(Bloomberg) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called on Russians to flee or surrender to avoid the Kremlin’s mobilization effort, saying it would help sooner end what he called the “criminal war.”
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Seven months into the conflict, President Vladimir Putin’s order to add another 300,000 troops has triggered sporadic protests throughout the country, amid fears that the government will soon close the border for draft-aged men.
The Kremlin may rush to complete annexation of four occupied regions of Ukraine as early as this week after votes to join Russia, condemned by the United Nations as illegal, are completed.
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Key Developments
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On the Ground
With partial mobilization underway, Russia’s military attacked the southern Odesa region with drones overnight, damaging military infrastructure, Ukraine’s southern operational command said on Facebook. Russian missiles also hit Zaporizhzhia, local authorities said. Ukraine’s General Staff said in its morning update that more than 40 settlements, from Kupyansk and Kramatorsk in the east to Mykolaiv and Odesa in the south, were shelled over the past day.
(All times CET)
Zelenskiy Urges Russians to Avoid Mobilization (6:12 a.m.)
Zelenskiy used his nightly video address on Sunday to reiterate a call for Russians to flee in order to avoid mobilization.
“The more citizens of the Russian Federation at least try to protect their own lives, the sooner this criminal war” will end, he said.
Ukraine Gets US Air-Defense Systems (10:30 p.m.)
Zelenskiy said Ukraine has received advanced air-defense systems from the US, though it’s “not even nearly enough” to protect the country’s civilian infrastructure.
The National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System, developed by Raytheon Technologies Corp. and Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace, is among the military aid the US has said it’s providing to Ukraine following Russia’s invasion. Speaking in an interview with CBS’s “Face the Nation” broadcast Sunday, Zelenskiy didn’t say how many systems were delivered, or when. A US Defense Department spokesperson declined to comment.
Anti-Mobilization Protests Reported Across Russia (8:15 p.m.)
Scattered protests against Russia’s mobilization have broken out across the country, particularly in southern and eastern areas far from Moscow that have been hit hardest by the draft.
In Dagestan, crowds of women chanted “No to the war” and “Shame” at police in a video posted by the Meduza news website. Police fired in the air to disperse another rally against the call-up in a video Kommersant newspaper posted on its Telegram channel. As of Sunday evening, some 2,345 people have been detained at demonstrations since Putin triggered the mobilization on Sept. 21, according to the OVD-Info monitoring group.
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