KYIV/UNITED NATIONS听–听奥辞谤濒诲听濒别补诲别谤蝉听meeting at the United Nations in New York denounced听搁耻蝉蝉颈补‘s听颈苍惫补蝉颈辞苍听of听鲍办谤补颈苍别, as Moscow-installed聽濒别补诲别谤蝉听in occupied areas of four Ukrainian regions announced听辫濒补苍蝉听to hold听谤别蹿别谤别苍诲耻尘s on joining听搁耻蝉蝉颈补聽in coming days.
In the apparently coordinated move, pro-Russian figures announced听谤别蹿别谤别苍诲耻尘s for Sept. 23-27 in Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia provinces, representing around 15% of Ukrainian territory, or an area about the size of Hungary.
“The听搁耻蝉蝉颈补ns can do whatever they want. It will not change anything,”听鲍办谤补颈苍别‘s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Tuesday in response to reporters’ questions at the United Nations where聽濒别补诲别谤蝉听were arriving for a General Assembly meeting dominated by the war in听鲍办谤补颈苍别.
In a tweet, he added: “鲍办谤补颈苍别听has every right to liberate its territories and will keep liberating them whatever听搁耻蝉蝉颈补聽has to say.”
If the听谤别蹿别谤别苍诲耻尘聽plan “wasn’t so tragic it would be funny,” French President Emmanuel Macron told reporters ahead of the UN assembly in New York.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Feb. 24 ordered what he calls a “special military operation” in听鲍办谤补颈苍别聽to root out dangerous nationalists and “denazify” the country. The war has killed thousands, destroyed cities and sent millions fleeing their homes in the former Soviet republic.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Putin will only give up his “imperial ambitions” that risk destroying听鲍办谤补颈苍别聽and听搁耻蝉蝉颈补聽if he recognizes he cannot win the war.
“This is why we will not accept any peace dictated by听搁耻蝉蝉颈补聽and this is why听鲍办谤补颈苍别聽must be able to fend off听搁耻蝉蝉颈补‘s attack,” Scholz said in his first address to the General Assembly.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told the assembly the UN’s credibility was in danger because of the听颈苍惫补蝉颈辞苍听by听搁耻蝉蝉颈补, a permanent member of the Security Council, and reforms of the council were needed.聽
“Russia‘s听颈苍惫补蝉颈辞苍听of听鲍办谤补颈苍别聽is a conduct that tramples the philosophy and principles of the U.N. charter … It should never be tolerated,” Mr. Kishida said.
JUSTIFICATION TO MOBILIZE
Some pro-Kremlin figures framed the听谤别蹿别谤别苍诲耻尘s for occupied regions as an ultimatum to the West to accept听搁耻蝉蝉颈补n territorial gains or face an all-out war with a nuclear-armed foe.
“Encroachment onto听搁耻蝉蝉颈补n territory is a crime which allows you to use all the forces of self鈥揹efense,” Dmitry Medvedev, a former听搁耻蝉蝉颈补n president and now hawkish deputy chairman of Putin’s Security Council, said on social media.
Reframing the fighting in occupied territory as an attack on听搁耻蝉蝉颈补聽could give Moscow a justification to mobilize its 2 million-strong military reserves. Moscow has so far resisted such a move despite mounting losses.
U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said Washington was aware of reports Putin might be considering ordering a mobilization. That would do nothing to undermine听鲍办谤补颈苍别‘s ability to push back听搁耻蝉蝉颈补n aggression, Mr. Sullivan said, adding that Washington rejected any such听谤别蹿别谤别苍诲耻尘s “unequivocally”.
搁耻蝉蝉颈补听already considers Luhansk and Donetsk, which together make up the Donbas region Moscow partially occupied in 2014, to be independent states.听鲍办谤补颈苍别聽and the West consider all parts of听鲍办谤补颈苍别聽held by听搁耻蝉蝉颈补n forces to be illegally occupied.
搁耻蝉蝉颈补听now holds about 60% of Donetsk and had captured nearly all of Luhansk by July after slow advances during months of intense fighting.
Those gains are now under threat after听搁耻蝉蝉颈补n forces were driven from neighboring Kharkiv province this month, losing control of their main supply lines for much of the Donetsk and Luhansk front lines.
‘SOME NOISE’
“The situation on at the front clearly indicates the initiative is with听鲍办谤补颈苍别,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a video address released early on Wednesday.
Ukraine‘s position did not change because of “some noise” from听搁耻蝉蝉颈补, Mr. Zelenskiy added in a reference to the听谤别蹿别谤别苍诲耻尘s.
In Kherson, where the regional capital is the only major city听搁耻蝉蝉颈补聽has so far captured intact since the听颈苍惫补蝉颈辞苍,听鲍办谤补颈苍别聽has launched a major counter-offensive.
In the south,听搁耻蝉蝉颈补聽controls most of Zaporizhzhia, including Europe’s largest nuclear power plant. The plant, operated by Ukrainian staff, has suffered damage from shelling, fuelling fears of a radioactive disaster.
Ukraine‘s nuclear energy firm Energoatom said power to the plant’s No. 6 unit had been disrupted by shelling early on Wednesday, requiring the start of two emergency generators for safety systems to ensure the operation of the fuel cooling pumps. – Reuters
