Live blog: G7 slams 'sham elections' held by Russia on Ukrainian territory

Tuesday, September 12, 2023

1541 GMT — Foreign ministers from the G7 group of major industrialised countries have condemned the staging of what they called "sham elections" by Russia in occupied Ukrainian territories in a statement published by the British government.

"We...unequivocally condemn the staging of sham 'elections' held by Russia on sovereign Ukrainian territory in Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia oblasts and Crimea," the G7 statement said.

"These sham 'elections' will not alter our approach nor our support to Ukraine as it fights to reclaim its internationally-recognised territory."

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1406 GMT — Denmark to donate military aid package to Ukraine, worth $833M

Denmark will donate a package worth $833 million to Ukraine, including tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, tank ammunition and anti-aircraft guns, the Ministry of Defence said in a statement.

"After more than a year and a half of war, we have almost exhausted our defence stocks. Therefore, we are now looking into more targeted joint procurement and international cooperation, tailored to Ukraine's needs here and now," Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said in a statement.

1339 GMT — Russia's arguments for suspending grain deal are unfounded, Germany says

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz sharply criticised Russia for not responding positively to the efforts to revive the Black Sea grain deal and said they are also weighing other options, such as transporting grains via rail from Ukraine.

Speaking at an international conference in Berlin, Scholz said Russian President Vladimir Putin’s arguments for not extending the grain deal were unfounded, and Moscow’s withdrawal has put countries at risk of increased food insecurity.

“With our efforts to restore the Black Sea Grain Initiative, we wanted to ensure that Russia will not bomb grain ships, will not sink these ships. That is what is all about. And it is very bitter that currently we cannot ensure this, although there are no reasons for Moscow’s withdrawal,” Scholz said.

1335 GMT — German foreign minister appeals to partners to boost Ukraine air defence

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said Berlin would encourage its partners to deliver available air defence systems to Ukraine for this winter, in an interview with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper published.

"We need to stretch a winter air defence shield over Ukraine's critical infrastructure," Baerbock said following her visit to Kiev on Monday, adding that the German government planned to expand its IRIS-T support in the coming months.

1247 GMT — Poland will not lift ban, open its borders to Ukrainian grain, says premier

Poland will not lift the ban and open its borders to allow grain imports from Ukraine, the Polish prime minister said, according to local media.

In a video message shared on X, Mateusz Morawiecki announced that he will not allow Ukrainian grain to enter Poland, regardless of what the European Union might decide amid the ongoing war.

Morawiecki, with this step, is seeking to protect the Polish market.

1225 GMT — Ukraine may take legal action over blocked grain — PM

Ukraine may take legal action after Poland unilaterally moved to extend a ban on importing its grain, Prime Minister Denys Shmygal said.

"We have no intention of harming Polish farmers... But in case of violation of trade law in the interest of political populism before the elections, Ukraine will be forced to turn to WTO arbitration to obtain compensation for violation of GATT norms," Shmygal said on social media.

0940 GMT — Russian shelling kills two people in east Ukraine: prosecutors

Two elderly people were killed and three wounded in Russian shelling of the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, the prosecutor general's office said.

It said an 84-year-old woman and a 71-year-old man were killed in their home in the town of Krasnohorivka, west of the city of Donetsk, and that a woman was hurt in the same attack.

Two women were injured in shelling of the city of Avdiivka, it added. Russia has said it does not deliberately target civilians.

0920 GMT — Putin signals he expects long war in Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin indicated he was bracing for a long war in Ukraine, saying that Kiev could use any ceasefire to rearm.

Speaking at an economic forum in Vladivostok, Putin said Ukraine's counteroffensive against Russian forces had so far failed and the Ukrainian army had sustained heavy losses of 71,000 men in the attacks.

Only when Ukraine was exhausted when it came to men, equipment and ammunition would it talk peace, he said in reply to questions from a Russian television presenter acting as a moderator.

But he said Kiev would use any cessation of hostilities "to replenish their resources and restore the combat capability of their armed forces."

Putin said many potential mediators had asked him if Russia was ready to stop fighting but said that Russia could hardly do so when it was facing a Ukrainian counteroffensive.

For there to be any chance of talks, said Putin, Ukraine would first have to cancel its self-imposed legal ban on peace talks and explain what it wanted.

"Then we shall see," Putin said.

0852 GMT — Putin says F-16 deliveries for Ukraine will 'only prolong conflict'

Russian President Putin dismissed the significance of recent announcements by Ukrainian officials that their armed forces would soon receive F-16 fighter jets from Kiev's allies in the West.

"They are going to deliver F-16s. Will this change anything? I don't think so. It will just prolong the conflict," Putin said at an economic forum in Russia's Far East.

0543 GMT — Ukraine's war-wrecked 'liberated' village struggles to recover

Wooden ammunition crates ditched by retreating Russian forces are still piled up in Oleksandr Kokovych's kitchen garden, a conspicuous symbol of the six-month occupation of his remote village in northeastern Ukraine.

Moscow's forces pulled out of much of the Kharkiv region bordering Russia last September, leaving behind smashed-up houses, mine-riddled farms and signs of what campaigners call war crimes, including torture centres and mass graves.

Kokovych, a veterinarian, fled after Russian troops poured into his tiny village of Mala Komyshuvakha in March last year.

He returned the following September and found his house in ruins.

A year later, the 58-year-old is still awaiting building materials from the state to repair his war-battered roof, leaving him with the prospect of a second winter without one.

With his rubble-strewn bedroom uninhabitable, Kokovych and his wife Galina are forced to live in their garage, while waiting for basic services to be restored.

"We thought everything would be restored quickly (after the Russians left) -- electricity, gas and so on," Kokovych said.

"That hasn't happened."

0540 GMT — Pope's peace envoy to visit China for talks on Ukraine

Papal envoy Cardinal Matteo Zuppi will travel to Beijing in a diplomatic effort to help end the war in Ukraine, some Italian newspapers reported.

Cardinal Zuppi is likely to meet "top institutional leaders" including Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Wednesday, La Repubblica Daily noted.

The envoy already visited Kiev and Moscow in June and travelled to Washington the following month as part of the Vatican's efforts to broker a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia.

0507 GMT — Kiev conducted drone attack near nuclear plant: Russia

Kiev carried out a drone strike on the city of Enerhodar near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, Alexei Likhachev, the head of Russia's state nuclear corporation Rosatom, said, according to a report by Russia's RIA news agency.

Likhachev said six drones were launched at the city, and all were destroyed.

There was no immediate comment from Ukraine.

2243 GMT — Crimean bridge traffic resumes after short halt — operator

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 Russian-backed operator of the bridge has said.

The administration did not disclose the reason for the suspension in the statement on its Telegram messaging channel.

Hours later the operator announced that the bridge resumed its operations.

The Crimean Bridge has been a target of increased air and sea drone attacks in recent months

For our live updates from Monday (September 11), click here.