In a video briefing, Zelensky said Ukraine was “taking a decisive step for the entire security of free nations.” Zelenskiy says: We see who is threatening us. Who is ready to kill and maim. Who to expand their zone of control will stop at no savagery. During his speech, which was released after Vladimir Putin signed decrees formalizing Russia’s illegal annexation of four occupied territories in Ukraine, Zelensky pledged to liberate “the entire territory” of his country. Updated at 15.33 BST Important events Show only key events Please enable JavaScript to use this feature
“Putin’s actions are a sign that he is struggling” – Biden
Joanna Walters US President Joe Biden has called Russian President Vladimir Putin’s signing earlier today of “accession treaties” formalizing Russia’s illegal annexation of four Ukrainian-occupied territories in Ukraine, marking Europe’s largest violent land grab since the second world War. He also said during remarks at the White House that “Putin’s actions are a sign that he is struggling.” Biden said the US would never recognize the annexed territories as part of Russia. After Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced in a video address in Kyiv today that his country is formally applying for fast-track membership to the NATO alliance, Biden also said the US “is ready to defend every centimeter of NATO territory. Mr. Putin, don’t misunderstand what I’m saying. Every inch.” Biden held the event at the White House to make remarks about the devastating hurricane that hit Florida after earlier hitting Cuba and knocking out power, and is now heading straight for South Carolina. He did not take questions from the press, but specifically added at the end of his remarks on Hurricane Ian that he wanted to address the latest developments in Ukraine.
Summary of the day so far
It’s 9pm in Kyiv. Here we are:
Vladimir Putin has signed “accession treaties” formalizing Russia’s illegal annexation of four occupied territories in Ukraine – Kherson, Zaporizhia, Luhansk and Donetsk – marking Europe’s biggest violent land grab since the second world war. After the treaties were signed, the leaders of the four Russian-settled regions gathered around Putin, joined hands and joined in chanting “Russia! Russia!” with the audience applauding. Putin later addressed crowds in Moscow’s Red Square, where he promised to “do everything” to “raise the level of security” in Kherson, Zaporizhia, Luhansk and Donetsk. Speaking at a televised patriotic pop concert, the Russian leader said people in the regions had chosen to rejoin their “historic homeland”. “Welcome home!” he said, prompting chants of “Russia! Russia!” from the flag-waving crowd. The Kremlin said again on Friday that it would consider attacks against any part of the Ukrainian regions it is about to annex – Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhia and Kherson – as acts of aggression against Russia itself. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Russia would incorporate “de jure” parts of Ukraine that are not under the control of Russian forces. Of the four regions, Luhansk and Kherson are the only territories Russia is close to having complete control over. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of causing “the most serious escalation” of the war in Ukraine since it began with his latest actions. Russia’s move was “the biggest attempt to annex European territory by force since the second world war,” Stoltenberg said, adding that NATO had reaffirmed its “unwavering support” for Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity. In a strong rebuttal to Putin’s ceremony in Moscow, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced in a video clip in Kyiv that his country was officially applying for fast-track membership of the NATO alliance. Zelensky accused Russia of brazenly rewriting history and redrawing borders “using murder, blackmail, ill-treatment and lies”, adding that Ukraine would not hold peace talks with Russia while Putin was president. Dozens of people were killed when Russian forces launched a rocket attack on a civilian convoy near the city of Zaporizhzhia, hours before Putin’s signing ceremony. The attack on Friday morning hit people waiting in cars in the city of Zaporizhzhia to cross into Russian-held territory so they could bring family members back to the front line. A large number of Russian forces in the strategic Donbas city of Liman were reported to be surrounded in the latest setback for Putin. Ukrainian and Russian military bloggers reported that Russian forces along with local “Luhansk People’s Republic” fighters were surrounded in the town of Liman. The city – a strategic railway hub – has been under Moscow’s control since May. The surrender of the Russian garrison at Liman would be a humiliation for the Kremlin, at a time when it claims that the entire Donetsk region, including areas under the control of the Ukrainian government, is part of Russia “forever”. In response to Putin’s annexation of Ukrainian territory, the US announced new Russia-related sanctions on hundreds of individuals and companies. More than 1,000 people and companies linked to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine are included in the new sanctions package, including the governor of the Central Bank and the families of members of the National Security Council. The US has not yet seen Russia take any action that would indicate it is considering using nuclear weapons, according to US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken. He reiterated that the US is taking Vladimir Putin’s nuclear strike “very seriously” and said the US is planning for “every possible scenario, including this one”. The UK is also stepping up sanctions against Russia after it “illegally” annexed four regions of Ukraine, Foreign Secretary James Cleverley announced. The measures will limit Russia’s access to key British trade and trading services, as well as ban the export to Russia of almost 700 products critical to manufacturing production, the Foreign Office said.
The Guardian’s Shaun Walker describes Vladimir Putin’s speech earlier today, where he announced the annexation of four more regions of Ukraine, as an “angry, rambling” speech. Putin finished his speech and we still don’t know how much territory he actually claims to be annexing… — Shaun Walker (@shaunwalker7) September 30, 2022 The BBC’s Steve Rosenberg notes Putin’s remark that the US had set a “precedent” by using nuclear weapons against Japan at the end of the second world war. For me, two things stood out from Putin’s speech on annexation. First, the level of anti-inflammatory bile. Second, his comment that the US set a “precedent” by using nuclear weapons against Japan at the end of World War II. Concern in light of Moscow’s recent nuclear rattle. — Steve Rosenberg (@BBCSteveR) September 30, 2022 Andrew Roth A tide of Russians poured into Red Square as Vladimir Putin announced the annexation of Ukrainian territory that would herald a bright new era of perpetual war with Ukraine and the West. “Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia, Kherson, Russia! Together forever!” read the banner hanging on Manezh Square next to the Kremlin. There were busloads of hard men from a factory near Moscow alighting by the statue of Karl Marx to celebrate, university professors handing out invitations to a pop concert to their students, workers clutching Russian flags to hand out. Some of the tricolors bore Putin’s image. This is the Russia that Putin envisions after 22 years in power: united, simple, cynical and slavish. But real life is not an organized gathering. And as Putin assembled his lackeys and satraps in the gilded Grand Kremlin Palace, across the country, from the minority ethnic republics of Dagestan and Buryatia to the hinterlands of Pskov and Penza, to cosmopolitan Moscow, communities in turmoil. Hundreds of thousands of men are fleeing their homes, some enlisted and mobilized to fight in Ukraine, and even more are fleeing across the border to avoid the draft. In both cases they don’t know when they will come home. Tensions are not as high as they are now in Russia in decades, according to a new poll by the state-run Public Opinion Foundation. Of those polled by the center this week, 69 percent said they had felt “stressed,” nearly double the 35 percent who told the pollster they felt tense before Putin announced his mobilization. “I feel like we’re going into the unknown, we’re going to nowhere,” said Anton, a Moscow resident who had crossed into Georgia after waiting more than three days at the border. He described men desperate to reach the border before Putin spoke on Friday, amid fears the annexations would spark a standoff with the West leading to a possible border closure. Read the full story here: Germany has experienced a surge in visa inquiries from Russian citizens following Vladimir Putin’s mobilization order, according to a German foreign ministry source. German embassies in countries neighboring Russia have seen a “sharp increase” in visa inquiries, the source told Reuters. Der Spiegel previously reported that German missions in Yerevan, Astana, Tbilisi, Baku and Minsk had recorded thousands of requests for permits to enter Germany since the partial mobilization for the war in Ukraine began. In the Georgian capital Tbilisi, more than 300 visa applications have been registered by Russian citizens at the German embassy since the partial mobilization began in the middle of this week, it said.
