Biden asks Congress to expand its ability to provide aid to Ukraine – The Hill. “We are talking about $5.8 billion. These funds expire at the end of this month. “We have $5.9 billion remaining for Ukraine under presidential arms reduction authority; all but $100 million expire at the end of the fiscal year,” Pentagon spokesman Gen. Pat Ryder said in an email to the publication.
In the West, the debate over Russia’s use of nuclear weapons continues. US national security adviser John Bolton has said that the use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine would be a “death sentence for Putin.” “Any blackmail or nuclear threat must be said personally and publicly: if Russia uses nuclear weapons in Ukraine, Vladimir Putin will sign his own death sentence,” Bolton says. On September 16, it was reported on social media that Ukrainian drones had flown over and photographed the Kursk nuclear power plant.
The Times showed a map of objects in Russia that are in the zone of the explosion of the Storm Shadow missiles. These would be 14 airports and airfields, an oil refinery and the headquarters of the Southern Military District in Rostov-on-Don, where the West and Ukraine assume the command and control of the military operations of the Russian army in the area of the Northern Military District is located.
Meanwhile, Reuters reports that the Ukrainian authorities have handed over to the United States and Britain a list of potential targets in Russia for attacks with Western weapons, Reuters reported. It is not specified when this list was transferred. The targets include military command and control centers, fuel and weapons depots. It is expected that the British authorities will seek US approval to use their missiles against targets inside Russian territory. Paris will make the decision on its own, a French diplomatic source clarified. However, some American officials are skeptical about the prospect of such strikes. They note that Ukraine already uses drones against targets on Russian territory, and that Western missiles are “very expensive and limited in number to change the dynamics of warfare.”
Jens Stoltenberg said that to end the war in Ukraine, at some point it will be necessary to restart the dialogue with Russia: “One thing is clear: to end this war, at some point it will be necessary to resume the dialogue with Russia. But this must be based on Ukraine’s strength,” the outgoing NATO Secretary General said. The Chairman of the NATO Military Committee, Admiral Rob Bauer, said instead that he considered it “justified” from a military point of view to allow Kiev to strike Russia with Western long-range weapons.
According to the Advisor to the Head of Zelensky’s Office, Serhiy Leshchenko: “A key element of Zelensky’s ‘victory plan’ is to allow long-range strikes against Russia. He confirmed that this authorization, which Biden will have to grant, will be discussed at the UN General Assembly next week.”
“This is the victory plan, which the Ukrainian president announced rather vaguely at the conference. He said that the victory plan is up to President Biden. Obviously, the victory plan implies a plan in which Ukraine will receive new opportunities, will be able to be present at airports, military bases and storage facilities.” Leshchenko: “He said that without Ukraine receiving such permission, the implementation of Zelensky’s “victory plan” will be impossible.”
According to President Zelensky: “So far, the Russian counteroffensive in the Kursk region has failed. The Ukrainian invasion of the Kursk region has allowed us to stop the Russian advance in the Kharkiv region and eastern Ukraine.”
Vladimir Putin has increased the personnel of the Armed Forces to 2,389,130 people, including 1.5 million military personnel. By December 2023, the Army’s strength had already increased to 2,209,130 people. This data refutes the words of the spokesman for the Ukrainian Armed Forces that: “The Russian Armed Forces do not have enough resources to fight in several directions at once. “For them, their priority now is the Pokrovs’k and Kurachove directions in the Donetsk region, in addition, they need to transfer units to the Kursk direction in order to somehow respond to the offensive of the Ukrainian Armed Forces,” said Tavria spokesman Dmitry. Likhovy. At the same time, Likhovy said that several weeks ago the Russians took away part of the battalion-level units, regment and brigade from the Zaporozhye region. “They are undergoing some regrouping there, an operational pause. They are conducting reconnaissance, replenishing ammunition, perhaps preparing for new assaults,” he concluded.
Russian sources say that the Russian Aerospace Forces have received a batch of Su-57 fighters as promised by the Defense Ministry in 2023. Bloomberg also claims that the Kremlin may increase sabotage and cyber attacks against NATO countries if Ukraine is allowed to fire Western weapons on Russian territory.
On September 14, fighting began for Lyubimovka in the Kursk region, on the 16th, Russian troops entered Lyubimovka, there are reportedly battles for control of the settlement. A video shows Russian troops crossing the Zorka River and entering the first houses.
In Kursk, the Russians also recaptured Borki from the Ukrainian Armed Forces and took prisoners. This was announced by the deputy head of the Main Military-Political Directorate of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, commander of the Akhmat special forces, General Apty Alaudinov.
On September 16, the Russian Defense decided on the mandatory evacuation of settlements in the Rylsky and Khomutovsky districts, which are located in a 15-kilometer zone adjacent to the border with Ukraine. The process of leaving local residents is coordinated by law enforcement agencies, local administration and the Kursk Patriot Center security guards. “Dear compatriots, I ask you to treat the current situation with understanding and follow all the recommendations of the security forces and local authorities,” the Defense Ministry said in a statement.
According to the Russian Defense Ministry: “Units of the Northern Group of Troops are continuing offensive operations, liberating the settlements of Uspenovka and Borki. In addition, the formations of the 22nd, 41st and 115th mechanized, 17th tank brigade, 82nd air assault brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, 1st National Guard brigade, as well as the 112th and 129th brigades were defeated in: Lyubimovka, Novoivanovka, Daryino, Nikolo-Daryino, Tolsty Lug, Plekhovo and Pokrovsky. Over the past 24 hours, the group’s units have repelled five enemy counterattacks in the direction of the settlements of Byakhovo, Bolshaya Obukhovka, Viktorovka, Lyubimovka and Malaya Loknya. Reconnaissance and search operations in forest areas continue to identify and destroy sabotage groups trying to advance deeper into Russian territory”.
As part of the prisoner exchange plan between Kiev and Moscow, 103 Russian servicemen captured in the Kursk region were returned on September 14, the Russian Defense Ministry reported in exchange, 103 prisoners of war transferred to the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
And now a look at the front line as of 15:30 on September 16.
The Russian Armed Forces confirm control of the village of Zhelanne. In the Kharkiv region, the Russian army is close to cutting the highway from Bohuslavka to Kup”yans’k. According to Ukrainian journalist Konstantin Mashovets: “Over the past week, the Russian Armed Forces have significantly expanded their penetration in the Pishchane area, up to Kruhlyakivka and Kolisnykivka; “The enemy, of course, will be able to reach the left bank of the Oskol River in the near future and then cut our bridgehead on the river into two parts: the smaller, northern Kup”yansk and the larger, southern Bohuslavka,” Mashovets stressed.
According to other Russian sources, fighting continues in Vovchansk in the direction of Kharkiv. During the day, Russian forces thwarted 6 attempts to transfer reserves to the right bank of the Vovk River. A counterattack by the Ukrainian Armed Forces was repelled in the area of multi-storey buildings. In the direction of Lyptsi, fighters of the “North” group repelled an attack by the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the area of the village. Hlybokyy. Two attempts to abandon the settlement were thwarted in Lyptsi.
In the direction of Kup”yansk, the control zone was expanded to Sinkivka, as well as to the southwest of Pishchane. There are battles near Tabaivka.
North of Chasiv Yar, fighting continues near Hryhorivka. Russian forces are deploying their flanks along the line of the Seversky Donets – Donbass waterway.
In the direction of Pokrovs’k, Russian forces continue to attack bridges and overpasses, reducing Ukrainian logistical capabilities. Russian units are advancing along the Ukrainsk – Mikhailivka line.
In the direction of Vuhledar, the Russian army is destroying enemy positions in mines, expanding the control zone near Vodyayne.
No significant changes are recorded in battles on the Zaporozhye front. Fighting in the Rabotino-Verbove area, positional battles in the Orichiv direction.
In the Belgorod region, an unmanned aerial vehicle was shot down. In the Shebekinsky urban district, in the village of Novaya Tavolzhanka, a drone attack started 5 fires. In the Grayvoronsky urban district, in the village of Kozinka, four private houses and two outbuildings were burned as a result of shelling. In the village of Baytsury, Borisov region, the roof of a private house was damaged as a result of a kamikaze drone attack.
Graziella Giangiulio
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