Ukraine updates: Kyiv evacuates children from southern front

The deputy head of Zaporizhzhia region said they have "evacuated all children and their families" from five towns in the southern front line.

Local media said 59 children were evacuated from the towns that have repeatedly come under attack as Ukrainian troops push through Russian defenses along the front lines to take back territories occupied by Russian troops.

Here are the main headlines concerning Russia's war in Ukraine on Wednesday, September 27:

Ukrainian official says children evacuated from southern front lines

A Ukrainian official said they evacuated all children from towns near the southern Zaporizhzhia front line as fighting in the region intensifies.

"We have fulfilled the task set by the Ukrainian government... and evacuated all children and their families" from five towns in Zaporizhzhia, Yevgen Myronenko, the deputy head of the region, was quoted by local media as saying.

The Ukrainian army has made some progress in its push to break through Russian positions on the southern front but has met fierce Russian resistance there.

Local media said 59 children were evacuated, but the information could not be independently confirmed. Ukraine had ordered the evacuation from the five towns — Gulyaipole, Stepnogirsk, Preobrazhenka, Yegorivka, and Novopavlivka — as fighting raged.

The general who is leading the counteroffensive in the southern front said last weekend that Ukraine's army had penetrated Russian defenses along part of the front lines in the Zaporizhzhia region.

Ukrainian forces said they had taken the southern village of Robotyne earlier in the month as well, signaling they were moving closer to Russian lines that defend the overland route to Crimea.

The International Criminal Court in March issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin and another senior official for unlawfully deporting children to Russia from regions in Ukraine occupied by its troops.

New Russian offensive 'less likely' in coming weeks, UK says

A concerted new Russian offensive is "less likely" in the coming weeks, the UK Ministry of Defense said in its latest intelligence update.

"Since the middle of September, Russia has highly likely committed elements of its new 25th Combined Arms Army (25 CAA) to action for the first time," the ministry said.

"Units from two of 25 CAA's manoeuvre components, 67th Motor Rifle Division and 164th Separate Motor Rifle Brigade, are reported to be fighting on the front in a sector west of Severodonetsk and Kreminna, along the border between Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts," it added.

Russia created CAAs to oversee, coordinate, and manage command and control of units transported to the border long before its full-fledged invasion of Ukraine but has bolstered its force posture since.

Ukraine has ramped up attacks against Russian positions in Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk in recent weeks, as troops slowly push forward to regain territory occupied by Moscow's forces.

"Since the start of the invasion, Russia has only rarely maintained an uncommitted army-size grouping which could potentially form the basis of a major new offensive thrust," the ministry said in its update.

"With 25 CAA apparently being deployed piecemeal to reinforce the over-stretched line," a concerted Russian offensive appeared less likely, it concluded.

Polish talks on Ukrainian grain imports on track, says Warsaw

Talks with Ukraine about grain imports were headed in a good direction, Polish Agriculture Minister Robert Telus was quoted as saying by Reuters news agency.

Kyiv and Warsaw have feuded publicly over the export of Ukrainian grain.

Poland joined Hungary and Slovakia earlier this month to defy a EU decision to lift a temporary ban on Ukrainian agricultural imports.

The EU countries said the ban was to protect their own farmers. Ukraine is one of the world's largest wheat exporters.

Polish President Andrzej Duda later said that Poland would allow the movement of grains through its territory to other countries in need.