Ukraine Update….207 days into the Russian move on the Ukraine…More arms for the Ukraine…

• Several European leaders said the explosions that caused leaks in the undersea natural gas pipelines appeared to be sabotage, as the E.U. put out a statement vowing to respond. “These incidents are not a coincidence and affect us all,” the bloc said. Five European officials with direct knowledge of security discussions said it is widely assumed that Russia was responsible.
• The Kremlin denied responsibility for the explosions, saying it was not in Russia’s economic interest to damage the pipelines. Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it was “absurd” to blame Moscow, adding that “this is a big problem for us.” He accused the United States of making “super profits” from European energy disruption and suggested that Washington was behind the blasts. Speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive matter, a U.S. official said the United States had nothing to do with any attack on the Nord Stream pipelines, calling the idea “preposterous.”
• Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Wednesday that Russia would convene a U.N. Security Council meeting on the Nord Stream explosions, which she blamed on the United States. “On February 7, 2022, Joe Biden said that Nord Stream would not move forward if Russia invaded Ukraine,” Zakharova said on Telegram. “If Russia invades, if tanks or troops cross the Ukrainian border again, then there will be no more Nord Stream 2,” she quoted Biden as saying.
• Norway said it would increase security around its oil and gas infrastructure, while Swedish, Danish and German authorities have all opened investigations into the blasts. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said he met Wednesday with Denmark’s defense minister to discuss the “sabotage” and emphasized that “protection of critical infrastructure” in NATO countries remains paramount. Russia said it would consider participating in a joint investigation with European officials into the incidents but complained that it has not been approached.

Kyiv slams staged votes as ‘propaganda show’ as E.U. vows to punish Russia

• Russian state media said the staged referendums were in line with international law and showed that voters in all four Ukrainian territories overwhelmingly favor joining Russia. In Donetsk, 99 percent of those voting favored accession, 98 percent in Luhansk, 93 percent in Zaporizhzhia and 87 percent in Kherson, according to Russia’s state-run Tass news agency. Western leaders have called the staged votes a “sham” and say they are invalid amid reports of voter coercion and other violations. When Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, it claimed that 97 percent of those voting in a referendum supported joining Russia.
• The Moscow-backed leaders of Donetsk and Luhansk are traveling to Moscow to “complete the legal part” of their accession to Russia, Luhansk leader Leonid Pasechnik said Wednesday on Telegram. The pro-Russian leaders of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia also said they had appealed to the Kremlin to proceed with making their territories part of Russia. The speaker of Russia’s State Duma, Vyacheslav Volodin, said absorbing the four regions could take place on Oct. 3 or 4.

What to know about Russia’s plans to annex territory in Ukraine

• The United States will put forward a U.N. Security Council resolution on the annexations,Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said. The resolution will “condemn Russia’s sham ‘referenda,’ ” she added, and call on all member states “not to recognize any altered status of Ukraine.” Zelensky said Russia should be suspended “from all international organizations,” including the United Nations.
• Canada will impose sanctions on individuals and entities “complicit” in annexation attempts, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said. His country “will not ever recognize the results of Russia’s illegitimate referendums or its attempted, illegal annexation of Ukrainian territories.”
• The E.U. also announced a new sanctions package, set to target individuals involved in the organization of the referendums in Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, as well as high-ranking officials participating in the recruitment process launched by the Kremlin last week meant to mobilize up to 300,000 soldiers, The Washington Post’s Beatriz Rios reports.

• Ukrainian authorities in Nikopol said Russian rockets hit the southern city overnight, striking buildings, a school and power lines, according to the Associated Press. The head of the local military administration, Valentyn Reznichenko, said no casualties were immediately reported.
• Russian fire killed five people and injured 10 others over the past 24 hours in the eastern region of Donetsk. Ukrainian regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said the attacks killed four people in Kurakhove and one in Bakhmut.
• Ukrainian advances near the eastern hub of Lyman have slowed, the British Defense Ministry said in an intelligence briefing. “Russia is mounting a more substantive defense than previously, likely because the Ukrainian advance now threatens parts of Luhansk,” officials said, “as voting in the referendum on accession to the Russian Federation closes.” The Defense Ministry added that Russia is continuing its advance near Bakhmut in Donbas while facing “severe pressure on its northern and southern flanks.”…

More….