live blog
Status: 09/30/2022 02:26 am
Russia has reacted with outrage to UN Secretary-General Guterres’ comments on the planned annexation. Ukrainian President Zelenskyy has called on minorities across Russia to resist. All developments in the live blog.
2:20 a.m
Russia criticizes statements by the UN Secretary-General
Russia has reacted with outrage to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ comments on the planned annexation of the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia. According to the country, Guterres does not have the right to make political statements on behalf of the United Nations as a whole. The UN Secretary-General described Russia’s plans as “a dangerous escalation” that would jeopardize the prospects for peace in the region.
2:12 a.m
Russian oligarch indicted in the US
The US judiciary has indicted the Russian oligarch and confidant of President Vladimir Putin, Oleg Deripaska, for violating US sanctions. According to the US Department of Justice, the 52-year-old aluminum billionaire is accused of trying to get his two children US citizenship by circumventing the sanctions. The indictment is also directed against his girlfriend and two helpers.
According to the indictment, they tried to allow Deripaska’s girlfriend Ekaterina Olegovna Voronina to enter the United States so that she could give birth to their children there. This was successful in 2000, but in 2022 the pregnant woman was denied entry.
The US authorities had sanctioned Deripaska in 2018 because of his closeness to Putin. The oligarch tried to circumvent the sanctions “with lies and fraud,” said Lisa Monaco, number two at the Justice Department. Although he supports the Russian leadership, he has invested “hundreds of thousands of dollars” so that his child can get US citizenship and benefit from the US health care system, the ministry said.
1:58 am
Selenskyj calls on Russian minorities to resist
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is calling on minorities across Russia to oppose the partial mobilization of the Kremlin. “You don’t have to die in Ukraine,” said Zelenskyj in his evening video address. Putin will continue to try to destroy lives and no one is obliged to take part in a shameful war.
According to a count by the BBC broadcaster, at least 301 soldiers from the predominantly Muslim Dagestan have been killed in the Ukraine war so far. That would be the highest figure for any Russian region and more than ten times the death toll from Moscow, which has a population five times larger. There is no official breakdown of Russian losses. More than 100 people were arrested last week during protests in Dagestan against partial mobilization.
1:34 am
Putin declares Kherson and Zaporizhia independent territories
In another illegal act, Russian President Vladimir Putin recognized the occupied Ukrainian regions of Cherson and Zaporizhia as independent states. The corresponding decrees of the Kremlin chief were published in Moscow during the night. According to Moscow’s internationally criticized approach, the decrees are a prerequisite for the regions to be able to apply for admission to the Russian Federation today.
1:00 a.m
Zelenskyj calls on Russians to fight: stop Putin
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called on the Russian people to rebel against Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin and to stop the war. “To stop this, you have to stop this one in Russia who wants war more than life,” Zelenskyy said in a video message released in Kyiv. Only one person in Russia wants war, he said, referring to Putin.
In another video published almost at the same time, Selenskyj also addressed the multi-ethnic region of the Caucasus in Russia in particular. He urged people to fight for their freedom and not to be sent to the war in Ukraine. In the Russian republic of Dagestan in particular, there had recently been violent protests against the partial mobilization ordered by Putin. There are complaints that members of ethnic minorities in particular are being sent to serve in the war.
Zelenskyi said Putin “spits” on human lives. Russia brings death, torture, rape and ruin. “You can still stop that.” For this, the citizens would have to stand up and “fight”. He praised the broad opposition to the partial mobilization with which Moscow is trying to cover up the failure of the Russian army.