Putin meets Kim Jong Un, Ukraine reports successes at the front – the night update Putin meets Kim Jong Un, Ukraine reports successes at the front – the night update

Putin’s meeting with Kim Jong-un

President Vladimir Putin is expected to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in the Russian Far East on Wednesday. The location and time of the meeting were not initially announced. One possible meeting point was Russia’s new Vostochny cosmodrome, where Putin arrived in the morning after attending an economic forum in Vladivostok, state news agency TASS said. His guest from isolated communist North Korea traveled to the meeting in a heavily armored special train.

It is assumed that Putin and Kim will be allowed to discuss arms transactions. Russia urgently needs ammunition for its war of aggression against Ukraine. North Korea, in turn, will likely hope for Russian technology to build satellites and nuclear submarines, for example. For Kim, who previously emphasized the “strategic importance of the relationship” between the two countries, it is the second visit to Russia after a meeting with Putin in Vladivostok in April 2019.

Ukraine: successes at the front

In the fight against the Russian invasion, the Ukrainian General Staff reported progress on long-fought parts of the front on Tuesday evening. Ukraine’s Energy Ministry, meanwhile, denied reports that power cuts were planned from October 1. A rocket attack was reported on the Russian-occupied port city of Sevastopol from Crimea’s Black Sea peninsula, wounding 20 people.

The general staff in Kiev said there had been “partial successes” in the town of Klishchiyivka, south of the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut. The Russian army captured Bakhmut in the Donetsk region in May after months of costly fighting. However, Ukraine is now attacking north and south of the city and putting pressure on the occupiers on the flanks.

The General Staff reported further partial successes from the Robotyne area in the Zaporizhia region in the south. The Ukrainian army has been slowly pushing its way through the heavily undermined Russian defense lines there for weeks. Military information from both sides is often not directly verifiable. However, in this case they roughly correspond to the situation that experts can recognize with the help of photos and videos. The Ukrainian army reported Russian artillery fire and air strikes from all sectors of the front.

Governor: Major fire after attack on Sevastopol

At least 24 people were injured in a suspected rocket attack on Sevastopol Bay in Russian-occupied Crimea, according to the Moscow-appointed regional administration. A “non-civilian facility” in the port city of Sevastopol went up in flames as a result of the attack, Governor Mikhail Razvoshayev said via Telegram, as Russia’s state news agency Tass reported early Wednesday morning. According to the report, about 10 explosions reverberated through the city where Russia’s Black Sea Fleet is based. Razvoshayev blamed the Ukrainian army for the attack. Crimea was annexed by Russia in 2014, in violation of international law.

Zelensky defends disclosure of officials’ assets

In the middle of the war, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wants to reintroduce an important tool in the fight against corruption. The digital statements of government officials about their financial situation should be public again, he said in Kiev. Zelensky vetoed a parliamentary law requiring this information to remain secret for another year.

“This is not only about Parliament’s political responsibility, but also about our accession negotiations with the EU,” he said in his evening video address on Tuesday. Parliament should correct its decision in September.

The disclosure of senior officials’ assets was seen as a major reform following the wave of protests on Kiev’s Independence Square in 2014/2015. It was suspended in 2022 due to the Russian war of aggression. Parliament wanted to reintroduce disclosure, but ordered the ban to remain in place for another year. Ukrainian civil society initiatives collected tens of thousands of signatures, in violation of the law.

The Ministry of Energy sees Ukraine prepared for winter

During the past winter of war, people in Ukraine were often left in the dark and cold, as the Russian army systematically bombed power stations and other parts of the energy infrastructure from the air and the damage could only be repaired in an improvised manner. “The electricity, coal, oil and gas industries are currently intensively preparing for the new heating season,” the Energy Ministry in Kiev said. “The electricity generated by Ukrainian power plants is currently sufficient to meet consumer needs.” That is why reports of supposedly impending power cuts from October 1 are false. However, such a scenario cannot be ruled out if Russia attacks the energy infrastructure again.

Baerbock wants a winter protection umbrella over Ukraine

Due to the danger to the Ukrainian energy system, Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock also spoke out in favor of helping the attacked country with even more anti-aircraft weapons. “My visit to the substation just outside Kiev once again demonstrated the urgency of protecting electricity, water and heat supplies from the cold season.” The Green politician said this to the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung” (Wednesday edition). “My appeal, therefore, to us and our partners: we must place a winter-protective umbrella of air defense over Ukraine’s critical infrastructure.”

That will be important on Wednesday

After arriving in Russia, Kim continued to his actual destination, according to North Korean state media. The meeting will be followed with international attention.

Meanwhile, the Vatican continues its efforts to end the war in Ukraine. For this purpose, Pope Francis’ special representative, Cardinal Matteo Maria Zuppi, is expected in Beijing. China is one of Russia’s closest allies. (sda/dpa)