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A man walks past banners reading 'future' and informing people about a referendum on joining the Russian-controlled regions of Ukraine with Russia, in the city of Melitopol in the Zaporizhia region of Ukraine [Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters]
By Dalia Hatuqa, David Child and Joseph Stepansky
Published On 26 Sep 2022
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Updated: 26 Sep 2022 (21:11 GMT)
  • The United Kingdom has imposed new sanctions on Russia over Moscow’s “sham” referendums in four occupied regions of Ukraine.
  • Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban says EU sanctions against Russia have “backfired” and driven up energy prices in the bloc.
26 Sep 2022 - 20:37
 (20:37 GMT)

Zelenskyy: Donetsk is Ukraine’s top priority

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has described the military situation in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region as difficult and said it was the country’s “No 1 goal” because it was the same for Russia.

“The situation in the Donetsk region is particularly severe,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address. “We are doing everything to contain enemy activity. This is our No 1 goal right now because Donbas is still the No 1 goal for the occupiers.”

Since Russian forces invaded Ukraine in late February, they have occupied nearly all of the Luhansk region and are slowly advancing through the Donetsk region — the two provinces making up Donbas.

26 Sep 2022 - 20:08
 (20:08 GMT)

Ukraine urges EU to support plans for permanent export routes

Ukraine has urged the European Union to support its plans to make the emergency paths for grain exports through the bloc permanent.

Ukraine’s Agriculture Minister Mykola Solsky told EU counterparts and the European Commission his country needed financial support to reduce its reliance on Black Sea exports that Russia had blocked and could hinder again.

Kyiv is calling for the EU to invest in at least five border terminals and a pipeline through which sunflower oil would flow.

Grain and sunflower seed exports have risen from 200,000 tonnes in the month after Russia’s February 24 invasion to 4.5 million tonnes in August, helped by a July deal to unblock ports, but most shipments still follow overland corridors through Europe.

“We think these corridors should become stable and permanent,” Solsky told a news conference after a meeting in Brussels.

Five border terminals should be built, costing $25-30m each. The cost of a sunflower oil pipeline would depend on its route.

26 Sep 2022 - 19:33
 (19:33 GMT)

Russia: No decision yet on sealing borders to stop reservist exodus

The Kremlin said on Monday that no decision had been taken on whether to seal Russia’s borders to stop an exodus of military-aged men fleeing the country, after days of chaotic scenes during its first military mobilisation since World War II.

Asked about the prospect of the border being shut, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters: “I don’t know anything about this. At the moment, no decisions have been taken on this.”

Reports that Russia might close the frontier have contributed to turmoil since President Vladimir Putin gave the order last week to call up hundreds of thousands of reservists in the biggest escalation yet of the seven-month Ukraine war.

Flights out of Russia have sold out and cars have piled up at border checkpoints, with reports of a 48-hour queue at the sole road border to Georgia, the rare pro-Western neighbour that allows Russian citizens to enter without a visa.

Travellers from Russia drive after crossing the border to Georgia at the Zemo Larsi/Verkhny Lars station, Georgia on September 26, 2022 [Irakli Gedenidze/Reuters]
26 Sep 2022 - 19:01
 (19:01 GMT)

UK, Russian defence officials meet in London

The UK’s chief of defence staff has held talks with the Russian defence attaché at the Ministry of Defence in London.

Admiral Sir Tony Radakin and Colonel Maxim Elovik met as part of ongoing efforts to “strengthen military to military channels of communication” with Russia.

26 Sep 2022 - 18:35
 (18:35 GMT)

Liz Truss thanks Saudi crown prince for ‘personal role’ in UK prisoner release

Prime Minister Liz Truss has thanked Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for his “personal role” in securing the release of five British detainees held by Russia-backed forces in Ukraine last week, her office said on Monday.

In a statement issued after Truss’s first call with the Saudi crown prince since she took office, a spokesperson said she “offered the UK’s continued support and encouragement for progress in Saudi Arabia’s domestic reforms”.

26 Sep 2022 - 18:15
 (18:15 GMT)

US sanctions fourth Iranian cargo plane serving Russia

The US Department of Commerce has said it added a fourth Iranian cargo plane serving Russia to a list of aircraft believed to violate US export controls under Biden administration sanctions.

The department added three Iranian cargo planes to the list on September 19. The fourth plane belongs to Saha Airlines, owned by Iran’s air force, the department said in a statement.

The plane added to the list on Monday has flown into Russia without proper Commerce Department authorisation, the statement said.

26 Sep 2022 - 17:43
 (17:43 GMT)

NATO states begin air force drills in Baltic Sea

A number of NATO member states have begun to conduct air force drills in the Baltic Sea.

Over the next two days, air forces from Turkey, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom and other countries will take part in military training over water and on land in an effort to boost eastern defences.

“For the first time we are including both air- and surface-based integrated air and missile defence activities in our drills,” said exercise planner Squadron Leader Craig Docker from Combined Air Operations Centre Uedem.

“This underlines how the allies are shielding the eastern flank and – at the same time – prepare for meaningful execution of NATO’s deter and defence concept in the Baltic region.”

26 Sep 2022 - 16:59
 (16:59 GMT)

Netherlands to increase support for Ukraine: Dutch prime minister

The Netherlands will increase its support to Ukraine and will back new sanctions against Russia, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said on Monday.

Following a call with Zelenskyy, Rutte announced he would step up the response to Russia’s mobilisation and referendum.

“More weapons, more sanctions, more isolation of Russia. Due to the mobilisation and sham referendums by Russia,” he wrote on Twitter.

26 Sep 2022 - 16:38
 (16:38 GMT)

Orthodox Church patriarch: Russian soldiers killed in battle absolved of ‘sins’

The head of the Russian Orthodox Church has said Russian soldiers killed on the battlefield in Ukraine will be cleansed of all their sins, days after Putin ordered the country’s first mobilisation since World War II.

Patriarch Kirill is a key Putin ally and backer of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. He has previously criticised those who oppose the war and called on Russians to rally around the Kremlin.

“The church realises that if somebody, driven by a sense of duty and the need to fulfil their oath … goes to do what their duty calls of them, and if a person dies in the performance of this duty, then they have undoubtedly committed an act equivalent to sacrifice,” Kirill, 75, said in his first Sunday address since the mobilisation order.

“They will have sacrificed themselves for others. And therefore, we believe that this sacrifice washes away all the sins that a person has committed.”

26 Sep 2022 - 16:08
 (16:08 GMT)

Putin grants Snowden Russian citizenship

President Putin has signed a decree granting Russian citizenship to former US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden.

Snowden, 39, fled the United States and was given asylum in Russia after leaking secret files in 2013 that revealed vast domestic and international surveillance operations carried out by the US National Security Agency, where he was a contractor.

US authorities have for years wanted Snowden to be returned to the US to face a criminal trial on espionage charges.

Read more.

26 Sep 2022 - 15:45
 (15:45 GMT)

Russia’s FSB detains Japanese consul for alleged espionage: Reports

Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) says it had detained a Japanese consul in the Pacific port city of Vladivostok for alleged espionage and declared him persona non grata, according to reports by Russian news agencies.

The FSB said the consul was caught receiving secret information on the effect of Western sanctions on the economic situation in Russia’s far east.

There was no immediate response from Japan’s government. Al Jazeera was unable to independently verify the reports.

26 Sep 2022 - 15:20
 (15:20 GMT)

Defunct Nord Stream 2 pipeline gas leaks into sea off Danish coast

Danish authorities have asked ships to steer clear of a five-nautical-mile radius off the island of Bornholm after a suspected gas leak overnight from the defunct Russian-owned Nord Stream 2 pipeline.

The German government said it was working with Danish authorities and local law enforcement to find out what caused pressure in the pipeline to plummet suddenly overnight.

Nord Stream 2 had contained some amount of gas sealed inside despite never becoming operational. It has been one of the flashpoints in an escalating energy war between Europe and Moscow since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February.

The pipeline was intended to double the volume of gas flowing from St Petersburg under the Baltic Sea to Germany. It had just been completed and filled with 300 million cubic metres of gas when German Chancellor Olaf Scholz cancelled it shortly before Russia launched its offensive.

26 Sep 2022 - 14:24
 (14:24 GMT)

UK sanctions Russians linked to ‘sham’ referendums

The United Kingdom has announced a new raft of sanctions in response to what it described as Russia’s “sham” referendums in four occupied regions of Ukraine.

“The Russian regime has organised these sham referendums in a desperate attempt to grab land and justify their illegal war,” the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) said in a statement.

“The process reflects their approach in Crimea in 2014, combining disinformation, intimidation, and fake results. These referendums do not represent the demonstrated will of the Ukrainian people and are a severe violation of Ukraine’s territorial integrity and political independence,” it added, citing Moscow’s seizure of the Black Sea peninsula eight years ago.

The FCDO said the measures will specifically target individuals behind the votes in Kherson, Donetsk, Luhansk and Zaporizhia on whether to join Russia, including several Moscow-installed officials in the occupied regions, a number of oligarchs, board executives from major state-owned banks and IMA Consulting, a firm described as Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “favourite PR agency”.

26 Sep 2022 - 14:07
 (14:07 GMT)

NATO begins air force drills in Baltic region

A collection of NATO member states has begun two days of training drills in the Baltic Sea region as the transatlantic military alliance moves to shore up its eastern defences in the face of Russia’s offensive in Ukraine.

Air forces from Hungary, Germany, Italy, Turkey, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, the Czech Republic and the United Kingdom are taking part in the exercises. NATO candidate Finland is also involved in the drills.

“The exercise series integrates more than two dozen fighter and support aircraft and NATO airborne early warning aircraft with NATO and national command and control centres,” NATO said in a statement.

“The realistic drills train Allied forces to deter and – if needed – defend against any aggression,” it added.

26 Sep 2022 - 13:12
 (13:12 GMT)

US announces $457.5m in civilian aid for Ukraine

The United States will provide $457.5m in new civilian security aid for Ukraine, Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said.

The aid is designed to help Ukrainian law enforcement and criminal justice agencies, Blinken tweeted.

“We share their commitment to a democratic, independent and sovereign Ukraine,” he added.

26 Sep 2022 - 12:19
 (12:19 GMT)

‘No to war!’: Anger over troop conscription rages in Russia

Hostility towards Russia’s troop mobilisation continues as violence broke out in an impoverished ethnic-minority region and a gunman opened fire at a recruitment office, seriously wounding the commandant.

Read more here.

26 Sep 2022 - 11:58
 (11:58 GMT)

EU sanctions on Russia have ‘backfired’: Orban

Hungary’s prime minister has criticised European Union sanctions on Russia, saying the moves have “backfired” by driving up energy prices.

Viktor Orban told Hungary’s parliament that it was no surprise that governments were falling in Europe amid the crisis, referring to the Italian election on Sunday.

He added Hungary should prepare for a prolonged war in neighbouring Ukraine, where Russia’s invasion has destroyed infrastructure, killed thousands of people and forced millions of others to flee from their homes.

26 Sep 2022 - 11:39
 (11:39 GMT)

Roger Waters gigs cancelled in Poland after Ukraine comments

Concerts by Pink Floyd co-founder Roger Waters have been cancelled by a venue in the Polish city of Krakow after the artist’s comments on the war in Ukraine caused a storm of criticism.

Waters was to appear in Krakow in April, but Polish media reports about an open letter he wrote to Ukraine’s First Lady Olena Zelenska urging her to ask her husband to choose “a different route” and criticising the West for supplying Ukraine with arms provoked a fierce backlash.

Read more here.

Local councillors in Krakow are set to vote on a resolution declaring Waters ‘persona non grata’ on Wednesday [File: Silvia Izquierdo/AP Photo]
26 Sep 2022 - 11:09
 (11:09 GMT)

Confusion, anger across Russia over partial mobilisation: AJ correspondent

Al Jazeera’s Mohamed Vall, reporting from Moscow, says there is widespread confusion and anger in Russia over the Kremlin’s push to reinforce its offensive in Ukraine by calling up hundreds of thousands of reserve troops to fight.

“Many people don’t understand what is going on – who should go and who shouldn’t go,” Vall said, adding there had been anti-conscription protests staged across the country in recent days.

“It’s a complicated situation. Russia hasn’t announced such mobilisation since World War II and there is little experience in doing this, both on the part of the government and on the part of the people,” he added.

26 Sep 2022 - 10:57
 (10:57 GMT)

Kremlin says no decisions taken on border closures

The Kremlin says no decision has been taken on closing Russia’s borders following an exodus of military-age men since President Vladimir Putin declared a partial mobilisation of reserve troops last week.

In a call with reporters, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also acknowledged that some call-ups had been issued in error, and that mistakes would be corrected.