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Russia-Ukraine war live news: Putin may announce annexations on Friday; Japanese consul ‘interrogated’ in Russia | Ukraine

Japanese consul detained by Russia

Russia’s FSB security agency said on Monday it had detained a Japanese consul for suspected espionage and ordered him to leave the country.

The consul, Motoki Tatsunori, was released after a few hours of detention, Reuters reports. Japan’s top government spokesperson Hirokazu Matsuno said he was blindfolded, restrained, and treated in an “intimidating manner” which was “a clear violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations”.

Tokyo has lodged a “strong protest” about the detention and signalled it may retaliate, Matsuno told a media briefing on Tuesday.

The FSB said the consul was declared persona non grata after he was caught “red-handed” receiving secret information on the effects of Western sanctions on the economic situation in Russia’s far east. It said the classified information, which also concerned Russia’s cooperation with an unnamed Asia-Pacific country, had been obtained in return for a “monetary reward”. Japan has said he was not participating in any illegal activity, and will leave the country by Wednesday.

Key events

The Philippines is in talks with Russia to buy fuel and other commodities, according to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, who said the country’s national interests had to take precedence over politics.

Marcos Jr told Bloomberg TV that the Philippines was in “conversations with as many possible suppliers” and was close to reaching agreements.

President Putin has previously claimed that US and European efforts to isolate Russia with economic sanctions will fail because he will instead look to Asia for new trading partners. Over recent months, Russia has courted several countries in the region, offering cheap fuel deals at a time when many are struggling with painful price rises. Indonesia is also reportedly considering buying Russian fuel.

Asked about the sanctions imposed on Russia, Marcos said the political side of striking a deal “has been of course a little tricky”, but added “nonetheless, the national interest comes first.”.

Details are still emerging about Russia detaining a Japanese consul and demanding he leave the country for alleged espionage. You can read about that in full from our Tokyo correspondent, Justin McCurry, here:

Putin may formally announce ‘accession’ of Ukrainian territories Friday – British defence

President Vladimir Putin is scheduled to address both houses of Russian parliament on Friday 30 September, and may use the address to formally announce the accession of Russian occupied territories of Ukraine into Russia, the British Ministry of Defence has said in its latest intelligence update:

There is a realistic possibility that Putin will use his address to formally announce the accession of the occupied regions of Ukraine to the Russian Federation. The referendums currently underway within these territories are scheduled to conclude on 27 September”

Russia’s leaders almost certainly hope that any accession announcement will be seen as a vindication of the ‘special military operation’ and will consolidate patriotic support for the conflict.

The general staff of the armed forces of Ukraine says that the occupied part of Kherson region is completely closed for entry and exit.

The Ukrainian military did not specify a reason for the movement restrictions.

Japan’s foreign minister, Yoshimasa Hayashi, has commented on the detention of the country’s consul, telling reporters that he was subjected to a “coercive interrogation” during his detention by Russia’s FSB security service and that Japan has demanded an apology.

Hayashi told reporters on Tuesday that consul Motoki Tatsunori had not engaged in any illegal activity and described his detention, which lasted several hours, as “totally unacceptable”.

Japan’s foreign ministry summoned the Russian ambassador, Mikhail Galuzin, over the incident, according to the Kyodo news agency. The ministry demanded that Moscow make a formal apology, Hayashi said, adding the government would consider appropriate retaliatory measures.

Images are emerging of Russia’s mobilisation in Siberia, where families are farewelling those drafted to fight in the invasion of Ukraine. Reuters correspondents on the ground report that the music of Soviet war songs mixed with the sobbing of relatives in the small Russian town of Bataysk, Omsk, as freshly mobilised reservists farewelled their families on Monday.

People bid farewell to reservists drafted during the partial mobilisation in the Omsk region. Photograph: Alexey Malgavko/Reuters

Protests against the call-up and Russia’s military operation have taken place in dozens of cities, and long queues have formed at Russian land borders with a number of countries.

A woman bids farewell to a reservist drafted during the partial mobilisation in Omsk region, Russia
A woman bids farewell to a reservist drafted during the partial mobilisation in Omsk region, Russia Photograph: Alexey Malgavko/Reuters
People react as they bid farewell to those drafted
People react as they bid farewell to those drafted in Omsk, Russia. Photograph: Alexey Malgavko/Reuters

Russian media have announced that “referendums” in four occupied territories of Ukraine are “valid” a day before voting ended, claiming the turnout had already passed 50%. Analysts have called those turnout claims “flagrantly falsified”. Russian state media agency Tass said that on Monday 26 September, voter turnout was 86.89% in Donetsk, 83.61% in Luhansk, in the 63.58% in Kherson, and 66.43% in Zaporizhzhia.

Voting is due to end today. The referendums have been repeatedly condemned by Ukraine and the west as a “sham”. Thinktank the Institute for the Study of War said:

Turnout even in a free and fair referendum, rather than the Kremlin’s sham plebiscite, would almost certainly be much lower … Even in peacetime, Ukrainians do not turn out to vote at rates as high as what Russian occupation officials are reporting; the first round of Ukraine’s 2019 presidential election saw only a 62.8% turnout.”

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) says the Kremlin “faces a daunting task in trying to calm the Russian people while still mobilising enough men to keep fighting,” in its latest Russian offensive campaign assessment.

The thinktank documented protests in at least 35 Russian settlements on September 25 and at least 10 settlements on September 26, and said police continued to suppress protests, notably detaining several hundred women in Yakutsk, Republic of Sakha.

The ISW also said that the “planned annexation of occupied Ukraine may take place before or shortly after October 1, the start of Russia’s normal fall conscription cycle, to enable the forced conscription of Ukrainian civilians to fight against Ukraine.”

Volodymyr Zelenskiy has called Russia’s mobilisation “a frank attempt to give commanders on the ground a constant stream of “cannon fodder”,” in his nightly address on Monday evening.

Russian society is not yet aware of all the brutality of the Russian government towards its own people. But we must do everything so that every citizen of Russia recognises that his own state is depriving him of the most important thing – the right to life.”

The president’s comments were published to Telegram.

Japanese consul detained by Russia

Russia’s FSB security agency said on Monday it had detained a Japanese consul for suspected espionage and ordered him to leave the country.

The consul, Motoki Tatsunori, was released after a few hours of detention, Reuters reports. Japan’s top government spokesperson Hirokazu Matsuno said he was blindfolded, restrained, and treated in an “intimidating manner” which was “a clear violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations”.

Tokyo has lodged a “strong protest” about the detention and signalled it may retaliate, Matsuno told a media briefing on Tuesday.

The FSB said the consul was declared persona non grata after he was caught “red-handed” receiving secret information on the effects of Western sanctions on the economic situation in Russia’s far east. It said the classified information, which also concerned Russia’s cooperation with an unnamed Asia-Pacific country, had been obtained in return for a “monetary reward”. Japan has said he was not participating in any illegal activity, and will leave the country by Wednesday.

Summary

Good morning. I’m Tess McClure, and will be beginning our live coverage with you. It’s just after 7am in Kyiv. Here’s the latest news and what’s happened overnight:

  • Russia’s “referendums” in Ukraine, which could lead to Moscow annexing 15% of the country’s territory, are due to end on Tuesday. Voting in the eastern provinces of Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia began on Friday and have been dismissed as a sham by western nations, which have pledged not to recognise the results.

  • The Kremlin said it had made no decision on closing Russia’s borders as the first mobilisation since the second world war prompted some to flee.

  • Russia detained a Japanese consul for suspected espionage on Monday, and has ordered him to leave the country. Japan alleges he was blindfolded and restrained. Tokyo has lodged a “strong protest” about the detention and signalled it may retaliate.

  • A Russian man shot the leader of the local military draft committee in a Siberian town on Monday, after telling him he would refuse to fight in Ukraine. Video showed the gunman, dressed in camouflage, firing at the official from point-blank range as other potential draftees for the Russian invasion fled the room.

  • The Nord Stream 2 pipeline’s pressure collapsed mysteriously on Monday. Authorities in Germany are trying to establish what caused the sudden drop in pressure in the defunct pipeline, with a spokesperson for its operator saying it could have been a leak.

  • Long queues of vehicles formed at the border crossing between Russia and Mongolia as people continue to flee the Kremlin’s mobilisation order. The head of a checkpoint in the town of Altanbulag said more than 3,000 Russians had entered Mongolia via the crossing since Wednesday.

  • Nato air forces are conducting drills over the Baltic Sea. Member states including the UK, Germany and Italy have taken part in the military training, both over water and on land, in an effort to boost eastern defences.

  • The Netherlands has increased its military support for Ukraine. The prime minister, Mark Rutte, also announced new sanctions in response to Russia’s mobilisation and referendums.

  • The US pledged to provide Ukraine with $457.5m in civilian security aid. The support was aimed at “saving lives” and “bolstering” Ukrainian law enforcement, said the secretary of state, Antony Blinken.

  • The Russian Orthodox Church head says Russian soldiers who die on the battlefield will have their sins absolved. Patriach Kirill, a close ally of President Vladimir Putin and a staunch supporter of the Ukraine invasion, said the “sacrifice washes away all sins”.

  • The UK announced 92 new sanctions in response to Russia’s “sham referendums” in Ukraine. The package of penalties target those behind the sham votes as well as oligarchs and board members.

  • Germany is debating whether it should grant asylum to Russian war refuseniks. The interior minister, Nancy Faeser, said the country was potentially prepared to give protection to deserters who face repercussions if they refused to fight, but each case would be decided on an individual basis amid security concerns.

  • The UN’s atomic energy watchdog says it is ready for talks about setting up a protection zone around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. The International Atomic Energy Agency head met the foreign ministers of Russia and Ukraine at the UN general assembly last week to discuss the possibility.

  • The US has warned of horrific consequences if Russia follows through with its thinly veiled threats to use nuclear weapons. Antony Blinken said any use of the weapons would have a “catastrophic” impact across the world.

  • Negotiators of a spending bill in the US Congress have agreed to include nearly $12bn in new military and economic aid to Ukraine, Reuters reported sources as saying on Monday. The funding – requested by the Biden administration – would include $4.5bn for defence capabilities and equipment for Ukraine and $4.5bn in direct support to the Kyiv government, the sources said.

  • Ukraine claims some Russian conscripts from the Kremlin’s mass mobilisation are being sent directly to the frontlines without training. Those included newly drafted personnel in Crimea as well as conscripts in the Luhansk region who have received draft summonses in recent days.

  • Volodymyr Zelenskiy has vowed to liberate the entire country as Russia presses on with its supposed referendum in occupied areas of Ukraine. The Ukrainian president said the country’s armed forces would throw out Russia’s forces and retaliate against “every strike of the aggressor”.



https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2022/sep/27/russia-ukraine-war-live-news-voting-in-sham-referendums-due-to-end-japanese-consul-interrogated-in-russia Russia-Ukraine war live news: Putin may announce annexations on Friday; Japanese consul ‘interrogated’ in Russia | Ukraine

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