Russia-Ukraine war updates for September 25, 2023

Hungary is not in a hurry to ratify Sweden’s NATO accession, Prime Minister Viktor Orban told parliament on Monday, flagging a further delay in a process that has been stranded in parliament since July 2022.    

“I wonder if there is something urgent that would force us to ratify Sweden’s NATO bid. I cannot see any such circumstance,” he said.

— Reuters

Russia’s torture methods in parts of Ukraine it occupied have been so brutal that it tortured some of its victims to death, the head of a U.N.-mandated investigative body said on Monday.

Erik Møse, Chair of the Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine, told the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva his team had “collected further evidence indicating that the use of torture by Russian armed forces in areas under their control has been widespread and systematic”.

“In some cases, torture was inflicted with such brutality that it caused the death of the victim,” he said.

Møse’s commission visited parts of Ukraine formerly held by Russian forces such as in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions. It found that torture was committed mainly in detention centres operated by the Russian authorities.

The commission has previously said that violations committed by Russian forces in Ukraine, including the use of torture, may constitute crimes against humanity.

Russia denies committing atrocities or targeting civilians in Ukraine. Russia was given an opportunity to respond to the allegations at the council hearing but no Russian representative attended.

— Holly Ellyatt

Ukraine claimed Monday that a strike it carried out on the headquarters of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol in Russian-occupied Crimea killed 34 Russian officers, including the commander of the Russia’s prized Black Sea Fleet.

“Another 105 occupiers were wounded. The headquarters building cannot be restored,” Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces said on Telegram Monday.

It said that the number of fatalities had been so high “given that the Minsk large landing ship was supposed to go on combat duty the next day, the personnel were present at the ship. Irreversible losses amounted to 62 occupiers,” the post said.

CNBC was unable to immediately verify the information in the post and Russia has not responded to the latest claim by Ukraine.

Ukraine has targeted Russian military bases in Crimea repeatedly in recent months, its strikes on the Russian navy headquarters on Friday being one of the most audacious attacks. It also attacked Russian military facilities near Sevastopol last Wednesday, Thursday and on Saturday.

Russia’s defense ministry said one serviceman was missing after the attack, revising an earlier statement that the man had been killed. Air defenses had downed a total of five missiles, the ministry said.

— Holly Ellyatt

Ukraine and the United States have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) under which Kyiv will receive up to $522 for strengthening the resilience of the Ukrainian energy system, the U.S. embassy in Ukraine said.

Ukraine will receive $422 million in new energy assistance and a further $100 million will be subject to the implementation of certain measures including reforms, the embassy said in a statement released on Sunday.

One of the aims is to help Ukraine restore critical infrastructure, it said, following Russian air attacks on power plants and transformers that left millions of people without electricity at times last winter.

Ukraine has carried out extensive repairs since then but officials have warned of new attacks this winter and Russia struck energy facilities across Ukraine last week.

The MoU is also intended to help Ukraine work towards reform of the energy sector and its transition after the war with Russia to a low-carbon, competitive energy economy integrated with the European Union, the U.S. embassy said.

The embassy announced the MoU following a visit to the U.S. last week by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

— Reuters

Ukraine’s defense forces said they see a large-scale attack on the port of Odesa as revenge for Ukraine’s recent attack on the Russian naval headquarters in Crimea last Friday.

Russian missiles struck a hotel in Odesa last night,” Ukraine’s defense forces said on X, formerly known as Twitter.

“A pathetic attempt at retaliation for our successful hit on the Russian Navy HQ in Sevastopol,” the tweet added.

Odesa suffered what officials called “significant damage” in a large-scale Russian attack overnight.

Ukraine’s southern defense forces said 19 Shahed-136/131 type attacking drones, 12 Kalibr missiles and two Onyx supersonic missiles were used in the attack on Odesa. It said its air defense forces had shot down 19 drones and 11 Kalibr missiles but port infrastructure was hit and granaries destroyed.

The attack came after two days of attacks on Russian-occupied Crimea. Ukraine hit the headquarters of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol on Friday and then launched a missile attack on the city Saturday.

— Holly Ellyatt

Poland’s president appeared to soften Warsaw’s recent rhetoric toward Ukraine after tensions rose in recent weeks between the allies and neighbors, particularly over grain imports.

“We need to get our emotions under control, because let’s remember who will benefit most if the paths of Poland and Ukraine diverge. The consequences could be tragic,” Polish President Andrzej Duda told a Polish newspaper Sunday.

Duda’s comments come after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appeared to suggest, when addressing the U.N. General Assembly last week in New York, that some of Ukraine’s allies had feigned solidarity with Kyiv.

That comment appeared to prompt Poland’s prime minister to state that Poland would no longer supply Kyiv with weapons, escalating tensions further.

Poland has been one of Ukraine’s staunchest supporters in the war, but tensions have grown recently over Ukraine’s agricultural exports that have been transported via eastern Europe, with local farmers saying their own livelihoods have been affected by a glut of cheaper imports.

In an interview with a Polish newspaper on Sunday, Duda noted that Zelenskyy’s comments at the U.N. General Assembly could have been down to stress.

“Let’s not forget that Zelenskyy is under enormous pressure,” he told Polish newspaper Super Express.  “He is sending people to the front, often to their deaths.”

Referring to defense spending, he said new equipment “must serve to strengthen the Polish army,” before more can be sent to Ukraine. “We are not spending billions for us to suddenly give it away,” he said.

“But that doesn’t mean that we won’t hand over armaments to Ukraine at all,” he said, adding that “when the old equipment is replaced by modern equipment, I don’t see a problem with sending that [old equipment] to the Ukrainians.”

Zelenskyy seemed to attempt to dial down the rhetoric when he posted on Telegram a message thanking Poles for their support in the war, saying “thank you to all of Poland for the invaluable support and solidarity that helps defend the freedom of our entire Europe.”

— Holly Ellyatt

Ukrainian grain exports over Sept. 1-24 totalled 1.57 million metric tons, down sharply from the 3.21 million tons in the corresponding period last year, agriculture ministry data showed on Monday.

The ministry gave no explanation for the decline.

Traders and agricultural unions have said that Ukrainian the blocking of Black Sea ports and recent Russian attacks on Ukrainian ports on the Danube River are the main reasons for the reduced exports.

The ministry data showed that Ukraine has exported a total of 6.2 million tons of grain so far in the 2023/24 July-June season, versus 7.5 million tons in the same period of the previous season.

The volume included almost 3 million tons of wheat, 2.5 million tons of corn and 599,000 tons of barley.

Ukraine has traditionally shipped most of its exports through its deep-water Black Sea ports.

An agreement brokered by the United Nations and Turkey to allow such exports collapsed in July when Russia walked away from the deal, saying its demands for an easing of sanctions on its own grain and fertiliser exports had not been met.

Ukraine is able to export limited volumes through small river ports on the Danube and via its western land border with the European Union.

Ukraine is expected to harvest at least 80 million tons of grain and oilseed in 2023 and the 2023/24 exportable surplus totals about 50 million tons.

— Reuters

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his nightly address on Sunday that the U.S. had agreed to jointly produce weapons with Kyiv.

“There is a historic decision by the United States to jointly produce weapons and defense systems. In particular, air defense. This is something that was an absolute fantasy until recently. But it will become a reality. We will make it a reality,” Zelenskyy said.

Zelenskyy has spent the last week in the U.S. and Canada, having attended the latest U.N. General Assembly in New York before separate talks with President Joe Biden and then Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

“It was a productive week. Very productive. We have many good defense and other decisions,” Zelenskyy said, listing defense packages from the U.S. including artillery, shells, HIMARS munitions, air defense missiles, additional air defense systems and tactical vehicles, and some other types of weapons that will prove themselves on the battlefield.

“From Canada, we have a decision on long-term defense support worth half a billion U.S. dollars. In particular, these are medevac vehicles, which are very much needed at the front … We have agreed on their production and supply,” he added.

— Holly Ellyatt

Russia said its air defense systems destroyed Ukrainian drones over Russian territory as well as Crimea overnight.

Posting on Telegram, the Russian Defense Ministry said two Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles had been intercepted over the territory of Kursk in southwestern Russia, and two other drones destroyed over the neighboring Bryansk region. Both regions have been targeted a number of times in alleged Ukrainian drone attacks against Russian territory. Kyiv has been tight-lipped about such attacks.

The defense ministry also said four Ukrainian drones had been destroyed over the northwestern part of the Black Sea and over Russian-occupied Crimea.

It was not immediately known whether there was any damage or injuries as a result of the reported attacks.

CNBC was not able to independently verify the information and there was no comment from Ukraine.

—Holly Ellyatt

Ukraine’s important port city of Odesa suffered what officials called “significant damage” in a large-scale Russian attack overnight.

Ukraine’s southern defense forces said 19 Shahed-136/131 type attacking drones, 12 Kalibr missiles and two Onyx supersonic missiles were used in the attack on Odesa. It said its air defense forces had shot down 19 drones and 11 Kalibr missiles.

“Unfortunately, the enemy hit the port infrastructure,” officials said on Telegram.

“The sea port in Odesa suffered significant damage, a fire broke out in the building of the station hotel, which has not been functioning for several years. Firefighters promptly eliminated it,” the post translated by NBC said. Onyx missiles destroyed granaries but no one was hurt.

“As a result of falling debris during combat operations, the warehouse buildings of one of the enterprises and a private house in the suburbs of Odesa were damaged and ignited,” the post added. Fires have since been extinguished.

— Holly Ellyatt