Latest news on Russia and the war in Ukraine

Ukraine’s upper house of parliament has approved laws incorporating four regions of Ukraine that Russia announced it was annexing last week, into the Russian Federation.

The move to annex Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Donetsk and Luhansk — following sham referendums in the occupied regions on whether to join Russia — was internationally condemned, with Ukraine and its allies calling the votes illegal and illegitimate.

Despite the prospect of further sanctions in response to the annexation, Russian lawmakers have plowed ahead with the legal process to annex the territories. The State Duma, or lower house of parliament, yesterday approved the annexation and the upper house, the Federation Council, today unanimously approved legislation ratifying the annexation.

It now remains for Russian President Vladimir Putin to put his signature to the documents to complete the formal annexation process.

It’s still unclear where the boundaries of Russia’s new so-called “territory” are, with none of the regions fully occupied by Russian forces and with Ukrainian troops making advances into Donetsk in the east and Kherson in the south.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters Monday that the DPR and LPR (so-called “people’s republics in eastern Ukraine) will become a part of the Russian Federation according to their current boundaries but that Russia will consult with the residents of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia over where the borders of those regions are set.

When asked whether the parts of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions that are now under control of the Ukrainian army are Russian or Ukrainian territory, Peskov said “I have nothing more to add to what I said right now.”

— Holly Ellyatt

Ukraine’s counteroffensive continues in the south in the Kherson region and in the northeast, with Ukrainian forces looking to push further into the Donetsk region and toward Luhansk. Here’s how defense analysts at the Institute for the Study of War assessed Ukraine’s progress late on Monday:

• Ukrainian forces have made substantial gains around Lyman and in northern Kherson Oblast [a province or region] over the last 24 hours. The Russian units defeated on these fronts were previously considered to be among Russia’s premier conventional fighting forces.

• Ukrainian forces made advances on the Oskil River-Kreminna line toward the Luhansk Oblast border.

• Ukrainian forces advanced in northern Kherson Oblast.

Summing up Ukraine’s progress following the recapturing of Lyman (a key logistics hub for Russian forces in the area) on Saturday, analysts at the ISW wrote that the country’s forces “continued to make substantial gains around Lyman and in Kherson Oblast in the last 48 hours.” 

“Ukrainian and Russian sources reported that Ukrainian troops made significant breakthroughs in northern Kherson Oblast between October 2 and 3. Geolocated footage corroborates Russian claims that Ukrainian troops are continuing to push east of Lyman and may have broken through the Luhansk Oblast border in the direction of Kreminna.”

The ISW noted again that Russian groupings in northern Kherson Oblast and on the Lyman front were largely comprised of units that had been regarded as among Russia’s premier conventional fighting forces before the war but said “their apparent failures to hold territory against major Ukrainian counter-offensive actions is consistent with ISW’s previous assessment that even the most elite Russian military forces are becoming increasingly degraded as the war continues.”

— Holly Ellyatt

Ukraine’s counteroffensive in the northeast and south of the country continues to build momentum, with President Zelenskyy announcing last night that there were “new liberated settlements in several regions.”

On Monday, Ukrainian forces saw more successes on the battlefield, pushing through Russian defenses in the south of the country, as well as consolidating their hold on territory around Lyman in the northeast Donetsk region, and looking to push further eastward into Luhansk.

President Putin announced Russia was annexing both regions last Friday but Moscow’s hold on them looks increasingly fragile.

In his nightly address, Zelenskyy didn’t name the newly liberated towns but said “fierce fighting continues in many areas of the front” but said an increasing number of occupying forces were trying to escape and “more and more losses are being inflicted on the enemy army.”

Zelenskyy said Russian men who had been mobilized to fight in Ukraine just a few weeks ago were already dying in Ukraine.

“Among the dead occupiers we can already see those who were taken [brought to fight in Ukraine] just a week or two ago. People were not trained for combat, they have no experience to fight in such a war. But the Russian command just needs some people – any kind – to replace the dead. And when these new ones die, more people will be sent. This is how Russia fights. That’s how it will lose as well,” he said.

“No sham referenda, announcements about annexations, conversations about the borders they invented and drew somewhere, will help them,” he added, referring to a set of fake referendums in Russian-occupied territories in Ukraine that led to Moscow announcing their annexation last week, a move branded as illegitimate and illegal by Ukraine and its allies.

— Holly Ellyatt

American tech billionaire Elon Musk drew public ire from Ukraine’s top officials after the Tesla CEO posted a Twitter poll asking the public to agree or disagree with what he claimed is the most likely outcome of Russia’s invasion.

“F– off is my very diplomatic reply to you,” Ukraine’s ambassador to Germany, Andrij Melnyk, wrote in response to Musk’s tweet.

Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskyy responded with a Twitter poll of his own. “Which Elon Musk do you like more,” Zelenskyy asked. “The one who supports Ukraine” or “The one who supports Russia.”

What Musk calls a “highly likely” outcome presumes that Russia accomplishes several of its major goals, including permanently annexing Crimea, using referendums to determine the fates of 4 other attempted annexations, and prohibiting Ukraine from joining NATO.

For Ukrainians, these outcomes would never, ever be acceptable.

— Christina Wilkie

Over the weekend Ukrainian forces seized the strategic city of Lyman and continued a stunning counteroffensive in the northeast of the country.

The following photos show destroyed Russian armored vehicles and tanks left behind as Ukrainian forces battle for Izium, Kharkiv and continue to push east through Russian lines.

— Metin Aktas | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images

The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency said that Russian forces released an employee from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi said Ihor Murashov, the director general of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, was released and returned to his family.

Last week, Murashov was allegedly detained by Russian troops upon leaving the power plant facility in the town of Energodar.

— Amanda Macias

Russia’s Duma, or lower house of Parliament, unanimously approved the annexation of the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson although the borders of what Russia now claims is its territory remain unclear.

A statement from the Duma on Telegram said “the entry of the Donetsk, Luhansk people’s republics [self-proclaimed separatist regions], Zaporozhzhia and Kherson regions into the Russian Federation is the only way to save millions of people’s lives from the criminal Kyiv regime,” the Duma said, repeating baseless accusations against the government in Kyiv.

Russia’s annexation of four regions of Ukraine has been almost internationally condemned with Ukraine and its allies calling the move, after sham referendums in those occupied regions, illegitimate and illegal.

It’s also unclear where the boundaries are of Russia’s new so-called “territory” with none of the regions fully occupied by Russian forces.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters today that the DPR and LPR (so-called “people’s republics in eastern Ukraine) will accede to the Russian Federation as they are but that Russia will consult with the residents of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia over where the borders of those regions are set.

Asked whether the parts of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions that are now under control of the Ukrainian army are Russian or Ukrainian territory, Peskov said “I have nothing more to add to what I said right now.”

Ukraine has vowed to retake all of its lost territory, with around 18% of the country currently occupied by Russian forces.

— Holly Ellyatt

Ukraine’s forces are gaining a foothold within liberated areas of the southern Kherson region, according to a spokeswoman for the southern military command.

Southern command spokesperson Natalia Humeniuk told reporters Monday that Ukraine’s forces in the south are “conducting battles and gaining a foothold within the areas which have already been liberated and those that are still keeping the defense.”

“Also, we continue working with local residents along the contact line, along the front line, in those settlements that are under enemy fire. About 45 settlements have been shelled over the past day,” Humeniuk told reporters, according to comments reported by news agency Ukrinform, with efforts underway to evacuate civilians.

Humeniuk also said that Russian troops are inspecting households in occupied areas of the region for men aged between 18 and 35 in order to call them up and replenish their military units.

CNBC was unable to verify Humeniuk’s comments.

— Holly Ellyatt