A fire burns following a missile strike on a Russian shipyard in Sevastopol in occupied Crimea, Ukraine, September 13, 2023

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Map: Institute for Study of War

UPDATE 1711 GMT:

A senior Ukrainian official says the country is ready for any resumption of Vladimir Putin’s “energy war” this winter.

Volodymyr Kudrytskiy, head of the power grid operator Ukrenergo, said Ukraine has nearly completed repairs of its power systems after months of Russian airstrikes last winter.

“We have installed all the equipment we planned and we are ready for the winter loads,” Kudrytskiy told State television.

At one point, half of Ukraine’s grid was knocked out by Russia’s strikes with hundreds of missiles and Iranian-made “kamikaze” drones. However, the country did not break, and the grid was close to full capacity after spring repairs.

Kudrytskiy said there is a “high risk” of new attacks this winter, but noted that Ukrainian air defenses are much stronger.

We know what it looks like (to be attacked) and it will be very difficult for the enemy to surprise us after the 1,200 missiles they fired at the power system last winter.

UPDATE 1705 GMT:

After the third incident of Russian drone fragments falling on Romanian territory (see 1005 GMT), Romania’s Foreign Affairs Ministry is summoning the head of Russia’s diplomatic mission.

The Ministry said in a statement that it “reiterates its firm protest against the violation, once again, of Romania’s airspace”.

On Wednesday morning, the crew of a Romanian Air Force helicopter found fragments, dispersed over an area of several dozen meters, from a Russian attack across the Danube River on Ukrainian ports.

“No one has attacked us,” Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu told reporters. “Some pieces of a drone that was hit by the Ukrainian army fell. It did not have explosives, or anything damaging.”

However, the Defense Ministry has started building two bomb shelters in the small border village of Plauru, where the first two sets of drone fragments were found.

UPDATE 1326 GMT:

A Ukrainian official and a “Western source” have told the UK’s Sky News that British Storm Shadow cruise missiles were used in the overnight attack on Moscow’s shipyard in Sevastapol in Russian-occupied Crimea.

The Storm Shadows, with a range of more than 150 miles, have been delivered to Ukraine since May.

UPDATE 1320 GMT:

Ukraine Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov says 105 port infrastructure facilities have been damaged in Russian attacks since July 18, when Vladimir Putin ripped up the July 2022 deal lifting Russia’s blockade on Ukrainian Black Sea ports.

Kubrakov said Ukrainian grain exports had fallen by almost 3 million tons per month since then.

UPDATE 1211 GMT:

Vladimir Putin has indicated that he discussed military assistance from North Korea in today’s talks with Kim Jong-un.

Putin referred to the UN arms embargo since 2006 on North Korea.

Well, there are certain restrictions, and Russia complies with all these restrictions. But there are things that we can of course talk about, discuss, think about it. And here too there are prospects.

UPDATE 1116 GMT:

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has dismissed UN sanctions — supported by Moscow up to now — on North Korea since 2006.

The sanctions, imposed over North Korea’s nuclear weapons program, includes an arms embargo — which would have to be broken for Russia to receive munitions and artillery from Pyongyang.

Lavrov told a Russian TV reporter:

Sanctions against North Korea were adopted in a completely different geopolitical situation when there were problems establishing dialogue, when there were quite serious debates in the Security Council.

Lavrov said Russia and China blocked a UN resolution extending the sanctions last year because the West falsely promised humanitarian aid for North Korea alongside the initial sanctions.

UPDATE 1005 GMT:

Romania has condemned Russia’s latest attacks on Danube River ports in the Odesa region in southern Ukraine (see 0712 and 0756 GMT).

Romania’s Defense Ministry says fragments of another of Russia’s Iranian-made attack drones has been identified on Romanian territory, across the Danube from the Odesa region.

[Romanian] forces remain on alert and will continue investigations in areas where risks may arise as a result of this situation….

The Ministry of National Defense strongly condemns the attacks carried out by the Russian Federation against some objectives and elements of civil infrastructure in the Ukrainian ports on the Danube. These attacks are unjustified and in serious contradiction with the rules of international humanitarian law.

UPDATE 0957 GMT:

In his meeting with Vladimir Putin, North Korea’s Kim Jong-un has referred to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

I am deeply convinced that the heroic Russian army and people will brilliantly inherit the tradition of victory, confidently demonstrate invaluable dignity and honour on the fronts of the special military operation.

The Russian army and people will certainly win a great victory in the sacred struggle for the punishment of a great evil that claims hegemony and feeds an expansionist illusion.

UPDATE 0948 GMT:

Russian media writes of deadly chaos amid the overnight attack on Moscow’s shipyard in Sevastopol in Russian-occupied Crimea.

Reports says the occupying police force received information of saboteurs operating in the city and sent several squads to search for them.

One squad mistook an armed military patrol for saboteurs and opened fire. Three troops and one policeman were killed.

UPDATE 0833 GMT:

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has praised Ukraine’s progress towards accession to the European Union.

In her annual policy address to the European Parliament, Von der Leyen spoke of the advance since Kyiv was granted candidate status in 2022:

We know this is not an easy road. Accession is merit-based. It takes hard work and leadership. But there is already a lot of progress. We have seen the great strides Ukraine has already made since.

Our support to Ukraine will endure.

UPDATE 0811 GMT:

Ukraine military intelligence official Andriy Yusov has confirmed earlier reports (see Original Entry) that a large Russian landing ship was damaged in the overnight attack on the port of Sevastopol in Russian-occupied Crimea.

Yusov said a submarine was also struck.

He added, “We do not comment on the means for the strike.”

The Russian Defense Ministry said cruise missiles and unmanned boats were used in the assault.

UPDATE 0756 GMT:

Odesa Governor Oleh Kiper has posted an update on casualties from overnight Russian attacks on the ports of Reni and Izmail (see 0712 GMT).

A total of seven civilians were injured as a result of Russian attack drones at the Izmail district. Six people in Reni and one in Izmail. Two men from Reni are in serious condition, in the intensive care unit, today they will be transported to Odesa.

UPDATE 0751 GMT:

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has implied that Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un will discuss North Korean military assistance for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — and has lashed out at anyone criticizing Pyongyang’s supply of munitions and artillery, which would violate the UN’s arms embargo on North Korea.

Peskov said “the full range of relations [between the two countries] implies dialogue and interaction in sensitive areas, such as military interaction”.

All other issues concern only our two sovereign countries. And they should not be a subject of concern to any third state. Our cooperation is carried out for the benefit of the peoples of our two countries, but not against anyone.

“North Korea is our close neighbor. And despite any comments from the outside, we will build relationships with our neighbors in a way that is beneficial to us and our neighbors.

UPDATE 0712 GMT:

The latest Russian shelling has killed three people and injured three in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine.

In the south, four people were wounded in the Kherson region and one in the Zaporizhzhia region.

The Ukraine Air Force says air defenses downed 32 of 44 Iranian-made attack drones launched by Russia overnight.

Port and civil infrastructure were damaged in Odeshchyna on the Black Sea. Seven people were injured in the Odesa region.

The Sumy region in northern Ukraine was also attacked.

UPDATE 0653 GMT:

Vladimir Putin has greeted North Korea’s Kim Jong-un at the Vostochny cosmodrome in the Amur region in southeast Russia.

We, of course, need to talk about questions of economic cooperation and questions of a humanitarian nature. We have a lot of questions. I want to say that I am very glad to see you. Thank you for accepting the invitation and coming to Russia.

Kim responded, “Russia has risen to a sacred fight to protect its sovereignty and security … against the hegemonic forces. We will always support the decisions of President Putin and the Russian leadership … and we will be together in the fight against imperialism.”

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Neither man referred to Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, let alone the prospect of North Korean military assistance to prop up Moscow’s troubled campaign.

However, in a show of military capability an hour before the meeting, North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles into the sea off its east coast.

The missiles, launched from near North Korea’s capital Pyongyang, flew about 650 km (404 miles).

ORIGINAL ENTRY: In its latest strike on Russian facilities in the occupied Crimea peninsula, Ukraine has hit a shipyard in Sevastopol.

Russia’s proxy “governor” of the port, Mikhail Razvozhayev, initially said the missile attack started a blaze, injuring 24 people. He insisted that the shipyard was not “a civilian facility”; however, there was “no danger” to civilians.

Despite Razvozhayev’s claim, the shipyard has an important role in the 18 1/2-month Russian invasion of Ukraine. It builds ships and submarines for Moscow’s Black Sea Fleet —- thus supporting drone and missile attacks from the warships and the blockade of Ukrainian ports.

Russia’s Defense Ministry later said that two ships undergoing repairs were hit and damaged in an attack by three unmanned boats and 10 cruise missiles. It claimed — without evidence — that the boats were destroyed and seven missiles were downed.

Reports are circulating that a large Russian landing ship has been damaged. If true, a further serious blow has been dealt to Moscow’s transport of troops, armored vehicles, and weapons — in early August, another of Russia’s landing ships was heavily damaged by a strike on the Russian port of Novorossisyk.

See also Ukraine War, Day 527: Explosions at Naval Base Inside Russia

Since summer 2022, Ukraine has carried out strikes in Crimea on Russian bases, oil and ammunitions, logistics and supply positions, and even the headquarters of the Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol.

Last week, Ukrainian forces recaptured strategic Black Sea oil rigs, used as platforms for military operations, that were seized by Russia in 2015.