Ukraine’s Plan for Victory is ready; walkie-talkies explode in Lebanon; another Ukrainian MP allegedly flees abroad: September 18 highlights

Ukraine’s Plan for Victory is ready

Ukraine’s Plan for Victory has been prepared, said President Zelenskyy in his evening address on September 18.

According to him, all points, all key emphases, the necessary appendices with details to the Plan have been identified.

“The most important thing now is the determination to implement it. There is, and can be, no alternative to peace, no freezing of the war, or any other manipulations that will simply shift Russian aggression to another stage,” the President said.

Walkie-talkies explode in Lebanon

New series of explosions are reported in Lebanon. The detonation killed at least 20 people and injured 450, Reuters reports. Images circulating online show that sources of detonation were hand-held radios used by Hezbollah.

At least one of the explosions took place near a funeral organized by Hezbollah for those killed on September 17 when hundreds of pagers detonated across the country, killing 12 people and wounding nearly 2700.

Official Beirut says Israel is behind the attack. EU High Representative Josep Borrell condemned the detonations, saying that “this situation is extremely worrying.” 

Another Ukrainian MP allegedly flees abroad

Ukrainian MP Andrii Odarchenko may have left Ukraine's territory. He is involved in an attempt to bribe the head of the State Agency for Restoration and Infrastructure Development of Ukraine.

The Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office suggested that the MP left Ukraine through the Zakarpattia region. According to the Anti-Corruption Action Centre, Odarchenko did not attend the session in the Ukrainian Parliament either. 

The prosecutor filed a motion to collect the bail and put the MP on the international wanted list.

Ukraine halts Russian counter-offensive in Kursk region

Ukrainian forces halted the Russian counter-offensive in the Kursk region. Part of its territory remains under the control of the Defence Forces, said Oleksii Dmytrashkivsky, spokesman for the Ministry of Defence.

The Russian army tried to attack the positions of Ukrainian units from the flanks but was stopped. Dmytrashkivsky admitted that the Russians did have some successes, “the Russians entered one of the settlements. They started fighting for another settlement, but that's all.”

Dmytrashkivsky also said that there are still many civilians on the territory of the Kursk region controlled by Ukraine. In some settlements, there are more than a hundred or even more than 500 residents.

Ukraine hit Russian ammo depot in Tver region 

Ukrainian drones targeted a Russian ammo depot in Toropets in the Tver region on September 18. According to our source, the depot stored Iskander operational tactical missile systems, Tochka-U tactical missile systems, KABs, and artillery ammunition.

The attack was a joint operation by the Security Service of Ukraine, Ukraine's Military Intelligence and Special Operations Forces.

New investigation by hromadske

Our journalists found out that sanctioned businessman Vadym Iermolaiev is involved in the construction of the National Memorial Military Cemetery.

Cypriot businessman from Dnipro, who is now under sanctions of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, tried several times to re-register his Ukrainian assets during 2024. hromadske investigators found out exactly how this happened, who helped him, and also why Yermolayev's tricks ended with the possible disruption of the construction of the National Military Cemetery.

Ukraine’s Parliament increases defense spendings

Ukraine’s Parliament adopted amendments to the state budget for 2024 regarding financial support of the security and defense sector, increasing the funding by UAH 500 billion.

Other important news

• Polish media published two versions of why Ukrainian boxer Oleksandr Usyk was detained at Krakow airport on the evening of September 17.  Among the reasons cited was the boxer's "unfit condition," the other media said that the coach was not allowed on the board, which is why Oleksandr refused to fly alone.
• Unknown user in his Telegram channel threatened to commit mass shootings in Lviv schools and kill "as many children as possible." His account has now been blocked. As it turned out, the channel was administered from Russia.
• Hotel Ukraine in the Kyiv center was sold for UAH 2.5 billion. The auction winner is Ola Fine LLC owned by Maksym Krippa. This is the first large privatization in Ukraine since the start of the full-scale war.
• Ukraine’s Parliament failed to vote on de-russification of the names of 333 Ukrainian settlements.