Friday, September 30. Russia’s War On Ukraine: News And Information

Dispatches from Ukraine. Friday, September 30. Day 219

As Russia’s attack on Ukraine continues and the war rages on, reliable sources of information are critical. Forbes gathers information and provides updates on the situation.

By Polina Rasskazova

Ukraine applies for accelerated NATO membership.

The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in a video message, announced Ukraine is submitting an application for its accelerated ascension to the North Atlantic Alliance––NATO. “De facto, we have already completed our path to NATO,” he said. “De facto, we have already proven interoperability with the Alliance’s standards. They are real for Ukraine––real on the battlefield and in all aspects of our interaction. Today, Ukraine is applying to make it de jure. Under a procedure consistent with our significance for the protection of our entire community. Under an accelerated procedure.”

Zelenskiy added that such an accelerated procedure is possible given the fact that this year Sweden and Finland also submitted applications for joining the Alliance without a membership action plan. “It was our state that always offered Russia to reach an agreement on coexistence on equal, honest, decent and fair terms. It is obvious that this is impossible with this Russian president. He does not know what dignity and honesty are. Therefore, we are ready for a dialogue with Russia, but already with another president of Russia.”

Zaporizhzhia.

Russian missile hits a civilian convoy in Ukraine’s south, leaves 30 people dead and 88 wounded in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine. On September 30th, in the morning, Russian forces attacked a convoy of cars of civilians waiting to leave the temporarily occupied Zaporizhzhia region. “Volunteers were injured. They were just transporting medicines to the temporarily occupied territories and evacuating people from there,” wrote the mayor of Melitopol in his Telegram channel. “These were also ordinary people who were going to support their relatives and come back.”

Dnipro.

Two people died and five were injured after a night attack by Russian “Iskander” missiles in the city of Dnipro. “During the fire caused by the impact, 52 buses were burnt, another 98 were damaged,” reported the head of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional State Administration, Valentyn Reznichenko.”Several high-rise buildings, a school, a store and administrative buildings were damaged in the city.”

Dnipropetrovsk Region. Overnight, the Russian army attacked Nikopol, in the Dnipropetrovsk region. “The Russians pounded the area three times with heavy artillery,” Reznichenko said. “Industrial facilities, a dozen private houses, a water pipeline and an electric power line were damaged in the Chervonogrigorivska community. Shells hit private homes in Nikopol. It passed without casualties or injuries.”

Vladimir Putin signs a decree on the illegal annexation of the sovereign territories of Ukraine (the partially occupied territories Russia doesn’t fully control) to the Russian Federation.

In violation of the international law, the Russian president announced the illegal annexation of the temporarily occupied Ukrainian territories of Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions after pseudo-referendums that have been orchestrated by the Russian administrations and do not express the will of the population.

Responding to the pseudo-annexation of Ukrainian lands, the US government announced new sanctions against the Russian Federation.

“These sanctions will impose costs on individuals and entities — inside and outside of Russia — that provide political or economic support to illegal attempts to change the status of Ukrainian territory,” read a statement from U.S. president Joe Biden. “We will rally the international community to both denounce these moves and to hold Russia accountable.”

New sanctions include 14 people from Russia’s military-industrial complex, as well as 278 members of the State Duma and the Federation Council. “The United States will always honor Ukraine’s internationally recognized borders. We will continue to support Ukraine’s efforts to regain control of its territory by strengthening its hand militarily and diplomatically.”