation from an Austrian telecommunication company.

According to Belarusian state news agency BELTA, Belarusian Deputy Head of the Administration Vladimir Pertsov announced the plan in late August at a meeting with Belarusian President Alexandr Lukashenko.

Dozens of ambulances purchased by Kiwi donations gathered in Kyiv’s Sofia Square Sept. 10th and will soon be deployed to various units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

The Secretary of Russia’s Security Council said negotiations with Kyiv are impossible while Ukrainian forces are in the Kursk region because of a “nuclear terror” threat to the Kursk NPP.

In an interview with Russian propaganda media “Russia-24” former Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, now Secretary of Russia’s Security Council, said negotiations with Ukraine are not possible as long as Ukrainian troops remain on Russian territory, specifically in Kursk.

“We will naturally not conduct any negotiations with them until we remove them from our territory,” Shoigu said.

He said that dozens of Russian military personnel have trained in Iran using the Fath-360 missile, which has a range of 75 miles (120 kilometres).

Iran has sent short-range missiles to Russia that are expected to be used against Ukraine within weeks, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Tuesday, as he announced a joint solidarity trip to Kyiv with his British counterpart.

Blinken, on a visit to London, said the United States and its allies would impose new sanctions on Iran for defying warnings on sending the missiles, including on state carrier Iran Air.

More than half of all the current combat is concentrated on a 60-kilometer-wide sector of the 1,500-kilometer-long front line in eastern Ukraine where Russia is attacking.

Russia’s capture of a tactically important coal mine near the city Vuhledar was widely confirmed as Moscow’s relentless offensive backed by massive firepower supporting its frontal attack kept on rolling westward, news reports from both sides said on Tuesday.

Russian milbloggers were the first to publish images of a Russian Federation flag flying from atop a tower at the South Donbas Coal Mine Number One, some seven kilometers north-east of Vuhledar city as Russian media reported the capture and a two to three kilometer advance by Russian forces.

After four months of declines, NBU reserves surge.

The MoF issued four new domestic bonds last week, including three in local currency and one in US$. New issues received high interest from investors.The MoF refreshed the standard set of papers in the primary bond market and issued new one, two, and three-year UAH bonds and a new USD-denominated paper. The offering also included a 3.5-year paper, which the MoF first sold in July. Only three-year UAH notes and USD-denominated bills were oversubscribed, allowing the MoF to sell all of the offered bonds (UAH5bn and US$200m raised, respectively). Demand for other bonds was significant but below the cap. Total state budget proceeds reached UAH20.5bn, including UAH12bn in local currency. However, the MoF had to increase cut-off rates by 10-15bp for three UAH securities to secure these proceeds. See details in the auction review.Total turnover in the secondary market rose by 8% as the trading in FX-denominated bonds doubled and their share was up to 19%. YTMs for UAH-denominated bonds barely moved defying increases in interest rates in the primary bond market.

ICU view: Investors increased rates in their bids for the primary bond auction vs levels a week before. The MoF faced a choice of either increasing borrowings and accepting higher rates or moving on with lesser proceeds and unchanged interest rates. The Ministry clearly showed preference for more borrowings. However, it is unlikely that the MoF will be ready to accept even higher rates in the coming weeks, as UAH debt redemptions scheduled for this month have already been fully refinanced. The negligible reaction in the secondary bond market to the rate increase in the primary auction may imply the market does not expect further rate increases in the coming weeks.

Moscow has pounded Ukraine's energy network throughout the two-and-a-half year war, destroying swathes of the country's infrastructure and causing severe power shortages and blackouts.

Ukraine is gearing up for a harsh winter by repairing and protecting its power system under renewed attacks from Russian forces, Prime Minister Denys Shmygal said on Tuesday.

Moscow has pounded Ukraine's energy network throughout the two-and-a-half year war, destroying swathes of the country's infrastructure and causing severe power shortages and blackouts.

The defence ministries of Latvia and Romania reported on Monday that drones which apparently came from Russia had penetrated their airspace.

The defence ministries of Latvia and Romania reported on Monday that drones which apparently came from Russia had penetrated their airspace. Nato Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoană condemned the incidents as "irresponsible and potentially dangerous" although there is still no evidence that they were a deliberate attack. The calm reactions, not only from Nato, are causing a buzz in the media.

Romania standing idly by

The Dutch Defense Minister stated that Kyiv can use Dutch weapons, including F-16s, for deep strikes into Russia, and urged other countries to lift their restrictions.

The Dutch Defense Minister Ruben Brekelmans said that Ukraine can strike anywhere in Russia using weapons provided by his country, according to a Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung report on Monday, Sept 9.

Brekelmans said as far as his government was concerned Ukraine can use any Dutch provided weapons for self-defense in accordance with international law.

With both presidential candidates running neck-and-neck, the debate between them could have a significant impact on undecided voters. Here’s how they are honing their arguments.

Millions of people are expected to tune into what will most likely be the only live debate between the two American presidential candidates airing Tuesday night. Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump will each have the chance to answer a series of questions about their candidatures and both domestic and foreign policy over a 90-minute period without the fear of interruption – candidates’ mics will be muted while the other is speaking and the interviewers will not be permitted to fact-check their answers in real-time.

The event will be hosted by ABC News with moderating done by veteran “World News Tonight” journalists David Muir and Linsey Davis. Hard-hitting questions over the candidate’s positions on Russia’s war in Ukraine, the Israeli-Hamas War, and threats from China and other global powers are expected. Unlike all past elections since 1988, the rules and layout of this year’s debates were negotiated between each campaign instead of decided by a neutral commission.

MOL announced on Monday that it reached a "sustainable solution" securing the transportation of oil to the two countries by concluding agreements with suppliers and pipeline operators.

Hungary's government on Tuesday welcomed a deal reached by energy company MOL aimed at guaranteeing the supply of Russian oil through Ukraine after Kyiv restricted transit.

In July, Hungary and Slovakia accused Kyiv of endangering their energy security by barring Russian energy giant Lukoil from using the Ukrainian section of the Druzhba pipeline.

The 17th Swedish military aid provision focuses on new purchases rather than stockpiled equipment and almost half is allocated to materiel and components for JAS 39 Gripen fighter aircraft.

The Swedish Ministry of Defense (MoD) formally announced its 17th military aid package for Ukraine on Monday, Aug. 9. It has a value of around 4.6 billion Swedish kronor ($ 445 million) and, unlike previous support focuses primarily on the procurement of new military equipment for Kyiv.

Sweden says the allocation is designed to meet many of Ukraine's priority military needs and includes RB 70 man-portable air defense systems (MANPADS), anti-tank weapons, 40mm ammunition for CV 90 combat vehicles, grenade launchers, anti-tank mines, combat vehicle camouflage kits, winter clothing and equipment, six Stridsbåt 90 fast patrol boats and other marine equipment as well as funding for Ukrainian and multi-national programs such as the International Fund for Ukraine (IFU) and Czech ammunition procurement initiatives.

Russian users have reported error messages when attempting to register on Google with a domestic number. Some speculated it could be related to the latest US sanctions on IT services in Russia.

Russian users have reported issues while attempting to register a Google account with a Russian phone number.

According to Russian state news agency TASS on Monday, users were presented with an error message that said “This number cannot be used for confirmation” when attempting to add a phone number with the Russian +7 country code.

The world in focus, as seen by a Canadian leading global affairs analyst, writer and speaker, in his review of international media.

An Israeli strike on a crowded tent camp housing Palestinians displaced by the war in Gaza killed at least 40 people and wounded 60 others early Tuesday, Palestinian officials said. Israel said it targeted “significant” Hamas militants and disputed the death toll. It was among the deadliest strikes yet in Muwasi, a sprawl of crowded tent camps along the Gaza coast that Israel designated as a humanitarian zone for hundreds of thousands of civilians to seek shelter from the Israel-Hamas war. Gaza’s Civil Defense said its first responders recovered 40 bodies from the strike and were still looking for people. It said entire families were killed in their tents. - AP

David Knowles, the Telegraph journalist behind the award-winning Ukraine: The Latest podcast, has died. Mr Knowles, 32, who worked as a senior audio journalist and presenter, died while in Gibraltar on Sunday following what was believed to be a cardiac arrest. He joined The Telegraph in 2020 as deputy head of social media and was later promoted to head of social media. Upon the outbreak of the Ukraine war in 2022, Mr Knowles launched Ukraine: The Latest, a weekday podcast that is still running two years later. This year, Ukraine: The Latest won the Best News Podcast at the Publisher Podcast Awards. Mr Knowles’s father, Peter, described his eldest son as someone who “loved life and he lived it just as well as he could”. He said: “David’s commitment to journalism was intense. He was never more proud than when he finally shrugged off a management job title and regained a title with the word ‘journalist’ in it, and he was utterly engaged with the story of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the impact on its people, making four trips to the country and always planning the next.” Chris Evans, the editor of The Telegraph, said: “David was a talented and popular journalist who was perhaps best known for helping to make our Ukraine podcast such a success. Before that, he was an impressive leader of our social media team. We would like to offer our sympathy to his family and friends.” - The Telegraph

Kim Jong Un's isolated nuclear-armed country sealed its borders in early 2020 in response to the Covid-19 pandemic and only began allowing international flights again last year, in limited numbers.

North Korean airspace has seen an "unprecedented surge" of Russian planes in the past year, said a flight data analysis published Tuesday, indicating growing links between Pyongyang and Moscow that have raised Western concern.

Kim Jong Un's isolated nuclear-armed country sealed its borders in early 2020 in response to the Covid-19 pandemic and only began allowing international flights again last year, in limited numbers.

Polish-German relations reached a new low under PiS rule, whose policies were often driven by the party’s anti-German resentment. They were expected to improve with Tusk in power.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk called off his visit to Germany, planned for later this week, as relations between the two countries worsen.

Tusk was due to travel to Potsdam to receive the M100 Media Award, which is given to “personalities who are committed to strengthening democracy, freedom of expression and freedom of the press as well as to European understanding,” according to the German M100 Sanssouci Colloquium organisation.

The donation will go towards two major building projects that are being undertaken by the Foundation, a charity created and headed by the wife of President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Lord Ashcroft is donating £1.3 million to the Olena Zelenska Foundation to fund charitable projects in war-torn Ukraine.

The donation will go towards two major building projects that are being undertaken by the Foundation, a charity created and headed by the wife of President Volodymyr Zelensky.

US media outlets reported last week that Washington believed Iran had transferred the weapons to Russia for use in Ukraine, citing anonymous sources.

The European Union said Monday its allies had shared "credible" intelligence that Iran had supplied Russia with ballistic missiles, a move Washington warned would be met with "significant consequences".

The claim was rejected by Tehran but not explicitly denied by the Kremlin. EU and US officials said that, if true, it would constitute a major "escalation" of Iran's support for Moscow in its invasion of Ukraine.

Putin thought he could hold Europe hostage with the might of Russia’s energy sector. As it turns out, Europe may be in a position to dig Moscow’s economic grave.

There is a disruptive economic force manifesting itself in Europe. While it won’t harm Europeans, this force has a significant potential to enact serious consequences onto Russia. Ironically, given that Putin himself set the force into motion, it is a self-inflicted wound. The subject – as almost always is the case with Russia – is energy. Putin’s war with Ukraine is causing irreparable damage to Russia’s decades old “European cash cow,” and the longer the war rages, the damage grows.

Europe’s Energy Crisis

Moscow regional governor Andrey Vorobyov said in a Telegram post that a 46-year-old woman had been killed and several people wounded as a result of the strikes.

Ukraine launched a massive drone strike overnight, with up to 144 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) targeting multiple regions across Russia, including the capital Moscow, the Russian Defense Ministry reported on Tuesday, Sept. 10.

According to the ministry’s statement, Russian air defenses intercepted 72 drones over the Bryansk region, 20 over Moscow, 14 over Kursk, 13 over Tula, and 25 more across 5 other regions.

India’s National Security Adviser Ajit Doval will travel to Moscow this week to fulfill Prime Minister Modi's recent promise to try help bring peace between Russia and Ukraine “as a friend to both.”

The Indian television channel NDTV reported on Sunday, citing government sources, that India’s National Security Adviser Ajit Doval would travel to Moscow this week for meetings with President Vladimir Putin aimed at resolving the war in Ukraine. The visit follows Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visits to Moscow and Kyiv earlier in the year.

Modi met with Putin in Moscow in July before meeting President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv on Aug. 23, the first visit by an Indian leader to Ukraine since it gained independence in 1991. On his return to New Delhi Modi spoke on the phone with Putin on Aug. 27 with an update on his visit. During the conversation Modi stressed India’s commitment to finding a way to resolve the war in Ukraine and they agreed that Doval would come to Moscow to discuss peace talks.

A manufacturing company sent a detailed proposal to the Spanish government for the production of 50 combat vehicles per year for supply after an agreement Spain and Ukraine signed in May.

The ASCOD infantry fighting vehicle is a joint development of two companies – Steyr-Daimler-Puch Spezialfahrzeug AG and Santa Bárbara Sistemas.

The name ASCOD, which stands for Austrian-Spanish Cooperative Development, reflects the two companies’ origins.

The Ukrainian military sees the robotic dogs as flexible tools, stating, “War is evolving, and those who adapt and seize new opportunities will gain an edge over the enemy.”

The Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) says they are now using robot dogs for surveillance on the front line, according to a post on Telegram by the Khortytsia operational and strategic group

“The consolidated unit ‘Medoid’ [Honey Badger], along with its irreplaceable assistant, is successfully thinning the ranks of the occupiers in eastern Ukraine,” read the message accompanying a video.

Latest from the Institute for the Study of War.

Key Takeaways from the ISW:

• Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov attended the Russia-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Joint Ministerial Meeting of Strategic Dialogue in Saudi Arabia on September 9, likely as part of Kremlin efforts to advance the creation of its envisioned “Eurasian security architecture.”
• Kremlin officials are likely trying to shape international peace mediation efforts in the war in Ukraine while demonstrating Russia's unwillingness to engage in good-faith negotiations with Ukraine.
• The Kremlin leveraged Russian regional elections from September 6 to 8 to integrate trusted Russian military veterans of the war in Ukraine into the Russian government, likely as part of an ongoing attempt to appease Russian servicemembers, boost domestic support for the war, and build out a cadre of Kremlin-affiliated local officials.
• The Kremlin refrained from replacing Acting Kursk Oblast Governor Alexei Smirnov during the Russian regional elections, likely in support of an ongoing effort to downplay the societal impacts of Ukraine’s incursion into Kursk Oblast.
• Ukrainian officials continue to warn that Russian forces are increasingly using chemical weapons in Ukraine.
• Russian forces recently regained lost positions in Kursk Oblast amid continued Ukrainian offensive operations in the area on September 9.
• Russian forces recently advanced along the Kupyansk-Svatove line, near Siversk, near Pokrovsk, and southwest of Donetsk City, and Ukrainian forces recently regained positions near Siversk.
• Russian President Vladimir Putin expanded Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov’s powers on September 9 by allowing him to grant eligible parties within the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) access to Russian state secrets (classified information).