New Deputy Defense Ministers and return of Wagner mercenaries to the frontline — highlights for September 27
The government appoints new deputy defense ministers. Russia redeploys former Wagner PMC mercenaries to eastern Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a law introducing a new type of criminal punishment under martial law in Ukraine — probationary supervision. We have collected the key news for September 27.
New Deputy Defense Ministers were appointed
The Cabinet of Ministers has appointed new Deputies to Defense Minister Rustem Umerov.
Thus, Yurii Dzhyhyr and Nataliia Kalmykova were appointed deputy ministers, and Kateryna Chornohorenko was appointed deputy head of the Ministry of Defense for Digital Development, Digital Transformation, and Digitalization.
Dzhyhyr is the Deputy Minister of Finance, and Kalmykova is currently the Executive Director of the Ukrainian Veterans Fund of the Ministry of Veterans. Chornohorenko is a project manager at the Ministry of Digital Transformation.
Before this appointment, NV, citing a source in the Cabinet of Ministers, wrote that the head of the Ministry of Digital Transformation, Mykhailo Fedorov, lobbied for Chornohorenko to replace former Deputy Defense Minister Vitalii Deineha.
Wagner mercenaries at the front
The Eastern Group of the Armed Forces of Ukraine confirmed to hromadske that Russia is again sending former members of the Russian PMC Wagner, who were in Belarus, to eastern Ukraine. They have been tasked with regaining lost ground in Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
In a commentary to RBC-Ukraine, Illia Yevlash, a spokesman for the Eastern Military Group, clarified that these are the remnants of this formation - about 500 soldiers. Therefore, according to him, the Wagnerites will not pose a significant threat.
Earlier, CNN reported, citing an unnamed Ukrainian military officer, that the Wagner PMC had returned to Bakhmut.
Advisor to the head of the Presidential Office Mykhailo Podolyak said that by deploying Wagner's mercenaries to eastern Ukraine, Russia is trying to block the news of the liberation of Klishchiivka and Andriivka by the Ukrainian army.
Probationary supervision
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy has signed a law introducing a new type of criminal punishment under martial law — probation supervision.
It provides for a comprehensive impact on the offender without isolation from society. Such a sentence can be imposed for a period of 1 to 5 years (1-2 years for minors).
According to the draft law, the punishment in the form of probationary supervision will consist of restricting the rights and freedoms of the convicted person, as defined by law and established by a court verdict, with the use of supervisory and social and educational measures without isolation from society.
The authors of the law assure that it will contribute to the humanization of the penitentiary system and expand opportunities for correction without isolation from society.
Poland and Ukraine discuss grain licensing
Ukraine's Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food Mykola Solskyi held an online meeting with Polish Minister of Agriculture Robert Telus amid the "grain crisis".
Poland emphasized that its position remains unchanged: grain from Ukraine cannot enter the Polish market, and that some statements from the Ukrainian side were "too emotional".
The parties discussed Ukraine's action plan for exporting agricultural products to Poland. In particular, the procedure for issuing licenses to agricultural entrepreneurs from the Ukrainian government. Poland noted that this proposal would be analyzed, but emphasized that there are no relevant procedures yet.
Solskyi and Telus agreed to meet in a week to discuss the results of the review.
Other important news
- The US Senate has approved a funding bill that will help avoid a government shutdown. It includes $6 billion for Ukraine.
- Bulgarian Parliament approved the transfer of faulty S-300 missiles to Ukraine.
- Shakheds used by Russia to attack Ukraine recently are equipped with European components, The Guardian reports.
- Azerbaijan detained the "former head of government" of Karabakh, billionaire Vardanyan. The Kremlin reacted.
- UEFA returns Russian under-17 teams to international competitions. Ukraine promised to boycott the matches.
- Defense Minister Umierov neither confirms nor denies the death of the Russian Black Sea Fleet commander.
- The Prime Minister of Canada apologizes for the speech of a Ukrainian SS Galicia veteran in the country's parliament.