U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said ahead of a meeting of Ukrainian and allied defense ministers in western Germany on September 19 that Ukraine was making "steady" progress in its three-month-old counteroffensive against invading Russian forces.
Fighting continued in southern and eastern regions of Ukraine as Kyiv claimed to have downed dozens of Russian attack drones across the country overnight on September 18-19, but an air attack was blamed for a civilian death in the western city of Lviv.
At least $14.3 million worth of coal produced in areas of Ukraine illegally annexed by Russia has been exported to NATO-member Turkey this year, according to Russian customs data reviewed by Reuters.
The Group of Seven (G7) on September 19 called on China to press Russia to stop its aggression in Ukraine after foreign ministers of the bloc met on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.