Show only key events Please enable JavaScript to use this feature Ukraine has accused Russia of launching cruise missile attacks on Kharkiv as “revenge” for battlefield defeats suffered by the invading force in recent days. The mayor of the city of Kharkiv, Ihor Terekhov, said a strike had cut off electricity and water supplies to the city. There were also reports of blackouts in Dnipro, Poltava and other eastern cities, potentially affecting millions of citizens, but Kirill Tymoshenko, the deputy head of President Volodymyr Zelensky’s office, later said power had been restored in some areas. Here is a video showing some of the damage. Ukraine says Kharkiv power plant struck in ‘revenge’ for Russian defeats – video You can read the full story here: Updated at 06.40 BST
Ukraine successes have ‘significant implications’ for Russian business, UK says
The success of Ukrainian forces in pushing Russian troops out of the Kharkiv region “has significant implications for Russia’s overall operational planning”, according to the UK Ministry of Defence, and for the morale of its troops on the ground. “The majority of the force in Ukraine is very likely to be forced to prioritize emergency defensive actions,” he said in a post on Twitter on Monday morning. “The already limited trust that deploying troops have in Russia’s senior military leadership is likely to deteriorate further.” (1/6) In view of the Ukrainian advance, Russia likely ordered the withdrawal of its troops from all of the occupied Kharkiv Oblast west of the Oskil River. — Ministry of Defense 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) September 12, 2022 Russia has likely ordered the withdrawal of its troops from the entire occupied area of Kharkiv Oblast west of the Oskil River, according to the UK Ministry of Defence. Region British military intelligence said in a tweet on Monday morning that “isolated pockets of resistance remain in this area, but as of Wednesday, Ukraine has recaptured territory at least twice the size of Greater London,” which would equate to 3,000 square kilometers . In southern Ukraine, near Kherson, the Foreign Ministry says Russia could struggle to bring sufficient supplies forward across the Dnipro River to the front line on the river’s west bank. “A makeshift pontoon bridge launched by Russia two weeks ago remains unfinished,” the State Department says. “Ukrainian long-range artillery is now probably hitting Dnipro crossings so often that Russia cannot carry out repairs to damaged road bridges.” Updated at 06.31 BST
“Still think you can scare us?” Zelensky asks Russia
Volodymyr Zelenskiy gave a fierce response to the Russian attacks in the Kharkiv region. In a nightly Telegram message, the Ukrainian president said that although the Kremlin was trying to deprive its people of “gas, light, water and food”, it would not succeed in defeating them. Volodymyr Zelenskiy gave a fierce response to the Russian attacks in Kharkiv. Photo: AP “You still think you can scare us, break us, make us retreat?” he asks in a shocking polemic worthy of being posted in its entirety: Even in the impenetrable darkness, Ukraine and the civilized world clearly see these terrorist acts. Deliberate and cynical missile attacks on vital civilian infrastructure. No military installations. Kharkiv and Donetsk regions were cut off. In Zaporizhia, Dnipropetrovsk and Sumy there are some problems with power supply. Do you still believe we are “one people”? Do you still think you can scare us, break us, make us retreat? Did you really not understand anything? Don’t you understand who we are? What are we for? What are we talking about? Read my lips: Out of gas or out of you? without you Without light or without you? without you Without water or without you? without you No food or no you? without you Cold, hunger, darkness and thirst are not as terrifying and deadly to us as your “friendship and brotherhood”. But history will put everything in its place. And we will be with gas, light, water and food.. and WITHOUT you! Western governments are mobilizing their arms makers to ramp up production and replenish stockpiles that have dwindled significantly supplying Ukraine’s six-month battle against invading Russia, according to Agence-France Presse. US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is organizing a meeting of senior national arms managers from allied countries to make long-term plans for supplying Ukraine and rebuilding their own arms stockpiles. “They will discuss how our defense industrial bases can better equip Ukraine’s future forces with the capabilities they need,” he told a meeting at Ramstein Air Base in Germany of the Ukraine Contact Group, 50 countries that currently support the military effort. A Himars missile launcher of the type given to Ukraine by the US. Photo: Corey Dickstein/AP Pentagon arms acquisition chief Bill LaPlante said the meeting will take place in Brussels on September 28. The goal was to determine “how we can continue to work together to increase the production of key capabilities and resolve supply chain issues and increase the interoperability and interchangeability of our systems,” LaPlante told reporters at the Pentagon. NATO has provided millions of dollars worth of military supplies to Ukraine since the beginning of the conflict, including Himars mobile missile systems. The United States has pledged $15.2 billion worth of weapons, including Javelin anti-tank missiles, artillery and ammunition compatible with NATO weapons. European Union countries agreed in July to spend another €500m (£425m) on arms supplies to Ukraine, bringing the bloc’s security support to €2.5bn since February. Britain has pledged to spend over £1 billion on arming Ukraine. Hello, I’m Martin Farrer and I’ll be bringing you updates on the war in Ukraine for the next hour or so. The main development comes in the wake of Ukraine’s rapid counter-offensive in the Kharkiv region that saw it reclaim at least 3,000 square kilometers of territory east of the city. Russia, which has not commented on the casualties, responded by firing 11 cruise missiles at the Kharkiv and Donetsk regions.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has accused Russia of “terrorist” attacks on infrastructure targets in Kharkiv, the country’s second city. The attacks came hours after Ukrainian forces recaptured thousands of square miles of territory east of the city as Russian forces abandoned their positions in anticipation of a counter-attack. Zelensky said in a Telegram message Sunday night that “Ukraine and the civilized world clearly see these terrorist acts” and that Russia is trying to deprive its people of “gas, light, water and food.” He added that Ukraine would prevail and appeared to address the Russian leadership, saying: “Do you still think you can scare us?”
Russian forces fired a total of 11 missiles against eastern Ukraine, the Ukrainian Air Force said in a tweet Sunday night, causing a total blackout in Kharkiv and Donetsk regions and partial blackouts in Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk and Sumy regions. Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to the president of Ukraine, said that the Kharkiv* CHPP-5 power station – one of the largest in Ukraine – was hit. Kyrylo Tymoshenko, the deputy head of the president’s office, said later that power had been restored in some areas.
The US ambassador to Ukraine, Bridget Brink, also denounced Russia’s strikes on electricity and water facilities. “Russia’s apparent response to Ukraine’s liberation of towns and villages in the east: sending missiles to try to destroy critical urban infrastructure,” Brink tweeted.
The general commanding Russia’s western army group was fired after the retreat in the Kharkiv region, according to Ukrainian military intelligence. It reported on its Telegram channel that General Roman Berdnikov was replaced after only 17 days in his post, GUR reported.
Moscow’s leadership remained silent on the defeats in Ukraine, with neither President Vladimir Putin nor his defense minister, Sergei Shoigu, making any comments as of midday Sunday. However, its Defense Ministry said on Telegram that its forces in the Kharkiv region “caused the defeat” of Ukrainian units in Prishtin, Boldyrevka, Sinikha, Beloe, Komarovka, Gorokovatka, Kupyansk, Shenkovo and Podvysokoye in the Kharkiv region.
A Russian nationalist fighter and former FSB officer who helped launch a 2014 war in Ukraine’s eastern Donbass region compared the collapse of one of the conflict’s main fronts to a devastating defeat in the Russo-Japanese War that sparked Russia’s revolution in 1905. Igor Girkin said it was like the Battle of Mukden in 1905, which ended two days after the revolution began.
Ukraine on Sunday shut down the last active reactor at Europe’s largest nuclear plant to guard against a disaster as fighting rages nearby. Russia and Ukraine accuse each other of shelling around the Russian-controlled Zaporizhia plant, which risks releasing radioactivity. The International Atomic Energy Agency said a backup power line at the plant was restored, providing the external electricity needed to carry out the shutdown while protecting against the risk of collapse.
French President Emmanuel Macron told Putin in a phone call on Sunday that the occupation of the factory by Russian troops is why his security is at stake, the French presidency said. Putin blamed Ukrainian forces, according to a Kremlin statement.
