September 27, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

Our coverage for the day has ended. Follow the latest Ukraine news here or read through the updates below.

Ukrainian artillerymen fire a self-propelled cannon on the southern frontline, September 15.

Ukraine’s president said on Tuesday that the Ukrainian military is “moving forward” on the frontline, but did not go into details.

He also said that Ukraine will act to protect people living in Russia-occupied regions in Ukraine — including Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donbas, Kharkiv, and Crimea — despite Russia’s recent referendums.

“This farce in the occupied territory cannot be called even an imitation of referendums, ” Zelensky added.?

Gas leak at Nord Stream 2 as seen from a Danish F-16 interceptor on September 27.

European countries on Tuesday raced to investigate unexplained leaks in two?Russian gas pipelines?running under the Baltic Sea near Sweden and Denmark, infrastructure at the heart of?an energy crisis since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Experts and also Russia, which built the network, said the possibility of sabotage could not be ruled out.

Sweden’s Maritime Authority issued a warning about two leaks in the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, shortly after a leak on the nearby Nord Stream 2 pipeline was discovered that prompted Denmark to restrict shipping in a five-nautical mile radius.

Why this matters: Both pipelines have been flashpoints in an escalating energy war between European capitals and Moscow that has pummeled major Western economies, sent gas prices soaring and sparked a hunt for alternative energy supplies.

Russia also said the leak in the Russian network was cause for concern and sabotage was one possible cause.

“No option can be ruled out right now,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

Neither pipeline was pumping gas to Europe at the time the leaks were found, but the incidents will scupper any remaining expectations that Europe could receive gas via Nord Stream 1 before winter.

“The destruction that occurred on the same day simultaneously on three strings of the offshore gas pipelines of the Nord Stream system is unprecedented,” said network operator Nord Stream AG. “It is not yet possible to estimate the timing of the restoration of the gas transport infrastructure.”

Although neither were in operation, both pipelines still contained gas under pressure.

Denmark’s energy minister Dan Jorgensen said in a written comment that leaking gas had been detected in Nord Stream 2 on Monday between Russia and Denmark.

Gazprom, the Kremlin-controlled company with a monopoly on Russian gas exports by pipeline, declined comment.

Russia slashed gas supplies to Europe via Nord Stream 1 before suspending flows altogether in August, blaming Western sanctions for causing technical difficulties. European politicians say that was a pretext to stop supplying gas.

The new Nord Stream 2 pipeline had yet to enter commercial operations. The plan to use it to supply gas was scrapped by Germany days before Russia sent troops into Ukraine in February.

Ukraine’s President said on Tuesday that Russia’s sham referendums in four regions in eastern Ukraine were “an attempt to steal the territory of another state” and “to erase the norms of international law.”

During his address to the United Nations Security Council, Volodymyr Zelensky said people in Russian-occupied regions in Ukraine were “forced to fill out some papers while being threatened by submachine guns all for a nice TV cover.”

PREVIEWXMLFrench Foreign Minister?Catherine?Colonna?attends a meeting with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Kyiv on September 27, 2022.

French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said Tuesday that the Russian-organized referendums in occupied Ukraine are “a sham.”

She said a new round of European sanctions against Russia would follow “in the days to come” in response to the voting.

Colonna rejected the description of the votes as “elections,” as she asked, “How do you expect people to express themselves freely under duress and in territories occupied by a foreign power??

She called for a clear response from the international community.?

The votes hold, “no legitimacy, no value, we will not recognize them,” she said, adding that they will lead to further sanctions from France, the European Union and other international allies.

Any deliberate act to disrupt European energy infrastructure, “will lead to the strongest response possible,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Tuesday evening.

Von der Leyen, who said in a tweet that she spoke with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen about the “the sabotage action #Nordstream,” wrote that it is “paramount to now investigate the incidents, get full clarity on events & why.”

Her comments follow the discovery of three leaks in the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines near the Danish island of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Danish Prime Minister said during a press statement that she sees the Nord Stream pipeline leaks as “deliberate actions.”?

Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson also said Tuesday that the incident is “likely a deliberate action.”

United Nations Under-Secretary-General Rosemary DiCarlo said rarely had the international community collected so much evidence of war crimes and human rights violations as it had in investigating Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“We are gravely concerned by allegations of violations committed in parts of northeastern Ukraine, including after the recovery of over 400 bodies from improvised graves in Izium. OHCHR is working with local authorities to investigate this and other allegations of human rights violations and abuses in areas in Kharkiv region that were until recently under Russian control,” DiCarlo said in an address to the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday.

She added that after investigations in the areas of Kyiv, Chernihiv, Kharkiv and Sumy, the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine (mandated by the Human Rights Council) had concluded that “war crimes were committed in Ukraine. Among other findings, the commission was struck by the large number of executions and other violations carried out by Russian forces.

DiCarlo also said the commission had processed two incidents of ill treatment against Russian Federation soldiers by Ukrainian forces.

Rosemary A. DiCarlo, Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, speaks during a UN Security Council meeting to discuss the war in Ukraine on September 7 in New York City.

United Nations Under-Secretary-General Rosemary DiCarlo called Russia’s thinly-veiled rhetoric about the use of any and “all weapons systems” to “defend itself” as “unacceptable.”

“Let me reiterate the secretary-general’s appeal for all nuclear-armed states, including the Russian Federation, to recommit to the non-use and progressive elimination of nuclear weapons,” she added.

Some more context: Her comments come after Russia’s?President Vladimir Putin threatened to turn to nuclear weapons amid a series of embarrassing setbacks on the battlefield in Ukraine.

In a speech last Wednesday, he warned that “In the event of a threat to the territorial integrity of our country and to defend Russia and our people, we will certainly make use of all weapon systems available to us. This is not a bluff.”

Nord Stream AG, the pipeline operator, said Tuesday in an updated statement that following the gas leaks, it is not possible to estimate “a timeframe for restoring the gas transport infrastructure”.

The company also said that “the significant pressure drop caused by the gas leak on both lines of the gas pipeline registered yesterday leads to a strong assumption of the pipeline physical damage.”

Nord Stream said that it “immediately informed the relevant coast guards about the incident” and that “it has started mobilization of all necessary resources for a survey campaign to assess the damages in cooperation exchange with relevant local authorities.”

“The causes of the incident will be clarified as a result of the investigation,” it added.

More background: European countries on Tuesday raced to investigate unexplained leaks in two?Russian gas pipelines?running under the Baltic Sea near Sweden and Denmark, infrastructure at the heart of?an energy crisis since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Experts and also Russia, which built the network, said the possibility of sabotage could not be ruled out.

Sweden’s Maritime Authority issued a warning about two leaks in the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, shortly after a leak on the nearby Nord Stream 2 pipeline was discovered that prompted Denmark to restrict shipping in a five nautical mile radius.

Both pipelines have been flashpoints in an escalating energy war between European capitals and Moscow that has pummeled major Western economies, sent gas prices soaring and sparked a hunt for alternative energy supplies.

From left to right, Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde, Prime Minister?Magdalena?Andersson?and Defense Minister Peter Hultqvist hold a news conference about the Nord Stream gas leak in Stockholm on September 27.

The Nord Stream pipeline leaks in the Baltic Sea are “likely a deliberate action” but “not an attack against Sweden,” Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson said in a news conference in Stockholm on Tuesday alongside Foreign Minister Ann Linde and Defense Minister Peter Hultqvist.

Linde said the act was “likely sabotage.”

“There is readiness to quickly make marine units available if considered necessary,” Defense Minister Peter Hultqvist said.

The prime minister also assured Sweden’s defense forces were ready to adapt to the situation.

The United Nations under-secretary-general underlined in Tuesday’s United Nations Security Council meeting that the so-called secessionist referenda that just wrapped up in occupied areas of eastern Ukraine were not legal under international law and that the UN remained fully committed to the sovereignty and unity of Ukraine within its borders.?

Rosemary DiCarlo said developments including the referendums threatened to further escalate the conflict.

“As we meet, so-called referenda were just conducted by de-facto authorities in the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia regions” she said.?

She said that the vote happening during an armed conflict that involved de facto authorities going door-to-door in cases with soldiers in tow could not be viewed as a legitimate read of the will of the people there.??

“Voting took place in polling centers.?De facto authorities accompanied by soldiers also went door-to-door with ballot boxes,” DiCarlo said.?

She also said Russia was obliged under international law to respect the laws of Ukraine in their administration of the occupied territories.

Members of an election commission count ballots at a polling station in Donetsk on September 27.

According to election commissions in four occupied regions of Ukraine, the referendums over the past four days have returned huge majorities in favor of joining the Russian Federation, Russian state media say.

The referendums — called at short notice by pro-Russian authorities — were widely condemned by Western governments as a “sham” and against international law. They were not observed by independent monitors.?

Russian state news agency RIA Novosti said that the commissions published the results of referendums in the Luhansk and Donetsk People’s Republics, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions on joining Russia. It did not specify whether they were the final results.

RIA Novosti claimed that “The public addressed the authorities of the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions with a proposal to urgently hold referendums.”

There is no evidence of that. The referendum plans were suddenly announced a week ago by Russian-backed local administrations and immediately welcomed in Moscow.?

Ukrainian officials say that turnout has been extremely low and claimed that people had been bused in from Crimea to add to the turnout.??

Danish Prime Minister?Mette?Frederiksen?speaks to the media about the three gas leaks on the Nord Stream gas pipeline in Copenhagen, Denmark on September 27.

Denmark sees the Nord Stream pipeline leaks as “deliberate actions,” Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said Tuesday during a press statement, her office confirmed to CNN.

The Danish prime minister’s comments follow the discovery of three leaks in the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines near the Danish island of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea.

“We do not see a direct military threat against Denmark,” Frederiksen added.

When asked by a reporter if she saw the incident as a declaration of war, Frederiksen replied “no,” her office said.

“It is our assessment that the leaks are not caused by accidents but by blasts,” the Danish energy minister Dan J?rgensen also said Tuesday, his office confirmed to CNN.

J?rgensen added that the damaged pipelines are at 70 to 80 meters in depth and that he expects the Nord Stream gas leaks to last “at least a week,” his office said.

A general view of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant taken on September 11.

The White House requested $35 million be included in the short-term government funding bill to assist Ukraine’s nuclear security as US officials continue to closely watch the precarious conditions around Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, according to an administration official.?

The additional funds would serve to bolster the significant assistance already provided by the US National Nuclear Security Administration to Ukrainian officials in the months since Russia invaded the country, the official said. It comes as US officials and their international counterparts have been on high alert over the potential for a nuclear accident at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine.

The new money, which congressional Democrats included in their draft funding measure released late Monday evening, would be directed to the overall US efforts to assist with Ukraine’s nuclear preparedness, and would specifically be used to support procurement and maintenance of additional sensors, data assessment and analysis, and for to supply the Ukrainian National Guard with protective capabilities at nuclear power plants, the official said.?

The funds could also be utilized in the event Ukrainians faced the need to consolidate radiological materials.?

The facility, which has been held by Russian troops since March, has for weeks served as an increasingly hazardous flashpoint in the war. Shelling at and around the site has damaged infrastructure, cut power lines and drawn a sustained international effort to de-escalate the situation. Russia and Ukraine have blamed each other for the shelling.?

The White House funding request came as part of the overall US effort to assist with Ukraine’s nuclear preparedness, which has grown increasingly important as a result of the events at Zaporizhzhia. It also comes as Russian President Vladimir Putin has taken a series of dramatic steps to escalate a conflict he launched and has now found his country mired in after more than seven months.???

More on this: The $35 million only represents a small piece of the $12.3 billion in assistance to Ukraine included the stopgap funding bill, the bulk of which is directed toward military and economic assistance.?

But it does mark the latest tranche of assistance on an issue of palpable concern since the opening days of the Russian invasion. Ukraine has four operating nuclear power plant sites with a total of 15 reactors.??

Lawmakers have until Sept. 30 to pass the bill and avoid a government shutdown.

The US agency that would receive the new funds has been involved for months in providing real-time assistance in monitoring radiation levels amid shelling and combat in and around Ukraine’s power plants, including Zaporizhzhia and the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. The NNSA, which technically operates within the US Energy Department, has also worked to model the potential consequences of damage to nuclear facilities.

Witnesses in Kharkiv report several loud explosions close to the center of the Ukrainian city.?

The head of the Kharkiv regional administration, Oleh Synehubov, said on Telegram:?“The occupants struck at Kharkiv,” without giving further details.

Mayor Ihor Terekov said there had been three explosions which had knocked out electrical power in Ukraine’s second-largest city.

“Shaking” was recorded twice on Monday in the Baltic Sea, the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS) said in a statement on Tuesday.

The time and location of both events “match the time and location for the gas leakages on Nord Stream 1 and 2,” the agency said.

“The first event registered 2.3 on the Richter scale, the second 2.1 on the Richter scale,” it added.

GEUS said the signals recorded “do not resemble signals from earthquakes” but “resemble the signals typically recorded from blasts.”

GEUS recorded the signals on its two seismographic stations, that of Bornholm and the station on Stevns.

It said Swedish and German stations had also recorded the signals.

According to its webpage, GEUS is responsible for monitoring and locating earthquakes and other seismological events in Denmark, Greenland and the Faroe islands.

More context: The cause of the leaks has not been confirmed yet as European authorities continue investigating the incident.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Swedish Maritime Authority told CNN that three leaks have been identified in pipelines for Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 near Bornholm, warning vessels to maintain a distance of 5 miles (8 kilometers) from the leaks and issuing a warning for aircraft, with a safety altitude of 1,000 meters.

In September, Russia halted deliveries of gas to Europe through?Nord?Stream?1?indefinitely, saying it was due to an oil leak at one of its compressor stations.??

As CNN?has previously reported, US officials have expressed concern that Russia’s weaponization of oil and gas, leading to skyrocketing costs and even potential blackouts across Europe this winter, could successfully force fissures in what up until now has been a largely united European front opposing Russia’s war in Ukraine.

CNN’s Natasha Bertrand, Livvy Doherty, Sharon Braithwaite and Robert North contributed reporting to this post.

Danish foreign minister Jeppe Kofod said that these are “critical hours” after he held talks with his Swedish counterpart Ann Linde on the gas leakage in Baltic Sea near both countries.

The talks follow the discovery of three leaks in the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines near the Danish island of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea.

Earlier on Tuesday, Swedish seismologists said they detected two underwater explosions in area close to Nord Stream pipelines on Monday. The cause of the incident is still not known as investigations continue. Initial reports – which are not officially confirmed yet–?indicate that this could have been a deliberate act, according to some Western officials.?

Linde said that it is “essential to closely coordinate and handle the situation”.

The Swedish government and agencies are “closely monitoring the developments,” she tweeted.

See the tweets:

The Ukrainian military has released video showing that its forces have made further incremental gains east of the river Oskil in Kharkiv — which had been the limit of their recent successful offensive.

One of the short clips of video released Tuesday showed a Ukrainian soldier raising the national flag in Kupyansk Vuzlovyi, a suburb south of the city of Kupyansk —?which was captured earlier this month.

Other clips show Ukrainian troops entering villages further south, close to where Kharkiv and Donetsk regions meet. Those villages are Koroviy Yar and Ridkodub.

Their capture indicates that Ukrainian forces are moving slowly to consolidate gains made in the first two weeks of September, with the aim of cutting off pro-Russian units still defending their positions around the town of Lyman.

Nord Stream headquarters in Zug, Switzerland on March 1.

Initial information about Nord Stream pipeline leaks “indicates acts of sabotage,” Norwegian Minister of Petroleum and Energy Terje Aasland said on Tuesday.

He did not provide any further information on the matter. His comments were published on the Norwegian government website.

Remember: The cause of the leaks has not been confirmed yet as European authorities continue investigating the incident.

Aasland added that today the Norwegian government has decided to heighten the emergency preparedness in relation to infrastructure, onshore and offshore installations on the Norwegian continental shelf.?

“There has been close contact between the Norwegian Government, the Police, the Norwegian Armed Forces and the operators on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. On this basis, the Government has decided to enact measures to heighten emergency preparedness in relation to infrastructure, onshore and offshore installations on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. Some of the background are reports of increased drone activity. An investigation is ongoing,” he said.

The US Defense Department confirmed that Russia is now using Iranian-made drones in Ukraine both for attacks and for reconnaissance.?

Ryder would not comment on the effectiveness of the drones, but said the US believes reports of Ukrainians shooting down some of the drones are “credible.”

Ukrainian officials have said there have been five attacks from these drones in Odesa in recent days.

Travelers from Russia cross the?border?to?Georgia?at the Verkhnii Lars checkpoint on September 26.

Draft papers will be given to all eligible Russian men seeking to leave Russia through the Georgian border crossing at Verkhnii Lars, according to Russian state news agency RIA Novosti.

Quoting the press office of the regional government of North Ossetia, where the crossing is located, RIA said that “at the entrances to the republic and at the Verkhnii Lars checkpoint, mobile operational groups are organized, consisting of representatives of military registration and enlistment offices and executive authorities.”

Earlier on Tuesday, RIA reported that only residents of North Ossetia would receive draft letters at the checkpoint. Now the order appears to apply to all males eligible to be called up under the partial mobilization announced last week.

“The task of the operational groups is to hand draft letters to citizens subject to conscription in accordance with the lists of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation.”

The head of government in North Ossetia, Sergei Menyailo, also said that the order applied to citizens who are registered with the military — not only in North Ossetia but in other regions of the country.

The Georgian government says the number of Russians crossing into its territory has almost doubled since the announcement of the mobilization, and there are long lines of traffic at the crossing.?

Georgia's President?Salome?Zurabishvili?in Tbilisi, Georgia on March 24.

Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili has described the so-called referenda in occupied parts of Ukraine as a cynical act on the part of Russia that is “completely unacceptable.”

Zurabishvili called on the Georgian government to “categorically condemn” them.

She was speaking while visiting a memorial in the capital, Tbilisi, for those who died during the conflict in Abkhazia 29 years ago, when Georgia lost control of the territory to pro-Russian Abkhazian separatists.

“This is an extremely cynical action on the part of Russia, which is completely unacceptable for us, for the world and for civilized people,” she added.

Zurabishvili’s comments come as the Georgian government says the number of Russians crossing into its territory has almost doubled since Russian President Vladimir Putin’s announcement of the mobilization, and there are long lines of traffic at the crossing.?

CNN’s Uliana Pavlova contributed reporting to this post.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken vowed that Ukrainians would be able to use weapons provided by the United States to regain its territory, including in the regions that are expected to be annexed by Russia soon.

“I’ve also been equally clear that Ukraine has the absolute right to defend itself throughout its territory, including to take back the territory that has been illegally seized in one way or another by Russia, Blinken said in response to a question from CNN’s Kylie Atwood at a news conference Tuesday.

He added that the US will “never” recognize the four regions that Vladimir Putin may annex following the sham referendums being held in those regions.

The top US diplomat said his country is “prepared and we will impose additional severe and swift costs on Russia for proceeding with the annexations.”

A Russian citizen?waits in a line to have his passport checked at the Vaalimaa?border?checkpoint in Virolahti, Finland on September 25.

Nearly 66,000 Russian citizens have entered the European Union over the past week (from Sept. 19 to Sept. 25), a more than 30% increase in comparison to the past week, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency Frontex said Tuesday.

The increase follows Russian President Vladimir Putin’s announcement last week of a partial mobilization of Russian citizens, which has triggered protests and long queues of Russians scrambling to flee the country.

Over the past week, most of the Russians entered the EU through Finnish and Estonian border crossing points, Frontex said in a statement.

“Over the last four days, 30,000 Russian citizens have arrived in Finland,” the agency said.

“The majority of them hold residence permits or visas to EU Member States or Schengen Associated Countries, others have dual citizenships. Member States are also reporting entries by Ukrainian citizens in need of temporary protection as they flee the eastern occupied region of Ukraine via Russia,” it added.

Fontex estimates that “illegal border crossings are likely to increase if the Russian Federation decides to close the border for potential conscripts.”

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that if the leaks in the Nord Stream pipeline were caused by sabotage, “that’s clearly in no one’s interest.”

Speaking at a news conference at the State Department Tuesday, Blinken noted the cause of the leaks is being investigated.

The top US diplomat said it was his understanding that “the leaks will not have a significant impact on Europe’s energy resilience.”

“What’s critical is that we are working, day in, day out, both on a short term basis and a long term basis to address energy security for Europe and, and for that matter around the world,” he said.

The United Nations has expressed its concerns over the detention of thousands of demonstrators in Russia protesting against President Putin’s partial mobilization order.

“We are deeply disturbed by the large number of people who have reportedly been arrested in the Russian Federation for protesting after the authorities announced a partial mobilization of troops in the context of the armed conflict in Ukraine,” Ravina Shamdasani, a spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said in a statement Tuesday.

At least 2,398 people have been detained in various cities across Russia from Sept. 21 to Sept. 26, the latest data on Tuesday by independent protest monitoring group OVD-Info shows.

Linda Thomas-Greenfield, United States Ambassador to the United Nations, speaks during the UN Security Council meeting on March 11 in New York City.

US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield plans to introduce a resolution condemning Russia over the so-called referendums being carried out in four regions of Ukraine and declaring that the UN Security Council does not support the use of force to redraw borders during a security council meeting on Tuesday, a US official told CNN.

The resolution — which will be introduced by the US and Albania jointly — is expected to be largely symbolic as Russia will almost certainly veto it.

Behind the scenes US diplomats will engage with all nations in the security council, including diplomats from China and India, in an effort to get them to vote in favor, the official said.

Thomas-Greenfield will say that Russia intends to annex the territories in an effort to take the territory of another UN member country by force, which the UN charter was designed to prevent, according to the US official. She will ask the members of the security council to join the US in meeting the challenge head-on, the official said.

More context: US officials have repeatedly said they will not accept the outcome of the “sham” referendums, which they believe Russia will use as a pretext to annex those parts of Ukraine. The Biden administration is also preparing a response once Russia annexes the regions, CNN reported Monday.

The introduction of this resolution comes after both President Volodymyr Zelensky and US President Joe Biden called for changes to the UNSC during the UN General Assembly last week. Zelensky called into question why Russia is a permanent member and called on the council to punish Russia.

“Reject the right to vote. Deprive delegation rights. Remove the right of veto – if it is a Member of the UN Security Council. In order to punish the aggressor within the institutions,” Zelensky said.

The “sham referenda” in Ukraine are a “blatant violation of international law,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Tuesday.

Stoltenberg said he had just spoken with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, with whom he “made clear that NATO Allies are unwavering in [their] support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and right to self-defense.”

See the tweet:

Gas leak at?Nord?Stream?2 as seen from a Danish F-16 jet in Bornholm, Denmark on September 27.

A National Security Council spokesperson says that the White House “is not going to speculate on the cause” of major damage to the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines that has led to leaks in the Baltic Sea.

The spokesperson told CNN that the United States’ European partners are investigating and that “we stand ready to provide support to their efforts.”

Some more context: In September, Russia halted deliveries of gas to Europe through?Nord?Stream?1?indefinitely, saying it was due to an oil leak at one of its compressor stations.??

As CNN?has previously reported, US officials have expressed concern that Russia’s weaponization of oil and gas, leading to skyrocketing costs and even potential blackouts across Europe this winter, could successfully force fissures in what up until now has been a largely united European front opposing Russia’s war in Ukraine.

The Swedish National Seismic Network (SNSN) said Tuesday that it detected two explosions on Monday near the area of the Nord Stream pipelines.

The first explosion was recorded at 2:03 a.m. local time in the early hours of Monday and the second one 17 hours later, at 7:04 p.m. on Monday evening, according to SNSN.

SNSN said that one of the underwater explosions resulted in a tremor of 2.3 magnitude.

According to SNSN, the last time a similar seismological event was registered in the area was in 2016. It added that this area is not usually used for defense exercises.?

The German geological research centre, GFZ, told CNN that two tremors were registered at similar times at a seismic station on the Danish island of Bornholm, again close to the reported leaks on the pipelines.

A reading from a seismograph on the Danish island of Bornholm shows two spikes, at 0003 and 1700 GMT, followed by a lower-level "hissing" on the day when the?Nord?Stream?1 and 2 Baltic gas pipelines sprang leaks one after the other in this image released on September 27.

Josef Zens, spokesperson for GFZ, told CNN that the first tremor was recorded at 2:03 a.m. local time and a second was recorded 17 hours later.

Zens said that “it could not be said if there was any connection between the tremors and the leaks registered on the Nord Stream pipelines on Tuesday.”

The Swedish National Seismic Network said that warnings about the gas leaks came from the maritime administration at 1:52 p.m. and 8:41 p.m. on Monday, respectively, after ships detected bubbles on the surface.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Swedish Maritime Authority told CNN that three leaks have been identified in pipelines for Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 near Bornholm, warning vessels to maintain a distance of 5 miles (8 kilometers) from the leaks and issuing a warning for aircraft, with a safety altitude of 1,000 meters.

The Danish Defense Command said in a statement Tuesday that “following the three gas leaks on the Nord Stream gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea, prohibition zones have been established around the leaks for the sake of the safety of ship and air traffic.”

Nord Stream AG, the operator of the pipelines, in safety documents published before any news emerged of three separate pipeline leaks in one day, had said that the probability of a pipeline failure or leakage is “as low as one damage event every 100,000 years”.

The operator also said that pipeline repairs were “not expected to be necessary during Nord Stream’s minimum operational lifespan of 50 years.”

Nord Stream 1 became operational in 2012, and Nord Stream 2 was completed in 2021, but never became operational.

Valentina?Matvienko, Speaker of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, at a press briefing at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum 2022, in St. Petersburg, Russia, on June 17.

Russia’s Federation Council — the upper house of the parliament — may consider requests from new regions to join Russia on Oct. 4, according to the Council’s Speaker, Valentina Matvienko.

Referring to the so-called referenda being staged in four occupied regions of Ukraine, Matvienko said: “We respect the will of the residents of the DPR [Donetsk], LPR [Luhansk], Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, and if such is the will on their part, we will certainly support [their] joining Russia.”?

She said there was no need for an extraordinary meeting of the council before then.?

“The scheduled meeting of the Federation Council on October 4. I believe that on the 4th, if everything is confirmed, we will be ready to consider (laws on the entry of new regions into the Russian Federation),” Matvienko said.

Leonid Pasechnik, the leader of the separatist Luhansk region, attends the Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) in St. Petersburg, Russia, on June 16.

The leader of the self-declared Luhansk People’s Republic,?Leonid Pasechnik, says he hopes to travel to Moscow today or Wednesday to request that Russian President Vladimir Putin accepts the region into the Russian Federation.

According to remarks carried by the Luhansk Media Center, Pasechnik said he had prepared an appeal to the President of the Russian Federation “to consider in accordance with the procedure established by law the issue of the entry of the Luhansk People’s Republic into Russia.”

Pasechnik was quoted as saying:?“I very much hope that in the near future, today or tomorrow, I will go to Moscow. I have prepared a corresponding appeal to the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin with a request to consider the issue in accordance with the procedure established by the legislation of the Russian Federation on the entry of the Luhansk People’s Republic into Russia as a subject of the Russian Federation.”

More context: Early results in the widely discredited referendum process in Luhansk and three other regions occupied by Russian forces show huge majorities in favor of joining Russian, according to Russian state media.

The referenda have been dismissed as a sham and against international law in Kyiv and by western governments.?

A municipal worker casts his ballot during a?referendum?on the secession of the Zaporizhzhia region from?Ukraine?and its joining Russia, in the Russian-controlled city of Melitopol, Ukraine, on?September 26.

Russian state news agency RIA Novosti said first partial results from the four parts of Ukraine where “referenda” have been held show huge majorities in favor of joining the Russian Federation.

RIA Novosti said with about 12% of votes counted, at least 97% of those cast have been in favor of joining the Russian Federation.

The state news agency also reported that polling stations on the referendum on the entry of the Donetsk People’s Republic into the Russian Federation are now closed.

“Today, on the last day of voting in the referendum, polling stations opened for all DPR citizens?wishing to vote at 8 a.m. and closed at 4 p.m,” RIA Novosti reported.

The other three occupied regions involved in the referendum process have not yet confirmed that voting has finished.

Remember: The referendum process has been widely condemned by Western governments and Kyiv as illegitimate and a “sham.” There have been no recognized international observer missions.

The referenda — only announced a week ago — have involved officials going house-to-house collecting votes, sometimes accompanied by soldiers, as well as one day of voting at polling stations. Ukrainian officials have reported the turn-out as minimal.

In its report, RIA Novosti added: “With the initiative to immediately hold referendums on the future of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, the public turned to their authorities. As representatives of the regions stated, joining Russia would secure their territory and restore historical justice.”

The foreigners that Russian state media routinely cite as being international observers to the so-called referendums in four regions of Ukraine?are violating?numerous international principles of election observation and are engaging in nothing more than “political activism,” experts in the field told CNN.

The Russian state news agency TASS has over the past week regularly quoted the observations of people it calls international observers as proof that the so-called referendums being held in the occupied portions of Ukraine’s Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions are free and fair.

“Being here, I can see with my own eyes that people are voting voluntarily,” a German energy executive, Stefan Schnaller,?was quoted by TASS as saying?in a piece published Saturday. Schnaller was speaking about people in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region.

The EPDE, which promotes best practice for the conduct of elections and election monitoring, says that an election monitor should never extrapolate from individual experience to the fairness of a whole election.

“Observers cannot properly assess elections when they are not members of a long-term observation mission and when they make public statements based only on their own limited observation,”?the EPDE said.

Schaller was fired “with immediate effect” on Monday – two days after the TASS piece was published – by his employer, the German energy company Energie Waldeck-Frankenberg (EWF). In a statement, EWF said that Schnaller’s behavior “clearly violates the world view, the moral values and the philosophy of the company.”

The?number of Russians arriving daily in Georgia has nearly doubled since Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a partial mobilization for the war in Ukraine, Georgia’s Minister of Internal Affairs Vakhtang Gomelauri told local media on Tuesday.

“Four to five days ago, 5,000-6,000 (Russians) were arriving in Georgia daily. The number has grown to some 10,000 per day,” Georgian public broadcaster,?First Channel, quotes Gomelauri as saying. “We assume they are mostly people who want to evade military duty.”

Russians have fled to neighboring Georgia where?they can stay for a year without a visa. The ongoing exodus of civilians comes as Russia’s so-called secession referendums?in four occupied Ukrainian regions continue.

Here are more of the latest headlines from Russia’s war in Ukraine:

Here’s a look at the areas assessed under Russian control:

The Mariupol city council says that residents of the occupied city in Donetsk have received messages asking them to attend the “military commissariat.”

On its Telegram channel, the council said that the “occupiers” were justifying their move “by the fact that Mariupol will become part of the Russian Federation according to the results of the pseudo-referendum.”

The referenda in four occupied regions of Ukraine have been widely criticized by Western governments as illegitimate and a “sham.” The last day of voting in today.?

CNN reported on Monday that Ukrainian officials claim Russia is using the so-called secession referendums in occupied portions of the four Ukrainian regions as a pretense to draft Ukrainians into the Russian military.

Ukrainian officials also say that travel for young men out of occupied?Ukraine?has become much more difficult since Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a partial mobilization. Such travel in?Ukraine’s south has been difficult but possible, through humanitarian corridors.

In recent days, however, CNN learned from Ukrainian government sources that travel to Ukrainian-held territory has become much more difficult, and that those official humanitarian corridors have now been effectively closed.

The Mariupol city council, which works from Ukrainian-held territory, said that “Hidden mobilization has been going on in the city for a long time. Mariupol residents received text messages offering residents to work in the so-called state military service. As a result of the fake referendum, this will be done openly.”

Mariupol Mayor Vadym Boichenko told a news conference in Kyiv that the already small number of people able to leave the city had further shrunk.

“If a week ago 80-120 people left for Ukrainian held areas per day, in the past day 8 people left Mariupol. This indicates that Mariupol is being closed. […] Those people who remain in Mariupol are in danger. Because they will then forcibly mobilize men,” Boichenko said.

He estimated that more than 10,000 men might be called up in Mariupol.

Mick Krever and Victoria Butenko contributed reporting to this post.

Gas bubbles from the?Nord?Stream?2 leak reaching the surface of the Baltic Sea in the area near Bornholm, Denmark, on September 27.

The Danish Defence Command has released video of what it said are gas leaks from Nord Stream in the Baltic Sea. ?

The video released by the authority shows bubbles and an area of disturbed sea.

It has also established prohibition zones around the Danish island of Bornholm, it said in a news release.?

Denmark is sending two ships to an area in the Baltic Sea to make sure that no one enters the maritime zone affected by the leaks.

“The defense is supporting in connection with the authorities’ efforts regarding the leaks on the Nord Stream gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea. The frigate Absalon and the pollution control vessel ship Gunnar Thorson are on their way to carry out water monitoring at the exclusion zones, and the Danish Defence are also supporting with a helicopter capacity. In addition, the patrol ship Rota was in the area last night,” according to the authority.

Russians are seen attempting to leave their country as queues have formed at the Kazbegi border crossing in the Kazbegi municipality of Stepantsminda, Georgia, on September 27.

The?number of Russians arriving daily in Georgia has nearly doubled since Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a partial mobilization for the war in Ukraine, Georgia’s Minister of Internal Affairs Vakhtang Gomelauri told local media on Tuesday.?

Putin’s partial mobilization order of Russian citizens last week has prompted an exodus of Russians and backlash in the country, with demonstrations also breaking out in some ethnic minority regions.

Russians have fled to neighboring Georgia where?they can stay for a year without a visa.?

Head of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) Denis Pushilin, center, in the Nevsky microdistrict in Mariupol, Ukraine, on September 26.

The head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) said on Tuesday that he expects the Ukrainian region of Donetsk – large swaths of which are still controlled by the Ukrainian government – will be “reunited with Russia very soon.”

Denis Pushilin’s statement comes despite the fact that, prior to the invasion, no region of Ukraine backed unification?with?Russia.

An?exclusive?CNN?poll?of Ukrainians conducted?in February?found?no region of the country had more than one?in?five people backing Ukrainian?unification?with?Russia.

And?even?in?the east – the most pro-Russian area of?Ukraine?– less than a quarter of Ukrainians said regions that felt more?Russian should be allowed to leave Ukraine and?become part of?Russia.

Pushilin said on Russian State TV that he expects preliminary result of a so-called referendum –?decried as a preordained, illegal “sham” by authorities in Kyiv and the West –as soon as Tuesday evening.

“I’m sure we’ll be reunited with Russia very soon, and for us it’s a return home,” Pushilin said. “We won’t have to wait long for the result.”

“In fact, today it will only be necessary to bring [the figures] together, already in the evening, and then the preliminary results will be announced.”

Preliminary results are also expected on Tuesday in Ukraine’s Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, according to Russian-backed authorities in the occupied portions of those areas.

Petro Andriushchenko, adviser to the Ukrainian mayor-in-exile of occupied Mariupol, described Tuesday as the last “day of performances at the ‘polling stations.’”

Volunteers search for bodies among the remains of a building in the town of Izium,?Kharkiv?region, Ukraine, on September 26.

The Ukrainian military is continuing its offensive against Russian forces east of Izium?and has partially liberated the village of Pisky-Radkivski, according to local Ukrainian officials.

“The village of Pisky-Radkivski (the second largest settlement in the community, where about 2,000 people lived before the war), is already under the control of the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” Borova village council said on its Facebook page.

It said that the Ukrainian military is “still detecting groups of Russian soldiers there” and is in the process of “clearing and demining.”

Ukrainian forces are currently pushing north along the Oskil River toward the occupied village of Borova, the council said.

It said that some residents have been able to evacuate their homes, but many are still sheltering in their basements.

Further context: Izium, which sits near the border between the Kharkiv and Donetsk regions of Ukraine, was subject to intense Russian artillery attacks in April before it was occupied. It then became an important hub for the invading military during five months of occupation.

Ukrainian forces?took back control of the city?this month, delivering a strategic blow to Russia’s military assault in the east.

Large pipes, sheathed with a concrete iron ore mixture, for the Baltic Sea pipeline Nord Stream 2 are positioned at a storage area in the ferry port of Sassnitz/Neu Mukran in Germany on June 5, 2018.

The operator of the Nord Stream 1 pipeline from Russia to Germany has said its pipeline system under the Baltic Sea sustained “unprecedented” damage in one day, according to Reuters.?

In September, Russia indefinitely halted deliveries of gas to Europe through Nord Stream 1? due to an oil leak at one of its compressor stations.?

The Swedish Maritime Authority told CNN Tuesday that three leaks were identified in pipelines for Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2, near the Danish island of Bornholm.

The authority has warned vessels to maintain a distance of around 8 kilometers (5 miles) from the leaks and issued a warning for aircraft to keep a safety altitude of 1,000 meters (approximately 0.62 miles). A spokesperson said the first report of a leak was made Monday afternoon, with two more leaks identified in the evening.?

The spokesperson said that they had not investigated the cause of the leaks and had no information about any contact between Nord Stream and the maritime authority, noting that their responsibility was to warn ships about the leak.

Meanwhile, the Danish Prime Minister, who called the leaks “very concerning,” said that they “highlight the urgency of increasing our energy security in Europe.”

Mette Frederiksen was speaking at event in Szczecin, Poland to celebrate the opening of a gas pipeline through the Baltic Sea.

On Monday, Nord Stream AG said it was investigating the reasons behind a drop in pressure in the pipeline. German authorities also reported a drop in pressure in the Nord Stream 2, the pipeline between Russia and Germany that has been dormant after the German government blocked its opening following the Ukraine war.?

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday they were “extremely concerned” about the news. When asked if it could have been an act of sabotage, Peskov said: “At the moment, no possibility can be ruled out. There is some destruction of the pipe, and what caused it — we cannot exclude any possibilities before the results of the research appear.”

French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, center, visits the site of a mass grave in the Ukrainian town of Bucha, near Kyiv, during a previous visit on May 30.

French foreign minister Catherine Colonna arrived in Kyiv on an unannounced visit on Tuesday, where she’s due to visit her counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba, and President Volodymyr Zelensky.?

“Good morning #Ukraine, it’s good to be back,” Colonna tweeted on Tuesday.?

It is the third time that Colonna has been to the Ukrainian capital, according to a statement from the Foreign Affairs Ministry in Paris.

“In the context of the irresponsible statements of the Russian authorities and the illegal organization of mock referendums on the territory of Ukraine, the minister wishes to express France’s solidarity with the Ukrainian people and its full determination to strengthen its support for Ukraine and its sovereignty and territorial integrity,” the ministry’s statement said.

TV presenter Vladimir Soloviev at XXV St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) 2022 on June 17 in St. Petersburg, Russia.

State media spin-doctor Vladimir Soloviev criticized the handling of Russia’s “partial mobilization” effort on live state television on Sunday?—?a rare move for the pro-Kremlin talk-show host.

Soloviev questioned why employed people, or musicians or people with a “million illnesses” or students?—?all of whom he said should be exempted from the draft?—?should be called up to serve.

But he firmly drew the line at criticizing Russia’s President Vladimir Putin directly.??

“The idiots out there who are calling up musicians or individuals with a million illnesses […] or students, despite the clearly defined exemption, not only should they be punished, but they should be the first to be sent to the front lines. If anyone wishes to discredit our supreme commander-in-chief, I’d strongly advise against it,” Soloviev said.??

“And if it turns out that someone [overseeing the partial mobilization] chooses to turn a blind eye, then they should be punished in the harshest manner conceivable.”

Soloviev was previously singled out by the US State Department as perhaps being the Russian government’s “most energetic” propagandist, figuring prominently in the Kremlin’s information war.

Related article Darya Dugina's death provides a glimpse into Russia's vast disinformation machine -- and the influential women fronting it | CNN

The occupied area of Kherson has been “completely closed for entry and exit” following a so-called “referendum” on the region’s accession to the Russian Federation held by separatist authorities, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said Tuesday.

On Monday, the deputy head of the Russian-backed administration in the Kherson reported that there was enough of a margin to approve a vote which would see controlled areas secede from Ukraine and join Russia.?

Travel in and out of the occupied portion of the neighboring Zaporizhzhia region is also very difficult for civilians and near-impossible for men ages 18 to 35, Ukraine’s National Resistance Center – a unit of the Defense Ministry – claimed.

In recent days, Ukrainian officials have reported that travel for young men out of Russian-occupied areas across the country has become extremely challenging, since the partial mobilization effort to conscript some 300,000 soldiers for Russia’s invasion was announced by the Kremlin.?

Humanitarian corridors in Ukraine’s south – including Kherson – have been affected and in some cases effectively closed, according to Ukrainian government sources.?

Japanese Foreign Minister, Yoshimasa Hayashi, in New York City, on September 23.

Russia’s detention of a Japanese consular officer on Monday is “extremely regrettable and unacceptable,” Japan’s Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said.

“The consular officer was taken away in a state of immobility, blindfolded from start to finish, with his hands and head held down, and was subjected to intimidating interrogation,” Hayashi told reporters on Tuesday, adding that “there is absolutely no evidence of illegal activities as claimed by the Russian side.”

Vice Foreign Minister Takeo Mori summoned Russian Ambassador to Japan Mikhail?Galuzin on Tuesday morning, Hayashi said. Mori lodged a formal protest, demanding a formal apology and the prevention of recurrence.

The Japanese government will take “appropriate measures,” Hayashi said.

Some context: The Russian Federal Security Service said that the Japanese consul Motoki Tatsunori was detained in Vladivostok on Monday for receiving confidential information.

According to state news agency RISA Novosti, the FSB said the diplomat “was detained red-handed while receiving, for a monetary reward information of limited distribution [ie confidential] about current aspects of Russia’s cooperation with one of the countries of the Asia-Pacific region, the impact of the Western sanctions policy on the economic situation in Primorsky Krai.”

The consul was also declared persona non grata by the Russia Foreign Ministry?“for activities that are incompatible with the status of a consular officer and detrimental to Russia’s security interests,” they said in a statement.?

Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, conducts a service in the Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow, Russia, on April 24.

The head of the Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill has said that Russian soldiers who die in the war against Ukraine will be cleansed of all their sins.

“We know that today many are dying on the fields of internecine warfare,” Kirill said during a celebration of the Divine Liturgy on Sunday.

“The Church prays that this battle will end as soon as possible, so that as few brothers as possible will kill each other in this fratricidal war,” he added.

Kirill’s words come days after Putin announced an immediate ‘partial mobilization’ of citizens, to conscript 300,000 more soldiers, escalating its invasion of Ukraine.

Pipe systems and shut-off devices at the gas receiving station of the Nord Stream 2 Baltic Sea pipeline in Lubmin, Germany, on Monday.

Nord Stream AG, the operator of the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline from Russia to Germany and into Europe, said Monday it was investigating the reasons behind a drop in pressure in the pipeline.

“Tonight, the dispatchers of the Nord Stream 1 control center registered a pressure drop on both strings of the gas pipeline. The reasons are being investigated,” the operator said in a statement.

Earlier on Monday the pressure also plunged in the Nord Stream 2 pipeline and authorities are trying to find out why, the German authorities said.

Former NSA contractor Edward Snowden has welcomed the news that Russian President Vladimir Putin has granted him Russian citizenship.

Snowden is accused of espionage and theft of government property in the US for leaking troves of information on American intelligence and mass surveillance programs to the media.

The 39-year-old has been?living in exile in Moscow?after initially traveling to?Hong Kong?following his 2013 public disclosure of the classified information. He is facing up to 30 years in prison in the US.

In November 2020 Snowden and his wife, Lindsay Mills, applied for Russian citizenship. He had been already given permanent residency in?Russia.

In a tweet he wrote: “After years of separation from our parents, my wife and I have no desire to be separated from our SONS,” posting a picture of him, his wife and their two children.

“After two years of waiting and nearly ten years of exile, a little stability will make a difference for my family. I pray for privacy for them – and for us all,” he continued.

Some context:

Putin’s decision to grant Snowden citizenship comes just days after the Russian President threatened to escalate his?war in Ukraine, announcing the “partial mobilization” of citizens.

In 2016, the US Congress?released a report?saying Snowden had been in contact with Russian intelligence officials since arriving in Russia. Snowden immediately disputed the accusations, writing on Twitter “they claim without evidence that I’m in cahoots with the Russians.”

Snowden would not be subject to the “partial mobilization” announced by Putin since he did not serve in the Russian army, according to his lawyer Anatoly Kucherena, as quoted by Russian state media RIA Novosti on Monday.

“Now the spouse will receive citizenship after he has received it. Now the spouse will apply,” Kucherena told RIA Novosti referring to Snowden’s wife, Mills.

According to the lawyer, Snowden has a child who was born in the Russian Federation and received Russian citizenship at birth.

This satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies shows an overview of the traffic jam near the Russia border with Georgia on Sunday.

Satellite images from Sunday provided by Maxar Technologies show long lines of traffic on the Russian side of the border with Georgia.?

Maxar says the northernmost image shows traffic queuing about 16 kilometers (nearly 10 miles) north of the border crossing, and adds that “the traffic jam likely continued further to the north of the imaged area.”

CNN reported earlier Monday, that images and social media video from the border crossing between Russia and Georgia have shown long lines of stationary traffic through a mountain pass. Drone video uploaded from the area Monday suggests there are hundreds of vehicles gathered on the Russian side, with witnesses saying that people are waiting up to 48 hours to cross into Georgia.

Several videos show additional Russian security forces arriving at the border in an armored personnel carrier.

Queues have built up at the Verkhnii Lars crossing from North Ossetia into Georgia and other border crossings since the announcement last week by President Vladimir Putin of a partial mobilization.?

Videos show some families and many men on their own among those waiting to cross at Verknii Lars Hundreds of people are approaching the crossing on foot, pulling suitcases.?

At the moment, the border appears still to be open.