World leaders gathered at the United Nations in New York condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and leaders installed by Moscow in the occupied territories of four Ukrainian regions announced plans to hold referendums on joining Russia in the coming days.

Highlights of Wednesday, the 210th day of the Ukrainian war, LIVETEXT:

07:29On Wednesday morning, in the city of Kharkiv in the north-east of Ukraine, several strong explosions rang out, rockets hit residential buildings, CNN reports, citing news.ro.

During the air raid siren, a CNN camera crew that arrived at the scene heard 6-7 “loud explosions”.

The mayor of Kharkiv, Ihor Terekhov, in his post on Telegram reports that operational teams are working to rescue several people who are stuck in one place.

07:24German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Tuesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin will abandon his “imperial ambitions” that risk destroying Ukraine and Russia only if he admits he cannot win the war, Reuters reported on Wednesday.

A quick recap of the latest developments on Wednesday morning:

• Russian President Vladimir Putin has postponed his address to the Russian people, scheduled for Tuesday, to Wednesday morning, Russian media reported. The “speech to the people” of the leader of the Kremlin should take place for the first time since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine on February 24, and there are also reports of the possibility of announcing a general mobilization in Russia.
• Pro-Russian leaders announced referendums on September 23-27 in Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, which make up about 15 percent of Ukraine’s territory, that is, an area the size of Hungary.
• The Pentagon called the referendums organized by Russia in the east of Ukraine a “distracting factor”
• In Kherson, where the regional capital is the only major city Russia has so far captured intact since the invasion, Ukraine has launched a major counteroffensive.
• Ukraine will continue its counteroffensive, despite Russia’s plans to hold “pseudo-referendums” in the occupied Ukrainian territories, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said, The Kyiv Independent quotes.
• The armed forces of Ukraine have regained control over the village of Bilogorivka, preparing to recapture the entire Luhansk region from the Russian invaders, the governor of the region, Serhiy Gaidai, said. The village is just 10 km west of the town of Lysyanska, which fell to the Russians after weeks of fierce fighting in July.
• Erdogan’s amazing speech: Russia must return the territories it has occupied from Ukraine if it wants lasting peace, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Monday night. “If peace is established in Ukraine, (then), of course, the return of the territory that was captured will become really important. This is what is expected,” Erdogan said in an interview with the American PBS channel.
• Another European country has announced that it will send tanks to Ukraine

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Tuesday’s events were broadcast live on HotNews.ro