Five EU countries reject Kyiv's plan to limit export of agricultural products

On 18 September, five member states of the European Union rejected a plan prepared by Ukraine to limit the export of agricultural products which, according to the European Commission, should replace unilateral restrictions on Ukrainian imports.

Source : Polish media outlet PAP

Under Kyiv's proposal, PAP says, Ukraine’s Ministry of Economy would independently decide on the granting of permits to export grain to the EU, including the five eastern member countries, even if they oppose such permits.

Ukraine is offering to hold consultations with EU countries and the European Commission regarding export permits, but "regardless of the results of the consultations, the final decision will remain with Kyiv," the Polish agency writes.

At a meeting in Brussels, Andrzej Sadoś, the Permanent Representative of Poland to the EU, criticised the Ukrainian proposal, which Warsaw says does not solve the issue of controlling and limiting the flow of Ukrainian grain.

A source in the EU told PAP that Ukraine's neighbouring states opposed Kyiv's proposal.

Putin may resume making nuclear threats as cold weather sets in – Zelenskyy

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy believes that Russian President Vladimir Putin may start using nuclear weapons as a threat again, and he will choose winter to do so when energy is expensive. People are generally in a somewhat depressed mood.

"I think he will resort to threats. I believe that he has nothing left in his range of weapons. He has killed and tortured people, blockaded the Black Sea, used intimidation, and occupied a nuclear power plant; our Kakhovka dam was destroyed – he has used everything and taken various steps. And he doesn't have much left to threaten with. He was constantly raising the issue of using nuclear weapons, so I think this is the next step, that he will intimidate people, " Zelenskiy said.

Zelenskyy believes that Putin is waiting for the US elections, as he expects the US to become less stable. The Russian president will also wait for winter, "when all societies are depressed because of energy, the high cost of energy, and so on."

"People are always depressed in winter - it's a fact. And he [Putin] will wait for this unstable situation in Europe and the United States and then fuel the risk that he may use nuclear weapons. He will resort to intimidation," the Ukrainian president stated.

Russian shelling damaged residential buildings in Kharkiv Oblast

Russian troops shelled the village of Podoly in the Kupiansk district of Kharkiv Oblast around noon local time, hitting an apartment building, the Prosecutor General's Office reported on Sept. 17. According to preliminary data, private homes and cars were also damaged.

Four Russian S-300 missiles hit a civilian enterprise in Kharkiv overnight.

The attack occurred at around 12:30 a.m., causing a fire, Kharkiv Oblast governor Oleh Syniehubov said. He did not provide any information on the casualties.

Russian troops reportedly attacked Kharkiv, Bohodukhiv, Chuhuiv, Kupiansk, and Izium districts across the Kharkiv Oblast throughout the weekend.

At around 11:30 a.m. on Sept. 16, Russian troops fired a guided anti-tank missile at a civilian car near the villages of Strilecha and Hlyboke. The attack killed a man and a woman in the car and injured a 72-year-old man, said Syniehubov.

The governor added that a 23-year-old man was injured by Russian artillery fire in the village of Petropavlivka in the Kupiansk district.

Due to its proximity to the Russian border, Kharkiv Oblast is subject to near-daily attacks.