Russia-Ukraine highlights: Kremlin accuses Ukraine of torturing civilians in recaptured territory

Ukraine's defence ministry said on Tuesday it had shot down an Iranian-made Shahed-136 drone used byRussia's armed forces in the northeastern region of Kharkiv, the first time Kyiv claimed to have eliminated one of the devices. (Reuters)

. Pope Francis, warned by doctors not to travel to Ukraine, arrived in Kazakhstan in Central Asia on Tuesday for a three-day visit to promote dialogue and peace in the ex-Soviet region.

The Argentine pope, who is forced by knee pain to use a wheelchair and has admitted he must slow down or consider retirement, will take part in an inter-religious summit in the capital, Nur-Sultan. (AFP)

. The Russian military said Tuesday it had launched "massive strikes" on all front lines in Ukraine, after Kyiv's forces made dramatic advances in a counter-offensive.

"Air, rocket and artillery forces are carrying out massive strikes on units of the Ukrainian armed forces in all operational directions," the Russian defence ministry said in its daily briefing on the conflict. (AFP)

. The Kremlin on Tuesday said that there was no discussion of a nationwide mobilisation to bolster the country's military campaign in Ukraine, days after a surprise Ukrainian offensive forcedRussiafrom almost all of Kharkiv region. (Reuters)

. Ukraine's military claimed on Tuesday for the first time that it encountered an Iranian-supplied suicide drone used by Russia on the battlefield, showing the deepening ties between Moscow and Tehran as the Islamic Republic's tattered nuclear deal with world powers hangs in the balance.

US intelligence publicly warned back in July that Tehran planned to send hundreds of the bomb-carrying drones to Russia to aid its war on Ukraine.

While Iran initially denied it, the head of its paramilitary Revolutionary Guard has boasted in recent days about arming the world's top powers.

A Ukrainian military official, as well as a pro-Ukrainian army website closely associated with the military, published images of the wreckage of the drone. It resembled a triangle, or delta-shaped, drone flown by Iran known as the Shahed, or “Witness” in Farsi.

. A Ukrainian soldier helps a wounded fellow soldier on the road in the freed territory in the Kharkiv region, Ukraine, Monday, Sept. 12, 2022. Ukrainian troops retook a wide swath of territory from Russia on Monday, pushing all the way back to the northeastern border in some places, and claimed to have captured many Russian soldiers as part of a lightning advance that forced Moscow to make a hasty retreat. Credit: AP/PTI

. The Russian rouble weakened on Tuesday, trading at 60-61 against the dollar with the market bracing for U.S. inflation data, Russia's expected return to borrowing this week and Friday's benchmark interest rate decision.

At 0721 GMT, the rouble was 0.4% weaker against the dollar at 60.46 and versus the euro had lost 0.7% to trade at 61.21.

Promsvyazbank analysts said the rouble may test the 60 mark against the greenback this week, but volatility is likely to remain subdued.

. DIPLOMACY, TRADE

* US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said it was still early days in Ukraine's counteroffensive against the Russian military, but Ukrainian forces have made "significant progress."

* The International Monetary Fund's executive board reviewed a plan on Monday that would help Ukraine and other countries hit hard by Russia's war, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

* The Kremlin said it saw no prospect of peace talks and that what it calls the "special military operation" in Ukraine would achieve its goals.

. FIGHTING

* Zelenskiy said Ukrainian forces had retaken 6,000 square km (2,400 square miles) of Russian-held territory since the beginning of the month.

* Russia has largely ceded its gains near Kharkiv and many of the withdrawing Russian soldiers have exited Ukraine, a senior US military official said.

* Vitaly Ganchev, the Russian-installed head of Moscow's occupation administration in what remained of Russian-held territory in Kharkiv region, acknowledged that Ukraine's troops had broken through to the frontier.

* Ukraine's general staff said its forces had recaptured more than 20 towns and villages in just the past day.

* At least 1,000 people have been killed in the last six months in fighting in the city of Izium but the real figure is probably much higher, an official said, two days after Kyiv's forces recaptured the major supply hub.

* Britain's defence ministry said Russia had probably ordered the withdrawal of its troops from the entire occupied Kharkiv region west of the Oskil River.

* Faced with one of its worst defeats in nearly seven months of war, the Kremlin insisted it would achieve its military goals and Putin maintained an air of business as usual.

. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called on the West to speed up deliveries of weapons systems as Ukrainian troops move to consolidate control over a large swath of northeastern territory seized back from Russia.

Since Moscow abandoned its main bastion in northeastern Ukraine on Saturday, marking its worst defeat since the early days of the war, Ukrainian troops have recaptured dozens of towns in a stunning shift in battleground momentum.

. Ukraine has been a very effective proving ground for the use of contemporary information technology in war, from satellite dishes to smartphone apps, Eric Schmidt, the former Google chief executive, said Monday.

Schmidt, now a US government consultant on artificial intelligence, told reporters after a 36-hour visit to the country that the civilian tech sector has been crucial to Kyiv's defense.

The proof came the day after Russian troops invaded on February 24.

. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will speak with International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva on Tuesday, two sources familiar with the plan told Reuters, as Ukraine continues to press the global lender for a full-fledged financing program.

Ukrainian officials have said they are seeking an IMF program worth as much as $15 billion to $20 billion, although such a large amount is seen as unlikey to win IMF approval.

. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Monday that Ukrainian forces had made important progress in their counter-offensive against Russian troops, although it was too early to predict the outcome.

"Clearly we've seen significant progress by the Ukrainians, particularly in the northeast, and that is a product of the support we've provided, but first and foremost it's a product of the extraordinary courage and resilience of the Ukrainian armed forces and the Ukrainian people," Blinken told reporters in Mexico City.

. Since the beginning of this month, Ukrainian forces have liberated over 6,000 sq.km of the war-torn nation's territory from Russian forces, says President Volodymyr Zelensky.

In his nightly video address, the President said on Monday: "Since the beginning of September, our warriors have liberated more than 6,000 sq km of Ukrainian territory in the east and south. Our troops are continuing to advance."

. Ukraine said Monday that its forces regained yet more ground in the past 24 hours and retook an area seven times the size of Kyiv this month, as Russia responded with strikes on some recaptured areas.

The territorial shifts marked one of Russia's biggest reversals since its troops were turned back from Kyiv in the earliest days of the nearly seven months of fighting, yet Moscow signalled it was no closer to agreeing to a negotiated peace.

Russia-Ukraine highlights: Kremlin accuses Ukraine of torturing civilians in recaptured territory

Russia says delivering 'massive' strikes on Ukraine front lines

Kremlin accuses Ukraine of torturing civilians in recaptured territory

Kremlin: No discussion of mobilisation after military setbacks in Ukraine

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