As it happened: Germany's Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht visits Ukraine

Zelensky pledged to retake more areas in the country's eastern Donbas region from Russian forces. 

"Throughout this week, more Ukrainian flags have been raised in the Donbas. There will be even more in a week," he said in his evening address.

He spoke after Kyiv said its forces had begun moving into the key eastern town of Lyman and the defence ministry posted a video of soldiers holding up a yellow and blue Ukrainian flag there.

Germany's Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht made a surprise visit to Ukraine on Saturday, her first since Russia's invasion in February as Kyiv urges Berlin to send it battle tanks.

Lambrecht visited the southern port city of Odessa, the German defence ministry said in a statement, without saying how long the trip had lasted. It added on Twitter that she had met her Ukrainian counterpart Oleksii Reznikov.

As Russia confirmed the loss of its stronghold of Lyman in eastern Ukraine, Kadyrov slammed top commanders for their failings and wrote on Telegram: "In my personal opinion, more drastic measures should be taken, right up to the declaration of martial law in the border areas and the use of low-yield nuclear weapons".

Russia failed to win enough votes for re-election to the United Nation's aviation agency's governing council, in a rebuke of Moscow for aviation-related actions taken after its invasion of Ukraine.

Russia fell short of the 86 votes needed to stay on the International Civil Aviation Organization's (ICAO) 36-nation governing council, during the agency's assembly which runs through Oct. 7 in Montreal.

President Erdogan has accused both countries of being havens for Kurdish militants, specifically highlighting the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), and for promoting "terrorism".

"The crime is yet another act of state terrorism by Russia and it represents a grave violation of international law. Russia must immediately release" Ihor Murashov, Ukraine's foreign ministry said. 

The World Bank has announced $530 million in supplemental funding for Ukraine to enable it to "meet urgent needs created by Russia's invasion." The support, in the form of a new loan from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, is being guaranteed by Britain to the tune of $500 million, with Denmark backing the remaining $30 million, the World Bank said in a statement on Friday.

As the Russia-Ukraine conflict becomes tenser in the backdrop of Putin's fiery speech and Zelensky signing the NATO application form, the US has approved a $12.3 billion aid package for Kyiv.

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Earlier this week, Russia's Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines burst, draining gas into the Baltic Sea off the coast of Denmark and Sweden. Seismologists registered explosions in the area.

The European Union said it suspected sabotage had caused the damage while Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday accused the United States and its allies of blowing up the pipelines. Washington has said it was too early to confirm it was sabotage.

Later today, the Danish Prime Minister will also hold talks with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg and European Council President Charles Michel on the Nord Stream gas leaks.

Ukraine has encircled thousands of Russian troops at the eastern town of Lyman, a bastion that is critical for Moscow, in an operation that is still under way, a Ukrainian military spokesperson said on Saturday. 

"Lyman is important because it is the next step towards the liberation of the Ukrainian Donbas. It is an opportunity to go further to Kreminna and Sievierodonetsk, and it is psychologically very important," Serhii Cherevatyi, spokesperson for Ukraine's eastern forces, said.

According to a statement made on Saturday by the Ukrainian nuclear agency Energoatom, Russia has detained the chief of the nuclear power facility in Zaporizhzhia, which is owned by Moscow. 

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According to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach on Friday, IOC is thinking about allowing Russian athletes who oppose their nation's invasion of Ukraine to compete again. 

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Representatives of dozens of countries walked out of an international culture conference on Friday in protest at the war in Ukraine when Russia's representative took the floor.

The boycott occurred during the final session of the World Conference on Cultural Policies and Sustainable Development convened by UNESCO in Mexico City.

Lithuanian Culture Minister Simonas Kairys hit out at Moscow's "unjustifiable and illegal aggression" against Ukraine, in a statement that he said was on behalf of 48 countries.

Kairys told the meeting that UNESCO had verified damage to at least 193 Ukrainian cultural sites since the Russian invasion, including museums, libraries, cultural centers and historical buildings.

Dozens of participants got up and left the auditorium when Russian delegate Sergey Obryvalin addressed the conference, rejecting the criticism as "unacceptable."

At the end of the three-day meeting, billed as the largest of its kind in 40 years, 150 states adopted a declaration affirming culture as a "global public good," UNESCO said.

They called for "substantial regulation of the digital sector, notably of the major platforms, for the benefit of online cultural diversity, artists' intellectual property rights and fair access to content for all," it added.

Governments also committed to step up the fight against illicit trafficking in cultural goods and appealed to art vendors not to offer objects of unproven provenance for sale.

UNESCO announced the creation, in collaboration with Interpol, of a virtual museum of stolen cultural property.

Jake Sullivan, the United States National Security Advisor to President Joe Biden, said that US military in Europe ready for "any contingency". 

Russia has vetoed UN Security Council resolution on annexations of Ukrainian regions, China has abstained. 

'Risk' of Putin using nuclear weapon but no sign of 'imminent' use: US official

President Vladimir Putin told invited spectators watching a televised patriotic pop concert on Moscow's Red Square on Friday that Russia would achieve victory in its seven-month-old military campaign with Ukraine.

The concert, held in the shadow of the Kremlin walls, was being held to celebrate the annexation of four regions of Ukraine, for which Putin had signed documents a few hours earlier at a ceremony in the Kremlin.

French President Emmanuel Macron "firmly condemns" the annexation by Russia of four regions in Ukraine, calling the move "illegal", his office said on Friday.

"This is a serious violation of international law and of Ukraine's sovereignty," the Elysee said after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the annexation, adding that "France opposes this and stands with Ukraine against Russian aggression".

Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser for the United States, and Jens Stoltenberg, the secretary-general of NATO, spoke on Friday about worries regarding Russia's alleged sabotage of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline and its attempted annexation of Ukrainian territory, according to a statement from the White House. 

"In the wake of the apparent sabotage of Nord Stream pipelines in the Baltic Sea, they discussed the protection of critical infrastructure," the White House statement said.

US President Joe Biden on Friday condemned Russia's "fraudulent" declaration that it has annexed four regions of Ukraine and said Moscow was contravening international law.

"The United States condemns Russia's fraudulent attempt today to annex sovereign Ukrainian territory. Russia is violating international law, trampling on the United Nations Charter, and showing its contempt for peaceful nations everywhere," Biden said in a statement.
 

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said Friday that Kyiv is requesting fast-track NATO membership after Russia formally annexed four Moscow-held regions of Ukraine.

"We have already proven our compatibility with (NATO) alliance standards," Zelensky said in a video posted by the Ukrainian presidency on social media.

"We are taking a decisive step by signing Ukraine's application for accelerated accession to NATO," he added. 

He also said that Kyiv would not negotiate with Russia -- which sent troops into Ukraine on February 24 -- as long as President Vladimir Putin was in power.

The United States on Friday announced "severe" new sanctions against Russian officials and the country's defense industry in response to the Kremlin's declaration that it has annexed four areas of neighboring Ukraine.

"The United States is imposing swift and severe costs on Russia," the White House said in a statement. It also announced that G7 allies support imposing "costs" on any country that backs the Kremlin's attempt to incorporate the Ukrainian regions.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree making it easier for foreigners to obtain Russian citizenship if they join the army, a document published by the government Friday showed.

The decree says that foreigners will be eligible for an expedited application process if they have served in the Russian military for at least six months or sustain an injury before that time that makes it impossible for them to continue fighting.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday accused the West of organising blasts that resulted in multiple gas leaks on the Nord Stream gas pipelines from Russia to Europe.

"Sanctions are not enough for the West, they have switched to sabotage... by organising explosions on the Nord Stream international gas pipelines that run along the bottom of the Baltic Sea," Putin said.

EU leaders on Friday vowed they would "never recognise" Russia's illegal annexation of four regions in Ukraine and accused the Kremlin of putting global security at risk.

"We firmly reject and unequivocally condemn the illegal annexation by Russia of Ukraine's Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions," the 27 leaders said in a statement. 

Kremlin-appointed leaders of the seized Ukrainian territories have signed the formal documents, along with President Putin. 

Putin said the West wants to take over Russia with its new currencies and technological developments, adding that the West is trying to cancel Russia's culture.

"They are restless that such a rich country exists", he said. 

I should remind the West of their colonial policies, then genocide, slavery. By the end of 20th century, they truly attacked us. They called us friends and partners and yet they treated us slaves, colony. Instead of democracy, they enslave and destroy. Western order is full of hypocrisy. They wanted to intimidate the Soviet Union: Putin 

Russian President Vladimir Putin Friday warned the West that the people of four Moscow-occupied Ukrainian regions were "our citizens forever".

"I want to say this to the Kyiv regime and its masters in the West: People living in the Lugansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia (regions) are becoming our citizens forever," Putin said, adding that they had made a "unambiguous choice" to join Russia.

Putin urged Ukraine to cease military action and return to the negotiating table. He claimed again that Ukraine belongs to Russia.

Referendums happened and people have made their choice. The four new regions are a part of Russia as this is the will of millions of people. Choice of people is common faith and history. The trials they have been through generations. Nobody can destroy us, The old Soviet union: Putin

The Kremlin hall where Vladimir Putin is filled with people waiting for Putin to enter and give his speech. The leaders of the occupied regions are in attendance. Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov are also present.

Ukrainian President Zelensky’s spokesperson Sergii Nykyforov posted on Facebook yesterday that the president has called an emergency meeting of the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine ahead of Putin’s signing of decrees annexing four Ukrainian territories.

Ahead of the planned ceremony in Moscow, stages, banners and screens have been put up near Red Square. Some reports suggest that people have been paid to attend the celebration event in central Moscow. 

The Kremlin said Friday it needed to clarify the exact borders of two Ukraine regions that Russia intends to annex, but which its forces have yet to claim complete control over.

"The Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics are recognized by Russia within 2014 borders. As for the territories of the Kherson and the Zaporizhzhia regions, I need to clarify this, I can't answer this question right now," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday called Russia a "terrorist state" and "bloodthirsty scum" after strikes on a civilian convoy killed at least 25 and wounded 50.   

"Only complete terrorists could do this," Zelensky said, after the shelling in the southern Zaporizhzhia region. He called Russia a "terrorist state", adding, "Bloodthirsty scum! You will definitely answer. For every lost Ukrainian life!"

The annexation will mark a "dangerous escalation" that would jeopardize the prospects for peace in the region, the United Nations Secretary-General said on Thursday. "Any decision to proceed with the annexation of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions of Ukraine would have no legal value and deserves to be condemned," Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told reporters.

The ceremony - eight years after Russia seized Crimea from Ukraine following an invasion and a similar vote - will take place at 3 pm (1200 GMT) in the columned St George's Hall of the Grand Kremlin Palace, where marble plaques engraved in gold commemorate Russian military heroes.

Twenty-three people were killed, and 28 others were injured after a Russian missile strike on the outskirts of the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia. The attack came hours ahead of Russia’s official proclamation regarding the annexation of the region.

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