Overview
- UK confirms that Russia targeted civilian ship in August
- Biden’s decision on whether to send long-range missiles is imminent
- After Musk’s refusal to help Ukraine, US military re-envisions future contracts
- VIDEO: After a raid, Ukraine regains control of Black Sea rigs
- Continued AFU advances near Bakhmut
- Footage shows heavy fighting in Luhansk region
Biden to decide soon on long-range missile shipments to Ukraine
According to CNN, US President Joe Biden will come to a decision “soon” on sending long-range missiles to Ukraine, according to CNN’s sources. Ukraine has been requesting the weaponry since Russia’s full-scale invasion started, but the United States has been reticent to make any such donation that could be construed as a military threat to Russian territory.
According to CNN: “Discussions about sending the long-range Army Tactical Missile Systems, also known as ATACMS, picked up substantially in recent weeks, the sources said. But ‘there’s a much greater possibility of it happening now than before,’ one official familiar with the discussions said. ‘Much greater. I just don’t know when.’”
CNN also quoted remarks by Republican Sen. James Risch about the weapons system from July: “I’m tired of hearing about escalation.”
The Idaho senator said of the 300-kilometer range ATACMS, “I want Putin to wake up in the morning worried about what he’s going to do that’s going to cause us to escalate instead of us wringing our hands and saying, ‘Oh, we can’t do that.’ Look, everything I said they should have done at the beginning, they’ve done now. God bless [Biden]. I wish he had done it a year ago.”
Declassified UK documents show Russia targeted a civilian ship in August
NATO, Ukraine to Meet Tuesday Over Russian Missile Strike
More details have surfaced about the Russian missile attack on a civilian ship in the Black Sea. Information recently unsealed by the UK Foreign Office indicates that Russia fired several missiles at a cargo ship the last week of August.
The missiles were successfully shot down by Ukraine’s forces. As it turns out, the intended target was a Liberian-flagged cargo ship, the British Government stated in a release dated Sept. 11, 2023:
“The missiles, which included two Kalibr missiles fired from a Black Sea Fleet missile carrier, were successfully shot down by Ukraine’s forces on Aug. 24. Intelligence shows that an intended target was a Liberian-flagged cargo ship berthed in the port,” the press release reads.
Watch as special units regain control of Black Sea oil rig
The Ukrainian Defense Ministry’s Main Intelligence Directorate (HUR) regained control of the so-called the Boyko Towers (gas and oil platforms off the coast of occupied Crimea) after a special-teams raid, according to Ukrinform.
The Defense Ministry statement on Monday announced that “a unique operation to regain control over the Boyko Towers oil rigs was executed by the units of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine. In particular, the Petro Hodovalets and Ukraina drilling platforms, as well as the Tavrida and Syvash rigs, were brought back under control.”
Ukraine makes more advances near Bakhmut
Ukrainian forces have reportedly advanced near Bakhmut and in the western Zaporizhzhia Region, officials from the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) announced on Monday. AFU troops have liberated two square kilometers of territory near Bakhmut over the past week and have made gains near Klishchiivka (6 km southwest of Bakhmut) and Andriivka (9 km southwest of Bakhmut), officials said.
Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar also stated that Ukrainian forces have gained a total of 4.8 square kilometers in the Tavriiske (Zaporizhzhia) area over the past week, particularly south of Robotyne (10 km south of Orikhiv) and west of Verbove (20 km southeast of Orikhiv).
Musk’s refusal to aid Ukraine via Starlink begs questions about future contracts, US says
South African-American billionaire and founder of Space X, Elon Musk, denied the Ukrainian military access to his Starlink satellite network in its bid to launch a surprise attack on Russia, and according to US Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall on Monday, this raises the issue of whether the US military needs to reconsider these kinds of agreements with entrepreneurs and corporations, he said at a roundtable discussion with reporters.
According to the Associated Press, “excerpts of a new biography of Musk published by The Washington Post last week revealed that the Ukrainians in September 2022 had asked for the Starlink support to attack Russian naval vessels based at the Crimean port of Sevastopol. Musk had refused, due to concerns that Russia would launch a nuclear attack in response.”
The Space X founder and buyer of Twitter (now “X”) had no contract with the US military when he turned down the request to assist in the defense of Crimea, however the US military has since contracted with Starlink for continued support. The US Department of Defense would not elaborate on the details of the contract with Musk, according to the AP.
Footage indicates Russian progress on the Luhansk front lines
According to reports from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), Russian forces have continued on the offensive along the Kupyansk-Svatove-Kreminna line on Monday, and advanced in the Kupyansk area as well.
Footage verified by the ISW posted on Telegram on Monday suggests that Russian forces have made gains near the forest belt northeast of Synkivka (10 km northeast of Kupyansk).
Meanwhile, Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar reported ongoing heavy fighting in the Kupyansk axis and that Ukrainian forces are repelling Russian attacks near Synkivka.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated Elon Musk was the founder of Tesla. Musk was an early investor in the company and later became CEO
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