🔴 Live: Abrams battle tanks have arrived from US, says Ukraine’s Zelensky

1:58pm: Hungary wants Ukraine to restore ‘former rights of Hungarian minority’

Hungary will not support Ukraine in any issue in international affairs until “Ukraine does not restore the former rights for ethnic Hungarians on its territory,” Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has told parliament.

Hungary has clashed with Ukraine over what it says are curbs on the rights of roughly 150,000 ethnic Hungarians to use their native tongue, especially in education, after Ukraine passed a law in 2017 restricting the use of minority languages in schools.

1:40pm: Zelensky says US Abrams tanks have arrived in Ukraine

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says his army has taken delivery of US Abrams battle tanks, boosting Kyiv’s forces in their slow-moving counteroffensive against Russian troops.

“Good news from Minister (of Defence) Umerov. Abrams are already in Ukraine and are being prepared to reinforce our brigades,” he said on Telegram messaging app.

US President Joe Biden had announced during Zelensky’s recent trip to Washington that the first American Abrams tanks would be delivered to Ukraine this week.

1:20pm: Ukraine claims Russian Black Sea fleet commander killed in attack

Ukraine says it killed the commander of Russia’s Black Sea fleet in an unprecedented missile strike on the naval headquarters in the annexed Crimean peninsula last week.

“Thirty-four officers were killed, including the commander of the Black Sea fleet. Another 105 occupants were wounded. The headquarters are beyond repair,” Ukraine’s special forces said in a statement on social media.

Russia’s defence ministry reported last week that one military serviceman was missing as a result of the assault.

1:15pm: Russia puts ICC president on wanted list

Russia says it has placed Piotr Hofmanski, the president of the International Criminal Court, which is seeking the arrest of President Vladimir Putin, on its wanted list.

“Hofmanski Piotr Jozef, Polish. Wanted under an article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation,” said a notice in the Russian interior ministry database, without providing details of the allegations against Hofmanski.

In March the Hague-based court announced an arrest warrant for Putin on the war crime accusation of unlawfully deporting Ukrainian children.

The ICC also issued a warrant against Maria Lvova-Belova, Russia’s presidential commissioner for children’s rights, on similar charges.

Read moreMother Russia: Maria Lvova-Belova, the Putin ally deporting Ukrainian children

12:47am: Russian media rhetoric could be ‘incitement to genocide’, UN inquiry says

A United Nations investigation into human rights violations in Ukraine since Russia’s invasion has warned that some rhetoric transmitted by Russian media could amount to incitement to genocide.

Speaking before the UN Human Rights Council, head of the investigation team Erik Mose voiced concern “about allegations of genocide in Ukraine”, warning that “some of the rhetoric transmitted in Russian state and other media may constitute incitement to genocide.”

The team, he said, was “continuing its investigations on such issues”.

11:10am: Odesa strike caused ‘significant damage’ to port infrastructure

Russia’s overnight air strike on the southern Odesa region of Ukraine caused “significant damage” to port infrastructure and destroyed some grain storage facilities, Ukrainian officials have said.

“Another massive attack on Odesa! … The attack resulted in the destruction of grain storage facilities and significant damage to the seaport,” Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said on X, posting photos of the damage.

Oleh Kiper, the Odesa region governor, said the facilities that were hit had almost 1,000 tons of grain in storage.

No deaths were reported in the attack on Odesa, but at least one person was killed in a separate Russian air strike on the town of Beryslav in Kherson region, regional governor Oleksandr Prokudin said.

9:55am: IMF begins second review of Ukraine programme

An International Monetary Fund monitoring mission has started work on the second review of a $15.6 billion multi-year loan programme designed to prop up Ukraine’s wartime economy.

Vahram Stepanyan, IMF’s resident representative, said in a statement that the discussions with the Ukrainian government would be held on recent economic developments and fiscal, financial and structural policies.

Kyiv says Ukrainian businesses have adjusted to the new wartime reality and that the economy has been recovering more quickly than expected this year.

Official statistics showed that GDP grew by 19.5% in the second quarter of the year compared with the same period a year earlier.

7:40am: Ukraine says it destroyed 19 drones, 11 cruise missiles overnight

Ukraine’s air defence systems shot down 11 out of 12 cruise missiles and 19 out of 19 Iranian-made Shahed drones launched by Russia overnight, the country’s Air Force has said.

Russia also attacked Ukraine with two anti-ship missiles, it added.

7:15am: Russia says Ukrainian drones shot down over Black Sea, Crimea

Russia says its air defence systems have destroyed four Ukraine-launched drones over the northwestern part of the Black Sea and over the Crimean Peninsula.

It was not immediately known whether there was any damage or injuries as a result of the reported attacks. There was no comment from Ukraine.

Separately, the defence ministry in Moscow said four other drones were destroyed overnight over Russia’s Kursk and Belgorod regions. There were no reports of casualties.

6:05am: EU commissioner says China’s position on Ukraine war ‘affecting country’s image’

China’s stance on the Russian war in Ukraine is affecting the country’s image, the European Union trade commissioner has warned, saying Beijing’s refusal to condemn the invasion poses a “reputational risk”.

China has sought to position itself as a neutral party in the Ukraine conflict, while offering Moscow a vital diplomatic and financial lifeline as its international isolation deepens. The two countries frequently tout their “no limits” partnership and economic and military cooperation.

“Territorial integrity has always been a key principle for China in international diplomacy. Russia’s war is a blatant breach of this principle,” Valdis Dombrovskis said in a speech in the Chinese capital.

“So it’s very difficult for us to understand China’s stance on Russia’s war against Ukraine, as it breaches China’s own fundamental principles,” he added.

5:30am: Kyiv says missile attack on Odesa injures one, damages infrastructure

One woman was injured and port infrastructure was damaged in a Russian overnight missile and drone attack, Oleh Kiper, governor of the Odesa region in southern Ukraine, has said.

A fire broke out in a non-residential high-rise in the city of Odesa, the administrative centre of the Odesa region, as a result of the attack, but was promptly extinguished, Kiper wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

The scale of the attack and the full extent of the damage were not immediately known.

12:25am: Russia says Tula region targeted in drone attack

Russia’s air defence systems were engaged in repelling a drone attack over the Tula region that borders Moscow’s region to its north, Russia’s RIA news agency reported early on Monday.

Citing the ministry of regional security, the agency reported that according to preliminary information, there was no damage or injuries as a result of the attack.

Two of Moscow’s major airports, however, the Vnukovo and Domedovo, limited air traffic, directing flights to other airports, the TASS state news agency reported.

Key developments from Sunday, September 24:

A second shipment of Ukrainian wheat reached Turkey via the Black Sea on Sunday, according to maritime traffic monitoring sites, despite Russian threats to attack boats heading to or from its neighbour and enemy.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday he met leading American entrepreneurs and financiers during a visit this week to the United States, where investment opportunities in Ukraine were discussed.

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

(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP, and Reuters)