Russian forces strike dam, flooding parts of Kryvyi Rih city; President Zelenskyy involved

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is in Kyiv on Thursday to discuss how to progress Ukraine’s membership bid to join the European Union.

“In Kyiv, for my 3rd visit since the start of Russia’s war. So much has changed,” von der Leyen said on Twitter.

“Ukraine is now a candidate” for EU membership, she said, adding that she would hold talks with President Zelenskyy and Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal about progressing its membership application.

The Ukraine’s membership bid was formally accepted earlier this year but it’s expected that it will take years for it to join the union.

— Holly Ellyatt

The manner in which Russian forces withdrew, and fled, from the region of Kharkiv on northeastern Ukraine suggests a breakdown in command structures, the U.K. said in its latest intelligence update Thursday.

“Ukrainian forces continue to consolidate their control of newly liberated areas of Kharkiv Oblast. Russian forces have largely withdrawn from the area west of the Oskil River,” Britain’s Ministry of Defense said on Twitter.

“The way in which Russian forces have withdrawn in the last week has varied. Some units retreated in relatively good order and under control, while others fled in apparent panic,” it said.

“Such abandonment highlights the disorganised retreat of some Russian units and likely localised breakdowns in command and control.”

High-value equipment abandoned by withdrawing Russian forces included capabilities essential to enable Russia’s artillery-centric style of warfare, the ministry noted, including at least one Zoopark counter-battery radar and at least one IV14 artillery command and control vehicle.

— Holly Ellyatt

De-occupied settlements in the region of Kherson in southern Ukraine are coming under Russian fire, a regional official warned on Thursday as he told residents to evacuate.

“The situation in the de-occupied settlements of the Kherson region is extremely difficult,” Yaroslav Yanushevych, head of the Kherson Regional Military Administration, said on Telegram, noting that one town had seen all of its houses damaged or destroyed while another had seen 80% of its properties destroyed.

Ukraine recently launched a counteroffensive in southern Ukraine to reclaim Russian-occupied territories. Unlike its counterattack in northeastern Ukraine, which has seen most of the region of Kharkiv de-occupied, a significant part of Kherson — the region above Russian-annexed Crimea — remains occupied by Russian forces although Ukraine has launched a series of counterattacks there and has made some gains.

Yanushevych said the first thing Ukraine’s armed forces did when they liberated settlements from Russian occupation was to advise residents to leave immediately in expectation of Russian reprisals and attacks.

Yesterday Yanushevych said the “situation in the Kherson region remains extremely difficult, active hostilities continue.” 

The region’s infrastructure was being subjected “to devastating destruction every day due to shelling by the occupiers. In the temporarily occupied settlements, the Russians continue to seize administrative premises and loot,” he said. CNBC was unable to verify the information in the official’s post.

— Holly Ellyatt

Video source: Metin Aktas | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited a key city recently liberated by Ukrainian troops and had a message for residents of Crimea: “We will arrive.”

Zelenskyy spoke to reporters after visiting scenes of destruction inflicted by Russian troops and helping to hoist Ukraine’s flag at Izyum, which only a week ago was held by invading forces. A Ukrainian counteroffensive sent Russian troops into a retreat and reclaimed the city on Sept. 10.

“We will come,” Zelenskyy said, addressing residents of Crimea. “I don’t know when. And nobody knows when. But we have plans. So we’ll come, because…it’s our land, and it’s our people.”

Zelenskyy expressed concern about the cumulative effect of televised Russian propaganda on Crimean children who have never known what it’s like to be part of Ukraine. Russia’s military seized the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine in 2014.

“The information war is very strong, and Russia attacked [Crimeans] by television, media … and of course, it will be very difficult for children when we come,” Zelenskyy said.

— Ted Kemp

Russians have shelled a dam on the Inhulets River near Kryvyi Rih — President Zelenskyy’s home city — leading to flooding in parts of the city and residents being evacuated.

Oleksandr Vilkul, the head of the Kryvyi Rih military administration, said on Telegram last night that Russian missiles had hit a “very large hydrotechnical structure,” widely reported as a dam near the city.

“Dear residents of Kryvyi Rih, Russia has committed another terrorist act. They hit a very large hydrotechnical structure in Kryvyi Rih with eight cruise missiles. The attempt is to simply wash away a part of our city with water. We are monitoring the situation, the response efforts are underway, all services are involved, everyone is on the site. But the water level in the Inhulets River has risen,” Vilkul said.

He then named streets that citizens were being asked to evacuate as “the water in the Inhulets River has risen.”

Kyrylo Tymoshenko, the deputy head of Zelenskyy’s office, said eight Russian cruise missiles had attacked Kryvyi Rih, calling it a “terrorist act.”

“After all, rockets are aimed at buildings that are critically important for people’s livelihood,” he said in a post on Telegram with a video showing high water levels on the river and partially submerged trees on the banks.

“Today, the Russian troops directed the maximum number of their weapons to hydrotechnical structures. The goal is obvious — an attempt to create an emergency situation. It is not important to them whether people will remain without water or whether the city will be flooded. They need us to panic so it would be difficult for us to make decisions. So let’s not panic,” he said.

— Holly Ellyatt

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was involved in a car accident in Kyiv last night, the president’s office said late last night.

Zelenskyy was not injured in the incident, the circumstances around which are now being investigated.

Presidential Press Secretary Serhii Nykyforov said on Facebook last night that “a car collided with the car of the President of Ukraine and escort vehicles.”

“Medics accompanying the head of the state provided the driver of the car with medical aid and transferred him to an ambulance. The president was examined by a doctor, no serious injuries were found. The law enforcement officers will find out all the circumstances of the accident.”

— Holly Ellyatt

The Pentagon hailed a series of lightning advances Ukraine made against Russian forces in the southern and eastern parts of the war-weary country.

“Certainly, since the beginning of Russia’s invasion into Ukraine, we’ve seen the Ukrainians demonstrate a remarkable adaptability and their ability to use their warfighting capabilities to great effect,” Pentagon press secretary Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters at the Pentagon.

“So, it’s not surprising to us that they have pushed as quickly as they have,” he added.

Ryder declined to confirm Ukrainian government reports that cited specific gains the country had made, adding that he would not speak on behalf of a foreign military.

He added that the U.S. would continue to provide security assistance to Kyiv and hailed Ukrainian forces’ “remarkable adaptability on the battlefield.”

— Amanda Macias

Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that his government is preparing another aid package for the war-torn country.

“The Ukrainian armed forces and people have shown immense courage. It is a proud feeling to see reports of success along Ukraine’s eastern front – it is a sure sign that our collective aid has had a positive impact and that it must continue,” Pevkur said, according to an Estonian readout of the meeting.

Estonia, one of NATO’s smallest member countries and a nation that borders Russia, has donated two field hospitals to Ukraine since Russia’s war broke out in late February.

Pevkur also met with Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov.

“I was interested in hearing from the Minister of Defence about the specifics of aid that is needed now – that will be the basis for putting together our next aid package to Ukraine. In addition, we are currently contributing towards training efforts,” he added.

— Amanda Macias

A former senior member of the British armed forces has told Sky News said there is a 30-40% chance that Russia’s armed forces could collapse and the war could be over by Christmas.

Retired RAF Air Marshal Edward Stringer, the ex-director-general of the Defence Academy and director-general of Joint Force Development, Strategic Command, told Sky’s Kay Burley he previously thought the war would go into next year, but things have changed on the ground.

He said: “I do not see that the Russians will be able to rebuild their armed forces to be able to re-seize the initiative and retake the offensive again.

“And so now we are into seeing how this develops on the ground and one hopes that Zelenskyy will be in a position where he can start to negotiate favourable terms and perhaps even defeat the entire Russian invasion of his country

“Eventually all conflicts end in negotiation. One has to calibrate to what extent you have to keep channels open and to what extent you allow him (Putin) to think that he’s still part of the family of nations.

“I always thought it would go into next year. I think it is possible now, and one hates to be the person that says it will all be over by Christmas, but it is possible now that there could be a collapse in the Russian armed forces… it’s a good 30-40%, and that calls into question the future of Putin, Putinism, and the West should think very strongly now about what the world looks like post-Putin.”

Read the original post here from Sky News.

— Sky News

Vladimir Putin’s chief envoy on Ukraine told the Russian leader as the war began that he had struck a provisional deal with Kyiv that would satisfy Russia’s demand that Ukraine stay out of NATO, but Putin rejected it and pressed ahead with his military campaign, according to three people close to the Russian leadership who spoke to Reuters.

The Ukrainian-born envoy, Dmitry Kozak, told Putin that he believed the deal he had hammered out removed the need for Russia to pursue a large-scale occupation of Ukraine, according to these sources. Kozak’s recommendation to Putin to adopt the deal is being reported by Reuters for the first time.

Putin had repeatedly asserted prior to the war that NATO and its military infrastructure were creeping closer to Russia’s borders by accepting new members from eastern Europe, and that the alliance was now preparing to bring Ukraine into its orbit too. Putin publicly said that represented an existential threat to Russia, forcing him to react.

But, despite earlier backing the negotiations, Putin made it clear when presented with Kozak’s deal that the concessions negotiated by his aide did not go far enough and that he had expanded his objectives to include annexing swathes of Ukrainian territory, the sources said. The upshot: the deal was dropped.

Read the whole story by Reuters here

— Reuters