As the war enters its 939th day, here are the top developments.
Here is the situation on Saturday, September 21, 2024.
Struggle
- Four people were injured in a Russian missile attack on the Ukrainian port city of Odessa. Governor Oleh Kiper said some port facilities and an Antigua-flagged civilian vessel were also damaged.
- Ukraine's air force said 61 of 70 Russian attack drones and one in four missiles in 13 Ukrainian regions were destroyed.
- According to the BBC and independent Russian news site Mediazona, some 70,112 Russian soldiers have been killed since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022. The death toll has been documented from publicly available information, such as official statements, death notices in the media and announcements on social media, as well as tombstones in Russian cemeteries. “The real figure is believed to be considerably higher,” the BBC stated.
- Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia would regain control of its Kursk region “in due time” but declined to say when this might be achieved. Ukraine launched a surprise cross-border incursion into Kursk on August 6, seizing swathes of territory.
Politics and diplomacy
- Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council has banned the use of the Telegram messaging app on official devices used by government officials, military personnel and key workers amid concerns about Russian surveillance.
- Visiting kyiv, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced that the European Union will lend Ukraine up to 35 billion euros ($39 billion) backed by proceeds from frozen Russian assets to help the country “stay warm” during the third winter of war with Russia.
- Russia has accused four of its soldiers serving in occupied Ukraine of torturing and killing Russell Bentley, a 64-year-old American citizen living in Russian-held Donetsk who was found dead in April. Bentley was a longtime supporter of Russia. His wife said he had been kidnapped and killed by Russian soldiers.
- Norway will increase civilian aid to Ukraine by five billion crowns ($475 million) this year and extend its aid package by three years until 2030, Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store said.
- Prominent Russian opposition leader Vladimir Kara-Murza, who was released from prison in a high-profile prisoner swap earlier this year, said Russian President Vladimir Putin should not be allowed to win the war in Ukraine.
Arms
- The United States is preparing a $375 million military aid package for Ukraine, two senior officials told Reuters news agency. The aid package, expected to be announced next week, includes patrol boats, additional ammunition for high mobility artillery rocket systems (HIMARS), 155 mm and 105 mm artillery ammunition, spare parts and other weapons, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
- Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said Italy would send another Samp-T anti-missile system to Ukraine to “protect hospitals, schools and universities.”
- President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said senior Ukrainian officials, including the defense and foreign ministers and top military commanders, agreed in an “emotional” discussion that the country needs to build more weapons domestically and speed up production.
