🔴 Live: Ukraine says Russian ‘energy terror’ has restarted ahead of winter

Issued on: 22/09/2023 – 03:27Modified: 22/09/2023 – 10:35

4 min

10:34am: Ukraine mounting coordinated assaults in Donbas, says Russian official

Ukrainian forces have mounted coordinated assaults on several villages in the eastern Donetsk region and are heavily shelling the city of Bakhmut, a Russian-installed official in the region said Friday.

“Over the past 24 hours in the Krasnolimansk direction, the enemy took a number of actions and conducted combat reconnaissance in several directions at once,” Denis Pushilin said on social media.

He listed several villages in the north of Donetsk near the city of Lyman, which is under Ukrainian control, and claimed the assaults were suppressed by Russian forces. He said the town of Bakhmut was “under chaotic shelling”.

Pushilin also said Ukrainian forces are massing assault battalions north of the town that once had an estimated population of 70,000 people.

10:30am: Ukraine says Russian ‘energy terror’ has begun ahead of winter

Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said Friday that Russia has restarted a systemic campaign of aerial attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure, but that his country’s air defence systems were better prepared for the onslaught than last year.

“We understand that the stage of energy terror in this heating season has already begun,” Shmyhal said, in comments carried by the news agency Interfax-Ukraine. “We are much better prepared and stronger than we were last year,” he added.

9:02: Ukraine says ship carrying wheat leaves port for Egypt

A ship carrying wheat has left a Ukrainian port and was heading to Egypt, the second such trip since Russia reimposed its Black Sea blockade in July, a minister said Friday.

The vessel left Chornomorsk after being loaded with 17,600 tonnes of grain, Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said on social media platform X (formerly Twitter).

5:52am: Zelensky arrives in Canada for first visit since Russia’s full-scale invasion began

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Canada Thursday night from the United States to rally support for his country as it fights the ongoing Russian invasion.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau greeted Zelensky as he stepped off his plane in Ottawa, as seen on Canadian TV, travelling from Washington for his first visit to Canada since the war started in February 2022.

2:51am: Zelensky will address Canadian Parliament on Friday

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will address the Canadian Parliament on Friday as he continues his efforts to shore up support from Western allies for Ukraine’s war against the Russian invasion.

Zelenskyy was scheduled to arrive at Ottawa’s airport late Thursday after meeting with US President Joe Biden and lawmakers in Washington, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s office said. Trudeau planned to greet Zelensky and also to speak in Parliament in Ottawa on Friday.

It is Zelensky’s first visit to Canada since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. He previously addressed the Canadian Parliament virtually after the war started.

12:10am: Biden: First US Abrams tanks to reach Ukraine ‘next week:’

The first US M1 Abrams tanks will arrive in Ukraine “next week,” US President Joe Biden said Thursday, boosting Kyiv’s forces as they battle Russian troops in a slow-moving counteroffensive.

“Next week, the first US Abrams tanks will be delivered in Ukraine,” Biden said at the White House, standing alongside his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky, who is on his second visit to the United States since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of his country in February 2022.

Biden also said he had “approved the next tranche of security assistance for Ukraine,” which the Pentagon later valued at $325 million. It includes air defence missiles, ammunition for HIMARS precision rocket launchers, anti-tank weapons, and artillery rounds.

But the package does not feature the long-range ATACMS missiles that Kyiv has repeatedly requested.

Key developments from Thursday, September 21:

Poland will no longer arm Ukraine, instead focusing on its own defence, the Polish prime minister said on Wednesday, a few hours after Warsaw summoned Kyiv’s ambassador amid a row over grain exports. “We are no longer transferring weapons to Ukraine, because we are now arming Poland with more modern weapons,” Mateusz Morawiecki said, in response to a question from a reporter on whether Warsaw would continue to support Kyiv despite the grain exports disagreement.

The first grain ship to sail from Ukraine since Russia reimposed its Black Sea blockade in July reached Istanbul on Thursday, marine traffic monitors said. Ukrainian officials said the Palau-flagged Resilient Africa vessel was carrying 3,000 tonnes of wheat when it left Ukraine’s Chornomorsk port on Tuesday.

The first US M1 Abrams tanks will arrive in Ukraine “next week,” US President Joe Biden said Thursday, boosting Kyiv’s forces as they battle Russian troops in a slow-moving counteroffensive. “Next week, the first US Abrams tanks will be delivered in Ukraine,” Biden said at the White House, alongside his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky, who is on his second visit to the United States since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Read yesterday’s liveblog to see how the day’s events unfolded.

(France 24 with AFP, AP, and Reuters)