NATO Secretary General: Russia's land grab "worst escalation since the beginning of the war"

Created: 09/30/2022Updated: 09/30/2022 7:32 p.m

By: Lucas Maier, Christian Stör

Ukraine applies for NATO membership.

Meanwhile, NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg chooses clear words.

The news ticker on Friday, September 30th. 

• Ukraine formally applies for NATO membership:

  Selenskyj becomes clear

• Lyman surrounded:

  Ukrainian forces pressurize Russian troops

• Zaporizhia:

  23 dead in civilian car convoy shelling

• Editor

  's note: You can read all the news about the Ukraine conflict in this news ticker.

  Some of the information comes from warring factions in the Ukraine war and cannot be checked directly and independently.

+++ 19:26:

After Vladimir Putin's incendiary speech on the annexation of the Ukrainian territories, NATO Chairman Stoltenberg spoke out.

The "land grab" that Putin committed today is the "sharpest escalation since the beginning of the war," said Stoltenberg at a press conference, as reported by the

.

In the evening in Brussels, the NATO Secretary General also condemned the fact that Putin had engaged in "nuclear saber-rattling".

“None of that shows strength.

It shows weakness,” emphasized the Norwegian in Brussels.

He called the annexation of the territories "illegal" and reiterated NATO's "unwavering support" for Ukraine.

He also pledged further support for the defense of Ukraine.

Stoltenberg speaks of the "worst" situation since the beginning of the Ukraine war.

The background is the annexation of some areas by Russia.

© Olivier Matthys/dpa

News in the Ukraine war: Ukraine formally applies for NATO membership

+++ 16.15:

Ukraine has officially submitted its application to join the NATO alliance.

This was announced by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

In a video speech, Zelenskyy said that Ukraine could count on quick accession.

"In fact, we have already become a NATO ally," Zelenskyy said, according to the

.

"[Our accession] would be a formal consolidation of the actual state of things that we have already achieved."

Ukraine war news: Russia warns Kyiv against "aggression" in occupied territories

+++ 3.10 p.m .:

Russia wants to see battles in the occupied territories after the annexation as an attack on its sovereignty.

That would then be an act of aggression, said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

The Luhansk and Donetsk regions would be fully annexed to Russia and Russia would liberate the part of Donetsk currently controlled by Ukrainian troops.

Peskov initially left open whether Moscow wants to do the same in Cherson and Zaporizhia.

Russia does not fully control these areas either.

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+++ 2.40 p.m .:

 Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin has declared four occupied Ukrainian territories to be Russian territory.

The admission of Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhia and Cherson should be contractually sealed today, Putin said in a speech broadcast on state television.

The annexations are not recognized internationally.

Ukraine war news: Lyman almost completely trapped

Update from Friday, September 30, 1:45 p.m .: Things

are not going well for Russia in the Ukraine war.

The head of the Donetsk separatists has now had to admit that the strategically important small town of Lyman is almost completely surrounded by Ukrainian troops (see also the first report).

"Right now Lyman is in a hemisphere, the road to Swatowe is under our control but is periodically under fire," Denis Puschilin wrote on Telegram.

The neighboring towns of Jampil and Drobyschewe are no longer completely under the control of Russian troops.

Reserves would be used.

Ukrainian sources showed a video of a Ukrainian soldier at an administrative building in Yampil saying "Yampil is ours".

The Lyman area is important as a bridgehead for a further advance of Ukrainian troops deep into the neighboring Luhansk region.

News about the Ukraine war: Selenskyj accuses Russia of terror

First report from Friday, September 30th:

Moscow/Kiev – A war has been raging in Europe for seven months.

There is still no end in sight to the bloodshed in Ukraine.

After Vladimir Putin recognized the occupied Ukrainian regions of Cherson and Zaporizhia as independent states last night, the Kremlin chief wants to annex the regions today.

From Moscow's point of view, this is a prerequisite for the regions to be able to apply for admission to the Russian Federation.

News about the Ukraine war: 23 dead when civilian car convoy was shelled in Zaporizhia

Meanwhile, according to Ukrainian sources, 23 people were killed in a rocket attack on a civilian car convoy in Zaporizhia.

Another 28 people were injured.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has blamed Russia for the shelling.

"Only absolute terrorists, for whom there is no place in the civilized world, can act like this," the head of state wrote on Telegram.

Moscow wants revenge for its failures and the unbroken Ukrainian resistance.

"Cynically (the enemy) is destroying peaceful Ukrainians, because he has long since lost everything human," wrote the 44-year-old.

Moscow will be held responsible for every Ukrainian life lost.

On the other hand, the head of the Russian occupation administration for the Zaporizhia region, Vladimir Rogov, accused Ukrainian troops of shelling the convoy on his Telegram channel.

According to Rogov, 23 people were killed and 34 injured trying to enter Russian-controlled territory.

News about the Ukraine war: Important city of Lyman practically surrounded

Meanwhile, Russian troops are under heavy pressure in the Donetsk region.

In the battle for the strategically important small town of Lyman, they have taken several locations east of the city, according to Russian sources.

"Around midnight, Ukrainian troops managed to effectively encircle Lyman," the nationalist military

.

The village of Stawky in northern Lyman has fallen, and east of Lyman, in Zarichne, there is street fighting.

The Russian military blogger Semyon Pegov also confirmed the Ukrainian capture of Stavky.

"The road between Lyman and Torske is under constant enemy fire,"

continued.

After the advance of the Ukrainian forces west and north of Lyman, the road to Torske was the only route of supply for the Russian garrison in the city.

The blog also reports on a Ukrainian storming of the city of Yampil, southeast of Lyman.

(cs/dpa)