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The US on Wednesday announced it was sending depleted uranium anti-tank rounds to Ukraine, following Britain’s lead in sending the controversial munitions to help Kyiv push through Russian lines in its gruelling counteroffensive. Read our live blog for the latest updates on the war in Ukraine. All times are Paris time (GMT+2).
Issued on: Modified:
3 min
7:45am: ‘Important for Ukrainians to hear’ Blinken say Kyiv’s forces making progress
It was “important for Ukrainians to hear” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken say that Kyiv’s forces are making progress in their counteroffensive during his visit to Ukraine’s capital on Wednesday, FRANCE 24’s correspondent in Kyiv Gulliver Cragg says. This is because “they were worried that the United States was feeling quite critical of their performance in the course of this counteroffensive which started in June; they have not advanced as rapidly as they hoped.” Cragg reports that progress seems to have accelerated in recent days, and that there is “photographic evidence” Ukrainian forces have “passed what they hope is the strongest line of Russian defences” – the notorious “dragon’s teeth” anti-tank defences along the front line in the Zaporizhzhia region.
6:34am: Russian drone strikes hit Odesa region port district for fourth time in five days
Russian drone strikes have damaged port infrastructure, a grain silo and administrative buildings in the Izmail district of Ukraine’s Odesa region, its governor, Oleh Kiper, said on Thursday.
One person was injured in the attack, the fourth on the district in the last five days, he said. Izmail is home to a Ukrainian Danube river port.
4:12am: Ukrainian drones downed near Moscow, Rostov, reports RIA
A Ukrainian drone was downed near Moscow and two over the southern Rostov region in the early hours of Thursday, the RIA news agency cited Russia’s defence ministry as saying.
According to another news agency, TASS, three buildings were damaged in the city of Rostov-on-Don and one person was injured when one of the drones crashed in the downtown area. The other drone in the Rostov region fell outside the city.
3:45am: Russia says depleted uranium rounds for Ukraine sign of US ‘inhumanity’
The United States providing depleted uranium tank ammunition to Ukraine “is a clear sign of inhumanity”, Russia’s embassy in Washington said Wednesday on Telegram.
“The US is deliberately transferring weapons with indiscriminate effects. It is fully aware of the consequences: explosions of such munitions result in the formation of a moving radioactive cloud,” the embassy said, following Washington’s announcement of more than $1 billion in military and humanitarian aid for Ukraine.
2:15am: US to send controversial depleted-uranium munitions to Ukraine
The Pentagon on Wednesday announced a new security assistance package worth up to $175 million for Ukraine that includes depleted uranium ammunition for Abrams tanks, the first time the US is sending the controversial armor-piercing munitions to Kyiv.
On Wednesday, the Pentagon said the military aid would also include anti-armour systems, tactical air navigation systems and additional ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS).
Key developments of Wednesday, September 6:
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced over $1 billion of new assistance to Ukraine, which he said would help Ukraine’s counteroffensive “build momentum”, during a surprise visit to Kyiv.
Ukraine’s parliament on Wednesday approved President Volodymyr Zelensky’s nomination of Rustem Umerov as Kyiv’s new defence minister after the resignation of Oleksiy Reznikov. Umerov vowed to recapture all territory under Russian military control in his first comments in the new role.
The Russian mercenary Wagner Group is set to be proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the UK government, the interior ministry said.
Read yesterday’s live blog to see how the day’s events unfolded.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)
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