A building damaged by a Russian missile strike on Odesa in southern Ukraine, September 25, 2023

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Sunday’s Coverage: US Finally Supplying Long-Range Missiles to Kyiv

Map: Institute for the Study of War

UPDATE 1857 GMT:

The toll from Monday’s Russian bombing of the Kherson region in southern Ukraine has risen to three killed.

A 55-year-old man, severely injured in the strike on the city of Beryslav, has died.

“Doctors fought for his life in the morning, but his injuries turned out to be too severe,” said Governor Oleksandr Prokudin.

Prokudin said earlier that a 73-year-old man and 70=year-old woman were slain by the four bombs dropped on an office building and a residential structure.

UPDATE 1842 GMT:

The Ukraine military says it killed 34 Russian officers, including Black Sea Fleet Commander Adm. Viktor Sokolov, in Friday’s missile strikes on the Fleet’s headquarters in Sevastopol in Russian-occupied Crimea.

After the strike on the headquarters of the Russian Black Sea fleet, 34 officers died, including the commander of the Russian Black Sea fleet. Another 105 occupiers were wounded. The headquarters building cannot be restored.

The head of Ukraine military intelligence, Kyrill Budanov, said on Friday that at least nine Russia troops were killed and 16 wounded, including two high-ranking officers.

The Russian Defense Ministry has said only that one serviceman was missing.

UPDATE 1836 GMT:

The US has added 28 companies to a trade blacklist, accusing them of supplying components to make attack drones for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The list includes 11 Chinese and 5 Russian companies as well as firms from Finland and Germany.

UPDATE 1814 GMT:

US Abrams battle tanks have been delivered to the Ukrainian army.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy posted, “Good news from [Defense] Minister [Rustem] Umerov. Abrams are already in Ukraine and are preparing to reinforce our brigades.”

Zelenskiy did not give the number of tanks or the timetable for their deployment on the frontline.

The US has pledged 31 Abrams tanks for Kyiv. They will be equipped with 120 mm armor-piercing depleted uranium rounds.

UPDATE 1803 GMT:

Russia has put Piotr Hofmański, the President of the International Criminal Court, on its wanted list.

The Russian Interior Ministry did not provide details of the allegations.

The ICC has issued arrest warrants for Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova, Russia’s “Children’s Rights” Commissioner, over the deportation of Ukrainian juveniles to Russia or Russian-occupied territory.

Moscow has already issued arrest warrants for ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan and several judges.

UPDATE 1756 GMT:

The UN’s Independent Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine has reported that it has “collected further evidence indicating that the use of torture by Russian armed forces in areas under their control has been widespread and systematic”.

Commission head Erik Mose told the UN Human Rights Council that the inquiry, having travelled to Ukraine more than 10 times, “may also clarify whether torture and attacks on energy infrastructure amount to crimes against humanity”.

Mose said the torture mainly takes place in detention centers controlled by Russian authorities. In some cases, punishment was “inflicted with such brutality that it caused the death of the victim”.

In the Kherson region, “Russian soldiers raped and committed sexual violence against women of ages ranging from 19 to 83 years”. The assaults were often accompanied by “threats or commission of other violations….Frequently, family members were kept in an adjacent room, thereby forced to hear the violations taking place.”

The inquiry also noted the need for Ukrainian authorities “to expeditiously and thoroughly investigate the few cases of violations by its own forces”.

Mose also spoke about investgiation of “alleged transfers of unaccompanied minors by Russian authorities to the Russian Federation”.

[There is] a lack of clarity and transparency on the full extent, circumstances, and categories of children transferred….

The Commission is of the view that insufficient knowledge about the precise number and circumstances of children transferred may hamper an expeditious return process.

No Russian representative attended the hearing to respond to the findings.

UPDATE 1022 GMT:

The US is providing up to $522 million to strength the resilience of the Ukrainian energy system.

Kyiv and Washington signed a memorandum of understanding for $422 million in energy assistance. Another $100 million is subject to the implementation of measures and reforms.

Ukraine is hoping to maintain critical infrastructure after last winter’s “energy war” in which Moscow’s drone and missile attacks tried to knock out power plants and transformers.

UPDATE 0844 GMT:

Kyiv’s military intelligence officials say a drone attack has struck the building of the Russian Internal Affairs Ministry in the Kursk region near the Ukraine border.

The officials said UAVs struck a building of the State security service FSB and an oil refinery in Kursk on Sunday.

Kursk Governor Roman Starovoit has acknowledged an attack this morning. But he claimed only that “several private households and the roof of an administrative building were damaged, and windows were broken in an apartment building”.

UPDATE 0813 GMT:

Russian attacks this morning have killed at least two people — a 73-year-old man and a 70-year-old woman — and injured three in the Kherson region in southern Ukraine.

Governor Oleksandr Prokudin said Russian warplanes dropped four guided aerial bombs on the settlement of Beryslav. One hit an office building, and another destroyed a residential building.

Emergency services believe there may be people under the rubble.

On Saturday, Russian shelling killed one person and injured three in Kherson, and on Sunday two people were slain and nine wounded.

UPDATE 0759 GMT:

London’s Financial Times reports that Russia is avoiding a price cap on seaborne oil exports by the G7 nations — the US, France, Germany, Italy, Canada, Japan, and the UK.

The G7 set the cap of $60 per barrel last December. But Russia is evading it through uninsured shipping.

Almost 3/4ths of seaborne Russian crude oil moved without insurance in August, up from 50% this spring, as global oil prices move towards $100 per barrel.

The Kyiv School of Economics estimates that rising crude prices, and Moscow’s reduced discount on its export, will raise Russian oil revenues by $15 billion over previous estimates for 2023.

UPDATE 0730 GMT:

Polish President Andrzej Duda has supported a compromise over Warsaw’s ban on imports of Ukrainian grain.

Duda said Sunday that Poland has prepared transit corridors for the grain shipments to move through its territory and reach countries most in need.

On September 15, Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary — who first blocked the grain in the spring — extended unilateral bans after the European Union rejected continuation of the measure to the end of 2023.

Tension escalated as Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy publicly criticized Warsaw, and Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki — in the midst of campaigning for Parliamentary elections — said new shipments of missile assistance to Kyiv were suspended.

The European Union has proposed a licensing system for Ukrainian exports to resolve the dispute, an arrangement also promoted by Ukraine Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal.

On Friday, at a Ukraine recovery summit, Duda assured that the grain dispute will not have a serious impact on relations with Ukraine, which have a “historic dimension”.

On Sunday, he added in an interview with State TV:

We are trying to help Ukraine and those countries that require this help. I believe that it is the right decision that the Polish government has maintained the ban on the sale of Ukrainian grain on the Polish market.

However, we must do everything to ensure that transit is as great as possible.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: In its latest missile and drone attacks, Russia has struck grain and port facilities in Odesa in southern Ukraine.

Ukraine’s Southern Command said air defenses downed 11 of 12 Kalibr cruise missiles and 19 Iranian-made Shahed “kamikaze” drones.

However, one of the Kalibr missiles, flying “along complex routes in different areas”, and two Onyx supersonic missiles broke through.

The Command said, “The sea station in Odesa suffered significant damage.” A fire in the disused sea station hotel was quickly extinguished.

The Onyx missiles damaged granaries, while debris from downed weapons damaged warehouses and a household in the Odesa suburbs.

Odesa Governor Oleh Kiper said one woman was injured.

Throughout its 19-month invasion, Russia has tried to knock out ports and grain stores, crippling food supplies and Ukraine’s global exports. The attacks have escalated since the spring.

On July 17, Vladimir Putin ripped up the July 2022 Black Sea grain deal which had lifted Russia’s blockade of three Ukrainian ports. Moscow followed up with the most intense strikes of the campaign. Ukraine’s bolstered air defenses intercepted most of the missiles and drones, but could not prevent serious damage.

Last week, UN Secretary General António Guterres told the General Assembly that Russia has created a “world of insecurity” with “historic human rights abuse, families torn apart, children traumatized, hopes and dreams shattered.”

This included Putin’s shredding of the grain deal and its “serious implications”: “The world badly needs Ukrainian food and Russian food and fertilizers to stabilize markets and guarantee food security.”

See also Ukraine War, Day 574: Zelenskiy Speaks to UN About Peace and Russia’s “Genocide”

Human rights lawyers and Ukraine’s Prosecutor General are preparing a war crimes dossier, accusing Russia of deliberately causing starvation of civilians, for submission to the International Criminal Court.