Narratives in Media Coverage of Ukraine

Strike on Russia’s Black Sea Fleet Headquarters

• The Ukrainian military said Saturday that a strike on Russia’s Black Sea Fleet headquarters in Crimea had killed and wounded dozens, “including senior leadership.”  The operation, called “Crab trap,” happened while the Russian navy’s senior members were meeting at the headquarters.  Russia’s defense ministry reported after the attack that one serviceman had been killed, while a later statement said that he was missing. (NBC News; see also Politico, Politico, Euractiv)
• Ukraine launched another missile attack the next day. (AP News)

Zelenskyy’s Visit to the United States: U.N. General Assembly and Washington

• President Biden told President Zelenskyy on Friday that the United States would supply Ukraine with a small number of long-range missiles, U.S. officials said.  The announcement comes after months of Ukraine asking for the Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) that would allow the military to hit targets from 180 miles away. (NBC News)
• Biden also announced that the United States would provide Ukraine with $325 million in additional military aid.  That package will include equipment such as air defense capabilities, cluster munitions, and anti-tank weapons.  Biden said, “Today I approved the next tranche of U.S. security assistance to Ukraine, including more artillery, more ammunition, more anti-tank weapons, and next week, the first U.S. Abrams tanks will be delivered to Ukraine.” (NBC News).
• Facing the U.N. Security Council, Zelenskyy accused Russia of “criminal and unprovoked aggression” and asked the Council to strip Russia of its veto power (AP News; see also Euractiv, Euractiv, NBC News)
• Zelenskyy also told the U.N. General Assembly that Russia is “weaponising” food, energy, and children.  He said, “When hatred is weaponized against one nation, it never stops there.  The goal of the present war against Ukraine is to turn our land, our people, our lives, our resources into weapons against you—against the international rules-based order.” (AP News)
• Russia’s top diplomat, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, denounced the West as “doing everything they can to prevent the formation of a genuine multipolar world order” but didn’t mention Russia’s war in Ukraine at the U.N. General Assembly.  He said, “They are trying to force the world to play according to their own self-centered rules.” (AP News)
• Lavrov also accused Western powers of fighting directly against Moscow in Ukraine.  He said, “You can call it anything you want, but they are fighting with us, they are straight-up fighting with us.  We call it a hybrid war, but that doesn’t change things.”  He pointed to the Western military equipment provided to Kyiv, along with intelligence support and Western military advisor support. (Euractiv)
• After visiting New York, President Zelenskyy traveled to Washington for meetings with Congress and President Biden. He talked with Republican and Democratic leaders in the face of growing opposition to continued funding for Ukraine from some congressional Republicans. When asked about opposition in Congress, Biden said, “I’m counting on the good judgment of the United States Congress.  There’s no alternative.” (AP News; see also Euractiv)

Support Slipping in Europe

• Since the beginning of the war, countries in Central and Eastern Europe have firmly supported Ukraine by sending weapons and aid, helping refugees, and advocating for Ukraine in the West.  However, as some of the leaders in these countries face reelection and domestic challenges, support is beginning to slip.  On Wednesday, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki announced that he would stop delivering new weapons to Ukraine.  Ivan Krastev, chair of the Center for Liberal Strategies in Sofia, said, “Ukraine realizes that in the last months, they’re not bordering Poland, they’re bordering Polish elections.  The votes of a hundred thousand Polish farmers are more important for the government than what is going to be the cost for Ukraine.” (Politico)
• Morawiecki said that Poland is “no longer transferring weapons to Ukraine because we are now arming Poland with more modern weapons.  If you don’t want to be on the defensive, you have to have something to defend yourself with.” (Politico; see also AP News)
• Morawiecki also told Zelenskyy not to “insult” Poles after Zelenskyy told the U.N. General Assembly that the “political theatre” around grain imports only helped Moscow. (Euractiv)

The Counteroffensive

• Debates about the slow pace of the counteroffensive are beginning to fault NATO as “preparing [Ukraine] for a different fight.”  Some veterans are saying that NATO prepared Ukraine for the wrong kind of war, with training that didn’t take into account the realities of the fighting on the ground.  U.S. Army National Guard veteran Ryan O’Leary said that training would have been better if “taught by Ukrainians who have experienced combat here and can bring with them the hard lessons they learned, so others don’t repeat them.” (Politico)
• Ukraine is inflicting “hell” on Russia near Bakhmut, according to Ukrainian commanders.  Ukraine captured the key village of Klishchiivka last week and has continued to rely on heavy artillery to make gains in the counteroffensive. (Euractiv)

Talks Between Poland and Ukraine on Grain Exports

• Both Poland and Ukraine have said they are willing to start negotiations over Ukrainian grain imports. Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia have imposed unilateral bans on imports of Ukrainian grain, and Kyiv has filed a lawsuit against the countries at the World Trade Organization.  Ukraine’s trade representative, Taras Kachka, said the three countries are willing to consider Ukraine’s proposal on a “mechanism for joint verification and approval of the supply for the four types of agricultural products.” (Politico)

Ukrainian Children as the Target of Russian Violence

• A new documentary, “Bullet Holes,” shows that Russian troops have been killing Ukrainian children. Ukrainian prosecutors say that the Russian army has killed more than 500 children since the beginning of the war. These targets are part of a strategy of terror used by the Russian military to break Ukraine’s resistance. (Politico)

Ukraine’s National Commission for State Language Standards 

• Ukraine’s National Commission for State Language Standards announced that lowercase spellings of words such as “Russia” and “Moscow” in unofficial documents will no longer be considered an error. Using lowercase letters when referring to Russia had already become a practice for many Ukrainians, particularly on social media (Politico)

Additional EU Assistance

• On September 22, the European Commission paid €1.5 billion further to Ukraine as part of €18 billion in macro-financial aid allocated by the European Union.  The money is being used to “pay civil servants’ salaries and pensions, maintain public services, and rehouse displaced people and repair critical infrastructure.” (Agence Europe)

Author: Sophie Adams-Smith, Media Analyst, Promote Ukraine