North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un with Vladimir Putin, Vladivostok, Russia in 2019 (Yuri Kadobnov)

Monday’s Coverage: Russian Forces Kill and Wound Foreign Humanitarian Workers

Map: Institute for Study of War

UPDATE 1644 GMT:

The G7 nations — the US, France, Germany, Italy, Canada, Japan, and the UK — have denounced Russia’s “sham elections” in part of five occupied Ukrainian regions.

The G7 statement said:

[We] unequivocally condemn the staging of sham ‘elections’ held by Russia on sovereign Ukrainian territory in Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhia oblasts and in Crimea.

These sham ‘elections’ will not alter our approach nor our support to Ukraine as it fights to reclaim its internationally recognised territory.

Russia has no legitimate basis for any such actions on the territory of Ukraine. The sham ‘elections’ are a propaganda exercise aimed at legitimising Russia’s illegal seizure of Ukrainian territory.

Vladimir Putin’s United Russia won at least 70% of the vote in each of the region. Russia seized Crimea in 2014, and Putin declared the “annexation” of the other four regions in September 2022.

UPDATE 1639 GMT:

Denmark is sending a military aid package of 5.8 billion Danish crowns ($832 million) to Ukraine.

The assistance includes tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, tank ammunition, and anti-aircraft guns. It will be delivered in three rounds: 4.3 billion crowns in 2023, 1.4 billion in 2024, and 52 million in 2025.

The package is the 12th and largest from Denmark during Russia’s invasion.

Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said in a statement:

After more than a year and a half of war, we have almost exhausted our defence stocks. Therefore, we are now looking into more targeted joint procurement and international cooperation, tailored to Ukraine’s needs here and now.

UPDATE 1634 GMT:

A Ukrainian military official, Vitaliy Barabash, says Russia fired cluster munitions on the village of Avdiivka near the frontline in eastern Ukraine.

On September 11, the Russian military shelled Avdiivka with cluster munitions, hitting a five-story building. The fire spread from the second floor and rose higher. The shelling was in the central part of the city. There were no civilians there, so there were no casualties.

An 82-year-old woman and her 55-year-old daughter were injured in a residence by other Russian shelling (see 1105 GMT).

UPDATE 1122 GMT:

A Russian court has handed a long prison sentence to another independent journalist.

Abdulmumin Gadzhiev was condemned to 17 1/2 years on charges of participating in and financing a terrorist organization. His lawyer Abubakar Rizvanov was given an 18-year term and businessman Kemal Tambiev sentenced to 17.5 years.

Gadzhiev is the former editor of Chernovik, a leading independent news outlet in the North Caucasus republic of Dagestan. He has been in pre-trial detention since he was arrested in June 2019.

Russian authorities declared that Gadzhiev was raising funds for the Islamic State. Chernovik’s editorial board and other independent journalists said the charges are retaliation for his professional activities.

UPDATE 1113 GMT:

Vladimir Putin has boasted that Russian citizens are voluntarily joining the army, knowing that they will ultimately die on the battlefield in Ukraine.

In a speech to the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok on Tuesday, Putin asserted that 270,000 people have signed contracts in the last six to seven months to serve in the armed Forces and volunteer units.

This is what distinguishes the Russian people, Russian society. I don’t know, frankly, in some other country this is possible or not.

People consciously go to military service in today’s conditions, realizing that they will ultimately end up at the front. Our men, Russian men, understanding what awaits them, understanding that they can give their lives for their Motherland or be seriously wounded, still do it consciously and voluntarily.

Putin’s mobilization of 300,000 men in September 2022 ran into trouble, with hundreds of thousands of Russians fleeing the trouble and the call-up failing to turn the tide of the invasion.

The Kremlin is again trying to fill depleted Russian units, but without declaring a general mobilization.

UPDATE 1105 GMT:

Russian shelling of Krasnohorivka and Avdiivka in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine has killed two civilians and injured three others on Tuesday.

In Krasnohorivka, an 84-year-old woman and a 71-year-old man were slain when a 152 mm shell hit their home. A 70-year-old woman temporarily residing in the house suffered burns and a concussion.

In Avdiivka, an 82-year-old woman and her 55-year-old daughter were injured in a residence.

Both villages are close to the front line in the partially-occupied Donetsk region and are regularly attacked by the Russians.

UPDATE 1053 GMT:

The German arms manufacturer Rheinmetall is delivering 40 more Marder infantry fighting vehicles to Ukraine.

The company announced the fulfillment of an order placed by the German government in August, bringing the total number of Marders for Kyiv to 80.

The first 20 were shipped in March and 20, ordered in June, are being overhauled and delivered. Another 20 were directly supplied from the German military’s stocks in March.

UPDATE 1030 GMT:

Estonia will soon become the first European Union country to implement a mechanism for the use of confiscated Russian assets, says the office of Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

The announcement followed a meeting between Estonian Deputy Foreign Minister Kyllike Sillaste-Elling and Igor Zhovkva of Zelenskiy’s office.

UPDATE 1022 GMT:

Vladimir Putin has denounced Arkady Volozh, the co-founder of the Russian tech giant Yandex, over the businessman’s criticism of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

Volozh said in a statement last month:

I am totally against Russia’s barbaric invasion of Ukraine, where I, like many, have friends and relatives. I am horrified by the fact that every day bombs fly into the homes of Ukrainians.

Despite the fact that I have not lived in Russia since 2014, I understand that I also have a share of responsibility for the actions of the country. There were many reasons why I had to remain silent. You can argue about the timeliness of my statement, but not about its substance. I am against war.

Addressing the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok on Tuesday, Putin declared that Volozh “is forced to make statements in order to preserve his foreign business and assets. Previously, he was sitting silently.”

Putin maintained, God bless him, it doesn’t bother us.” However, he then chided Volozh, “He is a talented person, but there should be a sense of moral conscience and gratitude towards the country that gave him everything.”

Volozh quit as CEO of Yandex in June 2022, after he was sanctioned by the European Union over Russia’s invasion.

UPDATE 0659 GMT:

The latest Russian shelling has killed one civilian in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, and injured six in the Kherson region in the south.

UPDATE 0627 GMT:

Ukraine’s military intelligence service GUR says Ukrainian forces have regained control of oil and gas offshore drilling platforms near Russian-occupied Crimea.

GUR said the platforms, the “Boyko Towers”, were regained in a “unique operation”:

For Ukraine, regaining control of the Boyko Towers was of strategic importance and, as a result, Russia lost the ability to use them for military purposes.

Russia has been deprived of the ability to fully control the waters of the Black Sea, and this takes Ukraine many steps closer to regaining Crimea.

The GUR said Ukrainian special forces on boats encountered a Russian fighter jet, which was damaged and forced to retreat. It claimed the capture of “valuable trophies” such as helicopter munitions and a radar system to track naval movements.

The Russian Defense Ministry made no immediate comment. Russian military bloggers claimed that the platforms had been uninhabited for more than a year.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Facing international isolation and Ukraine’s counter-offensive, Vladimir Putin is hosting Kim Jong-un in a visit to far eastern Russia.

A Russian official said Kim’s armored train arrived Tuesday at Khasan station, the main rail gateway to Russia’s Far East from North Korea. Kim is expected to meet Putin on Tuesday afternoon on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum in the port city of Vladivostok.

See also EA on Australia’s ABC News: Is Kim Jong-un Vladimir Putin’s Last Friend?

The North Korean leader is accompanied by senior government officials and military personnel. They include Foreign Minister Choe Sun-hui and prominent party members in charge of defense industry and military affairs.

Having failed to overrun Ukraine and with his troops now struggling to hold back Ukrainian forces, Putin is expected to discuss North Korea’s provision of weapons, including artillery shells. Among Kim’s delegation is the director of the munitions industry department, Jo Chun-ryong.

Michael Madden, a North Korea leadership expert at the Washington-based Stimson Center, said, “The presence of Jo Chun-ryong indicates that North Korea and Russia will conclude some type of agreement for munitions purchases.”

US officials believe that, in return for the supply of munitions, Kim could seek energy and food aid and advanced technology for satellites and nuclear-powered submarines.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said a “full-scale visit” will strengthen Russian-North Korean ties. He dismissed warnings from other countries, including the US, over Pyongyang’s military assistance.

As you know, while implementing our relations with our neighbors, including North Korea, the interests of our two countries are important to us, and not warnings from Washington.

It is the interests of our two countries that we will focus on.

Professor Leif-Eric Easley, a North Korea specialist at South Korea’s Ewha University, suggested that any agreement will be limited.

Putin is unlikely to provide Kim with technology to miniaturise nuclear devices or propel nuclear-powered submarines because even a desperate war machine does not trade its military crown jewels for old munitions.