Russia-Ukraine War: List of Key Events, Day 572 | Russia-Ukraine War

Here is the situation as of Monday September 18, 2023.

Struggle

• Ukrainian authorities announced that kyiv had recaptured the eastern village of Klishchiivka from Russia in January. “Klishchiivka has been cleared of Russians,” Oleksandr Syrsky, the commander of the Ukrainian army’s ground forces, said on social media. Klishchiivka is a tactically important town south of the front-line town of Bakhmut.
• Addressing the success in his late-night video address on Sunday, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy praised the country’s armed forces. “Today I would particularly like to congratulate the soldiers who, step by step, are returning what belongs to Ukraine, including the Bakhmut region. »
• In its daily assessment of the war, the US-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said Ukrainian forces had likely “made a significant tactical breach” along a section of the southern front line. The ISW also said Russian forces continued to fight along the Kupyansk-Svatove-Kreminna line further north and were believed to have made marginal advances south of the city of Kreminna.
• In its latest intelligence update, the British Ministry of Defense said Russian forces were reinforcing their secondary defensive line around the occupied town of Tokmak, about 10 miles behind the front line, in the middle of the ” Russia’s growing concern over Ukrainian tactical penetrations of territory. the first main defensive line to the north.
• Kherson Governor Oleksandr Prokudin said a farm worker was killed and another injured after his tractor hit a mine while plowing a field. Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said earlier this year that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine had created the world’s largest minefield, covering an area of ​​250,000 square kilometers (96,525 square miles).
• Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched six drones and 10 missiles, mainly targeting the Odessa region and damaging an agricultural facility.
• The Russian Defense Ministry said its forces shot down six Ukrainian drones over Crimea, annexed by Moscow in 2014.
• Moscow’s mayor says Russia has shot down two drones near the capital. As a result, thirty flights were delayed and six canceled at Moscow airports.
• Ihor Kolykhaiev – the mayor of the city of Kherson who was reportedly captured by Russian forces on June 28, 2022 – has been confirmed as a prisoner of war and is being held in Russia, Kolykhaiev’s son told Ukrainian national TV channel Suspline . He said he was informed of his father’s status after contacting the Red Cross.
• Two cargo ships, using a temporary Black Sea corridor established by Kiev after Russia’s withdrawal from the previous United Nations-brokered deal to ensure the safe passage of Ukrainian grain exports, arrived at the seaport of Chornomorsk, in the southern region of Odessa. Ukraine’s deputy prime minister said the two ships would deliver some 20,000 tonnes of wheat to countries in Africa and Asia.

Diplomacy

• White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan met with China’s top diplomat Wang Yi in Malta for talks covering a range of issues, including the war against Ukraine.
• Wang will visit Moscow from September 18 to 21 for consultations on China-Russia strategic security, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said.
• Russia and Ukraine will meet at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Monday in a case centered on Moscow’s claims that it invaded Ukraine to prevent genocide. The hearings, which are scheduled to run through September 27, will not examine the merits of the case and will instead focus on legal arguments over jurisdiction. Russia wants this case thrown out.
• North Korean leader Kim Jong Un received five “kamikaze” drones, a reconnaissance drone and a bulletproof vest as gifts from a regional governor before beginning his journey back to Pyongyang by train. Kim visited Russia last week where he spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin and viewed some of the country’s most advanced military equipment and weapons.
• Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov claimed that the United States was in control of the war in Ukraine and was “continuing a war against us,” Russian news agency TASS reported. Moscow launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
• Poland has started enforcing a European Union ban on the entry of all passenger cars registered in Russia.

Weapons

• Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, defended U.S. military assistance to kyiv, saying it was doing its best and that the speed of deliveries depended on logistics. Milley said the United States has given some $40 billion in weapons and $100 billion in overall aid.
• Canadian Defense Minister Bill Blair said his country would contribute C$33 million ($24.5 million) to a UK-led partnership to purchase defense equipment air to Ukraine. The partnership, which includes the United States, the Netherlands and Denmark, aims to purchase hundreds of short- and medium-range air defense missiles and associated systems.