Related video: Pakistan’s Sharif struggles with headphones as he meets Putin during SCO summit
Russian President Vladimir Putin warned on Friday that Ukraine risks provoking “more serious” action from Moscow with its widespread counter-offensive, saying “so far we have responded with restraint”.
Putin vowed to continue his “special military operation” in Ukraine during his speech to reporters after attending the meeting of Asian world leaders, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, in Uzbekistan.
He said the “liberation” of the entire eastern Donbas region of Ukraine remains Russia’s main military objective and that it has no intention of giving up the fight.
It came as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered a public rebuke to Putin for the first time and the Russian leader admitted there were also concerns about the situation in Beijing.
“We are in no rush,” Putin said, while some pro-Kremlin politicians and military bloggers have urged Moscow to order a broad mobilization to bolster the ranks while lamenting Russia’s labor shortage.
He accused Ukraine of attacking civilian infrastructure in Russia and said it struck “close to our nuclear facilities, nuclear power plants.”
“If the situation develops in this way, our response will be more serious,” Putin said.
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Russia establishes new defensive line, says Defense Ministry
Western defense officials and analysts say they believe Russian forces are establishing a new defensive line in northeastern Ukraine after Kyiv troops breached the previous one. The Defense Ministry said the line is likely between the Oskil River and Svatove, about 90 miles southeast of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city. A Ukrainian counter-offensive punched a hole in the pre-war front line and retook large swathes of land in the northeastern Kharkiv region bordering Russia. The Ministry of Defense said that Moscow likely considers it important to maintain control of the area because “it is transited by one of the few major resupply routes that Russia still controls from Russia’s Belgorod region.”
He said a “dogged defense of this area” was likely, but it was unclear whether the Russians would be able to withstand another concerted assault from Ukraine.
Jane Dalton September 17, 2022 11:51 am
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Desperate Ukrainians scour the dead for lost loved ones
Throughout the day, Ukrainian women search for photographs of corpses hung by Russian soldiers displaying their dead, desperately searching for their missing loved ones.
In the raw images of frozen gray faces, blood-smeared torsos and remains, they search for a hint of something recognizable: a scar or a ring.
“Twenty hours a day I look for him on these Telegram channels,” says Maria, her face contorted with pain.
“We are a community of women looking for our loved ones. We all have to drag the photos of the dead. We have to see if they are there.”
‘We may never find them’: Desperate Ukrainians hunt for loved ones
The Missing: Bel Trew follows families, who may never know the fate of their loved ones, as they search for bodies online and in real life.
Bel Trew September 17, 2022 10:45 am
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How Russian oil still reaches the United States, Europe and other countries that sanction Moscow
Russian energy continues to flow to the United States, European Union member states and other countries that have imposed the toughest sanctions on Moscow, potentially reducing the peak of sanctions designed to cripple the Kremlin’s ability to finance war in Ukraine
Major Indian refineries on the west coast, which is the main destination for Russian crude, sell large quantities of refined products to the United States and Europe, two leading oil analysis firms told The Independent.
Read my report on how Russian oil is still making its way west.
How Russian oil still reaches the United States, Europe and other countries that sanction Moscow
Sanctions are a key weapon touted by Volodymyr Zelensky as a way to speed up Vladimir Putin’s economy, but as Shweta Sharma explains, Russian oil products are still finding ways to reach Western markets.
Shweta Sharma September 17, 2022 10:15 am
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‘Now is not an era of war’: India’s Modi slams Putin over Ukraine conflict
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has publicly rebuked Vladimir Putin for his invasion of Ukraine.
Speaking at a summit of the regional security bloc in Uzbekistan, he told the Russian president that now is not a time for war, with food, fertilizer and fuel security among the world’s top concerns today .
“I know that the current era is not an era of war, and I have spoken to you on the phone about that,” Modi told Putin on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization security bloc summit in Uzbekistan.
‘Now is not an era of war’: India’s Modi slams Putin over Ukraine conflict
It is Putin’s second appearance at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit
Shweta Sharma September 17, 2022 9:45 am
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Biden warns Putin against using chemical or tactical nuclear weapons
US President Joe Biden has warned Vladimir Putin not to use nuclear or chemical weapons in Ukraine as it would “change the face of war like nothing since World War II”.
In an interview with CBS News, Biden did not reveal how the United States would respond if such weapons were used when asked by the anchor.
“No, no, no,” President Biden replied.
Putin has put the country’s nuclear arsenal on “special” alert, citing aggressive statements from the West.
“Do you think I would tell you if I knew exactly what it would be? Of course I won’t tell you. It will be consequential,” Biden replied.
If Russia were to use weapons of mass destruction “they will become a pariah in the world more than ever. And depending on the extent of what they do will determine what response would occur.”
Shweta Sharma September 17, 2022 9:15 am
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The latest news from defense experts
It is unclear whether Russia’s front-line forces have “sufficient reserves or adequate morale” to withstand another concerted assault in eastern Ukraine, according to defense experts.
British defense intelligence analysts believe Moscow has established a defensive line between the Oskil River and the town of Svatove after a successful Ukrainian counter-offensive, forcing the Kremlin to cede swathes of territory.
The area is considered important in part because it lies along the border of the Luhansk region, part of the Donbas, which Russia has sought to “liberate” as one of its key war objectives.
Any substantial loss of territory here would “unequivocally undermine” Vladimir Putin’s strategy for the conflict, experts say.
In its latest update on the situation in Ukraine, the Ministry of Defense (MoD) said it is unclear whether Russia’s front-line forces have adequate reserves or morale to withstand another concerted assault by Ukraine in eastern parts of the country.
Russia “may not have enough reserves” to withstand a new assault from Ukraine
It occurs when the bodies have been discovered in a mass burial site near the city of Izium
Katy Clifton September 17, 2022 8:58 am
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Putin Can’t Achieve Ukraine Goals, Pentagon Intelligence Chief Says
The Pentagon’s intelligence chief said Friday that Vladimir Putin’s forces are unable to achieve their goals, citing recent setbacks and stretched resources.
“We’re getting to a point where I think Putin is going to have to review what his goals are for this operation,” Lt. Gen. Scott Berrier, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, told a news conference in ‘intelligence and national security abroad. Washington.
“Because it’s pretty clear right now that… he’s not going to be able to do what he originally intended to do.
“The Russians planned an occupation, not necessarily an invasion, and that has set them back,” Berrier added.
The Russian president’s reluctance so far to fully mobilize Russian forces and risk more manpower in the fight shows they planned to quickly remove the Zelensky administration and enjoy an occupation in Ukraine rather than a protracted war, he says .
Shweta Sharma September 17, 2022 8:28 am
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All the latest news in Ukraine
- As the war in Ukraine continues after nearly seven months, the situation on the ground is heating up again with a Ukrainian counter-offensive that unearthed mass graves left behind by retreating Russian soldiers in Izyum.
- Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview with Reuters that it was too early to say which way the tide of war was turning and that the outcome depended on the rapid delivery of foreign weapons to his country.
- In his first comments on Ukraine’s counteroffensive, Russian President Vladimir Putin brushed off the advances with a smile, but warned that Russia would respond more forcefully if its troops were put under more pressure.
- On the ground, Ukraine continues its offensive in the northeast, while Russia has established a defensive line between the Oskil River and the town of Svatove, protecting one of its few main resupply routes from Russia’s Belgorod region , British military intelligence said Saturday.
- The head of a counteroffensive-driven pro-Russian administration, Vitali Ganchev, accused the Ukrainians of staging atrocities in the city of Izyum.
- United Nations human rights monitors will go to Izyum “to try to establish a little bit more about what may have happened,” a spokesman said.
- Western sanctions are starting to hurt Russia’s ability to make advanced weaponry for the war in Ukraine, a senior NATO military adviser told Reuters, although he said Russia could still make “a lot of ammunition.”
Shweta Sharma September 17, 2022 7:47 am
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Ground report: Bodies were “put into sacks and thrown into trucks” at Izyum
Do you believe them…