Ukraine Latest: 11 Dead in Shooting at Russian Training Camp

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(Bloomberg) —

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Eleven soldiers were killed and 15 wounded after two men from an unnamed ex-Soviet state opened fire on Saturday at a Russian military training camp in the Belgorod region, near the border with Ukraine, according to state-run media. The incident comes as Russia has stepped up mobilization of reserves and already deployed thousands into combat. 

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Russian forces caused “serious damage” to an electrical installation near Kyiv on Saturday, grid operator Ukrenegro said, with emergency blackouts possible even after power was restored. Residents in the Kyiv area and in neighboring regions were urged to immediately cut their electricity use. “If we don’t follow this advice, we will have to take out the candles and suffer all the consequences,” said Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of Ukraine’s presidential administration.

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Ukraine’s battlefield effort got a potential boost when Elon Musk said he’d keep providing SpaceX’s Starlink satellite-based internet service “for free.” South Korea’s central bank head called on China to persuade Russia to end the war.   

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Key Developments

On the Ground

Russian forces launched missiles at the Kyiv region again overnight, with damage reported to energy systems. Kamikaze drone attacks also took place in the Dnipro regions and Zaporizhzhia regions. Ukraine’s military estimates Russian still has about 300 Iranian-made drones with plans “to buy several thousand more.” A large number of wounded people are being admitted to medical facilities in the regions annexed by Russia last month after a vote called illegal by the UN. Several people were wounded by Russian shelling in the Nikopol region in southern Ukraine that a regional administrator said were designed to cause “maximum damage to civilians.” 

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(All times CET)

Eleven Killed at Shooting at Russian Training Base (8 a.m.)

Eleven people were killed and 15 wounded at a training base in the Belgorod region near the Ukrainian border Saturday, Russia’s Defense Ministry said, according to Interfax.

The two citizens of another unnamed ex-Soviet state who opened fire at the weapons training session for “volunteers” headed to Ukraine were killed, the ministry said. Calling the attackers “terrorists,” it provided few other details. The region’s governor said all the dead and wounded were military personnel.

Moscow has sought to build up the ranks of its military by offering citizens of former Soviet states the chance to get Russian passports in return for serving in its military.

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Musk Signals He’s Backing Off Starlink Threat (8:42 p.m.)

Elon Musk said Saturday he’d continue to fund Starlink satellites in Ukraine “for free” after a standoff with the US Defense Department over the cost of their deployment.

Musk threatened a day earlier to cut financial support for SpaceX’s satellite internet service in Ukraine, claiming that the operation had cost his company $80 million so far. The Pentagon said it was in talks with SpaceX, while saying the US is looking at other options. 

S. Korean Central Banker Calls on China’s Help to End War (5:30 p.m.)

Bank of Korea Governor Rhee Chang-yong urged Beijing to take on a more active role in trying to end the Russian war in Ukraine and calm the world’s geopolitical situation. 

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“I really hope that China can play a very important role,” Rhee said in Washington on Saturday. “I really hope that my old friends in China can step up efforts to stop the Russian war.” 

If any country can talk to Russian President Vladimir Putin, it’s China, he said, adding that Beijing can be a “bridge between Russia and the West” and help its own relations with Washington in the process.  

More Ships Sail With Ukrainian Farm Products (5:25 p.m.)

Another seven vessels with a total of 101,000 tons of agriculture products left Ukraine’s Odesa-area ports on Saturday for destinations in Asia and Europe, Ukraine’s infrastructure ministry said on Facebook.

Since the safe-transit agreement was reached with Russia in late July, 7.5 million tns of grains and other farm products have departed on 341 ships, the ministry said. 

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Fire at Oil Depot in Russia’s Belgorod (5 p.m.)

A major fire at an oil depot near the Russian city of Belgorod was caused by a second day of Ukrainian cross-border shelling, the region’s governor said. 

Social media posts showed black smoke billowing in the area. Belgorod is about 60 miles north of the Ukrainian border.  Ukraine hasn’t commented.   

Poland Says Oil Flows Resume on Druzhba Pipeline (4:14 p.m.)

Oil flows via the northern leg of the Druzhba pipeline, which supplies, Germany and Poland with Russian crude oil, resumed in full on Saturday after an accident earlier in the week, according to Poland’s pipeline operator PERN. 

Poland early ruled out third-party involvement in the incident, at a time Europe is on high alert about potential sabotage to infrastructure. 

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Ukraine Expects Red Cross Officials in East on Monday (1:57 p.m.)

Ukraine expects representatives of International Committee of the Red Cross to reach the “contact line” in the country’s east on Monday, Andriy Yermak, head of Ukraine’s Office of the President, said on a video call with new ICRC President Mirjana Spoljaric Egger.

Yermak urged Egger, who took up her post this month, to do everything possible to send the ICRC mission to the penal colony in Olenivka in the Donetsk region and to have access to prisoners of war. “This is my priority,” Egger said on the call, according to a post on the presidential website. 

In late July, more than 50 Ukrainian POWs were killed in shelling at the prison that Ukraine has blamed on Russia. Moscow has said Kyiv was responsible for the attack. 

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First Russian Troops Arrive in Belarus for Joint Force (11:22 a.m.)

Russian forces have started arriving in Belarus to man the new joint force with troops there, the defense ministry in Minsk said on Saturday.

“The first convoys of Russian servicemen from the regional force group have arrived in Belarus,” the ministry said, saying their mission was to “strengthen the protection and defence of the border.” 

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said Monday that he and Russia’s president had agreed to deploy a regional grouping of forces. Moscow launched its failed push toward Kyiv in February from Belarusian territory. Observers this week have cited the movement of Belarusian military equipment to Russia, potentially to shore up dwindling supplies. 

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Grid Operator Reports Russian Strike on Kyiv Region (9:10 a.m.)

Russian forces struck “critical” energy infrastructure in the Kyiv region, causing “severe destruction,” the grid operator Ukrenergo said on Facebook. Repairs are under way. 

Ukrenegro warned of potential emergency shutdowns and asked consumers to use power sparingly. “Such measures give our specialists the opportunity to stabilize the situation as soon as possible and carry out the necessary restorative work,” it said.  

The strike comes after Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that seven of 29 of sites targeted in a mass bombing of Ukraine earlier in the week “were not damaged as planned by the Defence Ministry,” and that “the attacks will be renewed.”