October 13, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

Our live coverage of Russia’s war in Ukraine has moved here.

Russia’s strikes on civilian targets continued Thursday, including a “kamikaze” drone attack in the Kyiv region and shelling of residential buildings in the southern city of Mykolaiv.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky called on NATO defense ministers for more air defense, declaring Kyiv only has about 10% of what it needs to combat Moscow’s blitz.

In response, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the alliance is set to deliver counter-drone equipment to Ukraine following Thursday’s meetings of NATO defense ministers in Brussels. 

Here are the latest headlines:

#Catch Up##

The relative calm in Ukrainian cities far from the country’s battlefields was shattered by two painfully familiar sounds this week: the ominous ring of the air raid sirens, and the eruptions of Russian attacks.

A wave of missiles, rockets and drones has struck dozens of locations across Ukraine since Monday, according to officials, targeting civilian infrastructure in several major cities, including Kyiv, located hundreds of miles from the front lines in the east and south.

The wide bombardment echoed the early days of Russia’s scattershot initial invasion in February, but also underlined that the conflict in Ukraine, which for months appeared to be descending into a slow and painful grind in the Donbas, has erupted once again as winter nears.

Not for the first time, the war is teetering toward an unpredictable new phase.

“This is now the third, fourth, possibly fifth different war that we’ve been observing,” said Keir Giles, a senior consulting fellow at Chatham House’s Russia and Eurasia Programme.

The strikes followed weeks of Ukrainian ground gains and began two days after a huge explosion damaged the Kerch bridge, the only crossing between the annexed Crimean peninsula and Russia. That blast, which was used by the Kremlin as a justification for Monday’s onslaught, bruised the Russian psyche and handed Ukraine a significant strategic boost.

With the cold months nearing and likely bringing a slowdown in ground combat, experts say the next weeks of the war are now expected to be vital, and another potential spike in intensity looms over Ukraine as each side seeks to strike another blow.

“What seemed a distant prospect for anything that could be convincingly described as a Ukraine victory is now very much more plausible,” Giles said. “The response from Russia is likely to escalate further.”

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Ukraine is demanding that the International Committee of the Red Cross immediately send a delegation to the Russian prisoner of war camp at Olenivka in the Russian-occupied Donetsk region.

Andriy Yermak, the head of President Volodymyr Zelensky’s office, published the call for a mission on the administration’s website.

“At the end of July, as a result of terrorist shelling by the Russian occupiers, more than 50 defenders of Ukraine were killed” at the camp, Yermak told the Red Cross, according to the public message.

CNN recently investigated the camp’s shelling.

The Russian Defense Ministry said a Ukrainian HIMARS rocket attack was responsible for the strike. The CNN investigation, based on analysis of video and photographs from the scene, satellite imagery from before and after the attack and the work of forensic and weapons experts, concluded the Russian version of events was very likely a fabrication.

In the aftermath of the attack, the Russian Defense Ministry said it was ready for the Red Cross to visit the camp. But, despite repeated requests from the organization, no visit was ever arranged.

Yermak said the conditions under which Ukrainian prisoners are held, and what they face in places of detention in the Russian Federation and in the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine, “is extremely important.”

“There are concentration camps again, and it is impossible to remain silent about this,” he said.

“Therefore, I call for the Red Cross mission with international media representatives to arrive in Ukraine no later than in three days, even if you do not receive confirmation from Russia by this time. And we are sure that Russia is not interested in the truth being known.”

It’s unclear how any mission to Olenivka could happen without Russian consent, as the detention center is in Russian-occupied territory. 

The head of the UN’s nuclear watchdog agency has said that progress is being made toward establishing a safety zone around the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in Ukraine.

IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi shared photographs on Twitter of a meeting with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba in a Kyiv bunker on Thursday, saying “we are making progress” towards establishing a protection zone around what is Europe’s largest nuclear power plant.

Later on Thursday, Grossi told reporters in Kyiv that “the work continues, and I believe we are making good progress.”

However, he added that the “situation continues to be extremely fragile, extremely precarious.”

In a tweet, Kuleba said he had “reiterated that Russia must withdraw from the ZNPP to ensure its nuclear safety and security, immediately stop abductions and intimidation of the Ukrainian personnel,” when he met with Grossi Thursday.

An 11-year old boy who was rescued from the wreckage of a building in Mykolaiv shelled by Russian forces has died in hospital, according to Ukrainian officials.

Vitalii Kim, head of Mykolaiv region military administration, said the boy, named Artem, had been brought to the regional hospital and went into cardiac arrest.

Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said the boy had been trapped under the rubble of a five-story building for more than six hours overnight before finally being rescued early Thursday morning.

“All the time, he was bravely holding on, listening to all the advice of rescuers who were trying to support him in every possible way, while carrying out emergency work,” the Service said.

“I have no words,” Kim said.

Any use of nuclear weapons by Russia against Ukraine would lead to its forces being annihilated, the EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Thursday. 

“Putin is saying he is not bluffing. Well, he cannot afford to be bluffing, and it has to be clear that the people supporting Ukraine and the European Union and its members, and the United States and NATO are not bluffing either,” Borrell said in Bruges, Belgium.

Earlier, NATO’s Secretary Jens Stoltenberg said the circumstances in which the military alliance would use nuclear weapons are “extremely remote.” 

“We will not go into how exactly we will respond but, of course, this will fundamentally change the nature of the conflict. It will mean that a very important line has been crossed. Even any use of a smaller nuclear weapon will be a very serious thing, changing the nature of the war in Ukraine,” Stoltenberg said.

The Russian government will help residents of the Kherson region evacuate to other regions of the country, according to Russian Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin who was quoted by the Russian state media RIA Novosti.

“In connection with the appeal of the head of the Kherson region of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Saldo, the government decided to organize assistance for the departure of residents of the region to other regions of the country,” said Khusnullin, as quoted by RIA.

Earlier Thursday, Saldo appealed to the Kremlin to organize an evacuation of civilians in the face of an ongoing Ukrainian offensive.

However, Kirill Stremousov, the deputy head of Kherson region military administration, said in response that there would not be any evacuation.

Saldo’s request to “help organize the departure of residents of the Kherson region for temporary stay and rest in other regions of the Russian Federation is not a call for evacuation,” Stremousov said. “We urge the residents of the Kherson region to remain calm and to not panic. Nobody is going to withdraw Russian troops from the Kherson region.”

Ukrainian forces have been making gradual advances through Kherson, as well as striking critical infrastructure such as bridges and railways.

Kherson is one of four regions of Ukraine annexed by Russia last month.

Russian authorities said more than 400 fighters of the Ukrainian Azov Regiment have been taken to various pre-trial detention centers in Russia.

“In the period from the end of September to the present time, 402 nationalists of the Azov battalion have been taken to the territory of Russia and placed in specialized institutions in the territories of the Volgograd, Rostov, Belgorod and Voronezh regions,” the Russian Investigative Committee said Thursday.

The Azov Regiment, which is part of Ukraine’s National Guard, is classified as a terrorist organization in Russia. Its fighters were prominent in the defense of the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol.

The committee claimed that its investigators — in cooperation with the Federal Security Service (FSB) and the Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN) — are recording “new facts of ill-treatment of civilians by the Ukrainian military.”

Earlier this month, the acting head of the Azov Regiment, Nikita Nadtochy, said that about 2,500 service personnel from Mariupol remained in Russian captivity, among them about 700 “Azov” fighters.

That was after the return of 108 Azov fighters to Ukraine in a complex prisoner exchange in late September.

Spain will provide additional air defense “Hawk systems” to Ukraine, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said at a news conference after the NATO defense ministerial meeting in Brussels Thursday.

“Just today, one of our allies came back one day later and said they would push in additional Hawk systems which Ukrainians have asked for. So we thank Spain for it’s very, very rapid response,” Austin said. 

Austin encouraged other allies to “dig deep and provide additional capability as well.” 

He also highlighted the National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS) that the US has committed to send to Ukraine and the German IRIS-T systems being sent. Germany delivered its first of four IRIS-T SLM air-to-air missile systems to Ukraine Monday, German defense minister Christine Lambrecht said in a tweet. The US has committed a total of eight NASAMS to be sent to Ukraine but none have arrived in country yet.

NATO is set to deliver counter-drone equipment to Ukraine, the alliance’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Thursday following the meetings of NATO Defence Ministers in Brussels. 

It comes as Ukraine has asked its allies to supply it with more air defense systems and ammunition after Russia stepped up its use of “kamikaze drones” in its brutal assault against the country.

NATO allies “are supplying advanced systems, including artillery, air defence, and armoured vehicles,” Stoltenberg said. “I thank all Allies for their significant contributions and urge them to continue to step up. We are also providing fuel, winter clothing and medical supplies as part of NATO’s Comprehensive Assistance Package,” he added.

“Under this package, NATO will shortly deliver counter-drone equipment to Ukraine. With hundreds of drone jammers, which can help render ineffective Russian and Iranian-made drones. And to protect Ukrainian people and critical infrastructure,” he continued.

Stoltenberg also said that in the longer term, NATO will also “help Ukraine to transition from Soviet-era to modern NATO equipment.” Ukraine’s Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov updated NATO on the situation on the battlefield, Stoltenberg said, adding that “Ukraine is making good progress, pushing back the invading Russian forces in the East and in the South.”

The Ukrainian air force said it shot down four Russian Kalibr cruise missiles on Wednesday.

Ukraine’s Air Command West said on Telegram that the Russians “continue to attack civilians, launch missile strikes on critical infrastructure.”

The Russians targeted “facilities in the western region from the Black Sea with Kalibr cruise missiles,” it said.

“Four cruise missiles were destroyed,” it added.

There are reports of fresh Russian missile attacks in western Ukraine.

“Lviv region: Air Defense Forces worked. Details later. Stay in shelters! The danger still continues,” Maksym Kozytskyi, head of the Lviv Region Military Administration, said on Telegram.

Residents of Ternopil region, also in the west, reported explosions in the town of Chortkiv and Ternopil city. It’s unclear whether they were due to missiles or air defenses at work. There was no official word on the cause.

Kozytskyi said that Russians “hit one of the military facilities in the Lviv region. This is a repeated hit on this facility. Military property was destroyed, there are no casualties…3 missiles, 2 hits. 1 missile was shot down by our air defense forces.”

A week of deadly strikes: Civilian targets across Ukraine have been under fire this week as Moscow retaliates for last weekend’s massive explosion on the bridge connecting annexed Crimea to the Russian mainland.

That’s continued Thursday, including a “kamikaze” drone attack on the Kyiv region and shelling of residential buildings in the southern city of Mykolaiv.

The head of the Russian-backed administration in the southern Ukrainian region of Kherson has appealed to the Kremlin to organize an evacuation of civilians in the face of a Ukrainian offensive.

“Every day, the cities of the Kherson region are subjected to missile strikes: Kherson and Novaya Kakhovka, Golaya Pristan and Chernobaevka. These missile strikes cause serious damage, first of all, to the local residents. Because the targets hit by the missiles are hotels, residential buildings, markets, where there are many civilians,” said Vladimir Saldo, head of one of four regions annexed by Russia last month.

As a result, the Kherson leadership “decided to organize the possibility of Kherson families traveling to other regions of the Russian Federation,” he said on his Telegram channel.

“We suggested that all residents of the Kherson region, if there is such a wish, to protect themselves from the consequences of missile strikes, should go to other regions … to take their children and leave,” he said, adding an “appeal” to the Russian leadership to “help in organizing such work. We, residents of the Kherson region, of course, know that Russia does not abandon its own people.”

However, Kirill Stremousov, the deputy head of Kherson region military administration, said, “There is no evacuation in the Kherson region and there cannot be any.”

Saldo’s request to “help organize the departure of residents of the Kherson region for temporary stay and rest in other regions of the Russian Federation is not a call for evacuation,” Stremousov said. “We urge the residents of the Kherson region to remain calm and to not panic. Nobody is going to withdraw Russian troops from the Kherson region.”

Ukrainian forces have been making gradual advances through Kherson, as well as striking critical infrastructure such as bridges and railways.

Twenty captured Russian soldiers were returned from Ukrainian captivity on Thursday as a result of a “negotiation process” with Kyiv, the Russian defense ministry said in a statement.

“As a result of the negotiation process on the exchange, today 20 Russian servicemen have been returned from the territory of Ukraine controlled by the Kyiv regime,” the statement said. “All released servicemen are provided with the necessary psychological and medical assistance.”

The statement did not mention the terms of the negotiation deal with Kyiv for the release of the soldiers.

A US citizen recently died in the eastern Donbas region of Ukraine, a US State Department spokesperson confirmed on Thursday.

“We are in touch with the family and are providing all appropriate assistance,” the spokesperson said. “Out of respect for the family’s privacy during this difficult time, we have nothing further to add.”

The State Department did not indicate the manner of the death. CNN is working to confirm the identity of the American.

Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested a “gas hub” plan to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Thursday, saying if there was interest from Turkey, they would consider its feasibility. 

“If there is interest from Turkey and our potential buyers from other countries, we could consider the possibility of building another gas pipeline system and creating a gas hub in Turkey to sell to other countries — to third countries, primarily, of course; the European ones, if they are interested,” Putin said on the side lines of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia summit in Astana in Kazakhstan.

If the hub was to go ahead, it would be a platform not only to supply but also to determine prices, Putin added. “These prices are outrageous today. We could calmly regulate [them] at a normal market level without any political overtones,” he said.

On Wednesday, Putin mentioned the prospect of a gas hub based in Turkey during Russia’s energy summit in Moscow, saying Moscow could redirect supplies intended for the damaged Nord Stream pipelines to the Black Sea to create it.

“We could move the lost volumes from the Nord Streams along the bottom of the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea region and thus make the main routes for the supply of our fuel, our natural gas to Europe through Turkey, creating the largest gas hub for Europe in Turkey,” Putin said. “That is, of course, if our partners are interested in this. And economic feasibility, of course.”

Moscow and Kyiv are blaming each other for the damage inflicted on a residential building on Thursday in the Russian city of Belgorod, near the border with Ukraine.

Russian officials blamed the Ukrainian Armed Forces, according to social media posts. However, Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said Russia launched missiles towards Kharkiv and missed its target.

“Around 12:40 p.m. local time, an unidentified object fell on the residential building at 42 Gubkina Street as the result of an air defense operation. Now, destruction on the top floor is visible on the spot, two cars are damaged by debris. At the moment, there is no information about the victims,” Belgorod mayor Anton Ivanov said in a video message posted on his Telegram.

Residents were relocated to a hotel, Ivanov added. 

Belgorod Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov blamed the Ukrainian Armed Forces for shelling the residential building. 

“Ukrainian Armed Forces shelled Belgorod. The air defense at work. There is destruction in a residential apartment building on Gubkin Street. Information about the victims is being specified,” the governor said in a Telegram post. 

However, Podolyak denied the accusation, saying it was Russia’s own mistake.

“Russia launched a missile towards Kharkiv, but something went wrong and it hit a residential building in Belgorod, Russia. Will there be an investigation? Or punishment? No, Putin does not care who to kill: Ukrainians or Russians. Propagandists will quickly find a fake explanation,” Ukrainian presidential adviser Podolyak said on Twitter.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said to Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday that Turkey was the “most reliable route” for gas to European countries.

“As for other hydrocarbon energy, including gas, our deliveries are in full volume in accordance with your requests,” Putin said on the sidelines of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia summit in Astana, Kazakhstan.

“We also carry out transit through Turkey to European countries. Turkey turned out to be the most reliable route for gas supplies to Europe today.”

In the same bilateral meeting, Erdogan told Putin that Turkey can help transport Russian grain and fertilizer to less developed countries.

“We can work together on coming up with the list of these countries because more so than the developed countries, we need to look out for the poorer countries,” Erdogan said.

“While the steps Turkey and Russia take on this may discomfort some circles, it will make less developed countries happy.”

Some context: Russia has been using its natural gas resources to exert economic pressure on European countries, worsening the energy crisis.

Moscow has been toying with supply via key pipelines, and last month there were unexplained leaks in two Russian gas pipelines running under the Baltic Sea near Sweden and Denmark.

For its part, Turkey played an important role in brokering a deal that saw Russia allow grain exports from key Ukrainian ports to restart in August.

Russian strikes continue, with “kamikaze” drones targeting the Kyiv region and at least two dead in the southern city of Mykolaiv, as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky once again calls for more air defenses from Western allies.

Here are the latest headlines:

The bodies of a 31-year-old man and an 80-year-old woman have been found by first responders in the ruins of a residential building hit by Russian strikes in the Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv, its mayor said on Thursday.

“So far, rescuers have pulled out the bodies of two dead residents,” Oleksandr Senkevych said on his telegram channel.

The search and rescue is still ongoing, according to Senkevych.

According to the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, five more people remain under the rubble. 

“As of 13:00, 9 units of equipment and 37 rescuers were involved,” the emergency services said. 

Earlier on Thursday, local officials reported that seven people were missing after the Russian strike.

The Ukrainian national electricity company Ukrenergo said power cuts “were not applied” in Kyiv, the Kyiv region and the entire central region of the country despite ongoing Russian attacks on electricity infrastructure. 

The company does not plan to introduce any further emergency shutdowns on Thursday, according to Volodymyr Kudrytskyi, CEO of Ukrenergo, in a statement.

It comes after strikes across the country targeting energy infrastructure resulted in rolling power outages across Ukraine earlier in the week. 

“Yesterday evening, dispatching constraints were not applied in Kyiv, in the Kyiv region and the entire central region, restrictions were lifted in the Northeastern regions of our country since 7:55 p.m.,” said Kudrytskyi Thursday.

Ukrenergo and regional utilities have managed to stabilize the energy supply and residents in central Ukraine reduced consumption, he said. 

“Whether there will be restrictions in the future depends primarily on whether there will be no new shelling and destruction,” he said. 

The head of the press office of the Ukrainian energy ministry Larysa Shustenko told CNN that they cannot anticipate when the grid and infrastructure will be fully restored because “attacks continue and some places were hit twice already.”

Russia has summoned the ambassadors of Germany, Denmark and Sweden in Moscow over the European investigation of leaks at Nord Stream pipelines, according to Russian state media TASS. 

“Moscow does not recognize any ‘pseudo-results’ of the investigation of the emergency at Nord Stream if Russian specialists do not participate in it,” the foreign ministry said, according to TASS. 

European countries were investigating unexplained leaks last month 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.

Several European officials said sabotage appeared to be the likely cause, while Russia, which built the network, did not rule it out. 

The Russian foreign ministry has received information about the “involvement of the United States in the investigation of incidents at Nord Stream,” TASS added. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine is “a crusade against what Putin calls the collective West,” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Thursday.

“All along Vladimir Putin and his enablers have made one thing very clear, this war is not only about Ukraine, they consider the war against Ukraine as part of a larger crusade,” Scholz said in a pre-recorded virtual speech at the Progressive Governance Summit.

“A crusade against liberal democracy, a crusade against the rules based on liberal order, a crusade against freedom and progress. A crusade against our way of life, a crusade against what Putin calls the collective West,” he said.

Scholz added that Germany will support Ukraine financially, economically and for humanitarian and military needs.

“Including heavy weaponry, modern air defense system and tanks and make no mistakes we will continue our support as long as it takes,” he said.

On Wednesday, Germany’s Economy Minister Robert Habeck said he is convinced Putin’s attempt to destabilize Europe’s economic order will fail.

“Putin will fail in his attempt to destabilize the basic economic order, the same way he will fail on the battlefield in Ukraine,” Habeck said, speaking at a news conference in Berlin. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Moscow is “making every effort to provide critical products” to countries impacted by recent volatility in prices, while speaking at a summit in Kazakhstan on Thursday.

“Other regional associations have to deal with many acute problems, including the increased volatility in world prices for energy resources, food, fertilizers, raw materials and other important goods,” Putin said while delivering remarks at the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA) summit in the Kazakh capital Astana.

“This leads to a deterioration in the quality of life in developed and developing countries. Moreover, there is a real threat of famine and widespread social upheaval, especially in the poorest countries.”

“Russia, for its part, is making every effort to provide critical products to countries in need. We call for the elimination of all artificial, illegitimate barriers to the restoration of the normal functioning of global supply chains in order to address urgent food security challenges,” Putin said.

The Russian leader did not reference the war in Ukraine in his remarks. However, he again criticized NATO for the “failure of their policies,” referencing their role in Afghanistan.

“After more than 20 years of the military presence of the United States and NATO [in Afghanistan], the failure of their policies, was unable to independently resolve the problems associated with terrorist threats,” Putin said.

Putin said that, together with other Asian countries, Russia is looking to form a “system of equal and indivisible security based on the universally recognized principles of international law of the UN Charter.”

Some context: Putin’s invasion of Ukraine in February sent the prices of energy and other commodities soaring.

In the case of wheat, prices later fell back sharply after spiking to an all-time high in March, as investors cheered a deal brokered by the United Nations and Turkey to restart exports of grain from key Ukrainian ports.

However, natural gas prices increased further as Russia toyed with supply to Europe via key pipelines and heat waves pushed up electricity usage, with the economic impact of the war in Ukraine still being felt around the world.

“Kamikaze” drones carried out attacks targeting infrastructure facilities in the Kyiv region, according the head of the regional police. 

Three “kamikaze” drones hit the district of Bucha, the head of Kyiv region police Andrii Nebytov said.

“Tonight, the enemy carried out a series of attacks on the infrastructure of Kyiv region. As a result of the explosions a fire broke out,” he said in a Telegram post on Thursday.

There are no casualties, according to a preliminary assessment.

The police chief did not elaborate on what kind of infrastructure facilities were targeted in Bucha.  

Drones also struck targets in the Makariv community in the Kyiv region overnight, he said. 

Oleksii Kuleba, head of Kyiv region military administration, also posted about the drones on Telegram.

“Today, around 5 am, the Russians carried out an attack on the Kyiv region. In one of the communities of the region, there were three attacks by enemy kamikaze drones on an infrastructure facility. This caused a fire,” he said.

“There are no casualties. At 06:45, the fire was localized, there is no open fire. 43 people and 12 units of emergency services equipment were involved in extinguishing the fire,” added Kuleba.

He asked residents not to film the location of the attacks or share on social media.

“Do not specify locations and places of incoming hits. Be responsible, because our safety depends on it,” Kuleba added.

Some context: Thursday’s “kamikaze” drone attacks come after three consecutive days of deadly Russian strikes on civilian targets across Ukraine, including the capital region.

As deadly Russian airstrikes in Ukraine continued into a fourth day, President Volodymyr Zelensky reiterated his plea for more air defense capacities, saying Kyiv has only about 10% of what it needs to combat Moscow’s blitz.

“We are fighting a large country that has a lot of equipment and lots of missiles,” Zelensky said Thursday during a virtual address at the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly session.

“There is nothing I can add about that, we have about 10% of what we need,” Zelensky told European lawmakers.

He called on Western countries such as the United States and France to increase their military aid to Ukraine.

Zelensky’s plea comes amid one of the fiercest bombing campaigns that Russia has waged against Ukraine since invading the country in late February.

Ukraine has received additional emergency funding from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), according to the Ukrainian prime minister.

“Ukraine received $1.3 billion of additional emergency financing support from the International Monetary Fund. The funds will be used to finance priority needs: Strengthening defense capabilities, paying pensions, social programs and supporting the economy,” said Denys Shmyhal.

“In total, the IMF has provided our country with $2.7 billion since the beginning of the full-scale war,” he said.

On October 7, the IMF executive board approved the additional funds “under the food shock window of the Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI) to help meet Ukraine’s urgent balance of payments needs.”

“The scale and intensity of Russia’s war against Ukraine that started more than seven months ago have caused tremendous human suffering and economic pain,” the IMF said in a press release last week.

“This disbursement under the RFI (equivalent to 50 percent of Ukraine’s quota in the IMF) will help meet urgent balance of payment needs, including due to a large cereal export shortfall, while playing a catalytic role for further financial support from Ukraine’s creditors and donors,” the IMF added.

Heating season in Ukraine will not be delayed by Russian attacks on the country’s energy infrastructure, a Ukrainian minister has said.

“The heating season will start on time, without any postponements or changes. It will start as planned: as soon as the average daily temperature is below 8 degrees Celsius for three days. Even the weather is on our side,” Minister for Communities and Territories Development Oleksii Chernyshov said. 

“There is electricity again in almost 4,000 settlements. Damage [from] the enemy’s missile attack has been repaired as quickly as possible, in two days. Only eight settlements remain without electricity, work there will be completed in the coming days,” he added. 

On Tuesday, Ukraine’s Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko said about 30% of energy infrastructure in Ukraine had been hit by Russian missiles since Monday. 

Kyiv is urging all Ukrainians to save electricity, especially from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. and from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan reiterated his calls Thursday for an end to the war in Ukraine while speaking at a conference in Kazakhstan, where Russian President Vladimir Putin is in attendance. 

“Each of us is feeling the regional and global impact of the crisis in Ukraine … Despite these difficulties on the ground, our priority is to end the bloodshed as soon as possible,” Erdoğan said while delivering remarks.

Later Thursday, Erdoğan and Putin are expected to meet for a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA) summit in the Kazakh capital Astana, according to Russian state-run news agency TASS.

Erdoğan has repeatedly called for an end to the war and played a key role in the UN-brokered deal between Moscow and Kyiv this summer to allow the resumption of grain shipments from Black Sea ports in Ukraine.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin reiterated their support for Ukraine ahead of a meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels on Thursday. 

“We still stand by Ukraine for as long as it takes, we will step up our support and in particular we will provide more air defense assistance to Ukraine,” Stoltenberg said in Brussels alongside Austin. 

UN vote: Stoltenberg praised the UN General Assembly’s approval Wednesday of a resolution telling Russia its annexation of four Ukrainian zones is illegal and not valid, calling the vote a “clear condemnation of the illegal annexation of Ukrainian territories and a clear call on Russian President [Vladimir] Putin to reverse these decisions and respect the territorial integrity of Ukraine.”

“I absolutely agree with you … and I couldn’t have put it better,” Austin said, reiterating that the US will continue to support Ukraine “for as long as it takes.”

“I want to applaud all of our allies and partners who’ve stepped up to provide assistance to Ukraine,” Austin said. “This alliance is the essential forum for consultation, decision making and action when it comes to security of the region and transatlantic security as well.”

Austin reaffirmed Washington’s commitment to Article 5 — the principle that an attack on one member of NATO is an attack on all members — and to “defending every inch of NATO’s territory.”

At least seven people are missing as rescuers search through the rubble of a residential building in the southern Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv following Russian shelling overnight, the Mykolaiv regional military administration said on Telegram on Thursday. 

An 11-year-old boy has been rescued and is receiving medical treatment, they said. 

The administration said the city had been hit by eight S-300 missiles overnight. 

The attacks mark the fourth consecutive day of Russian strikes targeting civilian infrastructure across Ukraine.

The Russian military appears to have embarked on a new tactic in its efforts to turn the tide of its faltering war: trying to overwhelm Ukraine’s largely Soviet-era air defenses with dozens of missiles and drones from multiple directions.

As Ukraine races to shore up its missile defenses in the wake of the assault, the math for Moscow is simple: A percentage of projectiles are bound to get through.

Russia’s aerial onslaught of the last few days has been largely directed at Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, using a variety of missiles and newly acquired Iranian drones. But while the damage has been substantial, Ukraine claims that it has taken out around half of the missiles fired — and it expects that success rate to improve as new air defenses arrive from Germany, the US and elsewhere.

Over the last three days, the Russians have been using a mix of their missile stocks. The majority were air-launched cruise missiles, some delivered by bombers based near the Caspian Sea. But they also deployed ship-launched Kalibrs from the Black Sea, ground-launched Iskander cruise missiles and dozens of attack drones.

The great unknown is just how far such a blitz is depleting Russian inventories — and whether increasingly they will resort to stocks of older, less accurate but equally powerful missiles.

Estimating Russian missile inventories is guesswork. In May, President Volodymr Zelensky said Russia had launched 2,154 missiles and had probably used up 60% of its precision-missile arsenal. That now looks like wishful thinking.

Read the full analysis:

TOPSHOT - Investigators examine a crater next to a damaged bus, following a missile strike in Dnipro on October 10, 2022, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine. - The head of the Ukrainian military said that Russian forces launched at least 75 missiles at Ukraine on Monday morning, with fatal strikes targeting the capital Kyiv, and cities in the south and west. (Photo by Dimitar DILKOFF / AFP) (Photo by DIMITAR DILKOFF/AFP via Getty Images)

Related article Russia's hit-and-miss missile blitz forces a frantic race to shore up Ukrainian defenses | CNN

US President Joe Biden said “the world has sent a clear message,” after the UN General Assembly (UNGA) overwhelmingly approved a resolution on Wednesday condemning Russia’s annexation of four Ukrainian zones as illegal.

“Russia is tearing at the very foundations of international peace and security. The stakes of this conflict are clear to all — and the world has sent a clear message in response: Russia cannot erase a sovereign state from the map. Russia cannot change borders by force. Russia cannot seize another country’s territory as its own,” Biden said in a statement Wednesday.
“Nearly eight months into this war, the world has just demonstrated that it is more united, and more determined than ever to hold Russia accountable for its violations.”

Some 143 members of the United Nations voted to condemn Russia’s illegal annexation attempt of Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia following referendums derided by Western leaders as a sham. Only four UN members sided with Moscow — Belarus, North Korea, Nicaragua and Syria.

The southern Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv was “massively shelled” overnight, the city’s Mayor Oleksandr Senkevych said on Telegram early Thursday. 

“A five-story residential building was hit. Two of its upper floors were completely destroyed, and the rest are covered in rubble,” Senkevych said. 

He said rescuers are working at the scene. The mayor did not say if there were any injuries or deaths. 

Another southern city, Nikopol, also reported shelling overnight, Ukrainian member of parliament Oleksiy Goncharenko said on Telegram. 

Goncharenko said a 59-year-old man was injured and about 30 high-rise buildings and private houses were damaged, leaving around 2,000 families without electricity.

The latest attacks follow three consecutive days of deadly Russian strikes on civil infrastructure across Ukraine.

A “kamikaze” drone attacked a community in Ukraine’s Kyiv region on Thursday, according to Ukrainian military officials.

“One of the regional communities was attacked,” the Kyiv regional military administration said in a Telegram post. “Initial reports indicate a kamikaze drone attack. Rescuers teams have responded.”

Authorities urged people to stay in shelters “until the air raid siren stops,” the administration said.

The administration did not say if there were any injuries or reports of damage from the attack, which follows three straight days of deadly Russian strikes on civilian targets across Ukraine, including the capital region.

New satellite images from Maxar Technologies taken Wednesday show cars crossing the Kerch bridge in Crimea just days after a deadly explosion damaged the only road and rail link between Russia and the Ukrainian peninsula annexed by Moscow in 2014.

The explosion Saturday, which killed at least three people, was a major blow to Moscow and the Kremlin has responded with deadly attacks against Ukraine’s civil infrastructure over the past three days.

The images show limited car and rail traffic has restarted on the bridge following the blast as repairs are ongoing.

The photos also show long lines of cargo trucks waiting to be ferried to Crimea from Russia.

Though car traffic on the bridge has resumed, larger vehicles like trucks, vans and buses are now traveling by ferry across the Kerch Strait.

Russian authorities have detained eight people in connection with the attack on the bridge, state media reported Wednesday.

The Crimea bridge is a critical artery for supplying the peninsula with both its daily needs and supplies for the Russian military. Over the past few months, dozens of Russian military convoys have used the bridge, carrying vehicles, armor and fuel.

Kyiv has not claimed responsibility for the blast on the 19-kilometer (about 12-mile) long bridge, which was was opened by Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2018.

The UN General Assembly (UNGA) overwhelmingly approved a resolution on Wednesday telling Russia its annexation of four Ukrainian zones is illegal and not valid.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called the resolution “historic” in a tweet and thanked the states that voted in favor.

During the assembly’s emergency special session on Ukraine, US ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said the vote “is important not just to the future of Ukraine and the future of Europe, but to the very foundations of this institution.”

The US diplomat said the resolution calls for peace and de-escalation, and “makes clear that we reject Russia’s attempted annexations. That we reject this affront to territorial integrity, to national sovereignty, to peace and security.”

She noted that “today it is Russia invading Ukraine. But tomorrow it could be another nation whose territory is violated. You could be next. What would you expect from this chamber?” 

“So let us send a clear message today: these United Nations will not tolerate attempts at illegal annexation. We will never recognize it. These United Nations will not tolerate seizing a neighbor’s land by force. We will stand up to it. These United Nations will not tolerate the destruction of the UN Charter. We will defend it,” she told the assembly.

Russian forces in occupied Ukraine continue to launch offensive operations amid the much higher tempo of missile attacks, according to the Ukrainian military.

In an update late Wednesday, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said enemy forces were “trying to conduct offensive actions at the Bakhmut and Avdiivka directions,” both in the eastern Donetsk region. Those attacks and others in Donetsk had been repelled, it said.

It said that parts of Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhia regions also came under attack, especially the town of Orikhiv.

Svitlana Mandrych, deputy head of Orikhiv, said a total of 324 shells had landed in the town on Wednesday

 “Nine wounded residents…The infrastructure of the city is being destroyed. The population is being eliminated,” she said, appealing to the townspeople to remain in shelters.

“We still have a night to survive ahead. Now we hear explosions again,” Mandrych said. 

The General Staff said Russian forces continued to use cruise missiles as well as drones and multiple launch rocket systems. Another 10 Iranian-made drones had been shot down Wednesday, it said.

It said the Ukrainian air force was again active — carrying out 27 strikes. 

Ukraine’s weapons wish list includes multiple launch rocket systems, artillery and air defense as current top weapons priorities, according to a handout provided to defense ministers participating in a Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting hosted by US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin in Brussels on Wednesday. 

Ministers of defense from several countries are gathering to discuss weapons requirements and how the countries can continue to support Ukraine militarily as they battle Russia’s ongoing invasion of their country.

Under Multiple Launch Rocket Systems (MLRS), the handout states that Ukraine needs “additional NATO-standard MLRS systems and ammunition.” Under artillery, the handout states Kyiv needs more artillery for towed howitzers, self-propelled tracked howitzers and non-standard wheeled howitzers as well as large quantities of “additional 155mm, 152mm, and 122mm ammunition,” the handout states.  

The third priority is “air defense” including missiles for Ukraine’s current medium-range air defense systems, the S-300 and SA-11. The list also states Ukraine needs a “transition to Western-origin layered air defense systems” and “additional Western and Soviet-era SHORAD systems.” Ukraine has been asking for more air defense systems, but the need has become more urgent as Russia has increased its use of Iranian-made drones. 

Other priorities listed include radars, coastal defense, tanks and electronic warfare equipment.

Ukraine’s government has appealed to people to reduce their electricity consumption to avoid blackouts as Russian missiles target the country’s energy infrastructure, saying peak demand needs to be reduced by 25%.

Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal called on citizens and businesses to reduce electricity consumption from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. in order to stabilize the power system, after the damage caused by Russian missile attacks this week.

“We are grateful to all Ukrainians who deliberately reduced electricity consumption yesterday and the night before yesterday. The total saving was 10%. We also thank the mayors, heads of communities, who took a responsible approach to reducing electricity consumption in communities,” Shmyhal said in a statement.

But to avoid power outages, he said, “it is necessary to achieve a deliberate reduction in electricity consumption from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. across Ukraine by 25%.”

Read more:

Employees prepare coffee in a cafe without electricity in western Ukrainian city of Lviv, after three Russian missiles fired targeted energy infrastructure on October 11, 2022. - In Lviv, the largest city in the region of the same name, the mayor said on October 11, 2022 that one-third of homes were without power. (Photo by Yuriy Dyachyshyn / AFP) (Photo by YURIY DYACHYSHYN/AFP via Getty Images)

Related article Ukrainian PM calls for 25% cut in electricity use during peak hours to avoid outages | CNN

Ukraine says its forces have continued to advance in the southern region of Kherson, liberating five more villages in a slow push southwest. 

Yaroslav Yanushevych, head of the Kherson region administration, said Wednesday: “The Armed Forces of Ukraine liberated 5 more settlements in the Kherson region: Novovasylivka, Novohryhorivka, Nova Kamynka, Tryfonivka, Chervone.

The five villages are relatively close together in a largely rural part of the region. 

More on Ukraine’s southern counteroffensive: Last week, a senior Ukrainian official said Ukraine’s military had recaptured 2,400 square kilometers (more than 926 square miles) of territory in the Kherson region “since the beginning of the full-scale war.”

Ukrainian forces have been making steady progress in Kherson since beginning an counteroffensive at the end of last month, and their successes have sparked rare criticism of Moscow’s war effort among pro-Russian figures.

Kherson is one of the four regions in Ukraine that Russia has claimed it is annexing in violation of international law.