Ukraine to receive additional assistance from partners, Russia gets sanctions for "referendums". Highlights of the day

Aid from the United States

The U.S. Congress has tentatively agreed to allocate approximately $12 billion in aid to Ukraine in response to a request from President Joe Biden's administration. Congress is to pass the spending bill on September 30.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced an additional $457.5 million in assistance to support civilian security in Ukraine. This assistance should boost the efforts of law enforcement and criminal justice agencies to improve their operational capabilities.

Sanctions for pseudo-referendums

The UK has introduced a new package of sanctions in response to the pseudo-referendums in the temporarily occupied territories of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhya oblasts.

The sanctions list includes Russian officials and collaborators who were sent by the Kremlin to conduct the "voting", oligarchs, board members of organizations linked to the Russian government that continue to finance the Russian military machine, "Putin's favorite PR agency" and other companies.

At the same time, fake employees were brought to Zaporizhzhya NPP to speak to Russian media and declare that they were "voting" for Russia in the pseudo-referendum.

Mobilization in Russia

In Russia, a wave of resistance to mobilization for the war against Ukraine continues. In the city of Ust-Ilimsk, Irkutsk region, a man opened fire in the military registration and enlistment office, and in Ryazan an unknown person set himself on fire at the bus station.

According to the Russian media, since September 21, military commissariats in St. Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Orenburg, Amur, Kaliningrad, Leningrad, Volgograd regions, as well as in Transbaikal, Khabarovsk, Krasnoyarsk regions and Mordovia have been set on fire. Local administrations and a branch of the United Russia party in Bashkortostan were also set ablaze.

UK intelligence believes that the Russian command will throw many mobilised Russians into battle with only minimal military training. Such units are likely to suffer significant casualties.

The same opinion is shared by Ukraine's intelligence: Andriy Yusov, a representative of the Ministry of Defense intelligence, noted that mobilization in Russia will take place in several waves. Some of the newly mobilized with little training will be sent immediately to the front to replenish losses, while others will be left to create new units and formations.

Already now, newly mobilized Russians or even those who have not yet been mobilized, are receiving many calls to the hotline to surrender.

Will there be additional mobilization in Ukraine?

The President's Office claims there is no need at this stage. Advisor to the Head of the Presidential Office Mykhailo Podolyak noted that unlike Russia, Ukraine is a pragmatic country and looks at the "mathematics of war".

"We know exactly where how many people should be. We take into account training and morale. We have already created reserves through the territorial defense system and will actively use them," Podolyak said.

The "Lutsk terrorist" was sentenced

On September 26, the Lutsk City District Court sentenced Maksym Kryvosh, who seized a bus with hostages in Lutsk in 2020, to 13 years in prison. Kryvosh was found guilty on all charges: hostage taking, illegal handling of weapons, committing a terrorist attack and attempted murder of a law enforcement officer. However, the court did not sentence the man to 15 years in prison, which was demanded by the prosecution. Also, the court decided to confiscate all the property of the convict.

Russian attacks continue

On the night of September 26, Russian occupation troops attacked Zaporizhzhya and a village in Zaporizhzhia district. As a result of the shelling, infrastructure facilities were destroyed.

In the afternoon, the Russian occupation forces launched a rocket attack on a civilian infrastructure facility in Pervomaisk, Kharkiv Oblast. Seven people were killed, including a 15-year-old girl, private houses were destroyed.

In addition, Russian troops shelled the town of Kupyansk. As a result, a church school building and a shop caught fire, one person was injured.

In the evening of September 26, the center of Kramatorsk, Donetsk Oblast, was shelled: four people were wounded, one of them is in serious condition. There is also damage to high-rise buildings and a park.