Live blog: Pro-Putin party wins elections in occupied Ukraine — Moscow

Sunday, September 10, 2023

2129 GMT — Russia's Elections Commission has said that the pro-Kremlin United Russia part had won local elections in four regions of Ukraine occupied by Russian forces, in a vote dismissed by Kiev.

Proxy officials and the commission said voters in the southern and eastern regions, which Moscow's forces only partially control, had overwhelmingly backed United Russia, claiming the party in each territory had won more than 70 percent of the vote.

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2020 GMT — Zelenskyy: Ukraine advances in south, movement in east

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that Ukrainian troops pressing a counter offensive against Russian occupying forces had advanced on the southern front in the past week while there had also been movement near Bakhmut in the east.

Zelenskyy's latest comments on the state of the three-month-old counter offensive appeared to confirm assessments by other officials of gains, however modest, in the east and south.

"Over the past seven days we have made an advance in the Tavria (southern) sector," Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address.

"There is movement in the Bakhmut sector. Yes, there is movement."

1919 GMT — Moscow claims Putin's party leading votes in annexed Ukraine regions

Russia's Central Elections Commission claimed that the United Russia party, which staunchly backs President Vladimir Putin, was leading local ballots in four Ukrainian regions occupied by Russian forces.

The Kremlin claimed to have annexed the eastern and southern territories late last year despite not having full military control over them, and the elections have been dismissed by Ukraine and its allies as a sham.

Data posted on the Commission's website purported to show that the electorate in the war-battered territories -- where Ukraine has opened news fronts -- had backed United Russia after an initial count.

The polls also being held across Russia come ahead of presidential elections planned for next year..

1826 GMT — Sabotage attempts reported at polling stations in occupied Ukraine as Russia holds local elections

Russian authorities on Sunday reported multiple attempts to sabotage voting in local elections taking place in occupied areas of Ukraine.

Polls have now closed after local elections were held over the weekend in 79 regions of Russia, with ballots for governors, regional legislatures, city and municipal councils, as well as in the four Ukrainian regions Moscow annexed illegally last year — the Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia provinces — and on the Crimean Peninsula, which the Kremlin annexed in 2014.

Balloting in the occupied areas of Ukraine has been denounced by Kiev and the West as a sham and a violation of international law.

1400 GMT — Kiev fends off new wave of overnight drone attacks

Ukraine said it had shot down most of the three dozen drones Russia launched overnight at the Kiev region.

The latest attack came as Ukraine's forces were calling for more Western support for their counter-offensive to gain back land in the east and south.

"We recorded the launch of 33 Shahed (drones) in the direction of Kiev... 26 were destroyed," the Ukrainian Air Force said.

"Drones entered the capital in groups and from different directions," Sergiy Popko, head of the Kiev City Military Administration, wrote on Telegram.

1714 GMT — Aid workers killed in Ukraine, Kiev blames Russia

Two aid workers, one Canadian and one Spanish, have been killed in east Ukraine, said Kiev blaming Russian forces and calling their deaths near war-ravaged Bakhmut "a painful, irreparable loss".

The defence ministry said Moscow's troops had killed Emma Igual, a Spanish citizen who studied at the University of California at Berkeley, and Anthony Ihnat, a Canadian citizen both working for the NGO Road to Relief.

It said in a statement that two volunteers working for the aid group had been injured in the incident in the eastern Donetsk region.

Road to Relief said in a post on its Instagram account that the vehicle the four aid workers were travelling in "came under Russian attack" in Chasiv Yar in eastern Ukraine on Saturday morning.

In "a direct hit, the vehicle flipped over and (caught) fire," it said.

1121 GMT — Excluding Russia from grain deal talks will not be sustainable: Erdogan

Any initiative to revive the Black Sea grain deal that isolates Russia is not likely to be sustainable, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a press briefing after the conclusion of the G20 summit in New Delhi.

Russia, Ukraine and Türkiye are going to continue to discuss the grain deal, Erdogan added.

Russia is willing to send free grain to poorer countries, which Türkiye favours, he told reporters, adding that Qatar had also agreed.

Erdogan said he was not "hopeless" about reviving the grain deal.

The Turkish president also held talks with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the sidelines of the G20 summit regarding efforts to revive the deal, two sources with knowledge of the matter said, without giving further details.

1108 GMT — Macron: G20 declaration not a victory for Russia

French President Emmanuel Macron said the G20, which was founded to solve international economic issues, was not necessarily the place to expect diplomatic progress on the war in Ukraine.

However, he said in a press conference the G20 declaration was not a diplomatic victory for Russia, which emerged isolated from the summit.

"This G20 confirms once again the isolation of Russia. Today, an overwhelming majority of G20 members condemn the war in Ukraine and its impact," Macron added.

0911 GMT — Ukraine says has advanced more than 1 km in the south

Ukraine said its forces leading a difficult counteroffensive had made modest headway in an area of the southern front line.

"We are moving forward! Defence Forces in the Tavria area have advanced more than one kilometre (less than one mile)," Ukrainian army commander Oleksandr Tarnavskyi said in his daily update.

0857 GMT — Russia's Lavrov says G20 summit a 'success'

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has claimed diplomatic victory, declaring a G20 summit in India a "success" after the bloc shied away from direct criticism of Moscow's offensive in Ukraine.

"We were able to prevent the West's attempts to 'Ukrainise' the summit agenda," Lavrov said as the two-day meeting of leaders closed.

"The text doesn't mention Russia at all" Russia's veteran diplomat said.

"The Indian presidency has really managed to coalesce G20 members from the global south," he added, suggesting that Russian allies like Brazil, South Africa, India and China had made their voices heard.

0731 GMT — Moscow says destroyed three Ukrainian speedboats in Black Sea

Russia said that it destroyed three military speedboats carrying Ukrainian soldiers in the Black Sea which Moscow claims were headed toward annexed Crimea.

"In the western part of the Black Sea... naval aviation of the Black Sea Fleet destroyed three military Willard Sea Force speedboats", which are US-made and were carrying Ukrainian armed forces, the Russian defence ministry said on Telegram.

The boats were "heading in the direction of the Crimean peninsula" annexed by Russia in 2014, according to the statement.

0714 GMT — Romania summons Russian charge d'affaires over drone fragments -Agerpres

Romania's foreign ministry has summoned the Russian charge d'affaires after the discovery on Romanian soil of new fragments of a drone similar to those used by the Russian military, the Agerpres website reported.

On Saturday, Romanian authorities found the second set of drone fragments to have crashed in the NATO member state in a week amid Russian attacks on Ukraine's river ports, just hundreds of metres from the Romanian border.

The attacks have increased security risks for NATO whose members have a mutual defence commitment.

"...The charge d'affaires of the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Bucharest was urgently summoned on Saturday to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, at the level of state secretary," the foreign ministry said in a statement sent to Agerpres.

0518 GMT — Russia attacks Ukraine with 32 drones, 25 downed: Kiev

Russia attacked Ukraine with 32 drones overnight into Sunday, Kiev military chiefs said, most of them aimed around the capital.

Air defences shot down 25 of them, they added, without accounting for the other seven.

"Drones entered the capital in groups and from different directions," Sergiy Popko, head of the Kiev City Military Administration, wrote on Telegram.

Debris fell in several districts, damaging an apartment in a multi-storey building, as well as road surfaces and power lines, he added, saying one person was injured.

0416 GMT — Russia holds local polls marked by Ukraine campaign

There is little suspense around the results of Russian local elections ending today, with no real opposition and a vote in occupied Ukraine denounced as "fake" by Kiev and the West.

The polls take place as Moscow has forced President Vladimir Putin's opponents into exile or jail and with criticism of the military campaign outlawed.

Russia's forces in Ukraine have organised several days of voting in four regions –– Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson –– that Moscow claims to have annexed.

Kiev has called on allies to condemn the "fake" vote. Its SBU security service warned it has a list of "collaborators" helping organise the voting, promising punishment.

But Kremlin-installed officials pressed on with the vote, seeking long-term office in areas Kiev has vowed to re-capture.

0043 GMT — Kiev targeted by drones: Ukrainian officials

Ukrainian authorities have reported a drone attack on Kiev and urged people to remain in shelters as the air defence system rained debris on the capital.

"Air defence system is working in Kiev region and in the capital. More UAVs are moving in the direction of Kiev," Mayor Vitali Klitschko wrote on Telegram, referring to unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones.

Debris also fell on the districts of Sviatoshynskyi and Shevchenkivskyi, according to Sergiy Popko, head of the Kiev City Military Administration.

He did not specify whether all the drones had been shot down.

"Information on victims and destruction is being clarified. All emergency services went to the places. The air alert continues, stay in shelters until the end of alert," he wrote just before 2:00 am (2300 GMT Saturday).

For our live updates from Saturday (September 9), click here.