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Here is the situation as it stands on Sunday, September 25.
Fighting
- Ukraine and Russia traded accusations of attacks on civilians in southern Ukraine.
- Ukraine’s military said Russian forces launched dozens of missiles and air strikes on military and civilian targets over the past 24 hours.
- Russia also used drones to attack the center of the southern city of Odesa, Ukraine’s military said. No casualties were reported.
- Russia denies deliberately targeting civilians. Its RIA state news agency reported Ukrainian forces bombed a hotel in the city of Kherson, killing two people. Russian forces have occupied the southern city since the early days of the invasion.
- There was no immediate response from Ukraine.
- The Russian defense ministry said the deputy minister in charge of logistics, four-star General Dmitry Bulgakovhad been replaced “for transfer to another role”.
Diplomacy
- China supports all efforts conducive to the peaceful resolution of the “crisis” in Ukraine, its foreign minister told the UN General Assembly, adding the pressing priority was to facilitate talks for peace.
- India’s Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar in his UN speech said India’s position on Ukraine was it was “on the side of peace and will remain firmly there”. He called for constructive dialogue, diplomacy and action to resolve the conflict for the sake of all.
- Sweden demanded that Russia “immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraw all of its military forces from the territory of Ukraine within its internationally recognized border”.
Russian mobilization
- The editor of Russia’s state-run RT news channel expressed anger that enlistment officers were sending call-up papers to the wrong men, as frustration about the military mobilization grows across Russia.
- Russia’s two most senior lawmakers addressed a string of complaints about Russia’s mobilization drive, ordering regional officials to get a handle on the situation and swiftly solve the “excesses” that have stoked public anger.
Referendums in occupied regions
- The Duma, Russia’s lower house of parliament, may debate bills incorporating the Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine into Russia on September 29, the state-run TASS news agency reported, citing an unnamed source.
- Ukrainian officials said people were banned from leaving some occupied areas until the five-day vote was over, armed groups were going to homes to force people to cast ballots, and employees were threatened with the sack if they did not participate.
- Moscow launched the referendums on Friday aimed at annexing four occupied regions – Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhia.
- Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the four regions of Ukraine would be under Russia’s “full protection” if they are annexed by Moscow.
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