Live blog: US to deliver more advanced weapons to Ukraine — officials

Monday, October 3, 2022

US to deliver more advanced weapons to Ukraine — official

The US will soon deliver to Ukraine four more of the advanced rocket systems credited with helping the country’s military gain momentum in its fight with Russia.

The High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, known as HIMARS, will be part of a new $624 million package of aid expected to be announced on Tuesday, according to US officials.

The latest aid package is also expected to include other ammunition and equipment for Ukraine's troops.

EU to train up to 15,000 Ukrainian soldiers - Spiegel

European Union member states have agreed to host training for up to 15,000 Ukrainian soldiers as soon as possible, Spiegel magazine reported.

According to the plan, whose final details will be negotiated in Brussels next week, Poland will receive EU funds to set up a headquarters for the scheme while some parts will be run in other EU states, Spiegel added, citing EU sources.

Russia says has put state TV protester Ovsyannikova on wanted list 

Russia's interior ministry has put former state television journalist Maria Ovsyannikova, who protested President Vladimir Putin's Ukraine offensive during a live broadcast, on a wanted list.

Ovsyannikova's name was added to the ministry's wanted list, according to its website. 

She has been charged with spreading false information about the Russian armed forces and was placed under house arrest in August. She faces up to 10 years if convicted.

EU summons Russian diplomats over Ukraine 'annexation'

The EU on Monday summoned Russia's top diplomat in Brussels as part of a coordinated move with member states to condemn President Vladimir Putin's "illegal annexation" of more Ukrainian territory.

"This is an EU-wide and EU coordinated exercise," Peter Stano, a foreign affairs spokesman for the bloc, told AFP.

EU nations on Friday began calling in Russian envoys after Putin formally claimed four regions of Ukraine occupied by his troops since the February 24 attack as Russian territory.

Belgium on Friday summoned the Russian ambassador, and Italy and Austria were among those that have since followed suit.

Russian parliament backs Putin's annexation bill

Russian lawmakers have voted unanimously in favour of legislation to annex four regions of Ukraine, rubber stamping a move that escalates the conflict and was already approved by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Members of the Kremlin-loyal lower house of parliament, the State Duma, all voted to incorporate Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia with no abstentions or votes against the annexation, its website showed.

Putin last Friday presided over a grand ceremony at the Kremlin during which he signed agreements with the Moscow-supported leaders of the four regions to become subjects of the Russian Federation.

Russia closely following Ukraine's NATO bid

Russia is closely monitoring the accelerated process of Ukraine's application to NATO, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said.

Speaking at a press briefing in Moscow, Peskov said Ukraine's intention to join NATO was one of the main reasons for Russia to start its war.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said last Friday the country has officially applied to NATO for membership.

Kremlin dismisses 'emotional' nuclear weapons call by Putin's ally

The Kremlin has dismissed a call by Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov to use low-yield nuclear weapons in Ukraine, after Moscow's troops were forced out of Lyman in the east by Ukrainian forces.

"This is a very emotional moment," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said during a daily briefing with journalists, referring to statements by the ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin. 

"In our country, the use of nuclear weapons happens only on the basis of what is stated in the relevant doctrine," Peskov said.

Kremlin: Russia will consult residents on borders of annexed Ukrainian regions

The Kremlin has said that it will consult with residents living in two of the Ukrainian regions it moved to annex last week — Kherson and Zaporizhzhia — on how their borders should be defined.

"We will continue to consult with people who live in these areas", Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

Russia formally claimed to annex four Ukrainian territories last week, but none are fully under the control of Moscow's forces and Ukraine continues to advance in the south.

Ukraine has made 'breakthroughs' in Kherson region: Russian-backed official

Ukrainian forces have made some breakthroughs in the southern Kherson region and taken control of some settlements, a Russia-installed official has said.

"It's tense, let's put it that way," Vladimir Saldo, the Russia-backed head of Ukraine's Kherson region, said on state television. "Where the Kakhovka (reservoir) is, there is a settlement called Dudchany...it is in this area that there is a breakthrough and there are settlements taken by Ukrainian troops," he said.

Dudchany, on the west bank of the Dnipro river, is about 40 km (25 miles) downriver from where Russian troops had opposed Ukrainian forces a day earlier. Ukrainian officials have been tight-lipped about the scale of their counter-offensive in the south.

Chechnya’s Kadyrov says sending teenage sons to Ukraine front

Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, an ally of President Vladimir Putin, has said he will send three of his teenage sons — aged 14, 15 and 16 — to the Ukraine front.

"It's time to prove themselves in a real fight, I can only welcome this desire," Kadyrov wrote on Telegram, posting a video of the young boys firing missiles in a shooting range. "Soon they will go to the front line and will be on the most difficult sections of the contact line."

Russia 'has funds to support' four regions being annexed 

Russia has funds to support four Ukrainian regions which President Vladimir Putin annexed last week and these funds are part of the country's budget, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov has told parliament.

"Priority for the next three years will be the full integration of the new regions," Siluanov said, without saying how much would be spent.

"The federal budget has necessary resources for this, both for the current provision of social standards...as well as funds for the economic restoration of the new regions of the Russian Federation."

Russian officer suspended after thousands called up in error

An enlistment officer in a far eastern Russian region has been suspended after thousands of people were mistakenly called up to fight in Ukraine, a local official has said.

"The military commissar of the Khabarovsk region, Yuri Laiko, has been suspended. This will have no impact on the fulfilment of the tasks that the president has set for us," the region's governor, Mikhail Degtyaryov, said in a Telegram video. 

"Out of several thousand of our compatriots who had received a summons and arrived at military enlistment offices in the past 10 days, around half were sent back home for failing to meet the selection criteria," Degtyaryov said.

Kremlin: US raised LNG prices and sales after Nord Stream gas leaks

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has said the United States increased prices and sales of liquefied natural gas (LNG) after gas leaks in the undersea Nord Stream pipelines.

Peskov stopped short of saying who the Kremlin thinks was behind the leaks, adding: "There are also countries that have the military-technological capabilities to carry out such sabotage."

In the Kremlin's view, European countries — the gas buyers — and Russia as a gas seller would not be interested in the gas infrastructure stoppage.

UK and allies meet to discuss pipeline security after blasts

The Joint Expeditionary Force group of northern European nations will meet to discuss the safety of undersea pipelines and cables after blasts ruptured two natural gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea, British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has said.

Wallace said the virtual meeting has been called by the UK and the Netherlands. The force brings together troops from 10 countries, including the Baltic and Nordic nations, and has seen its importance increase since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February.

Wallace also said Britain will acquire two specialist ships to protect undersea cables and pipes, with the first “multi-role survey ship for seabed warfare” operational by the end of next year.

Gazprom: Nord Stream leaks stop, gas supply could resume on single line

Russia's Gazprom has said that gas has stopped leaking from three ruptured Nord Stream gas lines under the Baltic, and that it might be possible to resume pumping through the remaining single line.

In a statement, it said the pressure in the three lines has stabilised and it is working to reduce environmental risks.

Nord Stream 1 reported a significant pressure drop on both of its lines, presumed to be caused by ruptures, while Nord Stream 2 reported a similar sharp pressure drop in its 'A' line. Gazprom said Nord Stream 2's 'B' line could still export gas to Europe, if a decision were made to start deliveries.

Zelenskyy announces more settlements recaptured from Russia

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Ukraine's forces have retaken the small settlements of Arkhanhelske and Myrolyubivka in the Kherson region.

Zelenskyy mentioned the two settlements in his nightly address when thanking specific units of Ukrainian forces for distinguishing themselves on the front line.

Earlier in his address, Zelenskyy said, without providing detail, that the success of Ukraine's forces is not limited to Lyman in the Donetsk region.

For live updates from Sunday (October 2), click here