WAR IN UKRAINE: September 27, 2022
A protester is detained in Novosibirsk, Siberia. Photo: Rostislav Netisov/AFP via Getty Images
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: Day 216
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said late on September 25 that there was fierce fighting taking place on the front lines but that Kyiv was seeing "positive results."
The number of people detained in Russia for protesting against the country's partial military mobilization has risen to nearly 2,500 people across the country. Separately, a Kremlin spokesman says the Russian government does not plan to seal off borders as tens of thousands of cars with fleeing Russians, mostly men, cross into Georgia, Finland, Kazakhstan, and Mongolia - RFE/RL
The Ukrainian military discovered that Iranian kamikaze drones are equipped with American processors. Iranian Shahed-131 kamikaze drones contain processors manufactured by the American company Texas Instruments.
The referenda staged by Russian authorities in four regions of Ukraine, which have been labeled a "sham" by most Western governments, are due to conclude tomorrow. Asked whether the territories will be brought under Russia's nuclear umbrella if annexed into Russia, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said they'd have Moscow's "full protection." Kazakhstan, one of Moscow's key allies, said Monday that it won't recognize the referenda, underscoring how little international legitimacy annexation would have - Axios
Required reading..
Ukrainian priest recounts escape from Russian siege of Mariupol
By the beginning of March, the Russian army had encircled Ukrainian port city Mariupol and wouldn’t allow civilians out. Russian planes began to wantonly destroy civilian targets, killing thousands of men, women, and children. The bustling and predominantly Russian-speaking port city of 460,000 had firmly rejected Vladimir Putin’s advances in 2014. Mariupol boasted all the modern amenities, from European tulips to a popular skating rink, and had begun to make a name for itself as an IT hub. It was now under siege.
The manner in which an estimated 107,000 people got out of Mariupol still remains little understood. Russian roadblocks surrounded the city and citizens were not allowed out. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken presented an evacuation plan on March 3 which Russia quickly rejected. The international community demanded safe passage for civilians, but the Russians stalled.
The first convoy of vehicles left Russian-held Mariupol on March 5-6, and it did so without Russia’s permission. Father Pavel Kostel, a priest with the Ukrainian Orthodox Church who was in Mariupol at the time, was part of the first convoy that got out. In this September 24 interview, he explains how people cunningly circumvented the Russian checkpoints and made their way to freedom. The interview by the Atlantic Council’s Melinda Haring and Vladislav Davidzon has been edited for clarity. Read it in full here