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UN chief warns Putin that annexing Ukraine territory is a ‘dangerous escalation’ with ‘no legal value’ – as it happened

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António Guterres warns Putin against annexation of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia before expected announcement.

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Thu 29 Sep 2022 14.00 EDTFirst published on Thu 29 Sep 2022 00.45 EDT
People queue for days at Russia's Georgian border after Putin orders mobilisation – video

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UN chief says Russian annexation marks ‘dangerous escalation’

The UN’s secretary general, António Guterres, has warned Russia that annexing Ukrainian regions would mark a “dangerous escalation” that would jeopardise the prospects for peace in the region.

Speaking to reporters, Guterres said:

Any decision to proceed with the annexation of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions of Ukraine would have no legal value and deserves to be condemned.

If Russia moves ahead with its plans to annex four Ukrainian regions, it would “prolong the dramatic impacts on the global economy, especially in developing countries, and hinder our ability to deliver life-saving aid across Ukraine and beyond”, Guterres added.

Key events

Closing summary

It’s 9pm in Kyiv. That’s it from me, Léonie Chao-Fong, and the Russia-Ukraine war live blog today.

Here’s where we stand:

  • Russian forces may face “imminent defeat” in the key north-eastern city of Lyman as Ukrainian soldiers continue their counteroffensive in the east of the country, according to a US thinktank. The Institute for the Study of War, citing Russian reports, said the defeat would allow Ukrainian troops to “threaten Russian positions along the western Luhansk” region. Alexander Petrikin, the pro-Russian head of the city administration, admitted the situation has grown “difficult” for Russian forces trying to hold the territory.

  • Ukrainian forces have secured all of Kupiansk and driven Russian troops from their remaining positions on the east bank of the river that divides the north-eastern Ukrainian city. Most of Kupiansk, a strategic railway junction, was recaptured earlier this month as part of a stunning counteroffensive by Ukrainian troops in the north-east of the country. AFP reports that those Russian troops who held out on the east bank of the Oskil river have been driven out.

  • Vladimir Putin will sign treaties on Friday annexing territories in occupied Ukraine, the Kremlin has said. The Russian president is expected to sign into law the annexations of the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, where Russia held fake referendums over the last week in order to claim a mandate for the territorial claims, in a major escalation of Russia’s seven-month-old war.

  • The UN’s secretary general, António Guterres, has warned Russia that annexing Ukrainian regions would mark a “dangerous escalation” that would jeopardise the prospects for peace in the region. Any decision to proceed with the annexation of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions of Ukraine “would have no legal value and deserves to be condemned”, Guterres told reporters.

  • There are indications that Russia might limit the movement of Ukrainians living in the occupied territories after it announces their annexation. Ukrainians have been told that from Saturday they will need to apply for a pass from the occupying authorities. This comes as the exiled Luhansk regional governor, Serhiy Haidai, said Russia had prevented about 1,000 Ukrainians from crossing the border into Latvia.

  • Finland is closing its border to Russian tourists after Vladimir Putin’s partial mobilisation order prompted large numbers of people to flee the country. From midnight Finnish time (9pm GMT), Russian tourists holding an EU Schengen visa will be turned away unless they have a family tie or a compelling reason to travel.

  • More than half of Russians felt fearful or anxious after President Vladimir Putin’s mobilisation announcement, according to a new poll. The poll by the independent Levada Centre showed 47% of respondents said they had felt anxiety, fear or dread after hearing that hundreds of thousands of soldiers would be drafted to fight in Ukraine.

  • Sabotage is the most likely cause of leaks in two Baltic Sea gas pipelines between Russia and Europe, European leaders have said, after seismologists reported explosions around the Nord Stream pipelines. Suspicion immediately turned to potential culprits – with fingers pointed at Russia, whose pipelines were hit, suggesting a further weaponisation of energy supplies to Europe in the midst of the conflict in Ukraine. Nato vowed a “united and determined response” to what it described as “deliberate, reckless and irresponsible acts of sabotage”.

  • Swedish authorities have reported a fourth leak on one of the two Nord Stream pipelines that EU leaders believe became the subject of sabotage at the start of the week. The two leaks in Swedish waters were close to each other, with one rupture, on Nord Stream 2, causing a circle of bubbles at the surface of about 900 metres in diameter, and the other, coming from a leak in Nord Stream 1, a circle of about 200 metres.

  • Gas is likely to stop leaking from the damaged Nord Stream 1 pipeline on Monday, according to the pipeline’s operator. A spokesperson for Nord Stream AG said it was not possible to provide any forecasts for the pipeline’s future operation until the damage had been assessed.

  • The Kremlin has said incidents on the Nord Stream gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea look like an “act of terrorism”. The Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said a foreign state was probably responsible for the incident, which resulted in leaks at the pipelines linking Russia to Europe. Russia’s foreign ministry claimed the “incident on the Nord Stream occurred in a zone controlled by American intelligence”.

  • The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced an eighth package of sanctions, including a draft sanctions law seen by the Guardian designed to “make the Kremlin pay” for the escalation of the war against Ukraine. Hungary “cannot and will not support” energy sanctions in the package, said Gergely Gulyas, the chief of staff to the prime minister, Viktor Orbán. An EU official said an agreement on the next sanctions package is expected before next week’s EU summit, or at least major parts of the package.

  • Russia is escalating its use of Iranian-supplied “kamikaze” drones in southern Ukraine, including against the southern port of Odesa and the nearby city of Mykolaiv. It is estimated that hundreds of weapons may now have been deployed by the Kremlin in Crimea and other occupied areas of the south.

Thank you for following along. I’ll be back tomorrow.

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Ukrainian forces recapture frontline city of Kupiansk

Ukrainian forces have secured all of Kupiansk and driven Russian troops from their remaining positions on the east bank of the river that divides the north-eastern Ukrainian city, AFP reports.

Most of Kupiansk, a strategic railway junction, was recaptured earlier this month as part of a stunning counteroffensive by Ukrainian troops in the north-east of the country.

Some Russian troops had held out on the east bank of the Oskil River, across a smashed road bridge. Civilians fled into Ukrainian territory as heavy day and night shelling continued.

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US prosecutors unsealed criminal sanctions violation charges against Oleg Deripaska, a Russian billionaire who was among two dozen allies of Vladimir Putin blacklisted by Washington over Moscow’s alleged meddling in the 2016 US presidential elections.

The indictment filed in Manhattan federal court accused Deripaska of sanctions violations for retaining three female co-defendants who provided or arranged a variety of services for his benefit.

Deripaska, 54, could not immediately be reached for comment.

“As today’s charges reveal, while serving the Russian state and energy sector, Oleg Deripaska sought to circumvent US sanctions through lies and deceit to cash in on and benefit from the American way of life,” said deputy attorney general Lisa Monaco.

But shell companies and webs of lies will not shield Deripaska and his cronies from American law enforcement, nor will they protect others who support the Putin regime. The Department of Justice remains dedicated to the global fight against those who aid and abet the Russian war machine.

Read the full story here:

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UN chief says Russian annexation marks ‘dangerous escalation’

The UN’s secretary general, António Guterres, has warned Russia that annexing Ukrainian regions would mark a “dangerous escalation” that would jeopardise the prospects for peace in the region.

Speaking to reporters, Guterres said:

Any decision to proceed with the annexation of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions of Ukraine would have no legal value and deserves to be condemned.

If Russia moves ahead with its plans to annex four Ukrainian regions, it would “prolong the dramatic impacts on the global economy, especially in developing countries, and hinder our ability to deliver life-saving aid across Ukraine and beyond”, Guterres added.

Preparations are under way for tomorrow’s ceremony in Moscow where President Vladimir Putin will sign a decree to formally annex four occupied regions of Ukraine.

The Russian capital’s Red Square has been sealed off ahead of the ceremony, which is due to take place at the Kremlin’s St George’s Hall tomorrow afternoon.

The words '‘Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Russia” are seen in Red Square. Photograph: Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP
Preparations in front of St Basil’s Cathedral in central Moscow. Photograph: Sergei Ilnitsky/EPA
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Italians living in Russia should consider leaving the country, the Italian embassy in Russia has said.

Italian expatriates in Russia “are recommended to consider whether their stay is necessary, and if not, to leave the country”, the embassy said in a statement, warning that getting out was becoming increasingly difficult.

It also noted the “dizzying increase in the already high cost” of flights out of Russia, and reported long queues at border crossings with some neighbouring countries.

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Here’s more on Vladimir Putin’s accusation that the west is ready to provoke “colour revolutions” and a “bloodbath” in any country.

The Russian leader was speaking in a televised meeting with intelligence chiefs of former Soviet countries, where he said conflicts in countries of the former USSR, including Ukraine, were the result of the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Putin said:

It is enough to look at what is happening now between Russia and Ukraine, and at what is happening on the borders of some other CIS countries. All this, of course, is the result of the collapse of the Soviet Union.

The region has recently seen clashes between the two Central Asian countries of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, and fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Putin pointed fingers at the west, saying it was “working on scenarios to fuel new conflicts” in the post-Soviet space.

More than half of Russians felt fearful or anxious after President Vladimir Putin’s mobilisation announcement, according to a new poll.

The poll by the independent Levada Centre, conducted from 22-28 September, showed 47% of respondents said they had felt anxiety, fear or dread after hearing that hundreds of thousands of soldiers would be drafted to fight in Ukraine.

Another 13% said they had felt anger, while 23% said they had felt pride in Russia.

Putin’s mobilization has had quite an effect on Russian public opinion: less than half now tell pollsters that they want the war in Ukraine to be continued. pic.twitter.com/nPEGObO8jd

— Yaroslav Trofimov (@yarotrof) September 29, 2022

Billboards are popping up across Moscow paying tribute to the “heroes of Russia” amid Vladimir Putin’s mobilisation order.

From the BBC’s Will Vernon:

Signs of the war in Ukraine are getting more noticeable in Moscow. Queues of relatives outside mobilisation points on the street. And more billboards like these are popping up - in tribute to “the heroes of Russia.” pic.twitter.com/gKT050IhoD

— Will Vernon (@BBCWillVernon) September 29, 2022
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Pjotr Sauer
Pjotr Sauer

When Ilya returned from work on Wednesday, his wife was waiting for him with his military draft papers. Ilya said he quickly packed his bags and left the next morning for his local recruitment centre in Irkutsk, a city on Lake Baikal in Siberia.

“When the motherland comes calling, you have to answer,” the 27-year-old bus driver said in a brief phone interview from a training ground near the southern city of Rostov.

I decided that I am not going to dodge the draft and will defend the country.

A Russian serviceman addresses reservists in the town of Volzhsky, in the Volgograd region. Photograph: Reuters

Vladimir Putin’s mobilisation order has triggered a run for the borders by tens of thousands of men of fighting age who are unwilling to participate in Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.

But, contrasting starkly with the mile-long lines to get out, videos show men across the country, to the applause of their wives and mothers, boarding buses that will take them to training centres, in what is likely to be a one-way journey for many.

The men are evidence of some public backing for the war on Ukraine and of the growing polarisation in the country, said Denis Volkov, of the Levada Centre, an independent polling agency.

“The nation has split, and mobilisation has further exacerbated existing divisions,” Volkov said.

The western-oriented, more modern, urban segment of the population wants to leave and is against the draft. But there is still a large core of men that will not avoid the draft. They are often less educated, poorer and more reliant on the state.

Read the full story here:

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Here’s more on the Ukrainian advance towards the occupied city of Lyman in the eastern Donetsk region. The situation has grown “difficult” for Russian forces trying to hold the territory, according to the Russian-backed leader of the city.

In a video update, Alexander Petrikin, the pro-Russian head of the city administration, said:

Today, September 29. The situation in the city is difficult. Ukrainian militants keep shelling Krasny Liman [Lyman in Ukrainian] and Krasny Liman district.

Russian forces may face imminent defeat in Lyman, says US thinktank

Russian forces may face “imminent defeat” in the key north-eastern city of Lyman as Ukrainian soldiers continue their counteroffensive in the east of the country, according to a US thinktank.

The Institute for the Study of War, citing Russian reports, said Ukrainian forces have taken more villages around Lyman, about 100 miles (160km) south-east of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city.

Russian military bloggers discussed Ukrainian gains around Lyman “with increased concern” on Wednesday, “suggesting that Russian forces in this area may face imminent defeat”, it said.

Russian forces captured Lyman, a key railway juncture, in May. The institute said a possible collapse of the Lyman pocket would allow Ukrainian troops to “threaten Russian positions along the western Luhansk” region.

It said:

The collapse of the Lyman pocket will likely be highly consequential to the Russian grouping in northern Donetsk and western Luhansk oblasts and may allow Ukrainian troops to threaten Russian positions along the western Luhansk oblast border and in the Severodonetsk-Lysychansk area.

Additional Russian losses would further erode morale amid the country’s mobilisation, the institute said.

It added that Russian authorities continue to send “newly mobilised and undertrained” recruits to reinforce “severely degraded remnants of various units”.

These units include ones that were previously considered to be Russia’s most superior fighting forces, it said.

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Putin accuses west of being ready to provoke a ‘bloodbath’

Vladimir Putin has accused the west of being ready to provoke “colour revolutions” and a “bloodbath” in any country.

The Russian president, who did not name a specific country or provide any evidence, was speaking via video link with the heads of the intelligent services of the ex-Soviet Commonwealth of Independent States.

Putin is expected to sign a decree on Friday proclaiming Russia’s annexation of four Ukrainian regions, after which he will deliver a speech on the subject.

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