Russia launches a barrage of missiles on Ukraine. Ukraine’s air defenses destroyed 36 of 43 missiles. Ukraine strikes the Saki military airfield in Crimea. The Ukrainian Parliament passes 99.9 per cent of laws required to open accession talks with the EU, head of the faction Servant of the People (Sluha Narodu) Davyd Arakhamia says.
Russia launches barrage of missiles on Ukraine
In the early hours of Thursday, September 21, an air raid alert was declared across Ukraine as Russia launched a barrage of missiles at Ukraine in several waves. Ukraine’s air defenses shot down 36 of 43 missiles. Explosions rocked cities in several regions, including the capital, Kyiv.
Russia used 10 Tu-95ms strategic bombers to fire Kh-101/Kh-555/Kh-55 missiles from west of Engels, Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, General Valeriy Zaluzhnyi said.
The missiles entered Ukraine’s air space in several waves from multiple directions and continued to maneuver.
Russia’s missile attacks caused damage to power facilities in central and western Ukraine, head of the state power generator Ukrenergo Volodymyr Kudrytskyi said on Facebook. Due to the consequences of the attack, there were partial blackouts in Rivne and Zhytomyr regions.
The attack also damaged power grids in Dnipropetrovska, Kyiv, and Kharkiv regions. Repair works began shortly after the all-clear was given.
Russia’s major attack on Ukraine on Thursday damaged around 40 buildings, Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said on Telegram.
Russia’s renewed attempts to hit Ukraine’s critical infrastructure on Thursday show that it will likely continue to target fuel and energy facilities ahead of the heating season, spokesperson for Ukraine’s Air Force Command, Colonel Yuriy Ihnat said.
He reminded, quoting energy officials, that Russia also struck the Kremenchuk oil refinery in a recent attack earlier this week.
“We can assume that Russia will target [Ukraine’s] fuel and energy facilities. We need to prepare for that ahead of the heating season. It’s likely that Russia plans to strike these facilities along with military targets,” Ihnat said.
Ukraine strikes Saki military airfield in occupied Crimea
Overnight on Thursday, September 21, the Security Service of Ukraine and the Ukrainian Navy launched a massive fire strike on the Saki military airfield in occupied Crimea, sources in Ukraine’s Security Service told The New Voice of Ukraine. Russian military equipment was seriously damaged.
There were at least 12 combat aircraft (Su-24 and Su-30) and a Pantsir air defense system at the airfield. There was also a training base for operators of Mohajer drones. These are the drones used by Russian forces to coordinate their air strikes and as attack drones.
Ukraine launched drones to overload Russian air defenses and then launched its Neptune missiles.
“Even Russian Telegram channels confirmed that the equipment was seriously damaged and Russian forces took heavy losses. At least 30 Russian service members were killed,” the source told The New Voice of Ukraine.
Ukrainian Parliament passes 99.9 per cent of laws required to open accession talks with EU, head of faction says
Ukraine’s Parliament has passed 99.9 per cent of laws required to open accession talks with the EU, head of the faction Servant of the People (Sluha Narodu) Davyd Arakhamia said.
On Thursday, the Parliament passed the law on national minorities. A draft law on politically engaged individuals passed the first reading, he said.
It is widely debated and “specific”, he said. Still, it will pass the second reading in a few weeks.
“That’s it, the Parliament has done its homework. We’re passing it on to the Cabinet of Ministers. We’ll help them with anything they might need,” Arakhamia said.
On June 17, 2022, the European Commission recommended to grant Ukraine the EU candidate status if the following seven steps are implemented. These steps are set to reform the Constitutional Court, continue the judicial reform and anticorruption efforts, complete the appointment of the head of the Specialized Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office, combat money laundering, reduce the influence of oligarchs, harmonize the audiovisual legislation with that of the EU, and amend the law on minorities.
On August 17, Ukraine’s Vice Prime Minister on European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, Olha Stafenishyna said that Ukraine will not complete all seven steps by October, but accession talks will open by the end of the year.
Are Western elites pushing Ukraine toward peace? #509
In today’s episode, we talk about the ever more noticeable trend among some Western elites that suggests pressuring Ukraine into making concessions to Russia for the sake of peace, even at the cost of disregarding Ukraine’s territorial integrity. Our guest in this episode tell how this trend is rooted in outdated geopolitical thinking that contrasts with the innovative and economically advanced part of the Western world. Watch UIF episode #509 to see how this issue highlights the need for the Western world to align its geopolitical mindset with the 21st century or risk internal conflict.
Guests:
- Archil Tsintsadze, security policy expert.
- Volodymyr Tsybulko, political expert.
- Ihor Seletskyi, Director of the NGO “Euro-Atlantic Course”