Day 583 of the invasion of Ukraine. Summary of key events in the last 24 hours:

• Russia is not planning further mobilization
• Lithuania gave half a year to cars with Russian number plates to leave the country
• Russia has carried out over 80 strikes in Ukraine, there are casualties
• A Ukrainian drone struck a Russian electrical substation and knocked out power to a hospital
• "Wagner" returns to Ukraine, Putin received a top commander who defected to the Kremlin
• Russia is sharply raising its military spending for next year
• Ukraine was elected to the IAEA board

Russia is not planning further mobilization

Russia is not planning additional mobilization, a representative of the General Staff said at a press conference, RIA Novosti reported.

Rear Admiral Vladimir Tsimlyanski announced that the autumn campaign of military conscription in the army begins on October 1. As before, its term is 12 months.

Tsimlyanski specifically emphasized that the General Staff has no plans for additional mobilization. He added that there are already enough people willing to become military personnel under contract, as well as volunteers who have decided to participate in the so-called "special military operation" in Ukraine.

Lithuania gave half a year to cars with Russian number plates to leave the country

The Customs Service of Lithuania has published an instruction to the owners of cars with Russian license plates to take them out of the country within six months. Otherwise, there will be a fine and confiscation.

In addition, the cars cannot cross the border with the European Union, i.e. they must return to Belarus or the neighboring Russian exclave of Kaliningrad.

These are the cars that entered Lithuania before the entry into force of the September 11, 2023 ban on Russian citizens crossing EU borders with cars registered in Russia. The term is calculated from the moment they crossed the Lithuanian border, i.e. for some cars, the measure takes effect immediately.

The instruction is also valid for campers and vans with up to 10 seats for passengers. It does not apply to cars transiting to the Kaliningrad region, but they must make the transition in no more than 24 hours and the car's owner must also travel with the car. It doesn't matter what nationality the owner is.

After the clarifications by the European Commission about the sanctions by which the Russians are prohibited from entering the EU, bans were imposed by the three Baltic republics, Poland, Finland and Norway. Thus, in practice, you cannot enter the territory of the European countries of the EU and NATO with a Russian car.

Russia has carried out over 80 strikes in Ukraine, there are casualties

Russia has carried out more than 80 airstrikes in various regions of Ukraine, and carried out 63 shellings with salvo fire systems, the General Staff of Kyiv reported.

Three people died in the southern city of Kherson and two more in the eastern part of Donetsk region. West of the city of Bakhmut, three people were injured in two airstrikes by the Russian army within an hour. A fire broke out in the city of Mykolaiv as a result of a rocket strike.

Russian air defense systems shot down 10 Ukrainian drones over the Kursk region, one near the city of Kaluga and two in the border region of Belgorod. An unmanned aircraft dropped explosives on a substation in a Russian village near the border, cutting off power to a hospital, the regional governor said. Since Ukraine launched its counteroffensive in early June, Russia has experienced waves of drone attacks that have damaged several buildings, including in Moscow.

A Ukrainian drone struck a Russian electrical substation and knocked out power to a hospital

On Friday, a Ukrainian drone dropped explosives on a substation in a Russian village near the border, cutting off power to a hospital, the regional governor said, quoted by AFP.

In Belaya, less than 25 km from the border, "a Ukrainian drone dropped two explosive devices on a substation," Kursk Oblast Governor Roman Starovoit said on the Telegram messaging platform.

"One of the transformers caught fire. Five towns and one hospital were without power. Fire crews are on the scene. Power will be restored as soon as it is safe," he added.

Earlier, Russia said it had destroyed two Ukrainian drones over the neighboring Belgorod region. Belgorod and Kursk, south of Moscow, border eastern Ukraine.

"Wagner" returns to Ukraine, Putin received a top commander who defected to the Kremlin

Mercenaries from the private army "Wagner" have returned to Ukraine after being pulled out of there following the failed rebellion of their former owner Yevgeny Prigozhin in June.

Prigozhin died in a crash on August 23 after his plane crashed in the Tula region en route from Moscow to St. Petersburg.

A spokesman for the "East" group of the Ukrainian army confirmed on Wednesday the presence of 500 former members of the "Wagner" group included in Russian units positioned in the Bakhmut region.

The American Institute for the Study of War wrote on “X”: "The deployment of some former members of the Wagner Group in the Bakhmut area, confirmed by both the Russian and Ukrainian sides, indicates that the group is having difficulty reforming around its new leadership."

Late on Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin was shown receiving former Wagner chief of staff Andrei Troshev in the Kremlin.

The president's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, told the RIA news agency that Troshev now works in the Ministry of Defense.

The meeting underscores the Kremlin's desire to show that the state has already taken control of the mercenary group, writes "Reuters".

According to Russia's Interfax news agency, Putin ordered Troshev to create volunteer units of private army fighters to fight in Ukraine.

"At the last meeting, we talked about the fact that you will participate in the formation of volunteer units that can carry out various combat missions, first of all, of course, in the area of a special military operation," Putin told Troshev and the Russian deputy minister of defense Yunus-bek Yevkurov, who is responsible for combat training.

Just days after the Wagner mutiny, Putin offered the mercenaries an opportunity to continue fighting and for Andrei Troshev to take over from Prigozhin, Russian newspaper “Kommersant” reported.

"You yourself have been fighting in such a unit for more than a year. You know what it is, how it is done, you know about the issues that must be resolved in advance in order for the combat work to go on in the best and most successful way," Putin said.

He adds that he would also like to discuss social support for combatants, stressing that it should be the same for regular Russian units, contractors and volunteers.

Troshev, known by the fighting name “Sedoi” (the gray-haired one), is a veteran of Russia's wars in Afghanistan and Chechnya, who was then the commander of the SOBR unit - part of the special rapid reaction forces of the Russian Interior Ministry, writes "Reuters".

He was awarded the highest Russian award "Hero of Russia" for the storming of Palmyra in Syria in 2016.

Russia is sharply raising its military spending for next year

The Russian government intends to increase its military spending in 2024 by almost 70% compared to this year, according to documents published on the website of the Russian Ministry of Finance.

On September 22, Bloomberg reported that Russia intends to sharply increase defense budget spending next year. According to the agency, military spending in 2024 will amount to 6% of the country's GDP, compared to 3.9% in 2023 and 2.7% in 2021.

The information was reprinted by the Russian newspaper “Kommersant”, but the publication disappeared from its website. Journalist Dmitry Koselev drew attention to this today, the BBC points out.

Meanwhile, the Russian edition of the magazine "Forbes" reported that the information about the increase in military spending was confirmed by a document entitled "Basic guidelines of the budget, tax, customs and tariff policy for 2024 and for the planning period 2025 and 2026". which is published on the website of the Ministry of Finance.

According to the government, authorities plan to spend about 10.8 trillion rubles (over 1 billion) on defense in 2024, while military spending this year is just 6.4 trillion rubles. In 2025, defense spending should be about 8.5 trillion rubles, and in 2026 - 7.4 trillion rubles, the document states.

The sharp increase in military spending in 2024 was also commented on by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

"It is obvious that such an increase is necessary, absolutely necessary, because we live in a state of hybrid war, which is deployed against us, we continue a special military operation, and this requires high costs," Peskov said, quoted by Interfax.

The agency also quoted Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, who stated at the International Financial Forum that there are enough budget funds for all planned goals and called the principle "everything for the front, everything for victory" a priority.

The Russian "Forbes" notes that defense spending in 2024 will become the largest budget item for the first time, overtaking social policy: 7.73 trillion rubles will be allocated for it.

Ukraine was elected to the IAEA board

Ukraine was elected a member of the governing board of the International Atomic Energy Agency, which strengthens its role as a guarantor of nuclear security in the region, President Zelensky emphasized. He also met with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, who assured him of continued support for the alliance.

Volodymyr Zelensky emphasized that Ukraine's role in international security is strengthened with its membership in the board of directors of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

"We will do everything in our power to ensure nuclear security and liberate the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant from Russian forces in order to stop Russian nuclear blackmail towards Europe," Zelensky also said.

Yesterday, he met with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in Kyiv, who noted that Ukraine has strong support from all member countries and announced that the alliance had signed contracts for the supply of ammunition to Ukraine for nearly two and a half billion dollars.

Novinite is still the only Bulgarian media that publishes a summary of events and highlights related to the conflict, every single day. Our coverage began on day one - 24.02.2022 and will not stop until the war has concluded. Despite the pressure, our independent media will continue to provide its readers with accurate and up-to-date information. Thank you for your support! #stayinformed

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