Live blog: Russia paying ‘huge costs’ in Ukraine, asserts Blinken

Friday, September 9, 2022

Blinken says reinforcements show Russia paying ‘huge costs’ in Ukraine

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said President Vladimir Putin's decision to send reinforcements to Ukraine's Kharkiv region underlines the huge losses Russia's forces are taking in its offensive.

"There are a huge number of Russian forces that are in Ukraine and unfortunately, tragically, horrifically President Putin has demonstrated that he will throw a lot of people into this at huge cost to Russia," he said on Friday.

Blinken was speaking to reporters at NATO headquarters in Brussels after talks with the Western alliance's Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, one day after the chief US diplomat had visited Kiev.

Russia sends reinforcements towards Kharkiv: Agencies

Russian news agencies reported that Moscow's forces were redeploying to the Kharkiv region in response to a large-scale Ukrainian counter-offensive.

The TASS and RIA Novosti news agencies shared video on Frİday from Russia's defence ministry, showing the movement of military hardware on a paved road, some with Russian flags and bearing the letter "Z", a symbol of Russia's military campaign.

Local Moscow-installed official Vitaliy Ganchev said in televised remarks that "fierce battles" were under way near Balakliya, a town in Kharkiv region that Ukraine said it had recaptured on Thursday.

Russia says foiled arson at military building

Russia's FSB security service said it had arrested three suspects after foiling an attempt to set fire to a military building near Saint Petersburg.

The FSB said on Friday three residents of the city of Vyborg, about 140 kilometres (85 miles) north of Saint Petersburg, had "tried to set an administrative building belonging to the defence ministry on fire."

Attacks on military buildings have multiplied since the Kremlin launched a military operation in Ukraine in February.

Russia says US-made HIMARS vehicle and howitzer destroyed in Ukraine

Russia's Defence Ministry said that its forces had destroyed a US-made HIMARS rocket launcher vehicle in eastern Ukraine's Kharkiv region.

In a statement on Telegram on Friday, the ministry also said it had destroyed a US-made M777 howitzer in Zaporizhzhia region, in southeastern Ukraine.

Reuters news agency was unable to immediately verify the reports. 

City centre of Ukraine’s Kharkiv hit by rocket fire, wounding 10: Governor

At least 10 people were wounded when the centre of Ukraine's second city, Kharkiv, was hit by Russian rocket fire on Friday, local officials said, while the president's top aide said the attacks were revenge for Ukrainian success on the battlefield.

Rockets hit a children's arts centre and a school, as well as private homes, wounding at least ten people, including three children, Kharkiv mayor Ihor Terekhov wrote on Telegram.

Ukraine's presidential chief of staff Andriy Yermak said the attack was revenge for the success of Ukraine's armed forces, an apparent reference to a recent counter-attack in nearby areas which Ukraine says led to the recapture of over 20 settlements.

Putin says Russia to export 30M tonnes of grain in 2022, can increase to 50M

President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that Russia would export 30 million tonnes of grain by the end of the year, and was ready to increase this volume to 50 million tonnes.

He gave no details, but the agriculture ministry said a week ago that Russia was ready to export up to 30 million tonnes of grain in the second half of 2022.

The price of foodstuffs has surged around the world in recent months, leading to fears of famine in poorer countries, in part due to the conflict in Ukraine — like Russia one of the world's leading grain producers — and Russia's five-month blockade of Ukraine's Black Sea ports.

Civilians being evacuated from Russian-held Kharkiv region towns

A Russian-backed official in Ukraine's Kharkiv region said on Friday that civilians were being evacuated from three Russian-held towns in the region where Ukraine has launched a surprise counteroffensive.

Vitaly Ganchev said on state television host Vladimir Solovyov's daily livestream that civilians were being evacuated from the towns of Izium, Kupiansk and Veliky Burluk.

Ganchev said the evacuation was mainly from Kupiansk and Izium but added: "We've now received word that Veliky Burluk is under artillery fire, so people, of course, were asked to leave for safer settlements."

Ganchev said he would turn for help to authorities in the Belgorod region of southern Russia if there were problems relocating the people who were evacuated.

IAEA: Situation near Zaporizhzhia plant 'increasingly precarious'

The situation in the Ukrainian city of Enerhodar where staff operating the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant live, is increasingly precarious, the UN nuclear watchdog said on Friday, calling for an immediate end to shelling there.

"I therefore urgently call for the immediate cessation of all shelling in the entire area," International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi said in a statement, saying shelling had caused a blackout in Enerhodar.

"Only this will ensure the safety and security of operating staff and allow the durable restoration of power to Enerhodar and to the power plant."

Russian attacks on Ukraine caused over $97B in damages: Report

Russia's attacks caused over $97 billion in direct damages to Ukraine through June 1, but it could cost nearly $350 billion to rebuild the country, a report by the World Bank, Ukrainian government and European Commission shows.

The report released on Friday said Ukraine had suffered $252 billion in losses through disruptions to its economic flows and production, as well as extra expenses linked to the conflict, while the displacement of one-third of all Ukrainians was expected to jack up its poverty rate to 21% from just 2% before the offensive.

Overall, the report estimated Ukraine's reconstruction needs would reach $349 billion, as of June 1, or about 1.6 times the country's $200 billion gross domestic product in 2021.

Russia is preventing access to Ukraine war prisoners, UN says

The head of the UN human rights mission in Ukraine said that Russia is not allowing access to prisoners, adding that the UN had evidence that some had been subject to torture and ill-treatment which could amount to war crimes.

Matilda Bogner told a Geneva news briefing on Friday that UN monitors had unimpeded access to Ukrainian facilities and had documented incidents of torture and ill-treatment of POWs by Ukraine which may also amount to war crimes.

"The Russian Federation has not provided access to prisoners of war held on its territory or in territory under its occupation," Bogner said.

Russian attacks kill 5 in eastern Ukraine: Official

Russian attacks in eastern Ukraine have killed at least five people, including women, and injured 10 others, a local official said.

Oleh Syniehubov, the head of the Kharkiv regional military administration, said on Friday that Russian forces carried out missile and rocket attacks on the Kharkiv city centre and region at night.

Meanwhile, Donetsk’s governorate said in a statement that Russian attacks in the region left nine people dead and 23 wounded on Thursday.

Russia warns the West over energy price cap

Russia has warned the West that plans to try to cap the price of Russia's oil and gas exports in retaliation for the conflict in Ukraine would fail and ultimately lead to the instability of the United States and Europe.

Russia's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said the West did not understand how the move would ultimately impact their own countries.

"The collective West does not understand: the introduction of a cap on prices for Russian energy resources will lead to a slippery floor under its own feet," Zakharova said.

Russian shelling kills eight, injures 17 in eastern Ukraine

Russian attacks on the eastern Ukraine city of Bakhmut have killed eight people and left 17 injured, the regional governor said, as Ukraine pushes to recapture swathes of Donbass.

Donetsk regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said that of Russian attacks on the greater Donbass region the city of Bakhmut "suffered the worst damage".

"The Russians killed eight people there and wounded another 17," Kyrylenko said in a statement on social media. He added that residential buildings, shops, a cultural building and an administrative centre were damaged, as well as a marketplace.

Russian strike hits hospital, people wounded: Ukraine

A Russian air strike has hit a hospital in Ukraine's northeastern region of Sumy, destroying the building and wounding people, the region's governor said.

"Russian aviation, without crossing the Ukrainian border, fired at a hospital. The premises were destroyed, there are wounded people," the official, Dmytro Zhyvytskyi, said on Telegram.

The hospital is located in the Velyka Pysarivka district, which borders Russia, he said. Moscow denies targeting civilians.

Kremlin declines to comment on reports of Ukrainian successes near Kharkiv

The Kremlin has declined to comment on reports of a successful Ukrainian offensive in the Kharkiv region, referring questions to the Russian Defence Ministry.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Thursday that Ukrainian troops had "liberated dozens of settlements" and reclaimed more than 1,000 sq km (400 sq miles) of territory in the east and south in the past week.

Russia is preventing access to Ukraine war prisoners: UN

The head of the UN human rights monitoring mission in Ukraine has accused Russia of not allowing access to prisoners of war, voicing concern amid evidence that some have been subject to torture and ill-treatment.

"The Russian Federation has not provided access to prisoners of war held on its territory," Matilda Bogner told a Geneva press briefing.

"This is all the more worrying since we have documented that prisoners of war in the power of the Russian Federation and held by the Russian Federation's armed forces or by affiliated armed groups have suffered torture and ill-treatment." Russia denies torture or other forms of maltreatment of POWs.

Europe can get rid of Russian energy 'chokehold': Blinken

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said that Russia's war in Ukraine presented Europe with the opportunity to finally end its dependence on Russian energy.

"There's also a tremendous opportunity … finally once and for all, to move away from this dependence on Russia, to get rid of the chokehold that Russia has on Europe, using energy as a weapon, and to diversify supply, diversify routes," Blinken said.

Europe, which is heavily dependent on Russian supplies, has accused Moscow of using energy as blackmail in response to sanctions over Russia's military campaign in Ukraine.

Price cap won't matter much for supply of Russian gas: Estonia

Any price cap EU countries might set on gas from Russia probably won't make a large difference on the supply of it to Europe, Estonia's energy minister Riina Sikkut has said.

"Very little that Russia does depends on our decisions. If Russia wants to limit the energy resources Europe gets, Putin will do it", Sikkut said before an emergency meeting with other energy ministers from the EU bloc.

"Russia has said if you want our gas, take down the sanctions. It is blackmail. We cannot back down, we have to be united, we have to have the political will to help Ukraine win."

EU price cap on Russian gas would trigger immediate cut-off in supplies: Hungary

A proposed European price cap on Russian gas goes against European and Hungarian interests, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto has said ahead of the emergency meeting of European Union energy ministers.

Szijjarto, who met his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in Moscow in July, seeking 700 million cubic metres of gas on top of an existing long-term supply deal, said the proposed price cap would trigger an immediate cut-off in supplies to Europe.

Gazprom started to ramp up supplies to Hungary last month, adding to previously agreed deliveries via the Turkstream pipeline. Russia supplies Hungary with most of its oil and gas needs.

Russia, US pull no punches over arms support for Ukraine at UN

Russia's UN ambassador Vassily Nebenzia has called the meeting to discuss threats to peace caused by foreign governments supplying arms and military goods to Ukraine.

"The Russian army consistently, with minimal risk for its soldiers and civilians, is destroying not only the old weaponry of Soviet models, which the Eastern European countries are discharging but also the modern NATO weapons," Nebenzia said.

US deputy ambassador Richard Mills called the meeting "a transparent attempt" by Russia to distract from Wednesday's meeting on the forced displacement of Ukrainians.

Mills said Russia's claims that the US and the West are escalating and prolonging the conflict in Ukraine "are false," calling Moscow's role "as the sole aggressor in what is an unnecessary and brutal war, for which the world is paying a collective price."

For live updates from Thursday (September 8), click here