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Ukrainian drone hits Russian power substation: governor
AFP: A Ukrainian drone dropped explosives on a substation in a Russian village close to the border on Friday, cutting off the power supply to a hospital, the regional governor said.
In Belaya, less than 25 kilometres (16 miles) from the border, “a Ukrainian drone dropped two explosive devices on a substation”, Kursk regional governor Roman Starovoyt said on the messaging platform Telegram.
“One of the transformers caught fire. Five settlements and a hospital were cut off from power supply. Fire crews rushed to the scene,” he added.
“Power will be restored as soon as it is safe to do so.”
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Reuters reports that Russia’s central bank has extended restrictions on transferring funds abroad for another six months, the regulator said on Friday.
Suspilne, citing the regional prosecutor’s office, reports that “in the morning, the Russian army struck Kherson, wounding two workers of a utility company.”
Images shown on Suspilne’s Telegram channel for the region show damage to a vehicle, ands report that the two injured were park employees, and that a garbage truck was damaged as a result of the shelling.
In Russia, Tass reports that an official of the armed forces has said that those conscripted during the autumn campaign will not be sent to fight in Ukriaine.
Citing Vladimir Tsimlyansky, deputy chief of the main organisational and mobilisation directorate of the general staff of the Russian Federation armed forces, it reported that traditionally, the autumn conscription begins on 1 October, but quoted him saying:
Servicemen undergoing conscription military service will not be sent to the points of deployment of units of the armed forces of the Russian Federation in new regions of the Russian Federation: Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, or to participate there in carrying out the tasks of a special military operation.
“Special military operation” is the preferred term by Russian authorities to refer to its full-scale invasion of Ukraine which started in February 2022. The Russian Federation claimed to annex Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia from Ukraine late last year.
This is Martin Belam taking over the live blog in London. You can contact me at [email protected].
Former Wagner commander now works at defence ministry, says Peskov
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the RIA news agency that Troshev worked at the defence ministry. “He now works in the defence ministry.”
A highly decorated veteran of Russia’s wars in Afghanistan and Chechnya,
Troshev is from St Petersburg, Putin’s home town, and has been pictured with the president.
He fought in Afghanistan during the Soviet Union’s decade- long war there. After the fall of the Soviet Union, he served in the North Caucasus with the Russian army and then in SOBR, a quick reaction special forces unit of the Russian interior ministry. He was a commander in the unit.
For his service in Afghanistan, Troshev was awarded the Order of the Red Star twice. He was awarded Russia’s highest medal, Hero of Russia, in 2016 for the storming of Palmyra in Syria against Islamic State militants.
Putin meets former Wagner commander Andrei Troshev
Reuters: Russian President Vladimir Putin met Andrei Troshev, formerly a top Wagner mercenary commander, to discuss how voluntary fighting units are used in the Ukraine war, the Kremlin said on Friday.
The meeting underscored the Kremlin’s attempt to show that the state had now gained control over the mercenary group after a failed June mutiny by Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, who was killed in a plane crash in August.
The Kremlin said that Putin had met with Troshev, who is known by his nom de guerre “Sedoi” - or “grey hair”, and Deputy Defence Minister Yunus-Bek Yevkurov, who sat closest to Putin, on Thursday night.
Addressing Troshev, Putin said that they had spoken about how “volunteer units that can perform various combat tasks, above all, of course, in the zone of a special military operation.”
“You yourself have been fighting in such a unit for more than a year,” Putin said. “You know what it is, how it is done, you know about the issues that need to be resolved in advance so that the combat work goes in the best and most successful way.”
Putin also said that he wanted to speak about social support for those involved in the fighting.
Russia earlier said it had destroyed two Ukrainian drones over the neighbouring Belgorod region.
The defence ministry said the first drone was “thwarted” at about 5:00pm (1400 GMT) on Thursday.
A second drone was brought down around four hours later.
“The Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicle was destroyed over Belgorod region by air defence systems on duty,” the ministry said on Telegram.
Belgorod and Kursk, south of Moscow, border eastern Ukraine.
Since Ukraine launched its counter-offensive in early June, Russia has weathered waves of drone attacks that have sporadically damaged buildings, including in Moscow.
Russian officials have downplayed their significance.
Rocket hits Mykolaiv city
The Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv was hit by a rocket this morning at 4:13m local time, Vitaly Kim, head of the Mykolaiv Regional State Administration, wrote on Telegram.
“The hit took place at an infrastructure object on the outskirts of the city. As a result, dry grass caught fire, which was extinguished at 06:45. Detailed information is being clarified,” Kim wrote.
He added that artillery had also been fired at a settlement:
“Today, September 29, at 03:59, the enemy fired artillery at the settlement of the Kutsurub community. A fire was extinguished, without victims, injuries or destruction.”
Ukrainian drone hits Russian power substation: governor
AFP: A Ukrainian drone dropped explosives on a substation in a Russian village close to the border on Friday, cutting off the power supply to a hospital, the regional governor said.
In Belaya, less than 25 kilometres (16 miles) from the border, “a Ukrainian drone dropped two explosive devices on a substation”, Kursk regional governor Roman Starovoyt said on the messaging platform Telegram.
“One of the transformers caught fire. Five settlements and a hospital were cut off from power supply. Fire crews rushed to the scene,” he added.
“Power will be restored as soon as it is safe to do so.”
Opening summary
Welcome back to our live coverage of the war in Ukraine. This is Helen Sullivan with the latest.
Our top stories this morning: A Ukrainian drone dropped explosives on a substation in a Russian village close to the border on Friday, cutting off the power supply to a hospital, the regional governor said.
And the city of Mykolaiv was hit by a rocket this morning at 4:13am local time, Vitaly Kim, head of the Mykolaiv Regional State Administration, wrote on Telegram.
“The hit took place at an infrastructure object on the outskirts of the city. As a result, dry grass caught fire, which was extinguished at 06:45. Detailed information is being clarified,” Kim wrote.
More on these stories shortly. Elsewhere meanwhile:
Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg and the defence ministers of Britain and France visited Kyiv, where President Volodymyr Zelenskiy lobbied for more air defence systems. Their visits came in advance of Kyiv’s first Defence Industries Forum, where Ukrainian officials were to meet representatives from more than 160 defence firms and 26 countries.
International regulators are incapable of properly monitoring safety at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station, according to a critical dossier compiled by Greenpeace that has been sent to western governments. The environmental campaign group concludes the International Atomic Energy Agency has too few inspectors at Europe’s biggest nuclear plant – four – and that there are too many restrictions placed on their access.
Brussels warned European companies and governments that it could ban the sale of certain components to Turkey and other countries from where Iran and Russia are sourcing parts for drones and other weapons striking Ukrainian cities. The comments from the European Commission follows a leak to the Guardian of a document in which Kyiv detailed the use of western technology in Russian and Iranian drones.
Belarus claimed on Thursday that a Polish helicopter had twice violated its airspace as tensions escalate between the two countries amid the conflict in Ukraine. The defence ministry said it had scrambled aircraft but provided no further details. In a separate statement, the Belarusian foreign ministry said it had summoned the Polish charge d’affaires and demanded that “an objective investigation be carried out immediately.
The EU has extended the right of refugees from Ukraine to stay in the bloc by a year to March 2025, as Russia’s war against their country continues. The EU triggered its temporary protection directive days after Moscow’s February 2022 invasion to allow the millions of people fleeing Ukraine to remain.
Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba said an escalating grain exports dispute between Kyiv and Warsaw was detrimental to both countries. Poland has extended an embargo on Ukrainian grain, going against a European Commission decision to end the restrictions and triggering a diplomatic spat between the allies.
Ukraine’s air force claimed on Thursday its air defence systems had shot down 34 of 44 Shahed drones that Russia launched overnight, while a regional official said no casualties were caused by the attack. “Fighter aircraft, anti-aircraft missile units and mobile fire groups were engaged to repel the attack,” the military said on the Telegram messaging app.
Odesa regional governor Oleh Kiper said his region was the main target, but the attack left no casualties. “Our air defence forces did an excellent job,” Kiper said on Telegram.
There were also strikes on Kirovohrad oblast and an infrastructure object was hit in Mykolaiv. One man was killed and another was injured in Kherson overnight. Three people have been hospitalised after a strike on Antonivka, near the Dnipro River.
Alexander Bogomaz, governor of Russia’s Bryansk region, claimed on Telegram that electronic warfare had been used to down a Ukrainian drone on the approach to the city of Bryansk. “There were no casualties or damage. Operational and emergency services are on site,” he wrote.
