The commander of Ukrainian ground forces hailed the recent recapture of two eastern villages, Andriivka and Klishchiivka, as an important breakthrough. Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi said it had enabled Kyiv’s troops to breach Russian lines near the shattered city of Bakhmut.
The Ukrainian government has dismissed six deputy defence ministers following the appointment of a new defence minister earlier this month. The government gave no reason for the dismissals. Those removed from their post included Hanna Maliar, who has frequently issued public updates on Russia’s war against Ukraine. The Kyiv Post reported that such dismissals are standard when the head of a ministry changes, and that some may be reappointed.
Ukraine said it has filed lawsuits at the World Trade Organization against its three EU neighbours – Poland, Slovakia and Hungary – over their bans on Ukrainian grain imports. The central European countries went against a decision by the European Commission last week to end the import ban.
Russia launched a missile attack on Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, late Monday, striking an industrial district, Mayor Ihor Terekhov said. “There is information about hitting an industrial zone in the city’s Kholodnohirsky district,” Terekhov said on Telegram. There was no immediate information on casualties or damage.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he had arrived in New York ahead of his appearance at the UN general assembly and meetings in Washington. Zelenskiy, in a post on Telegram, said he had already visited Ukrainian servicemen being treated for war injuries in the US. His schedule include talks with US president Joe Biden, members of Congress and military and business officials.
The office of the Brazilian presidency has confirmed reports that President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will meet Zelenskiy on the sidelines of the UN summit on Wednesday. Lula has advocated the creation of a group of nations to mediate an end to the war between Russia and Ukraine, but in May he stated that both Moscow and Kyiv were to blame for the conflict, angering Kyiv, the US and European states that back Ukraine.
A Russian man who has lived in Hong Kong has been taken into US custody and charged with smuggling large quantities of American-made, military-grade microelectronics to Russia, the US Department of Justice said. Maxim Marchenko and two unnamed Russian co-conspirators are accused of using his shell companies to conceal the fraudulent procurement of so-called OLED micro-displays.
Russia called a Ukrainian case alleging that Moscow abused the genocide convention to justify its invasion last year an “abuse of process,” as lawyers for Moscow sought to have judges at the International Court of Justice, the UN’s highest court, throw it out.
People’s rights in Russia have “significantly deteriorated” since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine last year, a top UN expert said. UN special rapporteur on the rights situation in Russia, Mariana Katzarova, said “the situation had already been on a steady decline over the past two decades”.
A drone carrying explosives that landed in the Bulgarian town of Tyulenovo was destroyed in a controlled explosion, the defence ministry said. The drone landed on Sunday evening in the Black Sea town situated 70km from the Romanian border and across the sea from Crimea.
Georgia’s security services accused a former minister of plotting from Ukraine to overthrow the Black Sea nation’s government by organising mass unrest. In a statement, it said former deputy interior minister Giorgi Lortkipanidze’s plan “would involve a rather large group of Georgian fighters in Ukraine and a part of Georgian youth”.
China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, began several days of security consultations with Russian officials. After talks with Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov the ministers were quoted as saying that any bid to resolve the Ukraine “crisis” must take account of Russian interests and include its participation.
