Live blog: Air alert issued in Crimea's Sevastopol — governor

Wednesday, September 27, 2023

1702 GMT — Authorities of Russian-occupied Crimea issued air raid alert in Sevastopol, the Moscow-backed governor of Sevastopol Mikhail Razvozhayev said.

Traffic on the main bridge linking the Russian mainland with the Crimean Peninsula which Russia illegally annexed from Ukraine in 2014 has been temporarily suspended, the operator of the bridge said.

On September 22 at least one Ukrainian missile struck the headquarters of Russia's Black Sea navy in Sevastopol.

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1813 GMT — Cuba, Russia 'in contact' after war recruitment allegation

Moscow and Havana are "in contact" after Cuba made arrests over the alleged trafficking of its citizens to fight for Russia's forces in Ukraine, the Russian ambassador said.

Earlier this month, Cuba announced the arrests of 17 people linked to a "trafficking network that operates from Russia" to recruit Cubans for "military operations in Ukraine."

"The competent authorities are working on it. They are in contact both on the Russian and the Cuban sides," Ambassador Viktor Koronelli told journalists in Havana.

"I don't know how many (Cubans) are" in Russia, he added.

1812 GMT — North Macedonia says it will continue supporting Ukraine

North Macedonia will continue to support Ukraine as it serves the defence of Europe, the country's president, Stevo Pendarovski, said in his address to the 26th US-Adriatic Charter conference in the capital Skopje.

Pendarovski said Russia's war on Ukraine unleashed unprecedented challenges for Europe's security architecture, and North Macedonia has condemned the "illegal invasion" since the very beginning.

He said North Macedonia fully supports and contributes with its capacities NATO's efforts to strengthen its eastern flank.

1748 GMT — Ukraine set to boycott competitions involving Russia

Ukraine has said it will not play in tournaments involving Russian teams after European football governing body, UEFA, announced plans to reinstate Russia's Under-17 sides to European competitions.

In a statement released late on Tuesday, the Ukrainian Association of Football (UAF) urged UEFA to reconsider its decision and urged other countries not to play against Russian teams.

UEFA decided after Russia's launching a military campaign in Ukraine in February 2022 that all Russian teams - national or club sides - would be suspended from participation in its competitions.

But UEFA said on Tuesday that "children should not be punished for actions whose responsibility lies exclusively with adults", and that Russian U-17 sides would be readmitted to UEFA competitions "in the course of this season".

1445 GMT — Bulgarian parliament approves new military aid package for Ukraine

The Bulgarian parliament approved a new military aid package for Ukraine, media reports said.

The state-run news agency said the resolution, which includes the transfer of small-caliber automatic weapon ammunition discarded by the Interior Ministry and defective surface-to-air missiles for the Russian-made S-300 air defence systems, was supported by the Union of Democratic Forces (GERB-UDF), Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria (PP-DB) and Movement for Rights and Freedom (HOH) parties.

Hristo Gadzhev, a lawmaker with GERB-UDF, said in a closed-door session, that the missiles are not currently in use and an attempt to repair them had been unfruitful.

0917 GMT — Ukraine to boycott all UEFA competitions featuring Russia

Ukrainian football teams will boycott all competitions featuring Russian sides, their federation said after UEFA lifted a ban on Russian youth teams playing in games.

"The UAF confirms that it will not take part in any competitions involving Russian teams," it said, calling on other UEFA members to boycott matches against Russian teams.

0855 GMT — Moscow accuses US, UK of aiding Ukraine missile strike on Crimea

Moscow claimed that Washington and London helped Ukraine orchestrate an unprecedented strike on the headquarters of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in occupied Crimea last week.

"There is not the slightest doubt that the attack was planned in advance using Western intelligence assets, NATO satellite equipment, and reconnaissance aircraft," Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

The missile strike was carried out "in close coordination with the American and British intelligence services," she added.

Ukraine claimed responsibility for a missile attack that on Friday struck the headquarters of Moscow's Black Sea Fleet in occupied Crimea, sparking a huge fire.

Moscow said that the attack left one Russian serviceman missing, while Kiev claimed that the strike killed thirty-four officers including the fleet commander, Viktor Sokolov.

0814 GMT — Polish minister says grain talks with Ukraine are on track

Talks with Ukraine about grain imports are on track, the Polish agriculture minister said, after a dispute between the two countries over Warsaw's decision to extend a ban.

Kiev's relations with Warsaw have soured since Poland, along with Hungary and Slovakia, decided to extend the ban that was introduced to protect farmers from a surge in grain and food imports from Ukraine after Russia invaded the country.

"I am glad that we are talking about the future, that we are building mechanisms for the future and we are calming certain emotions that have not served us well, and this is probably a good direction," the Polish minister, Robert Telus, said at a news conference after an online meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart Mykola Solsky.

0813 GMT — Russia's Black Sea navy commander shown on defence ministry TV

A television station run by Russia's defence ministry showed a video interview with Black Sea Fleet commander Viktor Sokolov, days after Ukraine claimed he had been killed in a missile strike on Russian navy headquarters in Crimea.

In the video, Sokolov says the Black Sea Fleet is performing successfully. It was unclear from his comments whether the clip was filmed after Ukraine's missile strike on Sept. 22.

0813 GMT — Car traffic briefly suspended on Сrimea bridge

Car traffic was briefly suspended on Crimea Bridge morning, Russian authorities said on the Telegram messaging app, a measure often taken due to drone or missile attacks by Ukraine.

The bridge was reopened shortly afterwards and authorities said there were no traffic jams in either direction.

0240 GMT — Ukraine aid on chopping block as US govt shutdown looms

The US Senate has drafted a last-ditch short-term budget proposal as time was running out for Congress to avoid a partial government shutdown, though the odds of it passing the House remained slim.

The Senate draft also confirmed that Ukraine, which has been battling Russian invaders for more than a year and a half, could find its lifeline of US arms and economic aid under threat.

Last week Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited Capitol Hill to try to convince the slowly growing number of skeptical Republican members of Congress not to give up on his country.

But after President Joe Biden asked Congress for $24 billion for Kiev, the short-term Senate measure released on Tuesday allocated just $6.1 billion.

Hardliners in the House have said they don't want any more money going to Keiv, after the $110 billion already provided since the invasion began in February 2022.

"They're picking Ukraine over Americans," House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said late on Tuesday night.

Instead, he and other Republicans pressed for more border funding to combat undocumented immigration. "If they want to focus on Ukraine and not on the Southern border, then their priorities are backwards."

For our live updates from Tuesday (September 26), click here.