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The latest developments in Russia’s war on Ukraine. All times EDT.
10:30 p.m.: The U.S. Commerce Department on Monday said it will add three Iranian cargo planes serving Russia to a list of aircraft believed to violate U.S. export controls under the Biden administration's sanctions, Reuters reported.
Using commercially available data, the Commerce Department identified Boeing 747s operated by Mahan Air, Qeshm Fars Air and Iran Air transporting goods, including electronic items, to Russia in apparent violation of stringent U.S. export controls on Russia related to its invasion of Ukraine. These are the first three Iranian airplanes identified, the department said.
The department has warned that any refueling, maintenance, repair, spare parts or services violate U.S. export controls and subject companies to U.S. enforcement actions.
Iran has publicly announced its intention to expand cooperation with Russia in the aviation sector by providing spare parts for its airplanes, the Commerce Department said.
8:33 p.m.: Turkish lenders Isbank and Denizbank have suspended use of Russian payment system Mir, the banks said, following a U.S. crackdown on those accused of helping Moscow skirt sanctions over the war in Ukraine.
The moves, announced separately, came after Washington expanded its sanctions last week to include the head of the entity running Mir, which is popular with the tens of thousands of Russian tourists who arrived in Turkey this year.
The suspensions by two of the five Turkish banks that had been using Mir reflect their effort to avoid the financial cross-fire between the West and Russia, as the Turkish government takes a balanced diplomatic stance.
7:18 p.m.: Germany’s defense minister says her country will provide Ukraine with four additional self-propelled howitzers and ammunition, The Associated Press reported.
Christine Lambrecht said Monday that the 10 howitzers already supplied by Germany and eight from the Netherlands “have proven themselves in battle.”
“Ukraine is full of praise of the system and has expressed a desire for more howitzers,” she said. “In order to further support Ukraine in its brave fight against the brutal Russian attack, Germany will grant this request.”
Lambrecht said the Panzerhaubitze 2000 model howitzers recently underwent refurbishment.
6:34 p.m.: The Wagner Group, a Russian private military company, is trying to recruit over 1,500 convicted felons to take part in Russia's war in Ukraine, but many are refusing to join, a senior U.S. defense official said, according to Reuters.
"Our information indicates that Wagner has been suffering high losses in Ukraine, especially and unsurprisingly among young and inexperienced fighters," the U.S. official told reporters, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
The European Union has imposed sanctions on the Wagner Group, accusing it of clandestine operations on the Kremlin’s behalf.
President Vladimir Putin has said the group does not represent the Russian state, but that private military contractors have the right to work anywhere in the world as long as they do not break Russian law.
5:37 p.m.: In his nightly video address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, “The Kharkiv region – we are stabilizing the situation, holding our positions. Firmly. So firmly that the occupiers are panicking tangibly. Well, we warned that the Russian soldiers in Ukraine have only two options: flee our land or surrender. The collaborators have similar options - either they will try to escape, and it remains to be seen whether Russia will let them into its territory, even despite giving them its passports, or the collaborators will be convicted according to the current legislation of Ukraine.
“By the way, I want to thank the National Police for quickly restoring law and order in the newly liberated territory. And the Security Service of Ukraine – for the fact that it is now working with remarkable effectiveness. I cannot reveal all the details, but thanks to the Security Service of Ukraine, we are now confident that the occupiers will not have any foothold on Ukrainian soil,” Zelenskyy said.
4:08 p.m.: Ukrainian security services say "people were tortured" by Russian troops at a local police station in the recently liberated city of Kupyansk. Ukrainian troops retook the city in the Kharkiv region from Russian occupying forces on September 10 during a sweeping counteroffensive. Entering the city, Ukrainian soldiers also discovered many destroyed buildings and vehicles along with pro-Russian billboards. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty has the story.
3:15 p.m.: Nikolai Patrushev, secretary of the national Security Council chaired by Russian President Vladimir Putin, declared on a visit to China that the Kremlin considers beefing up ties with Beijing as a top policy goal, The Associated Press reported.
Patrushev described the “strengthening of comprehensive partnership and strategic cooperation with Beijing as an unconditional priority of Russia’s foreign policy.”
Patrushev is one of Putin’s closest associates. Speaking during a meeting with Guo Shengkun, a top official of China's Communist Party, he said “in the current conditions, our countries must show even greater readiness for mutual support and development of cooperation.”
Patrushev’s office said in a terse statement after the talks in the Chinese city of Nanping that the parties agreed to “expand information exchanges on countering extremism and foreign attempts to undermine the constitutional order of both countries in order to derail independent policies of Russia and China serving their national interests."
The Chinese and Russian officials also emphasized a need to expand cooperation on cybersecurity and strengthen contacts between their law enforcement agencies on fighting terrorism.
The statement didn't offer any further details of prospective cooperation.
2:27 p.m.: A Ukrainian military unit, including a married couple and an American volunteer from Detroit, patrol the area around Mykolayiv near the front lines of the Kherson region. Locals, meanwhile, dig out from heavy shelling that the city has been subjected to since Russia launched its attack on Ukraine in February. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty has the story.
1:55 p.m.: Russia's war against Ukraine, the lingering coronavirus pandemic and the damage of climate change are putting intense pressure on the world's poorest, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development warned, according to The Associated Press.
The Paris-based OECD reported that 60 states, territories and locations fell last year into the category of “fragile contexts'' — meaning they were exposed to economic, environmental, social and political risks that they didn't have the capacity to absorb. And that was before Russia invaded Ukraine and intensified their burdens.
Monday's report designated the most places in such dire straits since the OECD began issuing its States of Fragility report in 2015. The 60 account for 24% of the world's population, 73% of those living in extreme poverty, 80% of those who died in conflicts and the vast majority of the world's “hunger hotspots.'' And they are home to 95% of the record 274 million people the United Nations says need humanitarian assistance.
1:10 p.m.: In Kyiv, friends, family, and fans said goodbye to the soloist of the National Academic Opera and Ballet Theater of Ukraine. Oleksandr Shapoval danced on the stage of the National Opera for 25 years. On February 25, he enlisted in Ukraine's Territorial Defense Forces, later joining the ranks of the regular army. Shapoval died fighting in the Donetsk region near Mayorsk. The farewell was held at the National Opera on September 17. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty has the story.
12:30 p.m.:
11:55 a.m.: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has responded to officials' accusations that Russian troops shelled another nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine overnight by saying the world must "stop [Russia] before it's too late," RFE/RL reported.
He said via Telegram on Monday that "a rocket fell 300 meters from" the Pivdennoukrainsk Nuclear Power Plant in the war-torn Mykolayiv region and "there was a short-term power outage."
Zelenskyy said windows at the complex were damaged and suggested "the invaders wanted to shoot again but forgot what a nuclear power plant was."
"Russia endangers the whole world," Zelenskyy said. "We have to stop it before it's too late."
10:27 a.m: Moscow-backed separatist authorities in Ukraine's eastern region of Luhansk have sentenced an employee of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to 13 years in prison, RFE/RL reported.
The Luhansk information center controlled by the separatists said on Monday that the de facto Supreme Court of the so-called Luhansk People's Republic sentenced Dmitry Shabanov after finding him guilty of "high treason and working for the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)."
Shabanov, a local resident of Luhansk, is one of at least six employees of the OSCE mission arrested by the separatists since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in late February, of whom three, including Shabanov, have been held in detention.
The OSCE stated in July that the charges against Shabanov were unfounded and fabricated.
9:06 a.m.:
9:01 a.m.: Ukraine's minister of infrastructure told VOA that 320 bridges have been destroyed since Russia launched its war on Ukraine. Ukraine has since built 53 temporary bridges. VOA’s Myroslava Gongadze has more from one of three bridges destroyed by Ukraine to stop the Russian advance in Irpin.
8 a.m.: Four of the five European Union countries bordering Russia began turning away Russian tourists at midnight on Monday, saying they should not travel while their country is at war with Ukraine, Reuters reported.
Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania imposed new restrictions as Finland decided to remain open, though it has cut back the number of consular appointments available to Russian travelers seeking visas.
The move was the latest in a series of sanctions and other steps taken by the European Union or its member states since Moscow invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24.
7:09 a.m.: Ukraine’s nuclear energy operator said Monday a Russian missile struck near a nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine.
Energoatom said in a statement the missile landed 300 meters from the Pivdennoukrainsk Nuclear Power Plant but did not damage its reactors.
The strike did damage nearby buildings, Energoatom said.
“Russia endangers the whole world,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Telegram in response to the missile strike. “We have to stop it before it's too late.”
The Pivdennoukrainsk plant is Ukraine’s second-largest nuclear power plant. The largest, the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, has been shut down since early September following shelling that Russia and Ukraine have blamed on each other.
3:15 a.m.: Russian forces attack Donetsk Oblast on Sunday, killing three civilians, according to The Kyiv Independent.
2 a.m.:
1:25 a.m.: Russia's invasion of Ukraine and a global food crisis aggravated by the war will be the focus of world leaders when they convene at the United Nations in New York this week, according to Reuters.
Geopolitical divides, hardened by the seven-month-old war, are likely to be on full display as the United States and Western allies compete with Russia for diplomatic influence.
The past two years, leaders were allowed to submit video statements because of pandemic restrictions. This year, however, they must travel to New York to speak in the General Assembly chamber. However, the General Assembly agreed on Friday to allow Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to send a pre-recorded video statement.
12:25 a.m.: The Russian army, seeking contract soldiers for what it calls the "special military operation" in Ukraine, is using mobile recruiting trucks to attract volunteers, offering nearly $3,000 a month as an incentive, Reuters reported.
A special unit stationed one such truck in a central park in the southern Russian city of Rostov on Saturday and removed the sides to reveal a mobile office.
Soldiers in camouflage and black masks showed their guns to interested passers-by and handed out color brochures titled "Military service on a contract – the choice of a real man."
Neither Russia nor Ukraine disclosed their military losses, which Western intelligence agencies estimate at tens of thousands on both sides.
Some information in this report came from Reuters, Agence France-Presse and The Associated Press.
