Ukrainian forces have broken through in Verbove, top general says
From CNN's Vasco Cotovio, Frederik Pleitgen, Daniel Hodge, Konstyantyn Gak and Yulia Kesaieva
The general leading Ukraine’s counteroffensive along the southern front line says his forces have broken through in the southern village of Verbove – and predicts an even bigger breakthrough to come.
“On the left flank [near Verbove] we have a breakthrough and we continue to advance further,” Oleksandr Tarnavsky told CNN Senior International Correspondent Frederik Pleitgen during an interview on Friday, though he conceded his troops were moving slower than anticipated.
The general’s claim is the latest indication by Ukrainian officials that inroads are being made on the southern front in the war with Russia.
Ukrainian forces claimed in recent weeks to have penetrated the “first line” of Russian strongholds in the Zaporizhzia region, in a sign that Kyiv was edging closer to Moscow’s sprawling network of fortified trenches along the southern front.
But Russian-appointed officials in occupied Zaporizhzhia have given a different picture of the fighting. CNN is unable to verify the battlefield reports of either side. However, open-source analysis of available video suggests that some Ukrainian units have crossed through an important line of Russian defenses near Verbove.
Ukraine’s long-term goal is to break Russia’s “land bridge,” which links territory it holds in the east with annexed Crimea.
At the beginning of September Ukrainian forces said they had taken the village of Robotyne and were pushing east toward the village of Novoprokopivka. Soldiers said they expected battles for control of high ground to the south and east of the village as they approached the next layer of Russian defenses. Verbove is a few miles east from Robotyne.
1 dead and 3 injured in Russian bombardment of Ukraine’s central and southern regions
From CNN’s Maria Kostenko and Jake Kwon
Russia bombarded the Ukrainian regions of Dnipropetrovsk and Kherson overnight, killing one person and wounding three people, regional military administration chiefs said on Saturday.
Ukraine’s southern border region of Kherson was struck by 598 shells over the past 24 hours, the region’s military administration chief Oleksandr Prokudin said on Telegram.
One person was killed and three others were wounded in the attack, according to Prokudin.
Russia used mortars, artillery, grad multiple launch rocket system, missiles, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and aircrafts in the attack which also struck Kherson region's residential areas, medical and educational facilities, and a prison in the area surrounding the city of Kherson, Prokudin said.
Ukraine’s central region of Dnipropetrovsk sustained attacks from UAV and heavy artillery, Serhii Lysak, the head of the region’s military administration said on Telegram.
The region’s capital of Dnipro was struck by Iran-made Shahed drones, damaging a “critical infrastructure facility,” Lysak said. The attack also damaged gas stations and a traffic light in the Novooleksandrivka neighborhood, Lysak added.
Explosives dropped from a drone and heavy artillery bombardments struck other towns in the region, destroying ten houses and damaging gas pipelines, according to Lysak.
No injuries or deaths were reported from the attack on the Dnipropetrovsk region, Lysak said.
22 min ago
Never insult Poles again, Poland’s prime minister tells Ukraine’s Zelensky
From CNN's Maija Ehlinger
Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has told Volodymyr Zelensky never to “insult Poles again” after the Ukrainian president suggested his neighbor was putting on a show over their disputes on grain exports.
The Polish leader fired back at Zelensky after the Ukrainian leader offered a veiled criticism of Poland at the United Nations’ general assembly this week, saying the dispute was “political theater” and that “some of our friends in Europe” have “made a thriller from the grain.”
On Friday, at a rally in Swidnik, Poland, Morawiecki hit back. Poland is holding elections next month, with a tight result expected.
“I want to tell President Zelensky never to insult Poles again, as he did recently during his speech at the UN,” he said.
“The Polish people will never allow this to happen, and defending the good name of Poland is not only my duty and honor, but also the most important task of the Polish government,” the Polish prime minister added.
The comments by Morawiecki risk deepening the divisions between two countries that have previously been close allies united against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Tensions between them have been rising in recent weeks over a ban on Ukrainian grain, initially put in place earlier this year by several EU nations to protect the livelihood of local farmers worried about being undercut by the low price of Ukrainian grain.
The EU announced plans to suspend the ban last week but Poland – alongside Hungary and Slovakia – said it would stick with it, sparking protests from Ukraine, which filed lawsuits against the three countries, and, subsequently, Zelensky’s comments at the UN.
In a statement on Telegram, the SOF said a special op dubbed “Crab Trap” was timed to strike while senior members of Russia’s Navy were meeting, and that the attack left dozens of dead and wounded “including the senior leadership of the fleet.”
“The daring and painstaking work of the Special Operations Forces enabled them to hit the Black Sea Fleet headquarters ‘on time and with precision’ while the Russian Navy’s senior staff was meeting in the temporarily occupied city of Sevastopol,” it said in the statement.
No further details or any evidence as to specific casualties among Russia’s Black Sea Fleet have so far been provided by Ukraine.
Russia’s Ministry of Defense has to date only said that a Russian soldier was missing after Friday’s missile attack.
Some background: The strike was the latest and perhaps one of the most ambitious of Kyiv’s attacks on Russian military targets in Crimea.
Sevastopol, home to Russia’s Black Sea Fleet headquarters, is one of the largest cities on the Crimean peninsula and was illegally annexed by Moscow’s forces in 2014.
Volodymyr Zelensky attends an event in Toronto on Friday. Carlos Osorio/Reuters
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked Canada for its support during a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday in Ottawa.
“I want to thank that in this tough period you hosted Ukrainians, and you helped us on the battlefield, military, financially, and humanitarian, which is crucial,” Zelensky said.
The Ukrainian president hinted that he may visit Canada with his children “after the victory” in Ukraine’s war with Russia.
“Thank you that you stayed with us,” Zelensky said, adding that Canada supported Ukraine since before the invasion.
Trudeau said this meeting serves as an opportunity for him to “sit down and talk about all the things we need to do together” and to stand strongly against Russia. The prime minister said Canada “strongly and unequivocally” stands with Ukraine.
Ukraine’s defense minister, Rustem Umerov, is also in Ottawa holding bilateral talks with his Canadian counterpart in an effort to shore up military support.
The general leading Ukraine’s counteroffensive along the southern front line says his forces have broken through in the southern village of Verbove – and predicts an even bigger breakthrough to come.
“On the left flank [near Verbove] we have a breakthrough and we continue to advance further,” Oleksandr Tarnavsky told CNN Senior International Correspondent Frederik Pleitgen during an interview on Friday, though he conceded his troops were moving slower than anticipated.
The general’s claim is the latest indication by Ukrainian officials that inroads are being made on the southern front in the war with Russia.
Ukrainian forces claimed in recent weeks to have penetrated the “first line” of Russian strongholds in the Zaporizhzia region, in a sign that Kyiv was edging closer to Moscow’s sprawling network of fortified trenches along the southern front.
But Russian-appointed officials in occupied Zaporizhzhia have given a different picture of the fighting. CNN is unable to verify the battlefield reports of either side. However, open-source analysis of available video suggests that some Ukrainian units have crossed through an important line of Russian defenses near Verbove.
Ukraine’s long-term goal is to break Russia’s “land bridge,” which links territory it holds in the east with annexed Crimea.
At the beginning of September Ukrainian forces said they had taken the village of Robotyne and were pushing east toward the village of Novoprokopivka. Soldiers said they expected battles for control of high ground to the south and east of the village as they approached the next layer of Russian defenses. Verbove is a few miles east from Robotyne.
Russia bombarded the Ukrainian regions of Dnipropetrovsk and Kherson overnight, killing one person and wounding three people, regional military administration chiefs said on Saturday.
Ukraine’s southern border region of Kherson was struck by 598 shells over the past 24 hours, the region’s military administration chief Oleksandr Prokudin said on Telegram.
One person was killed and three others were wounded in the attack, according to Prokudin.
Russia used mortars, artillery, grad multiple launch rocket system, missiles, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and aircrafts in the attack which also struck Kherson region's residential areas, medical and educational facilities, and a prison in the area surrounding the city of Kherson, Prokudin said.
Ukraine’s central region of Dnipropetrovsk sustained attacks from UAV and heavy artillery, Serhii Lysak, the head of the region’s military administration said on Telegram.
The region’s capital of Dnipro was struck by Iran-made Shahed drones, damaging a “critical infrastructure facility,” Lysak said. The attack also damaged gas stations and a traffic light in the Novooleksandrivka neighborhood, Lysak added.
Explosives dropped from a drone and heavy artillery bombardments struck other towns in the region, destroying ten houses and damaging gas pipelines, according to Lysak.
No injuries or deaths were reported from the attack on the Dnipropetrovsk region, Lysak said.
Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has told Volodymyr Zelensky never to “insult Poles again” after the Ukrainian president suggested his neighbor was putting on a show over their disputes on grain exports.
The Polish leader fired back at Zelensky after the Ukrainian leader offered a veiled criticism of Poland at the United Nations’ general assembly this week, saying the dispute was “political theater” and that “some of our friends in Europe” have “made a thriller from the grain.”
On Friday, at a rally in Swidnik, Poland, Morawiecki hit back. Poland is holding elections next month, with a tight result expected.
“I want to tell President Zelensky never to insult Poles again, as he did recently during his speech at the UN,” he said.
“The Polish people will never allow this to happen, and defending the good name of Poland is not only my duty and honor, but also the most important task of the Polish government,” the Polish prime minister added.
The comments by Morawiecki risk deepening the divisions between two countries that have previously been close allies united against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Tensions between them have been rising in recent weeks over a ban on Ukrainian grain, initially put in place earlier this year by several EU nations to protect the livelihood of local farmers worried about being undercut by the low price of Ukrainian grain.
The EU announced plans to suspend the ban last week but Poland – alongside Hungary and Slovakia – said it would stick with it, sparking protests from Ukraine, which filed lawsuits against the three countries, and, subsequently, Zelensky’s comments at the UN.
In a statement on Telegram, the SOF said a special op dubbed “Crab Trap” was timed to strike while senior members of Russia’s Navy were meeting, and that the attack left dozens of dead and wounded “including the senior leadership of the fleet.”
“The daring and painstaking work of the Special Operations Forces enabled them to hit the Black Sea Fleet headquarters ‘on time and with precision’ while the Russian Navy’s senior staff was meeting in the temporarily occupied city of Sevastopol,” it said in the statement.
No further details or any evidence as to specific casualties among Russia’s Black Sea Fleet have so far been provided by Ukraine.
Russia’s Ministry of Defense has to date only said that a Russian soldier was missing after Friday’s missile attack.
Some background: The strike was the latest and perhaps one of the most ambitious of Kyiv’s attacks on Russian military targets in Crimea.
Sevastopol, home to Russia’s Black Sea Fleet headquarters, is one of the largest cities on the Crimean peninsula and was illegally annexed by Moscow’s forces in 2014.
Volodymyr Zelensky attends an event in Toronto on Friday. Carlos Osorio/Reuters
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked Canada for its support during a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday in Ottawa.
“I want to thank that in this tough period you hosted Ukrainians, and you helped us on the battlefield, military, financially, and humanitarian, which is crucial,” Zelensky said.
The Ukrainian president hinted that he may visit Canada with his children “after the victory” in Ukraine’s war with Russia.
“Thank you that you stayed with us,” Zelensky said, adding that Canada supported Ukraine since before the invasion.
Trudeau said this meeting serves as an opportunity for him to “sit down and talk about all the things we need to do together” and to stand strongly against Russia. The prime minister said Canada “strongly and unequivocally” stands with Ukraine.
Ukraine’s defense minister, Rustem Umerov, is also in Ottawa holding bilateral talks with his Canadian counterpart in an effort to shore up military support.
