Monday, September 19. Russia’s War On Ukraine: News And Information

Dispatches from Ukraine. Monday, September 19. Day 208.

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

Mykolaiv region. During the night, a Russian missile struck 300 meters from the Pivdennoukrainsk Nuclear Power Plant, causing a short-term power outage damaging the plants windows, according to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s Telegram channel. “The invaders wanted to shoot again, but they forgot what a nuclear power plant is,” Zelenskyy wrote. “Russia endangers the whole world. We have to stop it before it’s too late.”

Forced mobilization continues in the Donetsk region, according to Petro Andryushenko, an adviser to the mayor of Mariupol. In the village of Portovske, in the Mariupol district, Russian forces broke into civilian homes and abducted men under 40 years of age. “Loaded into a bus and taken to Donetsk,” Andryushenko wrote in his Telegram channel. “To all questions, they answer without hiding that Ukrainians are going into the army.”

The Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine established five cases of sexual violence by Russian soldiers against children aged between 4 and 16. “We work with children using a system called the ‘green room’ — with the direct participation of a psychologist who is outside the visual observation of the child, but who helps,” said Andriy Kostin, the Prosecutor General of Ukraine. “It’s complicated. But in some cases there are testimonies that can be used as evidence in these criminal proceedings.” He also noted that there are many more crimes of this category than are reported.

In July, the UN declared 124 cases of sexual violence by Russian military against the Ukrainian population during the full-scale war. But these data do not show the true scale of violence suffered by Ukrainians during Russia’s war against Ukraine.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the CEO of the world’s largest investment company BlackRock
BLK
, Larry Fink, discussed the details of attracting public and private investment to Ukraine. The meeting was held on video conference, and Zelenskyy and Fink discussed setting up a reconstruction fund in support of the recovery of the Ukrainian economy. “Ukraine is interested in attracting global capital that will create new jobs and facilitate the economy’s growth,” Zelenskyy said. “We are capable, and we want to restore a normal investment climate.”

Russia’s plans for a “referendum” in the Kharkiv region are exposed. Journalists of the Radio Svoboda project, “Donbas Realities,” received a document entitled “Strategy for holding a referendum on the entry of the Kharkiv region into the Russian Federation” from their sources in one Ukraine’s intelligence agencies. The main goal of the Kremlin plan was the annexation of the Kharkiv region by Russia through a legitimate referendum with a turnout of more than 70% of citizens and a “yes” vote of more than 75% of those participating in the voting. The document states that a total of 142,000 electors should “vote,” of which more than 100,000 will choose to join Russia. Russian authorities wanted to hold this vote from November 1 through 7 under the slogan “Tell Russia yes.”