A brief of the top stories in the Ukraine war is a s follows:
Germany has ‘crossed red line’: Russia
Germany has crossed a red line with Russia by sending arms to Ukraine, Moscow’s ambassador in Berlin said on Monday, according to Russia Today. The decision undermined decades of reconciliation since the end of World War II and the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union, the diplomat added.
In the meantime, Sputnik has cited German media as reporting that in late August, Ukrainian diplomats had repeatedly asked Germany to provide additional heavy weapons, but so far, without success. The German defense ministry reportedly justified its refusal by saying that the German Bundeswehr needed these weapons to fulfill its obligations in NATO.
Russian Air Defense downs 5 Ukrainian drones, 8 HIMARS, Olkha missiles
Russian Air Defense systems downed five Ukrainian drones and intercepted eight HIMARS and Olkha multiple launch rocket systems in the past 24 hours, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Lieutenant General Igor Konashenkov said Monday, according to TASS
"In the past 24 hours, air defense systems downed five unmanned aerial vehicles near settlements of Nikolayevka (LPR), Slavnoye (DPR), Petrovka (Zaporozhye Region), Bezvodnoye and Vishnyovoye (Kherson Region). Also, eight HIMARS and Olkha missiles were eliminated near the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Dam, settlements of Lyubimovka, Berislav and Tavriyskoye (Kherson Region)," the spokesman said.
Reports of Russian missile strikes in central Kharkiv
Following a weekend of the Ukrainian military gaining ground in the Kharkiv region, claiming to have forced Russian forces out of more than 20 towns and villages, there are reports of incoming rockets and explosions in central Kharkiv, the Guardian newspaper reported.
In total, Ukrainian forces recaptured about 500 sq km of territory in the south of the country over the past two weeks, Reuters has been cited by Guardian as reporting.
Ukrainian forces lost over 300 servicemen on Nikolayev — Krivoi Rog direction
krainian Armed Forces lost over 300 servicemen as permanent casualties and up to 1,000 servicemen as injured at the Nikolayev - Krivoi Rog direction, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Lieutenant General Igor Konashenkov said Monday.
"In the past 24 hours, the Kyiv lost over 300 Ukrainian servicemen as killed and up to 1,000 servicemen as injured on this operational direction," he said, according to TASS.
Russian energy revenues forecast to soar
Russia expects to receive a boost in revenues from energy exports this month, according to its finance ministry, RT reported. September is expected to bring an extra $6.67 billion into the state coffers, adding to August’s additional earnings of $1.4 billion.
“Thus, the total amount of funds to be received as additional oil and gas revenues will reach $8.07 billion,” the ministry said in a statement released last week.
According to the statement, the finance ministry is not planning to purchase foreign currency or gold with the extra funds received through energy sales.
Kremlin: Kyiv must be forced to stop shelling Zaporozhye nuclear plant
According to Sputnik news agency, the nuclear power plant in the Zaporozhye region, the biggest in Europe, has been under shelling by Ukrainian forces for almost two months, despite calls from Moscow to stop to avert a nuclear disaster. The Kremlin dismissed Kyiv's claims of targeting Russian weapons placed there as false and accused Ukraine of nuclear blackmail.
Russia is not planning on pulling out its troops out from the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has stated in response to a journalist's question about whether Moscow would honor such a request from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Peskov further stated that in the context of the situation at the ZNPP, the key issue right now is to stop its shelling by Ukrainian troops.
MNA