Iran expected to deliver ballistic missiles to Russia soon; Zelensky and Dutch premier visit Zaporizhzhia

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof visited the southern city of Zaporizhzhia on Monday.

Ukraine’s central bank is seeking to rename the smallest denomination of the national currency from the kopiyka to the shah, abandoning a term which it says too strongly resembles Russia’s kopek.

Ukraine allies expect Iran to ship missiles to Russia imminently

European officials expect Iran to deliver ballistic missiles to Russia imminently, a move that could prompt a swift response from Ukraine’s allies, people familiar with the matter said.

Iran has provided Russia with hundreds of drones during Russia’s 2½-year war against Ukraine, but the potential transfer of ballistic missiles would mark a worrying development in the conflict, according to the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss confidential assessments.

They declined to provide estimates of the type and scope of the deliveries or a timeline, though one of the officials said shipments could begin within a matter of days. Ballistic missiles typically fly much faster than cruise missiles or drones — and can carry larger payloads.

The US and other North Atlantic Treaty Organization (Nato) allies have repeatedly warned Tehran against such a move and are pressing ahead with diplomatic efforts to prevent it from happening. The US National Security Council didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment. Iran’s Foreign Ministry and its mission to the United Nations didn’t respond to queries.

Ukrainian forces are struggling to halt a Russian advance in the eastern Donetsk region as its cities and energy infrastructure have come under a sustained bombing campaign with the third full winter of the war looming. Kyiv was hit early on Monday with a barrage of cruise and ballistic missiles and drones, with seven of 16 ballistic missiles evading air defences.

Moscow’s ballistic missile arsenal includes Russian and less precise North Korean hardware. The attack on the capital included domestically made Iskander-M missiles as well as North Korean KN-23 models, launched from the Bryansk, Kursk and Voronezh regions, all bordering Ukraine, according to Ukraine’s air defence forces.

Ukrainian allies meanwhile were scrambling to meet pledges made earlier this year to beef up the war-battered nation’s air defence systems. Several Nato allies have yet to follow through with commitments reaffirmed at the alliance’s summit in Washington in July, Bloomberg reported last month.

The developments amount to a grim moment for Ukraine, which has lost a significant swathe of its power-generating capacity as citizens increasingly rely on diesel generators grapple with prolonged blackouts. The prospect of restoring power before the heating season is growing more challenging.

Russia’s war economy has been able to produce missiles and ammunition at a tempo that often outpaces that of Ukrainian allies’ ability to ship weapons. Moscow has also been able to rely on deliveries from Iran and North Korea while sustaining its own manufacturing capacity with technology and key components from nations including China.

Read more: Kyiv waits for allies to deliver on pledges, say officials

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been pushing allies to ramp up supplies and lift restrictions on deep strikes into Russian territory. His government has argued that such attacks are necessary to hit airfields and launchers used for assaults on Ukrainian cities and infrastructure.

Last month’s surprise incursion into Russia’s Kursk region has so far failed to blunt a grinding advance from Moscow.

Ballistic missile transfers to Russia would probably be met with additional sanctions on Iran, though their effectiveness would be uncertain given the raft of measures already targeting Tehran, including on drone supplies to Moscow. Among previous measures discussed by allies are fresh restrictions on Iran Air.

Group of Seven nations were also expected to publicly condemn any transfer promptly and to press their concerns with governments in the Middle East through diplomatic channels, the people said.

The G7 has already imposed sanctions on Iran and North Korea for supplying Russia with weapons. The group has been looking to ramp up restrictions on firms in China and elsewhere that provide Russia with parts and technologies needed by Moscow to manufacture weapons — or for components found in them. More recent restrictions have targeted companies and individuals enabling such transactions.

Zelensky visits Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia alongside Dutch premier

Zelensky and Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof visited the southern city of Zaporizhzhia on Monday.

Zelensky and Schoof visited a school in an underground shelter in the city, according to a statement on the president’s Telegram channel on Monday.

The Netherlands has remained among Ukraine’s staunchest military allies through a change in government this year — and has provided Kyiv with US-made F-16 fighter jets alongside other assistance.

Read more: Ukraine must be allowed to use F-16s inside Russia, says Denmark

Ukraine wants to change ‘Russian’ name of smallest currency unit

Ukraine’s central bank is seeking to rename the smallest denomination of the national currency from the kopiyka to the shah, abandoning a term which it says too strongly resembles Russia’s kopek.

With Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine into a third year, the change will help the country remove symbolic ties with its eastern neighbour, Governor Andriy Pyshnyi said in a statement on Monday. The kopek was used during the Russian Empire and Soviet era.

“We came to the undeniable conclusion that kopiyka as the name for the small coin is effectively a symbol of Moscow’s occupation,” said Pyshnyi.

Changing the denomination’s name won’t influence inflation, as the move won’t increase the amount of cash circulating in the economy, said the central bank said. The hryvnia has been significantly devalued and small coins are barely used in daily life, making this a purely symbolic gesture.

The first recorded use of the term shah came in the 16th century, before the Russian imperial conquest of Ukraine. It was also a currency denomination during Ukraine’s brief period of independence after the First World War.

The central bank’s initiative will have to be approved by parliament before minting new shah coins can start, according to the statement.

Ukraine’s capital attacked by missile barrage, says Kyiv mayor

Russia attacked Ukraine’s capital Kyiv early on Monday morning with a barrage of drones, cruise and ballistic missiles, according to local authorities and Ukraine’s air force.

Missile debris caused fires in several districts in Kyiv and emergency services were working, said city mayor Vitali Klitschko. Several cars, non-residential buildings, a boiler house and the entrance to an underground station were damaged, and two people were injured, according to preliminary information, said Klitschko.

The attack on Kyiv was the second within a week, following the bombardment on 26 August, the heaviest since the start of the full-scale invasion. The city’s administration said about 20 missiles and one drone were intercepted, based on preliminary information.

Explosions were also heard in the country’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, which was under constant attack throughout the weekend. DM