Kyiv, Moscow, Oslo For the first time since the end of the grain agreement canceled by Russia, two civilian foreign cargo ships have called at a Ukrainian port. Russia, meanwhile, denies Ukrainians’ reports that they recently liberated the village of Andriivka in Donetsk region. And Poland is the last EU country bordering Russia to ban Russian cars from entering the country.
Freighters want to bring 20,000 tons of wheat to Africa and Asia
The shipping companies of the ships “Resilient Africa” and “Aroyat” have expressed their willingness to call at the port of Chornomorsk on the Black Sea and load around 20,000 tons of wheat there for African and Asian countries, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Olexander Kubrakow said on Facebook on Saturday . A few hours later in the evening, both freighters successfully arrived in Chornomorsk, according to the MarineTraffic ship information service. An official confirmation was initially pending.
Both ships sail under the flag of the Pacific state of Palau. According to information from Kiev, their crews consist of citizens of Ukraine, Turkey, Azerbaijan and Egypt.
As a result of the Russian war of aggression, the Ukrainian Black Sea ports are blocked by the Russian fleet. An international agreement for Ukrainian agricultural exports from a total of three ports – including Chornomorsk – was not extended by the Russians in July.
Ukraine then established a temporary corridor for civilian ships to use at their own risk. Five freighters have already used this to leave the Ukrainian ports, some of which have been stuck since the war began on February 24, 2022. The German freighter “Joseph Schulte” was among them in August. However, no civilian cargo ship has called at Ukrainian ports since the introduction of this temporary corridor.
Russia denies loss of village in Donetsk region
Russia’s military has denied Ukrainian reports of recapturing the village of Andriivka in the eastern Donetsk region. The Ukrainian army “tried in vain to push the Russian forces back from the towns of Klishchyivka and Andriivka (…),” said Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov. However, he did not provide any evidence for this statement.
On Friday, both the Ukrainian General Staff and President Volodymyr Zelensky reported the liberation of the town of Andriivka, which was completely destroyed by the war. It was also said from Kiev that its own troops were also active in the neighboring towns of Klischchiivka and Kurdjumovka. On Saturday, a Ukrainian brigade also released a video that is said to show the liberation operation in Andriyivka.
NATO admiral: Russia is losing 200 to 300 meters of ground every day
Meanwhile, NATO Admiral Rob Bauer acknowledged daily successes for the Ukrainian military. The Ukrainians were pushing Russian troops back around 200 to 300 meters per day in their counteroffensive, said the head of the NATO Military Committee at the annual conference of the NATO Military Committee in Oslo. The reason why the Ukrainian counteroffensive is not progressing faster is the enormous number of Russian mines.
According to Norwegian information, Russia has simultaneously withdrawn a large part of its military from the common border. Only 20 percent or even fewer of the Russian armed forces are stationed there than before the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, said Norwegian General Eirik Kristoffersen at the meeting.
This also shows that Russian President Vladimir Putin knows that NATO is not a threat to Russia. “If he believed that we were threatening Russia, he would not have been able to move his troops to Ukraine to wage war there.” Rob Bauer explains that the same is also evident on the Russian/Finnish border. Norway and Finland are part of NATO.
The NATO admiral from the Netherlands sees the Ukrainian army continuously advancing.
(Photo: AP)
Russia: Drone attacks on Crimea and Moscow repelled
According to the Defense Ministry, Russia destroyed six Ukrainian drones en route to the Crimean peninsula. Early on Sunday morning, air defense stopped drone attacks off the western, northwestern and eastern coast of Crimea, the ministry said, according to the state agency Tass in Moscow.
In addition, a drone attack on Moscow was repelled – two Ukrainian drones were destroyed in the Istra district and the Ramenki district, it said. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin wrote on his Telegram channel that no casualties or damage from falling debris had been reported so far.
Ukraine recently repeatedly attacked Crimea, which was annexed by Russia in 2014 in violation of international law. There were several serious explosions at Russian military bases. There was severe damage, deaths and injuries.
This is how the Handelsblatt reports on the Ukraine war:
Russia had increased its anti-aircraft defense and also increased patrols in the Black Sea to repel the attacks. Drones have also damaged objects in Moscow several times. The Ukrainian attacks are disproportionate to the heavy bombings by Russia, which launched the war of aggression against Ukraine more than a year and a half ago.
Poland bans entry of Russian cars
Poland has announced a further tightening of its sanctions against Russia: From Sunday, cars that were registered in Russia will no longer be allowed to enter Poland. This was announced by Interior Minister Mariusz Kaminski, as reported by the PAP news agency.
Such a restriction already applied to trucks. Poland is the last EU country that borders directly on Russia, following the example of the three Baltic republics and Finland, which have already banned entry for cars with Russian registration.
Zelensky thanks Germany and other countries for military aid
Ukrainian President Zelenskiy thanked Germany and other countries for their continued support. “This week we made significant progress in implementing existing defense agreements and other support packages,” Zelensky said in his evening video address.
He then thanked several countries – including Germany – for recent military support.
What will be important on Sunday
In the south and east of their country, the Ukrainian army is continuing its counteroffensive to liberate occupied territories.
More: All developments in the Ukraine war in our news blog