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Washington Bureau Chief
Nato allies should pay less attention to Vladimir Putin’s so-called “red lines” and focus more on defeating Russia in Ukraine, Estonian president Alar Karis has said.
Speaking at the Yalta European Strategy conference in Kyiv, Mr Karis backed Volodymyr Zelensky’s calls to be allowed to strike deep inside Russia using Western-provided long-range missiles.
“We probably realise now that we have to cross all of these red lines and then start forcing Russia out of Ukraine,” he told the Kyiv Independent.
Russia says its forces have retaken two villages in its Kursk region as part of an ongoing counteroffensive against Ukraine’s incursion.
Ukraine says it controls about 100 villages in Kursk over an area of more than 1,300 sq km (500 sq miles), figures which Russian sources dispute.
The update from Kursk came late on Monday after Vladimir Putin issued a new decree expanding his army for the third time since he invaded Ukraine.
The order will add another 180,000 troops, taking the base size of the Russian army to 1.5 million active servicemen.
Key Points
- Putin orders expansion of Russian army by 180,000 soldiers
- Russia claims it retakes two villages in western Kursk
- Nato chief says countries must make own decisions on long-range missiles
- Iran president denies sending weapons to Putin
- Ukraine asks UN, ICRC to join humanitarian effort in Kursk
Mapped: Long-range missile targets
Alexander Butler17 September 2024 09:27 1726560060In sharing nuclear secrets with Iran, Putin may have crossed his own ‘red line
In sharing nuclear secrets with Iran, Putin may have crossed his own ‘red line’
While his predecessors in the Soviet Union worried that sharing their bomb with rogue regimes could set them loose to cause havoc, the Russian president has indicated that he shares no such concerns, writes Mark Almond
Alexander Butler17 September 2024 09:01 1726557262Germany pledges additional €100m in winter aid for Ukraine
Germany will provide an additional €100m (£84.2m) in aid for Ukraine this winter, foreign minister Annalena Baerbock announced during a visit to Moldova today.
Berlin has already given approximately €5bn in 2023 and approximately €1.6bn in 2022 in military assistance since the start of the Ukraine war. Another €2.9bn have been committed so far for future deliveries which will reach Ukraine in the years 2025 to 2028, officials had announced last month.
The aid from Germany includes armoured vehicles, air defence systems including Patriot missiles, and artillery.
Arpan Rai17 September 2024 08:14 1726553475Russia attacks energy infrastructure in Sumy
Russian forces attacked energy infrastructure in Ukraine’s northeastern Sumy region, cutting power in some districts, local authorities said this morning.
The attack caused damage in the Konotop, Okhtyrka and Sumy districts and critical infrastructure facilities were forced to switch to back up power systems, regional officials said. Sumy’s water supply facilities were also affected.
The regional authorities said air defences shot down 16 drones over the region.
Sumy’s acting mayor Artem Kobzar said there were no casualties in the city and that energy workers were dealing with the attack’s aftermath.
The Ukrainian air force said Russia launched 51 drones across five regions overnight and that air defences shot down 34 of them.
Arpan Rai17 September 2024 07:11 1726553162Putin’s red lines on Ukraine ‘must be crossed’ says European leader
Vladimir Putin must be defeated and Nato allies must do more to cross the Russian president’s red lines, Estonian president Alar Karis has said.
“We probably realise now that we have to cross all of these red lines and then start forcing Russia out of Ukraine,” he told the Kyiv Independent, as he backed Volodymyr Zelensky’s calls to strike Russia with West’s long-range missiles.
In May this year, he had accused Russia of forcing “an unjust war upon Ukraine” and Russia was the one escalating the conflict each day.
“We are in a very simple position, we should lift the restrictions on the use of weapons that Ukraine gets from the Western world so we can target these drones where they start (on Russian territory). When this happens, the drones never reach Ukraine, Latvia, or any other country,” he told the Ukrainian news website.
Arpan Rai17 September 2024 07:06 1726552800Putin ‘expands military to 2.4m people’
Vladimir Putin has expanded his military by tens of thousands after dozens were injured when a Russian glide bomb hit a high-rise building in northeastern Ukraine.
Mr Putin signed a decree increasing the overall size of the Russian armed forces by 180,000, bringing the total capacity to 2.39million people, Russia state news agency RIA reported.
The last time the staffing level of the Armed Forces was increased was in December 2023. It was raised to 2,209,130 people, including 1,320,000 military personnel.
Alexander Butler17 September 2024 07:00 1726549660Mapped: The Russian targets Ukraine could hit with long-range missiles
If Washington was to give Kyiv the go-ahead to use the weapons, despite Vladimir Putin’s warning of war, what Russian targets could Ukraine hit? The Independent takes a look below.
Mapped: The Russian targets Ukraine could hit with long-range missiles
Zelensky claimed the only way to counter Putin’s ‘terror’ is by using long-range missiles inside Russia
Arpan Rai17 September 2024 06:07 1726549200Russia evacuating some Kursk region border settlements, says governor
The governor of Russia’s Kursk region Alexei Smirnov on Monday ordered the evacuation of residents of all settlements in the province’s Rylsky and Khomutovsky districts situated within 15km (9.3 miles) of the Ukrainian border.
Kursk region has been the scene of bitter fighting since a Ukrainian incursion in early August seized territory along the frontier. Russian troops have in recent days made efforts to push Kyiv’s forces back.
Alexander Butler17 September 2024 06:00 1726548142Zelensky says Kursk incursion going ‘as planned'
Volodymyr Zelensky says Ukraine’s incursion into Russia’s Kursk region is going “precisely as planned”, as he provided a battlefield update from his commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrskyi.
“We are defending our positions,” he said, referring to the frontline as a whole, in his nightly video message. “We also reviewed the Kursk operation in detail, and each day we are acting precisely as planned.”
Mr Zelensky said Syrskyi provided details of the slow advance of Russian forces in eastern Ukraine, particularly on the rail and logistic hub of Pokrovsk.
He said 100 battles had occurred in the last 24 hours on the eastern front, with the heaviest fighting gripping the Pokrovsk and Kurakhove sectors.
Capturing Pokrovsk would be a significant step towards Russia’s objective of capturing the whole of the Donetsk region.
Arpan Rai17 September 2024 05:42 1726545600Watch: Ukraine will eventually use UK long missiles in war against Russia, says ex-Army boss
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