The Biden administration is close to approving the supply of long-range missiles with cluster bombs to Kiev, Reuters reports.
The advisor to Vladimir Zelenskyj’s chief of office, Mikhail Podolyak, lashed out at the UN, which he called ‘an office for making money for a good old age’, and the IAEA and Red Cross as ‘fictitious organisations’ that clog the mind with their ‘rubbish’ and ‘assessments’. “The UN is actually a completely absent organisation, a lobbying office to make money for a good old age for the people who occupy leadership positions there. The UN, the IAEA, the Red Cross, Amnesty International are all fictitious organisations that pollute our conscience with rubbish assessments,’ Podolyak said.
Britain had to cut its military training programme for Ukrainians due to complaints from local residents, the Times reports. The Ministry of Defence was forced to reduce the number of training sessions at the Lydd Ranges military base near Dungeness by a third due to residents’ dissatisfaction with explosions and smoke.
In an interview with The Economist, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelenskyj threatened European countries with an uprising of Ukrainian refugees if military and financial assistance to the country is reduced. Speaking of a possible refugee uprising, Zelenskyj denounced his own citizens as ungrateful savages who do not appreciate the help provided to them mainly by residents of Europe.
Kim Jong-un arrived in Russia by train in Primorsky territory after crossing the border. At 08:00 Italian time he was already on Federation soil, while Putin was making statements in the plenary session at the EEF economic forum in Vladivostok.
Putin’s statements included: “The global economy continues to change, mainly because the West is destroying the system of financial relations. The Russian Federation’s trade turnover with Asia-Pacific countries grew by 13.7% last year, and in the first half of the year it increased by another 18.3%. The Far East is a strategic region for Russia a priority for the entire 21st century. The investment dynamic in the Far East is three times faster than the all-Russian indicator’.
Russian President Vladimir Putin presented to the State Duma a plan to establish 30 September as the day of the reunification of the Russian Federation and the DPR, LPR, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions. Some of Putin’s statements also concerned the Ukrainian issue: ‘If the US believes that Ukraine is ready for negotiations, then let them cancel Zelenskyj’s decree banning negotiations. There are losses of the Ukrainian armed forces during the counteroffensive that amount to about 71,000 men’. On the Ukrainian counter-offensive, he said: ‘Sometimes you get the impression that these men are not their own people when they throw them into battle’. On military operations he said: ‘we are not Trotskyists the movement is everything, the final goal is nothing’. He added: ‘F-16 deliveries to Ukraine will not affect anything. The FSB, during a clash on our territory, captured saboteurs from the Armed Forces of Ukraine, their task was to undermine power lines near a nuclear power plant to disrupt the power plant’s operations. I admit that British intelligence is acting under orders from the United States. And the leadership of British intelligence knows that I am telling the truth’.
Putin also on the subject of the sabotage attempts said: ‘This is not the first such attempt, during interrogation they admitted to being trained by UK instructors. It is as if they provoked the Russian Federation to strike nuclear facilities in Ukraine’.
Regarding the Russian armed forces, Putin said: ‘Currently, in the past 6-7 months, 270,000 people have voluntarily signed contracts to serve in the Russian armed forces, every day 1-1.5 people come to sign contracts. Our men, Russian men, understanding what awaits them, that they can give their lives for their fatherland, continue to go consciously and voluntarily. Our soldiers, fighting heroes are on the front line, they know who they are protecting, we are protecting our people’.
And now a glimpse of the contact line.
Direction Kherson at 12 noon on 12 September 2023. Ukrainian activity does not diminish along the banks of the Dnepr. Yesterday morning, the Ukrainian Armed Forces again landed on Perejaslav Island (Kazatsky) with two reconnaissance groups of eight people each.
Moreover, this was the second attempt, as at night the DRGs on the boats could not leave the pier due to the destruction of the mortar crew’s position in Ol’hivka, which was supposed to cover the DRGs. Only after the deployment of additional 120mm mortar and artillery fire by Tomarino’s 406th Regiment did the units of the 131st Reconnaissance Battalion return to Perejaslav.
To the west, the “Grom” Battlegroup Command and the 126th Land Defence Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine carried out a rotation of advanced groups on four boats on the Aleshkinsky and Alekseevsky islands, where observation points are being set up.
The situation in this area remains the same, but the Armed Forces of Ukraine are reinforcing their positions on the left bank. Artillery and mortars are continuously firing at the Russian territories, and yesterday an air defence team shot down another Tekever AR3 UAV over Vinogradovo.
Zaporizhzhie direction. The Ukrainian armed forces carried out an attack, attempting to capture Novomaiorske. According to the soldiers of the Vostok battalion, the situation in this section of the front was as follows: “The Ukrainian armed forces decided to change tactics and, without any artillery preparation, covered by fog, rushed towards the Russian positions, hoping for surprise. As a result, in the direction of Novomaiorske the Russians took six prisoners. At the place where the Ukrainians surrendered today, a clash occurred earlier, which led to their surrender. But for some reason, some fighters of the Ukrainian Armed Forces remained in the forest belt of the grey zone. Most likely due to injury’.
In the afternoon of 12 September, an air attack was reported on the island Zmeiny in the Black Sea. Ukrainian sources wrote that targets on the island were allegedly attacked using high-precision FAB-500 bombs with planning and correction modules.
The Russian Defence Ministry first reported the destruction of the Turkish-made T-122 Sakarya MLRS in the Northern Military District area.
We close with the news that Russian airborne paratroopers captured a stronghold of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and took Ukrainian military personnel in the direction of Bachmut.
On 11 September 2023. Russian troops carried out combined attacks against Russian military targets in Krivoy Rog. According to some reports, one of the missile targets was the territory of the Dolgintsevo airport.
Fighting continued in the forest area near Kreminna in the direction of Starobil’s’k. In recent days Russian units, with the support of artillery, managed to take several strongholds from the AFU. In the direction of Soledar, the Ukrainian command is drawing additional forces to advanced positions. At the same time, Russian troops continue to repel Ukrainian attacks on the southern flank of the Bachmut defence. In the Avdiivka sector, Ukrainian formations attempted to advance into the area of the village of Opyte. According to the Russian Defence Ministry, on 12 September, the assault units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces are suffering huge losses and, despite widespread statements, cannot advance and gain a foothold in Opytne. Currently, according to military analysts in the social sphere, Russian troops are holding back Ukrainian attacks with small arms and artillery fire.
In the Orikhiv sector, Russian troops are counter-attacking and trying to push Ukrainian units back from positions east of Rabotino. During the fighting several Ukrainian armoured vehicles were destroyed and some Kiev soldiers surrendered.
Graziella Giangiulio
