A passenger train and freight train collided Friday night in central Croatia, killing at least three people and injuring another 11 or more, authorities said.

The collision happened around 9:30 p.m. near the town of Novska, which is close to Croatia’s border with Bosnia, police said in a statement.

“The impact was huge,” said Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, who rushed to the scene with other government officials.

Plenkovic confirmed that so far the bodies of three people were found at the site of the accident, but he said more victims could still be found.

The injured have been hospitalized, some with serious injuries but none in life-threatening condition, he added.

“It’s nighttime, there is no light, we don’t know at the moment if there are more victims,” said Plenkovic.

The cause of the collision was not immediately clear.

The passenger train was a local line carrying 13 people, while only the engine driver was in the freight train, said Plenkovic. He said foreign citizens were among the injured.

Officials said both trains were pushed off the rails after the collision. An investigation has been launched to determine what caused the collision.
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Ukraine announced major advancements in a strategic military counteroffensive against Russian forces, retaking a vital city and causing thousands of Russian soldiers to retreat from territory in northeastern Ukraine that they had held since the start of the war in late February. 

Ukrainian forces reported Saturday that they had gained control of Izyum and pushed Russian soldiers across the Oskil River. Russia’s Defense Ministry confirmed it had pulled its forces out of Izyum, claiming the move was planned.   

Reports of the claims could not be independently verified. Western military analysts say if the advances are confirmed, it would put the Ukrainians in control of a main railway that Moscow uses to supply thousands of troops in eastern Ukraine. 

In other developments, a pro-Russia separatist leader was quoted as saying there also was fierce fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces in the Donetsk region. 

Denis Pushilin said the situation in the town of Lyman was “very difficult” and there was fighting in “a number of other localities,” particularly in the northern part of the region. 

Military analysts say Russia is believed to be sending reinforcements to the area, where it plans to launch new attacks against Ukrainian controlled sections of Donetsk. 

Moscow regrouping

Meanwhile, Moscow announced it was regrouping its forces in the eastern Kharkiv region of Ukraine. 

“To achieve the goals of the special military operation to liberate Donbas, a decision was made to regroup Russian troops stationed in the Balakliya and Izyum regions, to bolster efforts along the Donetsk front,” Russia’s defense ministry said in a statement. 

The regrouping of Russian soldiers comes as residents in parts of the Kharkiv region had been advised to evacuate to Russia, according to the state-run news agency Tass. The area’s Russian-installed administrator, Vitaly Ganchev, reportedly said doing so would “save lives.” 

Lightning-fast advances

The Ukrainian breakthrough near Kharkiv was the fastest advance reported by either side for months, and it is one of the biggest gains in the war since Russian forces abandoned a disastrous assault on the capital, Kyiv, in March.  

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the country’s armed forces have liberated about 2,000 square kilometers of territory since a counter-offensive against Russia started earlier this month. 

On the diplomatic front, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock made a surprise visit to Kyiv on Saturday pledging Berlin’s unwavering support for Ukraine.   

“I have traveled to Kyiv to show that they can continue to rely on us. That we will continue to stand by Ukraine for as long as necessary with deliveries of weapons, and with humanitarian and financial support,” Baerbock said in a statement.  

Over the last weeks, Germany has sent howitzers, rocket launchers and anti-aircraft missiles to Ukraine. Heavier weapons like anti-aircraft systems, rocket launchers mounted on pickup trucks and anti-drone equipment are also expected in a further military aid package worth more than $500 million. 

 

Nuclear fears   

Meanwhile, shelling destroyed the power infrastructure at the Ukrainian city of Enerhodar where staff operating the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant live, posing a growing threat to the plant, the U.N. nuclear watchdog said Friday.  

The plant’s off-site power supplies, vital lines of defense against a potential nuclear meltdown, have been cut. And the shelling at Enerhodar has caused a lasting blackout there.  

That has prompted Ukraine to say it may have to shut down the last operating reactor supplying power to Zaporizhzhia, including the cooling systems for the plant’s nuclear fuel.  

Zaporizhzhia’s operator is not confident off-site power can be restored and that is prompting it to consider shutting down the last operating reactor, International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi said in a statement.   

“The entire power plant would then be fully reliant on emergency diesel generators for ensuring vital nuclear safety and security functions. And as a consequence, the operator would not be able to restart the reactors unless off-site power was reliably reestablished,” he noted.   

Grossi this week called for the creation of a “nuclear safety and security protection zone” around Zaporizhzhia, repeating his call Friday.  

Military aid 

The United States said Thursday it plans to send $2.2 billion in long-term military aid to Ukraine and 18 other European countries threatened by Russian aggression, and another $675 million directly to the Kyiv government in a new munitions package to fight Moscow’s invasion. 

European Union finance ministers Friday backed a $5 billion loan for Ukraine to help it keep schools, hospitals and other state operations running as it fights against Russia’s invasion, the Czech Finance Ministry said. 

The loan, to be backed by guarantees of EU member states, is part of an overall $9 billion package announced in May. The first $1 billion was sent in early August.   

Some information in this report came from Reuters, Agence France-Presse and The Associated Press. 
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Albania has suffered a renewed cyberattack, the country’s interior ministry said Saturday, blaming Iran which Tirana also accused of an earlier assault on its digital systems.

“The national police’s computer systems were hit Friday by a cyberattack which, according to initial information, was committed by the same actors who in July attacked the country’s public and government service systems,” the ministry said in a statement.

“In order to neutralize the criminal act and secure the systems,” the authorities have shut down computer control systems at seaports, airports and border posts, the statement said.  

In a tweet, Prime Minister Edi Rama denounced “another cyberattack (committed by) the same aggressors already condemned by Albania’s friendly countries and allies.”

Albania blamed Iran for the July attack and Wednesday cut diplomatic ties over the affair.

The two countries have been bitter foes for years, since the Balkan state began hosting members of the opposition People’s Mujahedeen of Iran, or Mujahedeen-e-Khalq (MEK), on its soil.

Rama on Wednesday accused Iran of directing a cyberattack against Albanian institutions July 15 in a bid to “paralyze public services and hack data and electronic communications from the government systems.”

It was the first time Tirana spoke about the alleged attack.

“The Council of Ministers has decided on the severance of diplomatic relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran with immediate effect,” said Rama.

“The said attack failed its purpose. Damages may be considered minimal compared to the goals of the aggressor. All systems came back fully operational and there was no irreversible wiping of data.”

The prime minister went on to say that Iranian diplomats and embassy staff had 24 hours to leave the country.

Iranian denials

Iran rejected the accusation it was behind the cyberattack as “baseless” and called Albania’s decision to sever diplomatic ties “an ill-considered and shortsighted action.”

“Iran as one of the target countries of cyberattacks on its critical infrastructure rejects and condemns any use of cyberspace as a tool to attack the critical infrastructure of other countries,” its foreign ministry said.

The U.S. announced sanctions Friday on Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security and its minister Esmail Khatib over Tehran’s alleged involvement.

The Islamic republic has also been targeted by cyberattacks, most notably in 2010 when the Stuxnet virus — believed to have been engineered by Israel and the U.S. — infected its nuclear program.

 
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Turkey and Greece, both NATO members, have been at loggerheads for decades over territorial and airspace claims in and over the Aegean Sea. As the historic rivals escalate their war of words, analysts warn about the risk of current tension spilling into NATO business at a time when there is a need to focus on unity against Russia amid its invasion of Ukraine. 

The latest spat began when Turkey accused its neighbor of locking onto Turkish fighter jets with its Russian-made S-300 anti-aircraft missile systems deployed on the island of Crete. Ankara also said Greek pilots placed Turkish aircraft under a radar lock over the Eastern Mediterranean during a NATO mission last month. 

Athens dismissed Turkish claims and accused the country of violating its airspace.

As both countries lodged complaints with NATO about the incidents, the deletion of a tweet by NATO Allied Land Command (LANDCOM) congratulating Turkey on its Victory Day, following a demarche by Greece, caused fury in Ankara. 

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan doubled down when he spoke earlier this week at Teknofest, an event dubbed as Turkey’s biggest aviation and aerospace festival. 

“Look at history. If you cross the line any further, there will be a heavy price to pay. Don’t forget Izmir,” he said, alluding to a defeat of occupying Greek forces in the western city in 1922. 

He echoed those words earlier this week, warning “Turkey could come all of a sudden one night.”

His remarks were perceived by Greek officials as threats, suggesting Turkey could take military action against the Aegean Sea islands. Athens says it is ready to defend its sovereignty. 

Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias asked NATO, European Union partners and the United Nations to formally condemn what he described as “outrageous and increasingly aggressive talk by Turkish officials” in letters addressed to three international bodies, copies of which were seen by The Associated Press.

In a statement sent to VOA, a State Department representative called on the two allies to resolve their differences diplomatically.

Pointing to the Russian invasion in Ukraine, Washington said statements that could raise tensions between NATO allies are “particularly unhelpful,” adding “Greece’s sovereignty over the islands is not in question.” 

The Pentagon did not comment on Turkish claims that Greece locked its S-300 surface-to-air missiles onto Turkey’s jets last week but said Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin emphasized the need to reduce tensions in the Aegean through constructive dialogue during his previous talks with Turkish and Greek counterparts.

Possibility of war  

 

Deep-rooted friction brought Turkey and Greece almost to the point of war three times in the last 50 years.

Analysts speaking to VOA say they don’t see a resolution any time soon, noting the troubled history of bilateral relations and the “tight politics” in the two nations’ capitals. 

“It will take a mediator who has the skill and some leverage to be able to come up with something that these two nations can agree with. But I don’t see that on the horizon,” said Jim Townsend, former U.S. deputy assistant secretary of defense on European and NATO policy. Townsend is currently an adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security Transatlantic Security Program. 

Philip Breedlove, a retired U.S. Air Force general who served as NATO supreme allied commander from 2013 to 2016, said the long-standing problems between Turkey and Greece rise and fall over time. 

“The leadership in Turkey is pushing the country in certain directions that have caused these tensions to rise once again as they have over the years,” the former top NATO commander said in a phone interview with VOA on Wednesday.   

 

Breedlove, who is now a senior fellow with the Middle East Institute, said NATO and the United States have managed similar tensions in the past and the alliance is still up to the task. 

Concerns about disrupting NATO unity 

The recent spat between Turkey and Greece takes place as NATO is focusing on displaying a united front against Russia in the face of its invasion in Ukraine.  

 

Experts are worried that if the tension escalates to the point of hostilities, Russian President Vladimir Putin can take advantage.  

 

“Whatever little cracks can appear in European unity, Putin can make them even larger and in fact split the rock. So, it not only undercuts European unity but also can spill over into NATO councils if one or the other country uses NATO as a weapon to hurt the other,” Townsend said.  

 

He warned that those cracks can be exploited by Moscow as winter approaches; Russia has already cut back on its gas exports to Europe. 

Election dynamics 

Turkey and Greece will both head to the polls for crucial elections next year. 

Turkish President Erdogan is said to be facing a major challenge to his 20-year rule amid the country’s economic woes and immigration problems. 

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, elected in 2019, reportedly suffered a popularity loss to some degree because of rising energy prices partly driven by the war in Ukraine. 

“Rhetoric on both sides has always been part of the problem and it’s something that doesn’t help things,” said Townsend. 

Breedlove agrees. He believes some of this is “playing to an internal audience.”

Balancing act 

The United States is known to have maintained a balance between regional rivals Turkey and Greece, which it says are both important NATO allies. 

Athens and Washington extended a bilateral military agreement for five years and the deal was ratified by the Greek parliament in the summer, days before the Greek prime minister’s visit to Washington in mid-May. The deal gives the U.S. more military access to bases in Greece.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley met with his Greek counterpart, Konstantinos Floros, at the Pentagon in July. “The military leaders discussed mutual items of interest,” said a statement from his office.

That visit was followed by Greek Defense Minister Nikolaos Panagiotopoulos’ visit to the Pentagon July 18 to meet with Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin. The two discussed the “growing defense partnership between the United States and Greece and the close cooperation on basing, [and] defense modernization,” according to a statement from the Pentagon.

They also discussed “the need to reduce tensions in the Aegean through constructive dialogue.” 

Austin spoke with his Turkish counterpart, Hulusi Akar, July 25, discussing “the need for continued efforts to reduce tensions in the Aegean through constructive dialogue.”

Turkish and Greek defense requests

Greece is seeking to acquire F-35 fighter jets from the United States. The country formally requested the fighter jets in June.  

Turkey was kicked out of the F-35 program because of its purchase of an advanced S-400 missile system from Russia. Ankara wants to buy F-16s and modernization kits from Washington. U.S. weapons sales to foreign countries are subject to congressional approval.

Analysts argue that Turkey’s decision to buy the Russian S-400 system was a huge blow to defense cooperation between Washington and Ankara, which they say has traditionally been very strong. 

Townsend, who spent 30 years at the Pentagon working on Turkey issues, tells VOA that he “mourns the loss of [the] close working relationship with Turkey,” hoping it can be restored again. 

He is hopeful that the United States will be able to provide the F-16s requested by Turkey, saying he thinks the administration — working with Congress — will be able to allow that transfer to happen. 

Retired U.S. Air Force General Breedlove maintains the same hope.

Focusing on ‘common threat’

The former NATO commander argues that Turkey made some security decisions that aligned it more closely with “NATO’s enemy,” in reference to its S-400 purchase from Russia, which was identified as the most significant and direct threat to the allies’ security in NATO’s strategic concept document. 

“The enemy is not Greece versus Turkey and Turkey versus Greece. It is NATO versus Russia. I would want Turkey to have that if they can’t have the F-35. We need to understand who the enemy is,” Breedlove tells VOA. 

He said the United States would want to move forward with Turkey because it is an incredibly important part of the NATO alliance despite recent lows in the relationship, adding he cannot speak to the policy of the current U.S. government. 

But he also acknowledged that “Greece is a little more aligned with where America wants to go in the area,” saying Washington would want to have the same kind of relationship with Turkey.

He calls on the United States and Turkey to focus on how they can bring back the same level of cooperation rather than growing apart.

Erdogan’s criticism of the West’s Russia policy

Meanwhile, Erdogan has recently accused Western nations of provoking Russia, without naming any.

Speaking at a news conference in Serbia, he suggested the “West’s policy on Russia was based on provocations.”

He vowed to continue Turkey’s balancing policy between Russia and Ukraine, adding Russia is not a country that one can underestimate.

“Russia has cut off natural gas now. Prices in Europe have skyrocketed. Everyone now broods on how they will get through this winter,” Erdogan said.

Turkey supplies Ukraine with combat drones, which are used by Kyiv to destroy Russian targets in the conflict.

Ankara also played a role with the United Nations as a mediator to secure the deal that allowed grain exports to resume from the ports in Ukraine. But it has not joined the Western sanctions against Russia.

This story originated in VOA’s Turkish Service. The service’s Dilge Timocin contributed.
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A global search for alternative sources to Russian energy in light of the war in Ukraine has refocused attention on smaller, easier-to-build nuclear power stations, which proponents say could provide a cheaper, more efficient alternative to older model mega-plants.

U.K.-based Rolls-Royce SMR says its small modular reactors, or SMRs, are much cheaper and quicker to get running than standard plants, delivering the kind of energy security that many nations are seeking. France already relies on nuclear power for a majority of its electricity, and Germany kept the option of reactivating two nuclear plants it will shut down at the end of the year as Russia cuts natural gas supplies.

While Rolls-Royce SMR and its competitors have signed deals with countries from Britain to Poland to start building the stations, they are many years away from operating and cannot solve the energy crisis now hitting Europe.

 

Nuclear power also poses risks, including disposing of highly radioactive waste and keeping that technology out of the hands of rogue countries or nefarious groups that may pursue a nuclear weapons program.

Those risks have been accentuated following the shelling around Europe’s largest nuclear power plant in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, which has raised fears of potential nuclear disaster.

In the wake of the war, however, “the reliance on gas imports and Russian energy sources has focused people’s minds on energy security,” Rolls-Royce SMR spokesman Dan Gould said.  

An SMR’s components can be built in a factory, moved to a site in tractor trailers and assembled there, making the technology more attractive to frugal buyers, he said.

“It’s like building Lego,” Gould said. “Building on a smaller scale reduces risks and makes it a more investible project.”  

SMRs are essentially pressurized water reactors identical to some 400 reactors worldwide. The key advantages are their size — about one-tenth as big as a standard reactor — the ease of construction and the price tag.

The estimated cost of a Rolls-Royce SMR is $2.5 billion to $3.2 billion, with an estimated construction time of 5 1/2 years. That’s two years faster than it took to build a standard nuclear plant between 2016 and 2021, according to International Atomic Energy Agency statistics. Some estimates put the cost of building a 1,100-megawatt nuclear plant at between $6 billion and $9 billion.  

Rolls-Royce aims to build its first stations in the U.K. within 5 1/2 years, Gould said. Similarly, Oklahoma-based NuScale Power signed agreements last year with two Polish companies — copper and silver producer KGHM and energy producer UNIMOT — to explore the possibility of building SMRs to power heavy industry. Poland wants to switch from polluting, coal-powered electricity generation.  

Rolls-Royce SMR said last month that it signed a deal with Dutch development company ULC-Energy to look into setting up SMRs in the Netherlands.  

Another partner is Turkey, where Russia is building the Akkuyu nuclear power plant on the southern coast. Environmentalists say the region is seismically active and could be a target for terrorists.

The introduction of “unproven” nuclear power technology in the form of SMRs doesn’t sit well with environmentalists, who argue that proliferation of small reactors will exacerbate the problem of how to dispose of highly radioactive nuclear waste.

“Unfortunately, Turkey is governed by an incompetent administration that has turned it into a ‘test bed’ for corporations,” said Koray Dogan Urbarli, a spokesman for Turkey’s Green Party.

“It is giving up the sovereignty of a certain region for at least 100 years for Russia to build a nuclear power plant. This incompetence and lobbying power make Turkey an easy target for SMRs,” said Koray, adding that his party eschews technology with an “uncertain future.”

Gould said one Rolls-Royce SMR would generate nuclear waste the size of a “tennis court piled 1-meter high” throughout the plant’s 60-year lifetime. He said initially, waste would be stored on site at the U.K. plants and would eventually be transferred to a long-term disposal site selected by the British government.

M.V. Ramana, professor of public policy and global affairs at the University of British Columbia, cites research suggesting there’s “no demonstrated way” to ensure nuclear waste stored in what authorities consider to be secure sites won’t escape in the future.

The constant heat generated by the waste could alter rock formations where it’s stored and allow water seepage, while future mining activities could compromise a nuclear waste site’s integrity, said Ramana, who specializes in international security and nuclear energy.

Skeptics also raise the risks of possibly exporting such technology in politically tumultuous regions. Gould said Rolls-Royce is “completely compliant” with U.K. and international requirements in exporting its SMR technology “only in territories that are signatories to the necessary international treaties for the peaceful use of nuclear power for energy generation.”

Ramana said, however, there’s no guarantee nations will follow the rules.  

“Any country acquiring nuclear reactors automatically enhances its capacity to make nuclear weapons,” he said, adding that every SMR could produce “around 10 bombs worth of plutonium each year.”  

Rolls-Royce SMR could opt to stop supplying fuel and other services to anyone flouting the rules, but “should any country choose to do so, it can simply tell the International Atomic Energy Agency to stop inspections, as Iran has done, for example,” Ramana said.

Although spent fuel normally undergoes chemical reprocessing to generate the kind of plutonium used in nuclear weapons, Ramana said such reprocessing technology is widely known and that a very sophisticated reprocessing plant isn’t required to produce the amount of plutonium needed for weapons.
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Britain’s former prince of Wales will be formally proclaimed king Saturday at St. James’s Palace in London.

Charles automatically became Britain’s king upon the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, on Thursday. He will be known as King Charles III.

Saturday’s procedure at the Accession Council will be the formal proclamation of his sovereignty and it will be the first time the ceremony will be televised.

On Friday, Charles paid tribute to his late mother, calling her “darling Mama” during his first address as head of state.

Charles, who is 73 and the oldest monarch to ascend the throne, said he would serve with “loyalty, respect and love” as his mother had done for more than seven decades until her death Thursday at age 96.

“That promise of lifelong service I renew to you all today,” Charles said Friday in his televised address from Buckingham Palace to a nation in mourning.

He said Elizabeth’s death brought a “sense of loss, beyond measure” and paid tribute to his mother.

“To my darling Mama: As you begin your last great journey to join my dear late Papa, I want simply to say this: thank you. Thank you for your love and devotion to our family and to the family of nations you have served so diligently all these years. May ‘flights of angels sing thee to thy rest,’” Charles said.

The new king said he would follow the example of his mother.

“As the queen herself did with such unswerving devotion, I too now solemnly pledge myself, throughout the remaining time God grants me, to uphold the constitutional principles at the heart of our nation,” he said.

Charles was greeted by well-wishers as he arrived at the palace Friday alongside Camilla, the queen consort, from Balmoral Castle in Scotland where Elizabeth died.

The king also held his first audience Friday with Prime Minister Liz Truss at Buckingham Palace, in only her third day in the job.

Elizabeth appointed Truss to her new position as prime minister Tuesday.

Parliament held a special midday session Friday to pay its respects to the queen, Britain’s longest-reigning monarch.

“She was the rock on which modern Britain was built,” Truss told lawmakers.

Around 2,000 people attended a service of remembrance for the queen at St. Paul’s Cathedral on Friday, including Truss and other government officials.

Elizabeth’s funeral will be held in the coming days at London’s Westminster Abbey, and that day will be designated as a National Day of Mourning, a public holiday.

Growing mountains of flowers and tributes to the queen are gathering not only at Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle, but also at British embassies and cathedrals around the world.

Some information in this report came from Reuters and The Associated Press.
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From the national anthem to banknotes and coins, stamps and passports, many aspects of daily life in the U.K. will change with the accession of Charles III to the throne. 

Currency and stamps 

The face of the new King Charles III will begin to appear on coins and banknotes in the U.K. and other countries around the world, replacing the profile of Queen Elizabeth II.

His effigy will also appear on several other currencies used in the Eastern Caribbean, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

Ditto in the Channel Islands of Jersey, Guernsey, on the Isle of Man as well as in Gibraltar, Saint Helena and in the Falklands, islands and territories controlled by the British crown.

In 1936, during the reign of King Edward VIII, which lasted 326 days, coins had been minted, but the monarch abdicated before they came into circulation.

The face of Elizabeth II also appears on the stamps, while the letters EIIR, for Elizabeth II Regina, are affixed to the post boxes, so this will need to be changed. The insignia on police helmets will also change.

Anthem and passports 

The British national anthem will become “God Save the King,” with a masculinized version of the lyrics.

A habit that will undoubtedly be difficult for the British, who have been singing “God Save the Queen” since 1952. It is also one of the two national anthems of New Zealand and the royal anthem in Australia and Canada— which have their own national anthems.  

Wording on the inside cover of U.K. passports, issued in the name of the crown, will need to be updated, as will similar text that appears inside Australian, Canadian and New Zealand passports.

When you raise your glass during official meetings, you should no longer say “the queen” but “the king.” In the Channel Islands, the unofficial formula “La reine, notre duc” pronounced in French when toasting will become “Le roi, notre duc.”

Politics and rights 

The names of Her Majesty’s Government (“Her Majesty”), Treasury and Customs will change to “His Majesty.”

It will be the speech of the king (“the king’s speech”) and not that of the queen that will present to the parliament the program of the government, opening the parliamentary session.

The Queen’s Guard, immortalized by tourists in front of Buckingham Palace, will also change its name.

The police will no longer preserve the peace of the queen but that of the king and the experienced lawyers will pass from the status of QC (“queen’s counsel”) to that of KC (“king’s counsel”).

Prisoners will no longer be held at the pleasure of “her majesty,” but will continue their terms of imprisonment at the pleasure of “his majesty,” the king.

In the army, new recruits will no longer take “the queen’s shilling,” when enlisting, as the formula indicates. Nor will they have to submit to the queen’s regulations.

The name of “Her Majesty’s Theatre” in London’s West End theater district, where The Phantom of the Opera has been performed since 1986, will also be masculinized.

And those who aspire to speak “the queen’s English” will now have to strive to speak like Charles III: “the king’s English.”  
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Britain’s King Charles III has addressed the nation and the Commonwealth — a day after ascending to the throne upon the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, on Thursday. As Henry Ridgwell reports from London, Charles must lead a nation that shares his sense of loss and sadness.
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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with NATO’s secretary-general to discuss Ukraine’s recent military gains and how European countries will get through the coming winter with less Russian gas and oil. VOA Senior Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports from the State Department.
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U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced sanctions Friday against Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security, or MOIS, for a cyberattack launched against Albania’s government computer systems in July.

In a statement, Blinken said, “In July 2022, cyber attackers determined to be sponsored by the Government of Iran and its MOIS disrupted Albanian government computer systems, forcing the government to suspend public services for its citizens.”

In a separate statement, the U.S. Treasury Department said in addition to conducting malicious cyber activity against Albanian government websites, the MOIS, led by Minister of Intelligence, Esmail Khatib, also committed cyber-espionage and ransomware attacks in support of Iran’s political goals.

The Treasury statement said Iran also is behind the leaking of documents purported to be from the Albanian government and personal information associated with Albanian residents.

Under the sanctions, the Treasury Department said all property and interests in property belonging to the MOIS and, specifically, Khatib, subject to U.S. jurisdiction are blocked, and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with them.

In his statement, Blinken said since at least 2007, Iran’s MOIS and its cyber-attacking proxies have conducted malicious cyber operations targeting a range of government and private-sector organizations across various critical infrastructure sectors.

He said Iran’s cyberattacks can cause grave damage to these governments’ abilities to provide services to civilians and disregard the norms of responsible peacetime state behavior in cyberspace.

Blinken added, “The United States will continue to use all appropriate tools to counter cyberattacks against the United States and our allies.”
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The U.N. Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities has raised concerns about the treatment of people with disabilities in China and Ukraine. The two countries are among nine whose records came under review by the 18-member monitoring group during its latest session.

The committee said it is deeply concerned about the reported detention of people with disabilities from Uyghur and other Muslim minorities in so-called vocational education and training centers in China. It said their special needs are not being met and urges China to release them and meet all their disability-related needs while in detention.

The United Nations, human rights groups and many governments have sharply criticized China’s forcible internment of more than a million Uyghurs and other Muslim groups in Xinjiang province, accusations China vigorously denies.

Committee member Risnawati Utami said a Chinese government delegation did not agree with the committee’s observations and conclusions.

“There is denial of some recommendations,” Utami said. “But, again, we work on the consensus with our committee based on the reporting that we have. … So, basically, we are trying to state what we have in the concluding observations and hope that the Chinese government will accept our concluding observations without any reservations.”

The committee held a special session about people with disabilities in Ukraine. Vice chair of the committee Jonas Ruskus said the panel heard testimony that people trapped in conflict zones had been denied evacuation and access to basic services. He said at least 12 disabled people reportedly had died in residential institutions.

“We received information that persons with disabilities, they are in institutions in territories under control of Russian Federation,” Ruskus said. “They have been kept in inhuman conditions, subjected to ill treatment and used as human shields by Russian Federation armed forces.”

Ruskus said the committee also has received reports about persons with disabilities who have been forcibly transferred to the Russian Federation or to territories under Russian control.

The committee is urging both Ukraine and Russia to immediately evacuate people with disabilities who are institutionalized in conflict zones in Ukrainian territory under their respective control.
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Though hundreds of Ukraine’s schools have been destroyed during the war, the new school year has quietly started. And while some things haven’t changed, many Ukrainian schoolchildren are facing new and frightening realities. Lesia Bakalets has the story, narrated by Anna Rice. VOA footage by David Gogokhia.
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his daily address that he and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in an unannounced visit Thursday to Kyiv, talked about a variety of topics, including designating Russia as a terrorist state.

“The legal reality must always correspond to the actual reality. And it is a fact that Russia has become the biggest source of terrorism in the world,” Zelenskyy said.  “The world must receive an unequivocal signal that Russian terror will not be forgiven.”

Also in his daily address, Zelenskyy said, “More than a thousand square kilometers of our territory have been liberated since September 1.”  The president said, “I am grateful to everyone who made it happen. I am grateful to the army, intelligence officers, and special services for every Ukrainian flag that has been hoisted these days.”

“Ukraine’s extraordinary front-line defenders continue to courageously fight for their country’s freedom,” Blinken said in a statement after meeting with Zelenskyy. The top U.S. diplomat reaffirmed President Joe Biden’s commitment to support Ukraine “for as long as it takes.”

Meanwhile, the United States said Thursday it plans to send $2.2 billion in long-term military aid to Ukraine and 18 other European countries threatened by Russian aggression, and another $675 million directly to the Kyiv government in a new munitions package to fight Moscow’s invasion.

A news pool report said Blinken “entered Ukraine’s fortified presidential administration building through a series of dark hallways with sandbags stacked over windows that eventually led to a white room with gold trim and crystal chandeliers.”

Zelenskyy expressed his gratitude for the “enormous support” the United States has sent Ukraine, praising Biden and the U.S. Congress for helping Ukraine “return our territory and lands.”

Overall, the new U.S. assistance would bring its Ukraine-related aid total to $15.2 billion since Biden took office in January last year. The $675 million in military assistance includes heavy weaponry, ammunition and armored vehicles.

Blinken said the $2.2 billion in long-term aid would “bolster the security of Ukraine and 18 of its neighbors, including many of our NATO allies, as well as other regional security partners potentially at risk of future Russian aggression.”

In a separate statement, the State Department said the aid would help those countries “deter and defend against emergent threats to their sovereignty and territorial integrity” by bolstering their military integration with NATO, the U.S.-dominated Western military alliance.

Pending expected congressional approval, about $1 billion of $2.2 billion would go to Ukraine and the rest will be divided among Albania, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Greece, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia, the State Department said.

In New York, Russia called a U.N. Security Council meeting to criticize the West for sending military support to Ukraine in what its envoy said has become a proxy war.

“NATO basically manually directs Kyiv in the theater of war,” Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia claimed.

He said it is “empty fantasies” that Western weapons will bring the Ukrainians victory on the battlefield.

“New weapons will not change the balance of forces and will only extend agony of the Zelenskyy regime,” he said.

Washington’s envoy said Moscow had nerve to suggest countries should step aside as it seeks to destroy another U.N. member state.

“The United States is committed to supporting the people of Ukraine as they defend their lives, their liberty and their democracy. We are not hiding this support,” Ambassador Richard Mills said. “Ukraine and all U.N. member states have every right to defend themselves, and we won’t stop our support to Ukraine just because Russia is frustrated that its attempt at regime change has not gone to plan.”

Earlier, at a meeting of Western officials in Germany coordinating support for Ukraine, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said, “the war is at another key moment,” with Ukrainian forces in the midst of a counteroffensive to try to reclaim lost territory in the south of the country. He said, “Now we’re seeing the demonstrable success of our common efforts on the battlefield.”

Even so, U.S. officials indicated diplomatic talks between Ukraine and Russia do not appear to be a top priority for Ukraine.

“Right now, the Ukrainians do not have a viable map from which to negotiate,” one senior State Department official said. “Twenty percent of their territory has gone, something like 30% of their industrial and agricultural potential is gone. That’s why they’re launching this counteroffensive.”

Defense ministers from Germany and the Netherlands said on the sidelines of the meeting with Austin that their countries would provide new training for Ukrainian forces on how to deactivate Russian mines and send demining equipment to the Kyiv government.

In addition to fighting in the southern reaches of Ukraine and the eastern industrialized Donbas region, shelling continued near Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europe’s largest.

Both sides have blamed each other for the attacks, even as the United Nations atomic energy watchdog agency has called for the creation of a safe zone around the facility to prevent a catastrophe akin to the nuclear plant disaster at Chernobyl in 1986.

Some information in this report came from The Associated Press.
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Britain’s King Charles III is returning to London on Friday from Balmoral Castle in Scotland where his mother, Queen Elizabeth, died Thursday.

Charles, who is 73 and the oldest monarch to ascend the throne, is scheduled to deliver a televised address to a nation in mourning Friday, his first address as head of state.

The king is also set Friday to hold his first audience with Prime Minister Liz Truss at Buckingham Palace. Elizabeth appointed Truss to her new position as prime minister on Tuesday, just two days before Britain’s longest-reigning monarch died.

Parliament is holding a special midday session Friday to pay respect to the queen.  Truss and other ministers are also set to attend a remembrance service Friday for the queen at St. Paul’s Cathedral.

Later, gun salutes are scheduled to be held at Hyde Park and other locations.

Elizabeth’s funeral will be held in the coming days at London’s Westminster Abbey and that day will be designated as a National Day of Mourning, a public holiday.

Growing mountains of flowers and tributes to the queen are gathering not only at Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle, but also at British embassies and cathedrals around the world.
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Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II has died at the age of 96 at her Balmoral residence in Scotland. She was Britain’s longest-serving monarch and this year celebrated 70 years on the throne.

Elizabeth was the only monarch most living Britons have ever known: a symbol of her nation, its empire and its Commonwealth.

Early life

Her teenage years were overshadowed by World War II, which she and her sister largely spent in the relative safety of Windsor Castle, west of London.

She personified British strength and character long before she even knew she would be queen.

In 1947, on her 21st birthday — then seen as the beginning of adulthood — she gave a now-famous televised address on her first official overseas tour in South Africa. “I declare before you all that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service and to the service of our great imperial family to which we all belong,” she said.

That same year she married the Greek-born Prince Philip. He was a distant cousin, the son of Prince Andrew of Greece and the great-great-grandson of Britain’s Queen Victoria.

Coronation

In February 1952, Princess Elizabeth and her husband were in Kenya when news broke of the death of her father, King George XI. She returned to London as Queen Elizabeth II. Her coronation, at the age of 27, took place in Westminster Abbey on June 2, 1953.

She saw a thorough transformation of society and technology during her reign of more than seven decades, a time in which she warned about the dangers of throwing away ageless ideals while embracing the advantages of new inventions. She sent out her first tweet in 2014.

Record-breaking

There are few royal records she did not break: she was Britain’s most traveled, oldest, longest-reigning monarch.

“As head of the Commonwealth, the queen has links with the past. Sometimes it’s a past that’s difficult to come to terms with because you think of empire, you think of colonial exploitation for example,” royal author and broadcaster Richard Fitzwilliams told VOA. “But so far as the queen is concerned, you think of her dedication to the organization.”

As head of state, Queen Elizabeth II represented Britain in friendships with those who held in common the British values of freedom, equality and democracy — and with dignity she faced those who did not. She traveled to more than 100 countries and met countless prime ministers, presidents, kings and queens — hosting many of them in lavish state visits to London.

State visits

Among the dozens of world leaders to visit Buckingham Palace during her reign were Ethiopian Emperor Haile Salassie; French President Charles de Gaulle; Emperor Hirohito of Japan; President Nelson Mandela of South Africa; President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe; Russian President Vladimir Putin; U.S. Presidents George Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump; and Xi Jinping of China.

The queen was not immune to criticism in her own country. Some targeted her as a symbol of an institution out of step with a postmodern, neo-liberal and democratic world – and a burden on the British taxpayer.

Diana

The death of the popular Princess Diana in 1997 was an opportunity for critics who accused her of being coldly slow to react. When she did address the nation, it was heartfelt. “What I say to you now, as your queen and as a grandmother, I say from my heart. First, I want to pay tribute to Diana myself. She was an exceptional and gifted human being,” Elizabeth said.

The marriage of her grandson Prince William to Kate Middleton in 2011 brought youthful glamour to the ancient institution.

When Prince Harry married American actor Meghan Markle seven years later, Queen Elizabeth II was at the head of a family that appeared to be moving with the times: popular, diverse and global.

Family troubles

But there were painful times ahead. Her second son, Prince Andrew, was investigated for links to convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Harry and Meghan fell out with the royal family amid accusations of racism.

The passing of Elizabeth’s husband, Prince Philip, in 2021 left an enduring image: a queen mourning alone — as the coronavirus pandemic swept across her nation.

In June 2022, Britain celebrated the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, marking her 70th year on the throne.

On Sept. 6, just two days before her death, she appointed Liz Truss the 15th prime minister of her reign. It would be her last major public duty.

Legacy

Queen Elizabeth remains a giant in the history of one of the planet’s most influential nations; a bridge between Britain’s colonial past and its future as a global player in a world vastly different from the one in which she was born.

Visiting Germany in 2015, addressing President Joachim Gauck, she spoke of the vast changes she had witnessed. “In our lives, Mr. President, we have seen the worst but also the best of our continent. We have witnessed how quickly things can change for the better, but we know that we must work hard to maintain the benefits of the post-war world,” she said.

Elizabeth will be remembered for her dedication, says royal biographer Matthew Dennison. “I think the importance of the length of her reign is simply that throughout that period she went on doggedly doing the job to the very best of her ability with total conviction — and I think with love,” Dennison told Reuters.

Britain’s royal tradition, of which Elizabeth was a steward, is now in the hands of her heirs, as her first son, King Charles III, ascends the throne. The Britain they inherit is a drastically different one in terms of demographics, culture and economics.

In a globalized, pluralistic world, their job of projecting an image of greatness is no less complicated.
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Editor’s note: VOA’s Sonya Lawrence Green happened to be in London during a historic week: Prime Minister Boris Johnson resigned, Liz Truss became the new prime minister, and Queen Elizabeth II died after a 70-year reign. Here is her account.

I was sitting in a pub in London, on a weeklong visit to the United Kingdom, when the head barman rang a bell and shouted: “The queen is dead! Long live the king!”

Everyone stood up. All eyes turned to live coverage on the large TV screen. The mood was grave and respectful and hushed for several minutes. The whole country had been on what was being called “queen health watch,” and now Queen Elizabeth II had passed away at the age of 96. The queen’s death was not unexpected, but somehow it still came as a shock.

What a week to be in London. Boris Johnson delivered his farewell speech as outgoing prime minister, Liz Truss became the new prime minister and formed a new government, and the queen passed away after a historic reign.

There we were, a group of former foreign correspondents, once colleagues, now scattered around the globe, but reunited briefly in London for the memorial of a colleague. And now, a few days later, we were chatting in a pub when this news broke. Not on duty. But still.

At our table, we got to work. Not official work, but as journalists, if there is news happening, it’s instinctual to reach for more details: call, text, share memes, ask, “Have you seen this?” “Did you know that?” “What have you heard?”

I read aloud the accession protocols, which I found on an email from my news agency, and we marveled at the incredibly specific and arcane rituals of the British monarchy, while admiring their consistency in applying those customs for 900 years.

After getting all the facts straight, we turned to more personal reactions and talk. Nina sent video, sharing the atmosphere at the pub on her social media. Josh leaned over to ask if we had seen this tweet from @TheTweetOfGod, which said: “I can only save the Queen for so long.” Jane, who was awarded an MBE by the queen at Buckingham Palace for her services to broadcasting, sent a WhatsApp message speculating that the visits by outgoing Prime Minister Johnson and incoming Prime Minister Truss this week may have added undue stress to “Betty,” as she called the queen.

I decided to walk back to my hotel to monitor the ongoing coverage. In the rainy streets of central London, people were gathered in clusters, some sharing their thoughts about what happened. Flags were being lowered; plans were being made for ceremonies to come.

A swell of pedestrians headed toward Buckingham palace with flowers, in a heartfelt urge by some to express their condolences and convene with others to share this historic moment. A double rainbow had appeared over Buckingham Palace, drawing media attention and wishful talk of it being a sign that Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth were bidding a final farewell.

I took a moment to breathe in the damp London air and reflect on the life of a woman who had served her country as queen during unprecedented change in Great Britain and the world — to reflect on those who loved or hated or were indifferent to her and all she stood for — and to know that whatever comes next, she was released from this world now, her legacy complete. 
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The U.N. General Assembly on Thursday approved the appointment of Austria’s Volker Turk as the next U.N. high commissioner for human rights.

Reuters reported earlier on Thursday that U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had proposed that Turk succeed Chile’s Michelle Bachelet, whose term ended on August 31. Turk currently works in Guterres’ office as undersecretary-general for policy.

Turk’s most immediate challenge will be grappling with the follow-up to a report on China’s Xinjiang region published by his predecessor minutes before her departure.

The report found that China’s “arbitrary and discriminatory detention” of Uyghurs and other Muslims in its Xinjiang region may constitute crimes against humanity.

China vigorously denies any abuses in Xinjiang.

“It is China’s hope that Mr. Turk will lead the office in strictly abiding by the principles of objectivity, impartiality … and non-politicization,” China’s Deputy U.N. Ambassador Dai Bing told the General Assembly.

Deputy U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Lisa Carty said Turk “must serve as an independent, impartial and unwavering voice for human rights issues around the world.”

“The high commissioner must be willing to call out human rights violations and abuses wherever they occur,” she said.

The high commissioner plays a critical role in speaking out against the backsliding of freedoms at a time when autocracies are gaining influence at the expense of democracy.

Other candidates for the job included career diplomat Federico Villegas from Argentina and Senegal’s Adama Dieng, who previously advised Guterres on genocide prevention.

Phil Lynch, executive director of the International Service for Human Rights, said Turk’s selection had lacked transparency and consultation with independent civil society.

“The secretary-general missed a key opportunity to build the legitimacy and authority of the next high commissioner,” Lynch said.
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When Queen Elizabeth II acceded to the throne in 1952, the British Empire had recently lost the proverbial “Jewel in the Crown,” India, and the subcontinent was still reeling from the bloodshed of the partition that had led to the creation of Pakistan in 1947.

Despite the bitter history of colonialism in South Asia, Ayesha Jalal, professor of history at Tufts University, told VOA, it’s “remarkable” that the queen “was not a controversial figure in the otherwise fairly dense annals of South Asian anti-colonial nationalism.”

Jalal credits “good PR [public relations].”

Salima Hashmi, a Pakistani artist and art historian, remembers as a schoolgirl waving at the queen’s motorcade in Lahore when the British monarch visited the young country for the first time in 1961.

Hashmi recalled to VOA that years later, as the principal of the National College of Arts in Lahore, she hosted Queen Elizabeth during her second and final visit to Pakistan.

Hashmi said she was impressed by the queen’s “great ease with every kind of person, and her ability to make other people feel comfortable.”

Analyzing the queen’s legacy in South Asia, Hashmi told VOA that “as someone who had inherited the idea of the empire,” Queen Elizabeth “tried very hard to make the Commonwealth viable,” but the concept faded over time.

Queen Elizabeth ruled during a period of waning British influence in South Asia.

Jalal said that despite America emerging as the powerbroker, the royals “have been able to keep a rather balanced view of South Asia. They’ve kept their cultural presence, if not their political presence, to the same extent.”

The queen visited India three times and Pakistan twice during her 70-year reign.

While Britain could have done more to address the differences between the rival nations, Jalal said the queen was “an icon, who was seen as able to do good or to try and do good in the world.”

By the time of her death, Hashmi said, the queen was a “fading imprint” for South Asia, and people would be “intrigued to know how the Prince of Wales [now King Charles III] sees his role ahead, and whether he will have that kind of ceremonial clout.”
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The United States mourned the death of Britain’s longest-serving monarch Thursday, as presidents and politicians acknowledged the singular life and achievements of Queen Elizabeth II.

“Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II was more than a monarch. She defined an era. In a world of constant change, she was a steadying presence and a source of comfort and pride for generations of Britons,” President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden said in a statement Thursday.

Buckingham Palace announced Thursday afternoon that the 96-year-old monarch had passed away peacefully at Balmoral Castle in Scotland. She was succeeded by her eldest son, Charles, now king.

Former President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle Obama, also remembered the queen in a statement Thursday.

“Like so many, Michelle and I are grateful to have witnessed Her Majesty’s dedicated leadership, and we are awed by her legacy of tireless, dignified public service,” they said.

During the queen’s 70-year reign, she worked with 14 U.S. presidents, starting with Harry S. Truman. She was welcomed in the United States on official visits multiple times, including a visit in 1976 to celebrate the U.S. bicentennial; in 1991. when she addressed a joint session of Congress; and in 2007, when she visited Virginia to mark the 400th anniversary of the founding of Jamestown. It was the first permanent English settlement in the Americas.

“Queen Elizabeth offered a master class in grace and strength, power and poise. Her extraordinary life and leadership will continue to inspire young women and girls in public service, now and for generations to come,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement.

“Personally, it was an honor to be on the floor of the House during her historic address to the Congress in 1991 and to welcome her as speaker on her important visit to the United States in 2007, which deepened the special relationship between our nations,” Pelosi added.

Resolution planned

The House of Representatives will pass a bereavement resolution honoring the queen next Tuesday. Pelosi ordered that flags over the U.S. Capitol be flown at half-staff for the monarch’s passing.

“For 70 long years, from the aftermath of World War II well into the 21st century, across 15 different prime ministers, through great triumphs and great challenges, the queen’s steady leadership safeguarded the land she loved. Despite spending nearly three-quarters of a century as one of the most famous and admired individuals on the planet, the queen made sure her reign was never really about herself,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said in a statement.

“The queen embodied the essence of British leadership for over seven decades and leaves a proud legacy of service to her people and of steadfast friendship and respect for the United States,” Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez said in a statement Thursday.

Many members of Congress had personally met the queen and remembered her fondly in statements on Thursday.

“I remember well her visit to San Francisco in 1983 when I was mayor,” said Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein. “I spent time with the queen at the Davies Symphony Hall and found her to be gracious and kind, a wonderful representative of her nation. Queen Elizabeth will be fondly remembered and missed by many, and my thoughts are with her family and the people of the U.K.”

The queen’s work on a global scale was also applauded in New York at the United Nations.

“Queen Elizabeth II was widely admired for her grace, dignity and dedication around the world. She was a reassuring presence throughout decades of sweeping change, including the decolonization of Africa and Asia and the evolution of the Commonwealth,” Antonio Guterres, secretary-general of the United Nations, said in a statement.

“Queen Elizabeth II was a good friend of the United Nations, and visited our New York Headquarters twice, more than fifty years apart. She was deeply committed to many charitable and environmental causes and spoke movingly to delegates at the COP26 climate talks in Glasgow.”
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VOA Ukraine service reporter Oleksiy Kovalenko interviews Eli Rosenbaum and Christian Levesque, two US Justice Department investigators leading a team looking into Russian war crimes in Ukraine.
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Ukrainians of different ages, walks of life and income levels have come together to donate money to provide the Ukrainian army with weapons and equipment that even included a satellite. For VOA, Anna Chernikova reports from Kyiv.
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Buckingham Palace has issued a statement expressing concern for the health of 96-year-old Queen Elizabeth after a medical evaluation Thursday.

The statement said doctors for the British monarch have recommended she remain under medical supervision. It said she “remains comfortable” at her Balmoral castle in Scotland, her summer home.

The queen cancelled a meeting Wednesday with the Privy Council, a group of her closest, most trusted advisers. The BBC reported Thursday that Prince Charles and other members of the royal family are traveling to Balmoral to be with the Queen.

From her Twitter account, Prime Minister Liz Truss said the “whole country” is “deeply concerned” by the news. She added, “My thoughts – and the thoughts of people across our United Kingdom – are with Her Majesty the Queen and her family at this time.”

The Queen formally appointed Truss as prime minister at Balmoral on Tuesday, instead of traveling to London for the event. During her 70-year reign the Queen has typically met with her new prime minister at Buckingham Palace.

Some information for this report was provided by the Associated Press.
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U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in Ukraine on a previously unannounced trip to show Washington’s continuing support for Kyiv, six months after Russia invaded the country.

The United States plans to provide Ukraine with new security assistance of up to $675 million in value, two weeks after Washington pledged $3 billion in security aid packages to Kyiv. 

“It’s such a consequential moment for Ukraine” as the country recently marked its Independence Day and as the Ukrainians people are now “focused on the counteroffensive” against Russia’s military aggression, a senior State Department official said.

Blinken’s trip to Kyiv also comes ahead of the annual U.N. General Assembly, where world leaders are set to gather for what U.S. officials said is an occasion to reaffirm the principles in the U.N. Charter about sovereignty and territorial integrity.

“We are focused on helping ensure that Ukraine prevails in this war and we’re providing the security assistance so that when we get to the day where we move to a negotiated settlement, Ukraine is in the strongest possible position,” the senior official said. 

The additional security package will include more Howitzers; High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS; high-speed anti-radiation missiles; grenade launchers; medical armored vehicles; and night vision devices, among other equipment. 

That would bring the U.S. security assistance to Ukraine to a total of $13.5 billion since February 24, and $14.2 billion since the beginning of U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration. 

On Wednesday, the commander in chief of Ukraine’s armed forces, Valeriy Zaluzhny, said publicly for the first time that Ukraine had carried out missile strikes that hit Russian military bases in annexed Crimea, according to Agence France-Presse.

The United States has been providing defense items to Ukraine via Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA), by which the president can authorize the immediate transfer of excess weapons from U.S. stocks.

On August 24, Ukraine’s Independence Day, the Biden administration announced approximately $3 billion in security assistance under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), which is its largest-ever security aid package for Ukraine since the war began.

Later Thursday, Blinken is expected to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba. This is the top U.S. diplomat’s third trip to Ukraine since the war started in February. 

Blinken was last in Kyiv with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on April 24. During that trip, the plan for U.S. diplomats to return to Ukraine was announced. In March, Blinken met with Kuleba at the Poland-Ukraine border.

While in Kyiv, Blinken is scheduled to visit a children’s hospital. Since February 24, an average of five children have been killed or injured in Ukraine every day, according to a humanitarian aid organization “Save the Children” that cited verified United Nations data. 

Blinken will head to Brussels later this week for meetings with NATO counterparts.

As Ukraine continues to focus on what’s described as a “counteroffensive” against Russia, U.S. officials indicated diplomatic talks between the two countries do not appear to be a top priority for Ukraine.

“Right now, the Ukrainians do not have a viable map from which to negotiate. Twenty percent of their territory has gone, something like 30% of their industrial and agricultural potential is gone. That’s why they’re launching this counter offensive,” another senior State Department official said.

The Ukrainian military has started a counterattack across the Kherson region since late August seeking to regain control of the territory from Russian forces.
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy praised what he called “good news” from the Kharkiv region, saying Ukrainian forces had recaptured some towns from Russian troops.

Zelenskyy singled out several Ukrainian units in his latest video address, praising “their bravery and heroism displayed during the execution of combat mission.”

He also said Ukrainian artillery had carried out successful strikes against Russian forces in southern Ukraine.

U.S. Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl told an event hosted by Defense News on Wednesday that Ukrainian forces are “making slow but meaningful progress.”

“I certainly think things are going better on the Ukrainian side right now in the south than is true on the Russian side,” Kahl said.

Britain’s defense ministry said Thursday that in Kherson Oblast, in southern Ukraine, Ukrainian forces probably destroyed a military pontoon bridge in the town of Darivka that Russian forces had used after a nearby bridge was damaged.

The ministry said by targeting crossing points, Ukraine’s military is slowing Russia’s ability to deploy troops and carry out resupply efforts from the east.

“The Darivka crossing is one of the main routes between the northern and southern sectors of Russia’s military presence along the Dnipro River. Ukraine’s systematic precision targeting of vulnerable crossing points likely continues to impose pressure on Russian forces as they attempt to contain Ukrainian attacks,” the ministry said.

Ukraine on Wednesday urged residents living in Russian-occupied areas near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant to flee for their own safety.

“I appeal to the residents of the districts adjacent to the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant … evacuate! Find a way to get to [Ukrainian] controlled territory,” Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said on the Telegram messaging service.

In a separate post on Telegram, the exiled Ukrainian mayor of Enerhodar, the main town serving the plant, said it was under fire from Russian forces and the town had no electrical supply.

Both Moscow and Kyiv have for weeks accused each other of shelling the nuclear plant, Europe’s largest, risking a nuclear disaster akin to that at Ukraine’s Chernobyl plant in 1986.

On Tuesday, Rafael Grossi, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said the continued attacks on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant are “unacceptable,” and he urged that a demilitarized area be created in and around the facility. Grossi and a team of IAEA inspectors visited the site last week.

“We are playing with fire, and something very, very catastrophic could take place,” Grossi warned during a video briefing to the U.N. Security Council. “This is why in our report we are proposing the establishment of a nuclear safety and security protection zone limited to the perimeter and the plant itself.”

But neither Moscow nor Kyiv immediately committed to the Grossi proposal, saying they needed to know more details.

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters. 
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