Germany says it will deliver two more multiple rocket launchers to Ukraine
German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht (R) attends a meeting with members of a Ukrainian security advisory group at the US airbase in Ramstein, western Germany, April 26 of 2022.
Andre Pain | AFP | Getty Images
Germany will supply two more multiple rocket launchers to Ukraine, Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht said.
“We have decided to deliver two more MARS II multiple rocket launchers, including 200 rockets to Ukraine,” he told a Bundeswehr conference.
Training of Ukrainian operators was expected to begin in September, he said.
“In addition to this, we will send 50 Dingo armored personnel carriers to Ukraine,” Lambrecht announced, referring to an armored vehicle widely used by the German military during NATO’s military operation in Afghanistan
He also said that an agreement on an exchange of infantry fighting vehicles with Greece and Ukraine had almost been completed, meaning that Germany would soon deliver 40 Marder IFVs to Greece while Greece, in turn, would transfer 40 of its Soviet-built BMP-1. IFV in Ukraine.
— Reuters
One in six crop storage facilities in Ukraine has been damaged by Russia, a new report says
Farmers harvest a wheat field in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region on July 19, 2022, amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Sergey Bobok | AFP | Getty Images
A new report from the watchdog group Conflict Observatory finds that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has rendered roughly 15% of Ukraine’s crop storage facilities inoperable, either because they have been captured by Russian troops or have been irreparably damaged during combat.
In a press release highlighting the report, a US State Department spokesman noted that the deliberate destruction of civilian food storage facilities may constitute a war crime. The United States “requests further investigation through appropriate mechanisms,” the statement said.
Ukraine’s status as a major global grain exporter has helped turn its regional war with Russia into a global food crisis.
Several large countries, including Egypt, Malaysia and Indonesia, depend on Ukraine for more than a quarter of their total wheat imports.
— Christina Wilkie
Destruction in the village of Nova Husarivka, recently liberated by Ukrainian forces
Local resident Olena Kushnir stands in front of boxes of ammunition near her destroyed home amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine in the village of Nova Husarivka, recently liberated by the Armed Forces of Ukraine, in the Kharkiv region , Ukraine on September 15, 2022.
Gleb Garanich | Reuters
New photos have emerged of the village of Nova Husarivka in northeastern Ukraine, which was recently liberated after months of Russian occupation. Photographs were taken by Gleb Garanich for Reuters.
The images reveal a massive amount of damage to homes and civilian infrastructure. They also reveal several pieces of Russian artillery that appear to have been abandoned by Russian troops during their hasty retreat from the village in the first week of September.
Next, Vitali Orlov, a resident of Nova Husarivka, observes a Russian multiple rocket launch system on his destroyed farm.
Vitali Orlov looks at a Russian multiple rocket launch system at his destroyed farm, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in the village of Nova Husarivka, recently liberated by the Ukrainian Armed Forces, in Kharkiv Region, Ukraine , on September 15, 2022.
Gleb Garanich | Reuters
Here, a destroyed Russian armored personnel carrier (APC) can be seen abandoned near the village.
A destroyed Russian armored personnel carrier (APC) is seen, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, near the village of Nova Husarivka, recently liberated by the Ukrainian Armed Forces, in Kharkiv region, Ukraine, on 15 of September 2022.
Gleb Garanich | Reuters
Next, Olena Kushnir looks at Russian shells near her destroyed house.
Local resident Olena Kushnir looks at shells near her destroyed house amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine in the village of Nova Husarivka, recently liberated by the Ukrainian Armed Forces, in Kharkiv Region, Ukraine, on September 15, 2022.
Gleb Garanich | Reuters
Local resident Olha Nemashkina stands inside her destroyed house in the village of Nova Husarivka.
Local resident Olena Kushnir stands in front of boxes of ammunition near her destroyed home amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine in the village of Nova Husarivka, recently liberated by the Armed Forces of Ukraine, in the Kharkiv region , Ukraine on September 15, 2022.
Gleb Garanich | Reuters
The IAEA board passes a resolution calling on Russia to leave Zaporizhzhia
A convoy carrying the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) expert mission, escorted by the Russian military, arrives at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in the course of the Ukraine-Russia conflict outside Enerhodar, in the Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine, on September 1, 2022.
Alexander Ermochenko | Reuters
The governing council of the International Atomic Energy Agency passed a new resolution demanding Russia end its occupation of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, diplomats said at today’s closed-door meeting.
The document calls on Russia to “immediately cease all actions against and against the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant and any other nuclear facilities in Ukraine.”
It passed with 26 votes in favor, two against and seven abstentions, diplomats said.
Russia and China were the countries that voted against while Egypt, South Africa, Senegal, Burundi, Vietnam, India and Pakistan abstained, they added.
IAEA inspectors visited the nuclear power plant, Europe’s largest, in late August and said they planned to leave two inspectors at the plant permanently as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues.
— Reuters
Biden to meet with relatives of Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre holds the daily press briefing at the White House in Washington, July 18, 2022.
Jonathan Ernst | Reuters
President Joe Biden will meet on Friday with the wife of Brittney Griner and the sister of Paul Whelan, the two high-profile Americans currently detained in Russia, the White House confirmed.
“I wanted to let them know that they are staying on top of things and that their team is working on this every day, making sure that Brittney and Paul come home safely,” said White House press secretary Karine Jean- Pierre.
“As we’ve said before, we believe that Russia is illegally detaining Brittney and Paul in intolerable conditions,” he added.
Griner was sentenced in August to nine years in prison after pleading guilty to drug charges. Whelan was convicted of espionage in June 2020 and sentenced to 16 years behind bars.
“We would love to say today that we have news of Brittany and Paul coming home today, unfortunately that’s not where the negotiations are at the moment,” Jean-Pierre said.
The Biden administration recently proposed a prisoner swap with Russia to secure the release of Griner and Whelan, but Moscow rejected the deal.
“The Russians should accept the offer we put on the table,” Jean-Pierre said.
— Emma Kinery
The Ukrainian military reports that it has conducted more than 140 fire missions in the past day
Ukrainian gunners fire a 203 mm self-propelled gun “2s7 Pion” on the southern front of Ukraine on September 15, 2022.
Ihor Tkachov | AFP | Getty Images
The Ukrainian army continues its major counteroffensive advance in the Russian-occupied city of Kherson in southern Ukraine, a Ukrainian army spokesman said in a Facebook post on Thursday.
Vladyslav Nazarov of the Southern Operation Command said that artillery units of the Defense Forces of Ukraine executed more than 140 fire missions in the last day alone.
Faced with Russian soldiers in the south who are better prepared to defend their positions than the Russians in the retaken areas of the northeast, the Ukrainians have focused on isolating Russian units by bombing bridges and roads that the Kremlin needs to resupply the lines from the front
The photo above and the photo below show Ukrainian troops in southern Ukraine on Thursday firing a large artillery cannon at Russian positions.
Ukrainian gunners prepare a 203 mm self-propelled gun “2s7 Pion” to fire, on the southern front of Ukraine on September 15, 2022. (Photo by Ihor Tkachov / AFP) (Photo by IHOR TKACHOV/AFP via Getty Images)
Ihor Tkachov | AFP | Getty Images
US sanctions leader of Russia’s campaign to deport Ukrainian children to Russia
Children stay at a temporary accommodation center for evacuees, including residents of the Ukrainian city of Mariupol, in the building of a local sports school in Taganrog, Rostov Region, Russia, on 17 March 2022.
Sergey Pivovarov | Reuters
The Treasury Department issued sanctions for the first time against the head of one of Russia’s most notorious government agencies, the so-called Presidential Commission on Children’s Rights.
Maria Alexeyevna Lvova-Belova heads the agency identified by the United Nations as the main organizer of mass deportations of Ukrainian orphans and children separated from their families to Russia.
At a recent UN meeting on the Russian deportation of Ukrainians, US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield reported that in the month of July alone, “more than 1,800 children were moved from areas controlled by the Russians from Ukraine to Russia”.
Many of the children were “separated from their families and taken from orphanages before being given up for adoption in Russia,” he said.
According to the Treasury Department’s sanctions report, Lvova-Belova has spearheaded the “forced adoption of Ukrainian children into Russian families, the so-called ‘patriotic education’ of Ukrainian children, legislative changes to speed up the acquisition of citizenship by the Russian Federation to Ukrainian children, and the deliberate expulsion of Ukrainian children by Russian forces.”
— Christina Wilkie
EU’s von der Leyen says Europe can do more to ease non-tariff barriers in Ukraine
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (right) speaks with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen after a…