Ukraine Breaking News Today Live on 09-12-2024

“Units of the ‘North’ group of troops liberated 10 settlements within two days,” Russia’s defense ministry said in a statement.

Russia on Thursday claimed to have recaptured a swath of territory in its western Kursk region, where Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky conceded Moscow’s troops were mounting a counter-offensive.

Kyiv launched a shock incursion into Russia’s Kursk border region on Aug. 6, advancing kilometers into Russian territory and seizing dozens of settlements.

Russian social media says Murmansk and Apatity airports were temporarily closed on Thursday after suspected Ukrainian drones were shot down on successive days.

The Russian social media channel SHOT said the Murmansk and Apatity airports were closed on Thursday morning when the Russian authorities instituted their so-called “Carpet Plan” measures after three unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV/drones) were detected in the area. On Wednesday another two drones had been spotted on the previous day, all approaching from the Arkhangelsk direction to the southeast.

According to the MASH Telegram channel, citing the regional governor Andrey Chibis, two of the drones had been brought down within seven kilometers (five miles) of the Olenya military airfield. There is currently no information whether any damage was caused or any casualties suffered from either Wednesday’s incursion or what happened to the third UAV on Thursday.

The short-range Iranian missiles, with a range of 120 km (75 miles), are unlikely to pose a major threat to Kyiv – but most cities in southern Ukraine would be at risk.

The West – both the US and the EU – stated that Iran has sent short-range missiles to Russia that are expected to be used against Ukraine within weeks.

Sky News, citing an unnamed Ukrainian source and satellite imageries, suspected the shipment to be 220 Fath-360 ballistic missiles that set sail from the Iranian port of Amirabad on Aug. 29.

The missiles were reportedly shipped across the Caspian Sea aboard the Port Olya 3, a vessel which had been placed under US sanctions just a day earlier.

Satellite images, cited and analyzed by the Sky News Data & Forensics team, appear to reveal a Russian-flagged cargo ship suspected of transporting ballistic missiles from Iran to Russia about a week ago.

Citing an anonymous Ukrainian source, the media outlet reported that around 220 Fath-360 short-range ballistic missiles reportedly arrived in Russia on Sept. 4.

Unnamed British officials reportedly “indicated” to The Guardian that a decision had already been made to allow Ukraine to conduct deep strikes in Russia using British Storm Shadow cruise missiles.

In a major change of policy, the UK has reportedly made a discreet decision to allow Kyiv to strike targets deep inside Russia with British Storm Shadow cruise missiles.

The Guardian said unnamed British officials “indicated” to the publication that “a decision had already been made to allow Ukraine to use Storm Shadow cruise missiles on targets inside Russia.” The sources added that the decision likely wouldn’t be announced publicly until after Friday’s meeting between the UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and US President Joe Biden in Washington.

Europe's press sees the US election campaign entering a new phase.

According to initial polls most US citizens see Kamala Harris as the winner of the televised debate with Donald Trump. In the meantime, the role of the moderators, who intervened to fact-check Trump's statements on issues such as abortion laws or crimes committed by migrants, is fueling a discussion. Europe's press sees the US election campaign entering a new phase.

She can also get down to the nitty gritty

The Ukrainian ambassador to New Delhi said India should leverage its influence over Russia and moderate peace talks if it wanted to secure a permanent seat in the UN Security Council.

Ukrainian Ambassador to India Oleksandr Polishchuk said Wednesday that New Delhi should take on a more active role in ending the war in Ukraine and relayed Kyiv’s wishes for India to “moderate” potential peace talks.

Polishchuk told Bloomberg that India could leverage its influence on Russia to bring the latter to the negotiation table, and it’s in India’s interest to be more active in its peace efforts.

Blinken will meet separately in Warsaw with Prime Minister Donald Tusk and President Andrzej Duda, bitter rivals on the direction of the European Union member.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday meets Poland's leaders to forge common cause on Ukraine as upcoming US elections and Russian attacks raise new jitters.

The top US diplomat crossed into Poland by train after a joint solidarity trip to Kyiv with British Foreign Secretary David Lammy, with the two pledging to swiftly review Ukraine's requests for permission to strike deeper into Russia.

Su-30 fighter-bombers have repeatedly attacked Ukrainian territory, particularly striking civilian targets. This one shot down by a HUR boat-borne MANPAD had just launched four of its six missiles.

Fighters from the Main Directorate of Intelligence (HUR) of Ukraine’s Defense Ministry reportedly have destroyed a Russian Su-30SM fighter jet in the Black Sea using Man-Portable Air-Defense Systems (MANPADS), though the specific system was not disclosed.

“Peak to the depths – intelligence scouts in the Black Sea destroyed the Russian Su-30SM,” reads the caption of a video published by the HUR. Kyiv Post could not independently verify the time and location of the footage.

For the first time a senior US military representative admitted what Kyiv had found out the hard way, on the battlefield: the M1A1 Abrams Tank is vulnerable to top attack.

The 31 M1A1 Abrams main battle tanks (MBT) donated by the US to Ukraine have had their share of troubles since they began to be used on the front line.

In April of this year the Ukrainian General Staff, as reported by AP, said it had decided to temporarily withdraw its M1A1 Abrams from the front line because of losses.

Roman Hladkyi currently suspended amid an investigation, reportedly crossed the Russian border multiple times in 2014 and 2015 while serving with Ukraine’s Naval Forces Command.

The open-sources intelligence (OSINT) team from the “Toronto Television” project discovered data from a leaked Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) database that showed Roman Hladky, Chief of Staff of Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Command, had made unauthorized crossings of the Russian border in 2014 and 2015 while serving in Kyiv’s Naval Command.

The investigation was unable to identify specific border checkpoints where the crossings were made, which means Hladky could have traveled directly to mainland Russia or occupied Crimea. He reportedly crossed the border a total of 26 times between 2014 and 2015.

Surprised by the Kursk incursion last month, Russia's top brass rarely mention it in public. Filling this gap is Alaudinov, apparently speaking from the combat zone.

Wearing either a military helmet or jaunty beret, Chechen commander Apti Alaudinov provides Russians with frequent upbeat bulletins on their forces' progress against Ukraine's incursion in the Kursk region.

"Let's all calm down, grab some popcorn and calmly watch as our guys destroy the enemy," he said on the first day of the offensive, becoming one of the first military personnel to comment on it.

The current rate of inflation is within Ukraine’s central bank forecast and has been caused by an increase in vegetable prices due to dry weather, higher costs for electricity, labor, and imports.

Inflation in August continued to accelerate, reaching 7.5 percent year-over-year, according to Ukraine’s state statistics and updated on Trading Economics.

Ukraine's central bank, along with independent analysts, are expecting inflation to increase further, but no more that 8.5 percent by the end of 2024.

Konotop Mayor Artem Seminikhin described the power supply situation as critical, noting significant damage to the energy infrastructure.

Russian forces launched a large-scale drone attack on the city of Konotop early morning on Thursday, Sept. 12, located in Ukraine's Sumy region, bordering with Russia's Kursk region.  

According to the Sumy Regional Military Administration, the assault targeted both energy and civilian infrastructure, including residential buildings, schools, and medical facilities. A total of ten explosions were recorded in the city.

A Russian news outlet has said the actual number of warships in Russia is far fewer than the total of vessels the Kremlin said would participate in ongoing naval drills.

Moscow has said “more than 400 warships and [other] vessels” would take part in an ongoing naval exercise – a number that a Russian news outlet has suggested has been overstated.

Russia’s Ministry of Defense announced the beginning of the drills, named “Ocean-2024,” on Tuesday. It said the exercises would involve “400 warships and submarines in the Pacific and Arctic Oceans, the Mediterranean, Caspian and Baltic Seas, as well as over 90,000 military personnel.”

Ponomaryov, 49, fled to Ukraine after becoming the only member of Russia's lower house of parliament to vote against the annexation of Crimea in 2014 and has since gained Ukrainian citizenship.

A Moscow court sentenced in absentia former Russian lawmaker Ilya Ponomaryov to a 10-year prison term on Wednesday for allegedly spreading "false" information about the Russian military and justifying terrorism.

Ponomaryov, 49, fled to Ukraine after becoming the only member of Russia's lower house of parliament to vote against the annexation of Crimea in 2014 and has since gained Ukrainian citizenship.

Two teens reportedly set fire to a civilian Mi-8 helicopter in Russia for $55,000 promised on Telegram. The alleged arsonists sustained burns, called an ambulance, and were hospitalized under guard.

In the early hours of Wednesday, Sept. 11, two teenagers entered the airport in the town of Noyabrsk, Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District, and set fire to a Russian civilian Mi-8 helicopter, reports the Russian Telegram channel Baza.

The report states that 13-year-old Timur and 14-year-old Sasha sneaked into the airport security area through a hole in the fence. They later escaped through the same hole. The teenage boys are now in the hospital under guard.

A senior US official has upped the ante and accused Beijing of aiding Russia’s military development and production in exchange for advanced submarine, missile and other technology.

US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell told journalists on Tuesday that Beijing is aiding Russia’s military production in exchange for advanced technology, which goes beyond exporting dual-use components as previously reported.

“These are not dual-use capabilities … These are basically being applied directly to the Russian war machine … These are component pieces of a very substantial effort on the part of China to help sustain, build and diversify various elements of the Russian war machine.

Kyiv anxiously awaits clear green light from its Western supporters enabling Ukraine to attack targets within Russia.

The United States and Britain on Wednesday promised a swift review of Ukraine's requests to ease restrictions on attacking inside Russia as they promised $1.5 billion in new aid ahead of a potentially difficult winter.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his new British counterpart, David Lammy, showed solidarity with a rare joint visit to Kyiv, which they reached after taking a nine-hour train ride together from Poland.

After Ukrainian banks agreed they should find all possible ways to finance energy facilities construction, the market received a new tool – guarantees for the loans from EBRD.

Ukraine has lost more than half its pre-war energy generation capacity due to infrastructure being damaged or destroyed by Russian missiles. 

Damage to Ukraine’s transmission system and power substations has also affected the country’s ability to transmit and distribute electricity. 

Latest from the Institute for the Study of War.

Key Takeaways from the ISW:

• Russian forces began counterattacks along the western edge of the Ukrainian salient in Kursk Oblast and reportedly seized several settlements northeast and south of Korenevo on September 10 and 11.
• Available visual evidence suggests that Russian forces counterattacking in Kursk Oblast are operating in company-sized units and may be using elements of more combat-experienced units to conduct counterattacks.
• Russian forces may intend to temporarily bisect the Ukrainian salient in Kursk Oblast before beginning a more organized and well-equipped effort to push Ukrainian forces out of Russian territory.
• US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy arrived in Kyiv on September 11 and reiterated support for Ukraine but did not clarify current Western policy on Ukraine’s ability to strike military objects in Russia with Western-provided weapons.
• The People's Republic of China (PRC) continues to promote its alternative peace plan for the war in Ukraine.
• Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reiterated his support for Ukraine on September 11.
• Russian forces recently advanced southeast of Kupyansk, near Toretsk, and near Pokrovsk.
• Ukrainian Kharkiv Group of Forces Spokesperson Colonel Vitaly Sarantsev reported on September 11 that Russian forces are replenishing their tactical, operational, and strategic reserves.
• Russian occupation authorities illegally held regional elections in occupied Crimea on September 6 to 8 and likely fabricated increased voter turnout numbers to claim that residents broadly support Russia's illegal occupation of Crimea.