Here is the situation on Friday, September 13, 2024.

Fighting

• The Ukrainian Air Force said it shot down 24 of 26 Russia-launched drones overnight over five regions, according to a statement posted on the Telegram messaging app.
• Pentagon spokesman Major General Pat Ryder said Russia’s counteroffensive against Ukrainian forces in the Kursk region is “marginal” at this stage.
• Ukraine has accused Russia of using strategic bombers to strike a civilian grain vessel in a missile attack in the Black Sea near NATO member Romania.
• Romania’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs called the attack an “unprecedented escalation” by Russia in its war against Ukraine.
• Ships from Russia’s Northern Fleet have fired cruise missiles at targets in the Barents Sea as part of the Ocean 2024 navy drills, the Ministry of Defence said, using Vulkan and Oniks antiship missiles at a range of about 200 and 180km (124 and 111 miles) respectively.

Diplomacy

• British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and United States President Joe Biden will meet in Washington, DC, on Friday and are expected to discuss whether to let Ukraine use Western-supplied long-range missiles against Russia – something that Kyiv has long been pushing for.
• Vyacheslav Volodin, the chairman of Russia’s State Duma, the lower house of parliament, has accused NATO of being a party to military action in Ukraine, suggesting it was already heavily involved in military decision-making.
• Volodin’s comments came after Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that the West would be directly fighting with Russia if it allowed Ukraine to strike Russian territory with Western-made long-range missiles, a move he said would alter the nature of the conflict.
• Starmer told reporters en route to the US that “Russia started this conflict. Russia illegally invaded Ukraine. Russia can end this conflict straight away. Ukraine has the right to self-defence”, according to British media reports.
• Russia’s FSB security service said the accreditation of six British diplomats had been withdrawn for suspected espionage and for “threatening Russia’s security”.
• The head of Russia’s Security Council, Sergei Shoigu, met North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Pyongyang, weeks after the two sides signed a defence pact.

Source

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Al Jazeera and news agencies