October 11, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

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

After US President Joe Biden warned last week that the risk of nuclear “Armageddon” was at its highest point since the Cuban Missile Crisis, he told CNN on Tuesday he doesn’t believe President Vladimir Putin would ultimately take that step.

“I don’t think he will,” Biden said when asked by CNN’s Jake Tapper whether the Russian leader would use a tactical nuclear weapon — a prospect US officials have watched with concern as Russian troops suffer embarrassing losses on the battlefield.

“I think it’s irresponsible for him to talk about it, the idea that a world leader of one of the largest nuclear powers in the world says he may use a tactical nuclear weapon in Ukraine,” Biden added.

The President said even Putin’s threats have a destabilizing effect and warned of the potential errors in judgment that could ensue.

“The whole point I was making was it could lead to just a horrible outcome,” he told Tapper. “And not because anybody intends to turn it into a world war or anything, but just once you use a nuclear weapon, the mistakes that can be made, the miscalculations, who knows what would happen.”

“He, in fact, cannot continue with impunity to talk about the use of a tactical nuclear weapon as if that’s a rational thing to do,” Biden added later. “The mistakes get made. And the miscalculation could occur, no one can be sure what would happen and could end in Armageddon.”

Biden refused to disclose what a US response would look like should Putin follow through on his nuclear threats. But he said the Department of Defense had proactively developed contingencies should the scenario come to pass.

“What is the red line for the United States and NATO, and have you directed the Pentagon and other agencies to game out what a response would be if he did use a tactical nuclear weapon or if he bombed the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine or anything along those lines?” Tapper asked.

“There’s been discussions of that, but I’m not going to get into that. It would be irresponsible of me to talk about what we would or wouldn’t do,” Biden said.

“Have you asked the Pentagon to game it out, though?” Tapper asked.

“The Pentagon didn’t have to be asked,” Biden said.

Biden spoke to CNN a few hours after meeting virtually with members of the Group of 7 industrialized nations, who heard from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on the need to bolster his country’s air defenses amid the new Russian bombardments.

US President Joe Biden said Tuesday he doesn’t see a good reason to sit down with Russian President Vladimir Putin at next month’s Group of 20 Summit in Indonesia.

“It would depend on specifically what he wanted to talk about,” Biden told CNN’s Jake Tapper in an exclusive interview, adding if Putin wanted to discuss the jailed American basketball star Brittney Griner then he would be open to talking.

Earlier on Tuesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Russian state TV that Moscow was open to talks with the West on the Ukraine conflict but had yet to receive any serious proposal to negotiate.

US Secretary of State Tony Blinken and State’s Undersecretary for Political Affairs Toria Nuland met the DC diplomatic corps – representing more than 100 countries — in virtual meetings on Tuesday to urge them to support a UN resolution condemning Russia’s annexation of Ukrainian territories.

This is the latest effort by the Biden administration to maintain global continuity of support for Ukraine.

“This is about collectively saying no to a direct violation of the UN Charter, to say no to an attempt to steal land for the threat force and to steal land through the use of force,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price said.

What to know about the resolution: The vote is expected to take place at an emergency UN General Assembly meeting in the coming days. It comes at a critical moment in the war, with Russia increasing its attacks and Europe heading into a winter during which an energy crisis threatens to test support for Ukraine. 

Biden administration officials have their eyes set on getting 100 votes in favor of the resolution, one administration official said. 

But earlier this year the United Nations General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the vote was 141 nations in favor of the move and five nations against it, with 35 abstaining. If there are fewer supporters on this vote, it may be the reason for concern, some diplomats acknowledged. 

The resolution will need yes votes from two-thirds of the attending countries to pass, US officials said. 

While Russia is expected to oppose the resolution, the US will be watching for which other countries oppose it as well. And there are some possible detractors that the US is watching closely, specifically India. India abstained from a UN Security Council vote on the same topic last week.

Russia launched missile strikes on several regions of Ukraine on Tuesday, the second day of heavy bombardment aimed at the nation’s infrastructure.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky asked G7 nations to help his country establish an “air shield” against aerial attacks.

Russia carried out over 30 missile strikes on Tuesday, compared to 84 on Monday. Roughly half of those on Tuesday were neutralized by air defenses, according to Ukraine’s military.

It is unclear how much longer the Russian military will be able to sustain such attacks.

In an exclusive interview with CNN, US President Joe Biden said he believed Russian President Vladimir Putin is a “rational actor” who badly miscalculated his ability to invade Ukraine.

Here are the latest developments:

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said more than half the missiles and drones that Russia fired on Tuesday were brought down.

In his daily video address, Zelensky noted that 20 of the 28 missiles that were fired on Tuesday morning were shot down.

He paid tribute to one soldier, Dmytro Shumskyi, for bringing down two Russian cruise missiles on Monday using a shoulder-held anti-aircraft missile.

“If not for today’s strikes, we would have already restored power, water supply and communications, which terrorists damaged yesterday. And today Russia will achieve only one more thing: delay our restoration a little bit,” Zelensky said.

The Ukrainian president said the power supply and communications have been restored in most of the impacted towns and villages.

“In some cities and districts, the works are still ongoing,” he said, noting that there were some restrictions in the power supply in some areas to maintain the stability of the power system.

Zelensky said that Ukraine would be meeting its partners in Germany on Wednesday to address Ukraine’s military needs.

“I expect our partners to make progress in the issue of air and missile defense, agreements on the new supply of other weapons and ammunition we need,” he said.

President Joe Biden said in an exclusive CNN interview Tuesday he believed Russian President Vladimir Putin is a “rational actor” who nonetheless badly misjudged his ability to invade Ukraine and suppress its people.

“I think he is a rational actor who has miscalculated significantly,” Biden told Jake Tapper as Russian bombardments on civilian targets in Ukraine signaled another turning point in the months-long war. 

Biden, his top officials and fellow Western leaders have spent the past several months debating what steps Putin may take as his troops suffer embarrassing losses on the battlefield in Ukraine. Biden himself warned last week the risk of “nuclear Armageddon” was at its highest point in 60 years.

Whether Putin is acting rationally has been a subject of intense debate as leaders work to predict his next steps. While Biden said Tuesday he believed Putin himself was rational, he characterized the Russian leader’s aims in Ukraine — which Putin laid out in an angry speech as he launched the war in February — as ridiculous.

“You listen to what he says. If you listen to the speech he made after when that decision was being made, he talked about the whole idea of — he was needed to be the leader of Russia that united all of Russian speakers. I mean, it’s just I just think it’s irrational,” Biden said.

Going further, Biden said Putin wrongly believed Ukrainians would submit to Russian invasion — a misjudgment that’s been disproved by fierce resistance inside the country.

“I think the speech, his objectives were not rational. I think he thought, Jake, I think he thought he was going to be welcomed with open arms, that this was the home of Mother Russia in Kyiv, and that where he was going to be welcomed, and I think he just totally miscalculated,” Biden said.

Indeed, a counteroffensive launched by Ukraine last month was successful in retaking territory previously held by the Russians, including critical transportation hubs. The losses proved the latest major embarrassment for Russia, whose military has struggled over the course of the seven-month war.

Tapper’s full interview with Biden airs Tuesday at 9 p.m. ET on CNN.

Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu on Tuesday urged Ukraine’s allies to “not be frightened” by the warnings from the Russian ambassador to the US of crossing “red lines” by providing arms to Kyiv. 

“All the policies of, in a way, of appeasement — what we have, well maybe in some cases, have used to avoid escalation — have led us where? To this genocidal type of war and now I think we should not to be frightened. What more can happen? The genocide is taking place. And in the sake of humanity, in the sake of our own security of Europe we have to act, ” Reinsalu told CNN’s Isa Soares. 

He said he believes the allies must ramp up support for Ukraine.  

What is needed is a “new deliverable by Western countries to air defense, to defend particularly the civilian areas, civic infrastructure, particularly also before the winter falls,” the minister added. 

As for Putin’s veiled threats of a nuclear strike, Reinsalu said it was “part of this chicken game, and we should not fall to that entrapment.” 

He added: “The only person who can immediately end the war is Putin.”

Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi said Tuesday that four electrical substations had been damaged in the Lviv region, “resulting in serious problems” with the energy supply in the city.

Russia launched fresh missile attacks against Ukraine — including in the western region — on Monday and Tuesday.

He said full restoration of power requires patience.

“Our power engineering specialists are doing everything possible to overcome the critical situation. It requires time,” Sadovyi said on Twitter.

The mayor urged residents to “minimize energy consumption” once the power system is back and running.

“I ask you to be understanding under these circumstances. The enemy is striving to destabilize us but we will not give in,” he added.

Earlier, Sadovyi told CNN that Russian strikes fuel the Ukrainian people’s resistance to Russian forces. He also called for more air defense systems as well as generators.

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

The minister told CNN that this was the “first time from the beginning of the war” that Russia has “dramatically targeted” energy infrastructure.  

He said one reason is because Ukrainian electricity exports to Europe “helps European countries to save on Russian gas and coal,” adding that Ukraine is trying “to reconnect quickly from the other sources.”

On Monday, the Ukrainian government urged people across the country to “limit” their energy use.  Asked whether Ukraine would receive extra energy from Europe, Halushchenko said that was “one of the options on the table.” 

The minister said that the Ukrainian energy system “is still stable,” but called on partners to provide “air protection systems which really could help us to protect our infrastructure.”   

“We send this message to our partners: we need to protect the sky,” he said. “Russians they are not playing on some games on international laws. They don’t care about any kind of international agreements or conventions.” 

The Russian defense ministry on Tuesday confirmed it’s targeting Ukrainian military and energy facilities in attacks.

Belarus said Tuesday that it has been holding an inspection of its armed forces to ensure combat “readiness.”  

“Since October 11, the State Secretariat of the Security Council of the Republic of Belarus, in accordance with the instruction of the President, has been conducting an inspection of the Armed Forces of Belarus,” the country’s defense ministry said in a statement. 

The minister said the inspection is “comprehensive and covers the most important issues of checking readiness to perform tasks as intended.”

“During the inspection, military units and subunits will work out the issues of putting on combat readiness, making a march, deploying in designated areas with the performance of combat training tasks,” the statement added. 

It comes as the country’s defense minister said earlier on Tuesday that the joint deployment of forces with Russia along the border between Belarus and Ukraine is a defensive measure to ensure “security.” 

“The tasks of the Regional Grouping of Forces are purely defensive. And all the activities currently being carried out are aimed at an adequate response to actions near our borders,” Minister of Defense Lt. Gen. Viktor Khrenin said in a statement.  

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has officially requested that the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) add the historic Ukrainian port city of Odesa to its World Heritage site list.

Zelensky said Tuesday a total of 540 “objects of cultural heritage, cultural institutions and religious buildings (were) damaged by Russian strikes in Ukraine during the full-scale war since Feb. 24.”

“We must provide a clear signal that the world will not turn a blind eye to the destruction of our common history, our common culture, our common heritage,” he said in a pre-recorded address to the to the 58 member states of UNESCO’s executive board. 

“One of the steps for this should be the preservation of the historical centre of Odesa — a beautiful city, an important port of the Black Sea and a source of culture for millions of people in different countries. Together with our partners, we prepared the nomination file of Odesa for inclusion in the World Heritage List. We are passing this on to UNESCO,” Zelensky added. 

Odesa, like all other cities of Ukraine, is a “target for Russian strikes. Please support Odesa. Show at the level of UNESCO precisely that Russian terror must end,” he said. 

The Ukrainian president also demanded that Russia be excluded from all UNESCO bodies and from the organization itself. 

“A terrorist state definitely has no right to chair one of the key bodies for the protection of cultural and natural heritage — the UNESCO World Heritage Committee. Such a Russian presidency devalues the institution itself — its significance, its reputation. It is inadmissible to let Russia destroy the authority of UNESCO. The terrorist state must be excluded from all UNESCO bodies and from the organization itself,” he said. 

More on the application: The UN’s cultural watchdog said in a news released that it had formally received the nomination file Tuesday morning and will “be reviewed by the consultative bodies and examined at the next session of the World Heritage Committee, whose 21 Member States will be responsible for deciding on the nomination.”

In legal terms, the inscription of the historic center of Odesa on the World Heritage List “would establish an extended protection zone under the 1972 UNESCO Convention for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage,” it said.

The fabric of the center of Odesa, “a melting pot of exchange and migration, reflects multiple influences. It bears a heritage and a history that resonates with people around the world and stands as a powerful symbol,” UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay stated in the news release. 

US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said Tuesday that the United States will be watching which countries side with Russia at Wednesday’s expected General Assembly vote on a resolution condemning Russia’s annexations in eastern Ukraine. 

Unlike the UN Security Council, there are no vetoes allowed in the General Assembly Hall. Abstentions will not count for the official tally.

The US is seeking a strong global signal to oppose Russia on the Ukraine invasion.

Thomas-Greenfield said Wednesday’s vote is “about defending the UN” along with its charter. The US ambassador said she couldn’t predict how China, India or any country will vote. There are about 70 co-sponsors of the resolution, she said. 

Russia has blasted the United States and the West in the ongoing debate on the resolution in debate that began Monday.

At least 45 countries or regional groups are left to speak on the matter, which means the vote will likely occur at some time on Wednesday afternoon.

Some background: On Monday, Russia’s attempt for a secret ballot on the resolution was not approved. Thomas-Greenfield said Russia failed to draw much support and said the number of votes against Russia was “resounding” in the secret ballot vote.

“Now is not the time for placation,” the ambassador said.

The US is expediting delivery of two National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems, (NASAMS), to Ukraine as quickly as possible, the White House said Tuesday.

The joint US-Norwegian systems will help fulfill Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s requests for more air defense support.

The US is on track to deliver the first two systems to Ukraine “in the very near future,” John Kirby, National Security Council communications coordinator, said.

Biden had previous agreed to contract for eight of the NASAMS systems, which provides short-to-medium range defenses. It’s the same system used to protect airspace in Washington, DC.

Kirby declined to provide a specific date for when the NASAMS systems would arrive, but said the US was “certainly interested in expediting” the system quickly.

During a virtual meeting of the G7 earlier, Zelensky told the meeting that “common efforts to create an air shield for Ukraine” must be intensified amid a barrage of Russian cruise missile and drone attacks.

France will deploy additional forces to bolster NATO’s “defensive posture” in eastern Europe, French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu told lawmakers on Tuesday.

French President Emmanuel Macron had taken the decision over the deployment Monday evening, Lecornu said.

The announcement comes after the recent wave of Russian attacks on Ukrainian cities and civilian infrastructure.

France will deploy one reinforced company of armored infantry vehicles to Romania, as well as a squadron of Charles Leclerc tanks, Lecornu said. France has taken the lead in NATO’s presence in Romania, with some 750 soldiers deployed there already.

The minister also outlined an additional deployment of Rafale fighter jets in Lithuania, as well as the deployment of a reinforced company of light infantry in Estonia too.

He said the forces would be in place by the end of October or the beginning of November.

France was already contributing two Rafale jets and supporting aircraft to NATO’s air defense mission in Poland and some 300 soldiers in Estonia. 

The Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) says it has found new evidence of detention centers where torture was used in places that had been occupied by Russian forces.

The SBU said its officers had discovered a place of illegal detention in Sviatohirsk in Donetsk region that included a torture chamber in what had been a recreation center.

“SBU detectives and investigators found items that directly indicate signs of torture,” it said.

The prosecutor general’s office said its inspectors had visited both Sviatohirsk and Lyman, which was liberated last month.

In Sviatohirsk, “law enforcement officers exhumed the bodies of 34 people, some of them with signs of violent death. Also, the burnt bodies of two citizens were found in a car, their identities are currently being established,” the prosecutor general’s office said.

In Lyman, “about 110 trenches were found at the Nova Masliakivka cemetery, including the graves of children,” it added. “In total, 44 bodies have already been exhumed during the inspection.”

Nearly eight months into the war in Ukraine, US officials are still wary of potential retaliatory Russian hacking campaigns against critical infrastructure, despite a paucity of such hacks so far, a senior US Department of Homeland Security cyber official said Tuesday. 

“I think there is some concern about [Russian President Vladimir] Putin escalating, specifically with attacks against our critical infrastructure,” said Jen Easterly, director of the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.

US officials have for months warned about the potential for Russia-based cybercriminals or Kremlin-backed hackers to target US organizations after Washington imposed sanctions on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. US President Joe Biden’s administration has also warned that Russia hacking targets in Ukraine could bring collateral damage for US organizations with supply chains in the region. 

Easterly said those scenarios were still on the table. 

“I think we’re still in a very sensitive time,” she told a conference hosted by the National Association of Corporate Directors.

Some background: Russian-speaking hackers last week claimed responsibility for knocking offline state government websites in Colorado, Kentucky and Mississippi, among other states. The same group also claimed responsibility for briefly downing a US Congress website in July, and for cyberattacks on organizations in Lithuania after the Baltic country blocked the shipment of some goods to the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad in June.

On Monday, the same group, known as Killnet — a loose band of so-called “hacktivists,” politically motivated hackers who support the Kremlin but whose ties to that government are unknown — claimed to target more than a dozen public-facing airport websites. There were no immediate signs of impact to actual air travel.

Russian President Vladimir Putin told the chief of the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog agency on Tuesday that the situation at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is “of concern,” adding that Moscow was “open” for dialogue. 

Ahead of his meeting with Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, in St. Petersburg, Putin said:

“We see that today there are elements of an excessively dangerous politicization of everything connected with nuclear activity. We very much hope that, thanks to your efforts, we will be able to reduce all rhetoric and bring this area of ​​our cooperation to normal, despite all the turbulence and complex processes that are taking place on the world stage.” 

Putin added that he is “happy” to discuss “all issues that are of mutual interest to us and may even cause concern to someone. Well, to us as well. For example, as far as the situation around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is concerned. In any case, we are open to this dialogue and are glad to see you.” 

Grossi said that the their discussion today is “very important and indispensable,” since “we do have issues that have to do with nuclear safety, nuclear security in particular at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.” 

“As you know, I’ve been displaying efforts to try and avoid a nuclear accident that could be very detrimental in general terms and in particular in the region,” Grossi told Putin. 

US Ambassador to NATO Julie Smith said Tuesday she has seen “no shift” in the alliance’s support for Ukraine.

“I see really no change in allies’ commitment to support Ukraine through humanitarian economic and security assistance,” Smith told reporters during a virtual briefing. “I see 30 allies around the table that are fully united in their view that Putin’s war continues to be an affront to international peace and the UN Charter, that none of us will be recognizing Russia’s attempts at annexation, which we’ve seen in recent days, and that tragically, the costs of this war, of Russia’s war inside Ukraine, continue to climb.”

Looking forward to Wednesday’s meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, she said allies will focus on assessing Ukraine’s defense needs on the ground and how countries can help most quickly.

“Our focus from the beginning has been on speed,” she said, adding that the US has been in contact with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and the defense minister since the beginning of the war. “We are constantly assessing what their needs are — pairing them with countries that have the assets that they need, and looking for ways to get those assets into the hands of military forces inside Ukraine as fast as humanly possible.”

Smith also defended the United States’ provision of arms to Ukraine, claiming that Kyiv’s battlefield needs have evolved over the course of the war; the consistent theme has been air defense though, she said.

Andriy Sadovyi, mayor of the western Ukrainian city of Lviv — one of the cities hit yesterday and today by Russia — said that the strikes fuel Ukrainians’ determination.

“Russia spreads fear. They will get the opposite result. Ukrainian people become stronger, powerful and resist. It is our war for independence,” he told CNN’s Kate Bolduan.

The head of the Lviv regional military administration said there were “three explosions at two energy facilities in the Lviv region” on Tuesday. Sadovyi told CNN that 30% of electricity was out in his city after missiles affected water and power, but the situation is improving.

He called for air defense systems, as other Ukrainian officials have, including President Volodymyr Zelensky, have underscored to foreign leaders.

Sadovyi also said the city needs new generators, especially heading into the winter.

“I expect tough situation [in the] next months,” he said.

The G7 heads of government vowed to hold Russian President Vladimir Putin and those “responsible to account” for the recent wave of attacks in Ukraine, the group’s leaders said in a joint statement following a virtual meeting Tuesday.

The G7 countries also committed to support Ukraine for “as long as it takes,” while promising to continue to provide financial, humanitarian, military, diplomatic and legal support. 

The nations assured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky “that we are undeterred and steadfast in our commitment to providing the support Ukraine needs to uphold its sovereignty and territorial integrity,” according to the statement.

“We will continue to provide financial, humanitarian, military, diplomatic and legal support and will stand firmly with Ukraine for as long as it takes. We are committed to supporting Ukraine in meeting its winter preparedness needs.” the group said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told a meeting of G7 leaders that “common efforts to create an air shield for Ukraine” must be intensified following a barrage of Russian cruise missile and drone attacks.

At a virtual meeting of G7 heads of government on Tuesday, Zelensky said the Russians had used more than 100 cruise missiles against Ukraine since Monday and that “every ten minutes I receive a message about the enemy’s use of Iranian “Shaheds [drones].”

Zelensky claimed Russia had ordered 2,400 “Shaheds” from Iran. 

“Russia wants to provoke chaos in Ukraine and in the entire democratic world, and therefore uses everything — from missile strikes to the seizure of a nuclear plant, threats of a radiation disaster, from sabotage against infrastructure in Europe to a deliberate attempt to destroy Ukraine’s energy facilities,” Zelensky said.

The Ukrainian president said the Russian leader “still has room for further escalation.”

Zelensky appealed for an “air shield for Ukraine,” saying that “when Ukraine receives a sufficient number of modern and effective air defense systems, the key element of Russian terror — missile strikes — will cease to work.”

Zelensky thanked Germany and the United States for systems that were being delivered and hoped a Defense Ministers meeting in Germany on Wednesday would discuss the integration of these systems with Ukraine’s.

More details from the meeting: Zelensky also reiterated his demand for Russia to be declared a terrorist state and further sanctions. “We must block its energy sector with sanctions, break the stability of Russian revenues from oil and gas trade. A tough price cap is needed for the exports of oil and gas from Russia — zero profit for the terrorist state,” he told the G7 leaders.

Zelensky said that “there can be no dialogue with this leader of Russia, who has no future.”

He also claimed that Russia was trying to drag Belarus into the conflict. 

“The territory of Belarus is already used for strikes against Ukraine. And now we see a bigger threat. Russia is trying to directly draw Belarus into this war, playing a provocation that we are allegedly preparing an attack on this country.”

He said Ukraine had no such plans and suggested a mission of international observers to be stationed on the border of Ukraine and Belarus to monitor the security situation.

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen singled out top Russian officials for bearing responsibility for the “immense human suffering” caused by the war in Ukraine at a joint meeting attended by the Russian finance minister, according to a source familiar with the matter. 

Yellen specifically cited the recent missile strikes in Ukraine to underscore her condemnation, becoming the latest senior official in US President Joe Biden’s administration to respond to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s latest in a series of escalatory actions as his military continues to suffer setbacks.

“Putin’s regime and the officials who serve it – including those representing Russia at these gatherings – bear responsibility for the immense human suffering this war has caused,” Yellen said Tuesday in her remarks during the G20 Joint Finance-Agriculture ministerial, according to the source.

“That includes the innocent lives taken by President Putin’s barbaric missile attacks across Ukraine yesterday. Russia’s decision to indiscriminately strike civilian targets shows the world yet again the true nature of their brutal and illegal war in Ukraine,” she continued. 

Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov was attending the meeting virtually during Yellen’s remarks.

Ukrainian military and government officials say roughly half of Russian missiles and drones being fired at Ukrainian territory are being neutralized by air defenses, but reiterate the need for more defense systems.

Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said that Russian attacks continued Tuesday on energy facilities, with 33 missile strikes so far.  

Ukraine’s Air Force Command announced that the same number had been destroyed as of 1:30 p.m. local time (5:30 a.m. ET), saying that 20 cruise missiles and 13 “kamikaze drones” were destroyed.

“In total, 33 aerial targets were destroyed by the forces and means of the Air Force,” it said. 

Air Force Command said Russians were using a mixture of cruise missiles — including 16 high-precision X-101/X-555 weapons fired from aircraft and 12 Kalibr-type sea-based cruise missiles — as well as Iranian-made Shahed-136 drones.

The Russians appear to have fired somewhat fewer missiles at Ukraine Tuesday than Monday, when the Ukrainians say 84 missiles were launched, 43 of which were shot down. In addition, the Ukrainians claim they shot down 26 Shahed drones on Monday.

The Ukrainian military said that on Tuesday the “bulk” of the Iranian-made attack drones were shot down. 

Air Force Command spokesperson Yurii Ihnat said air defenses were mainly reliant on Soviet-era equipment such as the BUK M1 and S-300 missile systems. 

“This equipment does not last forever, there may be losses in combat operations,” he said, noting that “the manufacturer of this [equipment] is Russia, so we will have to say goodbye to them sooner or later.”

A call for more military assistance: Ihnat repeated the appeal voiced by many Ukrainian officials for better air defense weapons, saying that “we need a lot, because the territory of Ukraine is very large. … We have been promised modern air defense complexes for a long time.” He said Germany has promised “one IRIS T battery, which is made specifically for Ukraine” and Norwegian partners “will supply two NASAMS batteries.”

He also claimed that Russia had few high-precision missiles left, leading to more reliance on less accurate systems. 

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday that the United States is “de facto” involved in the Ukraine conflict, a day after US President Joe Biden pledged to continue security assistance.

During a regular telephone call with journalists, Peskov said US involvement can be “seen with the naked eye.”

“The United States is already de facto mired in this conflict,” he said. 

“We hear statements from the current US administration about their plans to continue delivering weapons, and to further drag out this conflict, making it as painful as possible for the Ukrainian side,” Peskov claimed.

Some context: Peskov’s comments come after Biden condemned Monday’s attacks on Ukrainian cities and continued to pledge US security assistance “including advanced air defense systems.”

The White House did not specify which air defense systems Biden discussed with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, but the United States previously committed to providing Ukraine with National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS). NASAMS would be capable of engaging Russian cruise missiles.

Earlier on Tuesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov reiterated similar comments to Peskov in an interview with Russian state media.

“It seems to me that Americans de facto have been participating in this war for a long time, they are not only arming Zelensky and his regime, they are providing intelligence from military and commercial satellites, which are now used in military plans,” Lavrov said. 

“In the West itself, they are already beginning to understand that they are going further than they intended,” he said. 

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg pledged that the alliance would meet to “step up and support” Ukraine this week. 

“NATO is not party to the conflict. But our support is playing a key role,” he said during a news conference Tuesday.

On Wednesday, NATO defense ministers will invite their Ukrainian counterpart to “discuss advanced air defense systems and other capabilities to Ukraine, and I look forward to further deliveries,” Stoltenberg said.  

“Ukraine has the momentum, and continues to have significant gains, while Russia is increasingly resorting to horrific and indiscriminate attacks on civilians and critical infrastructure. President Putin is failing in Ukraine,” Stoltenberg added.

Referencing Russian President Vladimir Putin’s veiled threats of a nuclear strike, Stoltenberg said that “Russia knows that the nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought.” 

The secretary general called again for Putin to withdraw his troops from Ukraine.

He also addressed Belarus’ joint military deployments with Russia indirectly by saying that Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko should “stop the complicity of Belarus in this illegal conflict.” 

Stoltenberg additionally said NATO had enhanced the protection of critical infrastructure following what he has called the “sabotage” of the Nord Stream pipelines, doubling its presence in the Baltic and North Seas to over 30 ships and increasing intelligence-sharing.

“Any attack [on] allies’ critical infrastructure would be met with a united and determined response,” he said.

Ukraine’s state nuclear energy company Energoatom said that a deputy director general at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has been kidnapped.

In a post on its Telegram channel, Energoatom said that “Russian terrorists kidnapped Deputy Director General for Human Resources of Zaporizhzhia NPP Valeriy Martyniuk, [and are] holding him at an unknown location.” 

Energoatom said the Russians wanted the plant’s personnel files “to force Ukrainian staff to work for Rosatom [Russia’s nuclear operator] as soon as possible.”

“We appeal to the IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi and the entire world community to take all possible measures for the immediate release of Valeriy Martyniuk from the captivity of the Russian occupiers,” Energoatom said.

Earlier this month, the director general of the plant was detained, but was later released and is now in Ukrainian-held territory.

The Defense Intelligence department at Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense claims that Russian forces at the plant are forcing employees to sign contracts with the Russian nuclear operator, Rosatom.

The department said that “representatives of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation and the occupation administration continue the pressure on the employees of the station….The occupiers apply so-called ‘filtering measures’ to some of the personnel and their families. Employees are required to officially obtain Russian passports and sign contracts with Rosatom.”

It also said that occupying forces continue to keep all six units of the plant in a “cold state.” The power supply for the plant, including security systems, is being provided by an external power line.

The Russian Federal Financial Monitoring Service has added the US multinational tech company Meta to its registry of organizations involved in terrorism and extremism. 

The parent company of Facebook and Instagram has been banned in Russia, says Rosfinmonitoring. 

That ban now requires banks to freeze funds for companies on that list and suspend services to their accounts.

On March 21, the Tverskoy District Court of Moscow recognized Meta as an extremist organization, claiming that Meta’s management allowed users from Ukraine to call for violence against the Russian military.

The court denied the appeal by the American company. The March court decision did not apply to the WhatsApp messenger, also owned by Meta, since it does not publicly disseminate information.

Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet the IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi in St. Petersburg Tuesday, the Kremlin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said in a regular call with journalists.

The two will discuss the security issues at the “Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant,” according to Peskov.

CNN has asked the IAEA for more information.

Some background: Last week, Grossi had said he will travel to Moscow to discuss nuclear safety and the situation at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, after he met with Ukrainian President Volodymir Zelensky in Kyiv. While he had not specified dates of travel or who he would be meeting at the time of his comments, he had said that he believed the conversations would be at a “very high level.”

“My work is to prevent a nuclear accident, and this is what I am doing,” Grossi told reporters at a press conference in Kyiv.

The staff at the plant are working in “unbearable circumstances,” but that the IAEA staff will continue their rotation at the plant, he added, saying there have been indications that there are mines in the perimeter of the plant, but not inside the plant itself.

Ukraine says it intercepted 18 cruise missiles on Tuesday morning, in two waves of attacks. 

The Air Force Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said it “shot down” four missiles around 9 a.m. local time, and a further 14 between 9.30 a.m. and 1 p.m. local time. 

President Volodymyr Zelensky is appealing to Ukraine’s allies for more air defense equipment.

“Air defense is currently the number 1 priority in our defense cooperation,” he said on Twitter late Monday after a call with US President Joe Biden. 

Zelensky met with Ukraine’s Defense Minister, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces and other government and military officials on Tuesday.

“Those present … emphasized the urgent need to provide the [Ukrainian] army with modern air defense and missile defense systems,” his office said. 

Heading into today’s G7 meeting, officials said they expected two areas of primary focus for the group of leaders: determining where they can bolster support for Ukraine’s air defenses and the uncertain energy situation as winter approaches.  

The meeting, which is underway now, had been in the works ahead of Monday’s bombardments in Kyiv and other cities but the meeting assumed a new urgency as Russia targeted civilian targets.  

Officials have been working on a joint statement from the G7 to release when the meeting concludes, but it wasn’t clear that it would include major new joint announcements on sanctions, security assistance or energy independence from Russia. One European official said major deliverables weren’t expected to come out of the meeting. 

Instead, the leaders hope to again demonstrate Western unity as they hear from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who officials expect will continue to call for better air defenses and more sanctions on Russia.  

On Monday, Zelensky had separate phone conversations with six of the seven leaders of the G7 — US President Joe Biden, France’s Emmanuel Macron, Germany’s Olaf Scholz, the UK’s Liz Truss, Canada’s Justin Trudeau and Italy’s Mario Draghi. 

Biden also spoke with German Chancellor Scholz, the G7 president, this weekend, partly to prepare for today’s call. While the White House didn’t mention the nuclear threat from Russia in its readout, the topic did arise in the conversation. 

Former Russian Foreign Minister Andrei Kozyrev told CNN Tuesday that “terror is the only thing left” for Russian President Vladimir Putin, “like for any miserable terrorist in the world.”

Putin has launched missiles attacks at Ukraine on Monday and Tuesday because he “is desperate, because he made miscalculations,” Kozyrev told CNN’s John Berman.

Kozyrev detailed what he thinks are Putin”s “three major miscalculations.”

“One, that Ukraine could be defeated in two, three days. Second, that the United States and the West will not come to the rescue to help Ukrainians. And third, that he brought the war back home when he announced this mobilization.”

“He’s desperate and he returns to what he’s doing: intimidation, that is, threatening nuclear weapons — which he will not use — and terror actions in Ukraine and in Russia,” he said.

Kozyrev explained why he doesn’t think Putin will use nuclear weapons.

“He is human being, so he does not want to commit suicide with strategic nuclear weapons,” Kozyrev added.

Russia is targeting Ukrainian military and energy facilities in attacks on Tuesday, according to the Ministry of Defense in Moscow.

“Today, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continue launching the massive attack using high-precision long-range air- and sea-based armament at the facilities of military control and energy system of Ukraine,” the ministry said in a post on Telegram. 

Air raid sirens sounded across Ukraine on Tuesday as regional governors reported explosions at various “energy facilities.” 

Maksym Kozytskyi, head of the Lviv regional military administration, said there were “three explosions at two energy facilities in the Lviv region.” 

The Ladyzhynska power plant in the west-central city of Vinnytsia was also hit by so-called “kamikaze drones,” according to the plant’s owner, the DTEK Group.

Tuesday’s attacks targeted some of the same facilities that were hit on Monday, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said.

“Primary targets of Russian strikes are energy facilities. They’ve hit many yesterday [Monday] and they hit the same and new ones today,” Kuleba said on Twitter. “These are war crimes planned well in advance and aimed at creating unbearable conditions for civilians — Russia’s deliberate strategy since months.”

As Russia ramps up military strikes across Ukraine, the Kremlin threatened countermeasures against the US and other European allies due to their “increasing involvement” in the war.

Here are the latest developments:

Moscow is running thin on military weapons and staving off “desperation at many levels inside Russian society,” according to the head of the UK’s largest spy agency.

“We believe that Russia is running short of munitions, it’s certainly running short of friends,” Jeremy Fleming, director of Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), told BBC Radio 4’s ‘Today’ program.

“We’ve seen, because of the declaration for mobilization, that it’s running short of troops. So I think the answer to that is pretty clear. Russia and Russia’s commanders are worried about the state of their military machine,” Fleming said Tuesday.

When asked if the Kremlin is desperate amid President Vladimir Putin’s faltering military campaign in Ukraine, Fleming added: “We can see that desperation at many levels inside Russian society and inside the Russian military machine.”

Fleming’s comments came after Russia launched a wave of deadly strikes across Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities Monday, damaging critical infrastructure and killing at least 19 people.

“Russia, as we’ve seen in the dreadful attacks yesterday, still has a very capable military machine. It can launch weapons, it has deep, deep stocks and expertise. And yet, it is very broadly stretched in Ukraine,” Fleming said.

The violent strikes follow Putin’s announcement of immediate military escalation in September, in which he threatened the possibility of nuclear retaliation.

“I think any talk of nuclear weapons is very dangerous and we need to be very careful about how we’re talking about that,” Fleming said when asked about Putin’s nuclear threats.

“I would hope that we would see indicators if they started to go down that path. But let’s be really clear about that, if they are considering that, that would be a catastrophe in the way that many people have talked about,” he added.

In a speech later Tuesday, Fleming will also say Russians are increasingly counting the cost of the invasion of Ukraine and are seeing “how badly” Putin “has misjudged the situation.”

“With little effective internal challenge, his decision-making has proved flawed. It’s a high stakes strategy that is leading to strategic errors in judgement. Their gains are being reversed,” Fleming will say in an address at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) annual security lecture in London.

The senior spy chief will also say that ordinary Russians are “fleeing the draft.”

“They know their access to modern technologies and external influences will be drastically restricted. And they are feeling the extent of the dreadful human cost of his war of choice,” he will say.

Russian President Vladimir Putin will travel to Kazakhstan to meet Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Thursday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

The two will discuss Ukraine and bilateral issues, Peskov said in a call with journalists. 

Putin is expected to travel late Wednesday, he added.

UAE’s President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan will discuss “the importance of de-escalation” in Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Their meeting was “prescheduled,” but the recent escalation in the war in Ukraine “has given this trip added impetus,” the UAE’s presidential adviser Anwar Gargash told CNN on Tuesday.

“This was a prescheduled official trip which was supposed to focus mostly on bilateral issues but the recent escalation in the war in Ukraine has given this trip added impetus,” Gargash said, adding that the UAE’s president will meet Putin in Moscow where he will now also discuss “seeking a political and diplomatic course.”

Some background: Sheikh Mohammed’s visit to the Russian capital comes less than a week after OPEC+, the international cartel of oil producers, agreed to slash production by 2 million barrels per day — twice as much as analysts had predicted and in the biggest cut since the Covid-19 pandemic.

The UAE is a member of the organization led by Saudi Arabia and Russia.

An intense pressure campaign by the US to dissuade its Arab allies from the cut ahead of the decision failed. Russia is already pumping below its OPEC+ ceiling, and the bulk of the cuts will be made by Gulf producers.

CNN’s Mostafa Salem in Abu Dhabi contributed reporting.

Read more here:

Crude oil storage tanks at the Juaymah Tank Farm in Saudi Aramco's Ras Tanura oil refinery and oil terminal in Ras Tanura, Saudi Arabia, on Monday, Oct. 1, 2018.

Related article OPEC announces the biggest cut to oil production since the start of the pandemic | CNN Business

The bodies of 62 Ukrainian soldiers were “returned home” on Tuesday after “difficult” negotiations, according to the country’s Ministry for Reintegration of the Temporary Occupied Territories.

“62 fallen heroes were returned home,” the ministry’s statement said, adding that the bodies included those of soldiers who had been held at a prison in Olenivka.

Olenivka is in the part of the Donetsk region that has been held by pro-Russian forces for eight years. In July, an attack on the facility resulted in the deaths of at least 50 prisoners.

The Belarusian Ministry of Defense said on Tuesday that the joint deployment of forces with Russia is a defensive measure. 

“The tasks of the Regional Grouping of Forces are purely defensive. And all the activities currently being carried out are aimed at an adequate response to actions near our borders,” Minister of Defense Lt. Gen. Viktor Khrenin said in a statement. 

The moves were to ensure “security” along the border between Belarus and Ukraine, Khrenin added. “Again, based on threats, regrouping can be carried out to cover certain areas.”

Some background: On Monday, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko announced that Belarus and Russia will “deploy a joint regional group of troops” that deepens the military cooperation between the two countries. He had also claimed that Ukraine is planning to attack Belarusian territory, but the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said, “this information is not true.”

Hours later, Andrei Kartapolov, head of the Russian Duma’s Defense Committee, said “there is no need” for Belarusian troops to participate in Moscow’s “special military operation” — the term used by Russian President Vladimir Putin to refer to the country’s invasion of Ukraine.

Russian rockets have hit two “energy facilities” in the Lviv region of western Ukraine, according to a military official.

“As of now, it’s known about three explosions at two energy facilities in the Lviv region,” Maksym Kozytskyi, head of the regional military administration, said on Telegram Tuesday.

Kozytskyi warned that power outages were possible.

Parts of the region were already without power following Russian strikes on energy facilities in Lviv and other major Ukrainian regions on Monday.

A doctor at the Okhmatdyt children’s cancer hospital in Kyiv was among those killed by Russian missile strikes on Ukraine Monday, according to the organization.

Oksana Leontieva was on her way to work after dropping her 5-year-old son at kindergarten when a missile hit the Ukrainian capital.

“Her car burned to the ground in the center of Kyiv,” the hospital said on Facebook.

Leontieva was a hematologist who had worked in Okhmatdyt’s bone marrow transplant unit for 11 years. 

“This young woman was a true professional and support for her patients and colleagues,” the hospital added.

“She was a dedicated and responsible person and doctor … Our condolences to the family, relatives and colleagues of Oksana Lentieva. This is a great loss for Okhmatdyt and all of Ukraine.”

The Kremlin launched a series of deadly attacks across Kyiv and other major Ukrainian cities Monday, which left 19 people dead and injured more than 100 others.

Moscow’s fatal strikes on Kyiv and other major Ukrainian cities Monday were a “logical consequence” of recent events in the war, according to a spokesperson for the Russian Embassy in Paris.

“Russia has been kind until the last moment, giving (President Volodymyr) Zelensky and his regime the opportunity to think and show common sense,” Alexander Makogonov, a spokesperson for the Russian Embassy in France, said Tuesday.

“Do not mistake our kindness for weakness,” Makogonov told French radio station Franceinfo.

“On the contrary, the Ukrainian authorities have preferred to overdo it. Notably through this atrocious attack on a critical civil infrastructure object which is the Crimean bridge,” he added. 

Russia launched a wave of violent airstrikes across Ukraine earlier this week, two days after an explosion damaged a crucial bridge to Crimea and dealt a strategic blow to the Kremlin.

Putin’s recent military escalation in Ukraine comes as Russia contends with heavy losses on the battlefield and low morale among troops.

A children’s playground in Kyiv was among the sites hit by a rocket or missile. When asked to explain the destruction seen at the playground, Makogonov said that those were the result of malfunctioning Ukrainian air defense systems.

“You should know that the Russian army, when carrying out this kind of strikes, uses very sophisticated weapons. These are the weapons of the new generation of very high precision,” he added.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke with Angolan President João Lourenço on Monday about the war in Ukraine as well as “important issues of co-operation.”

Zelensky has been contacting African leaders to build relationships and support against Russia. Angola was among 17 African countries that abstained from a United Nations resolution in March that condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

In a tweet posted Monday Zelensky said: “Had a phone call with the President of Angola @jlprdeangola. Informed him about the terrorist missile attacks on Ukraine by the RF. Discussed important issues of cooperation within the UN. The world must take a clear and firm stance on Russian aggression. We keep working on it!”

The Angolan presidency confirmed the meeting in a statement posted on Facebook : “On Monday afternoon, the President of the Republic, João Lourenço, spoke by phone with the President of the republic of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky. The military conflict in which Ukraine has been involved since last February was the topic discussed.”

“Indestructible Brotherhood-2022” was the name of the joint military exercises Russia was supposed to be conducting with five of its close allies in the former Soviet republic of Kyrgyzstan this week.

Instead, host country Kyrgyzstan canceled the exercises, which were to be held October 10 to 14, a day before they were scheduled to begin.

Some context: Kyrgyzstan has accused Tajikistan, another Russian ally and fellow member of the Collective Security Treaty Organization military alliance, of launching a deadly cross border attack in September that killed 63 Kyrgyz citizens and displaced more than 140,000 people.

“How can we host the Tajik troops to take part in exercises on our territory?” Baisalov said.

The government of Tajikistan accused Kyrgyzstan of triggering the cross-border hostilities on September 16.

Putin’s few friends: While leaders of both countries were invited to a meeting hosted by Russian President Vladimir Putin on his 70th birthday last week, only Tajikistan’s president, Emomali Rahmon, attended, alongside several other leaders of former Soviet republics.

Putin awarded Rahmon the “Order for Merit to the Fatherland” for “ensuring regional stability and security,” a gesture that was derided in Kyrgyzstan.

Kyrgyzstan’s deputy prime minister suggested Russia’s war in Ukraine had distracted Moscow from being a guarantor of peace and security in former Soviet Central Asia. 

“We know that [the Russians] have quite a lot of problems elsewhere, but that’s what they are a superpower for,” Baisalov told CNN. “If they are a superpower they should be able to pay attention to all geographic areas of responsibility.”

Kyrgyzstan, along with Tajikistan, has remained publicly neutral on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.  

Russia launched another round of missile attacks across Ukraine on Tuesday morning, the Ukrainian Armed Forces (UAF) said on Facebook. 

The missiles were launched from two Russian aircraft at around 7 a.m. local time on Tuesday, according to the Ukrainian military, which claimed four missiles were shot down.

Air raid sirens have sounded in multiple regions of Ukraine, with officials appealing to residents on the messaging app Telegram to stay in shelters. 

“A missile has been taken down in one of the districts,” Oleksiy Kuleba, governor of the Kyiv region, said. 

“Explosions are being heard in the Khmelnytsky region,” the head of the Khmelnytsky regional military administration, Serhii Hamalii, said. He claimed Ukrainian air defenses had shot down a drone.  

The Vinnytsya region “has been struck”, governor Sergiy Borzov said on Telegram. 

New commander: Mykolaiv Gov. Vitaliy Kim linked the barrage of missile strikes on Monday and Tuesday to the new commander of Russian forces in Ukraine.

On Saturday, the Russian Defense Ministry announced the appointment of a new commander for what it calls its special military operation in Ukraine, according to Russian state media.

This post has been updated to reflect that the Ukrainian military said the missiles were launched from Russian aircraft, not aircraft carriers.

At least 19 people were killed and 105 others were injured in Russian missile attacks across Ukraine on Monday, according to preliminary data, the Ukrainian State Emergency Service said Tuesday. 

Multiple explosions rocked Kyiv and several other Ukrainian cities reported blasts and power outages on Monday following a barrage of Russian strikes.

Critical and civil infrastructure was hit in 12 regions and the capital, where more than 30 fires broke out, the emergency services said, adding the blazes have been put out. 

As of early Tuesday morning, some areas in the regions of Kyiv, Lviv, Sumy, Ternopil, and Khmelnytsky remained without power, the emergency services said.

More than 1,000 people were involved in putting out fires and rescue operations, it added.

Global outrage: International leaders, including US President Joe Biden have condemned the Russian attacks. Biden said the US would provide Kyiv with the support to defend itself, including advanced air defense systems.

Additionally, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court said the agency would be conducting a criminal investigation. 

At least one person has died after Russian missiles hit the southeastern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia early Tuesday, Oleksandr Starukh, head of the Zaporizhzhia regional military administration, said on Telegram. 

Starukh said 12 S-300 missiles hit public facilities, including a car dealership, a school and a medical dispensary. 

Dozens of people have been killed and wounded in Russian missile attacks on Zaporizhzhia over the past week. 

Some context: The city is Ukrainian-controlled, but lies in a region occupied by Russian forces, not far from the front line and the site of a nuclear power plant that the international community is watching warily. The Zaporizhzhia region is one of four areas of Ukraine that Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed measures to annex, in violation of international law. 

Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov has warned that Moscow could take “countermeasures” against the United States and its European allies due to their “increasing involvement” in the conflict in Ukraine, according to state news agency RIA Novosti. 

“Russia will be forced to take adequate countermeasures, including those of an asymmetric nature,” Ryabkov said, according to RIA. “It is obvious that a direct confrontation with the US and NATO is not in Russia’s interests. We are issuing a warning and hope that Washington and other Western capitals realize the danger of an out-of-control escalation.”

Ukraine support: On Monday, the United States and its European allies roundly condemned Russian airstrikes that hit Kyiv and other major Ukrainian cities.  

In a call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, US President Joe Biden pledged to continue US security assistance, including advanced air defense systems, according to a White House readout of the call. 

European Parliament President Roberta Metsola told CNN on Monday that the European Union needs to do more to help Ukraine in light of Russia’s escalation by providing more military equipment.

Vladimir Putin’s latest display of brutality and vengeance might be a fit of fury over his signature Crimean bridge being blown up. But his indiscriminate targeting of Ukrainian civilians also raises the prospect of a horrific new turn in a vicious war.

Russian missiles damaged a glass-bottomed footbridge in Kyiv that is a popular tourist site, tore into intersections at rush hour and crashed down near a children’s playground on Monday. Power outages rolled across the country, in places cutting off water supplies and transport, in strikes that recalled the terror inflicted on civilians in the invasion’s early days but that had largely ebbed in recent months.

The attacks snatched away the semblance of normality that city dwellers, who spent months earlier in the war in subways turned into air raid shelters, have managed to restore to their lives and raised fears of new strikes.

The message was obvious for the world to see: Putin does not intend to be humiliated. He will not admit defeat. And he is quite prepared to inflict civilian carnage and indiscriminate terror in response to his string of battlefield reversals.

But the targets on Monday also had little military value and, if anything, served to reflect Putin’s need to find new targets because of his inability to inflict defeats on Ukraine on the battlefield.

The bombing of power installations, in particular, Monday appeared to be an unsubtle hint of the misery the Russian President could inflict as winter sets in, even as his forces retreat in the face of Ukrainian troops using Western arms.

This possibility that Putin could be heralding a bloody new twist in a war that has gone through multiple strategic phases since the invasion in February was weighing heavy on the minds of political and military leaders in Washington Monday. Their reaction was laced with revulsion that Putin was again unleashing callous warfare against civilians that recalled Europe’s 20th century horrors.

Read Collinson’s full analysis:

A search and rescue dog is seen during firefighters conduct work in a damaged building after Russian missile attack in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine on October 10, 2022.

Related article Putin's rage against civilians may herald a brutal new phase in the war | CNN Politics

Russia’s Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov on Monday warned Washington and its allies against supplying Ukraine with more weapons, warning it could lead to further escalation of the war. 

“We call on the United States and its allies not to cross the ‘red lines’ they have approached. Stop pumping the Kyiv regime with lethal arms. It will only lead to new victims and destruction, as well as further prolonging the conflict,” Antonov said, according to a statement Monday from the Russian Embassy in the US. 

On Monday, US President Joe Biden spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to condemn Russia’s recent missile strikes and pledge continued US security assistance, including advanced air defense systems, according to a White House readout of the call. 

The readout did not provide additional details on what advanced air defense systems were discussed, but the US previously committed to providing Ukraine with National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS) that would be capable of engaging Russian cruise missiles.

Antonov said the Biden administration’s intention to further support Zelensky “leads to further escalation” and raises the risk of clashes between Russia and NATO.

Russian missile strikes on Kyiv and several other Ukrainian cities killed at least 14 people and wounded 97 others on Monday, the Ukrainian State Emergency Service said. 

The strikes also knocked out power in the regions of Kyiv, Lviv, Sumy, Ternopil and Khmelnytsky, the agency said.

According to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Russia launched more than 84 missile and air strikes. Ukraine claimed it intercepted 56 of the missiles and drones.

The military said around 20 Ukrainian settlements were hit.

International response: Global leaders have condemned the Russian attacks and vowed to continue to support Ukraine in its war efforts. Additionally, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court said the agency would be conducting a criminal investigation. 

Hours after Russia launched large-scale air strikes in Ukraine, the two nations dueled in the United Nations General Assembly ahead of a likely vote this week on whether to condemn Moscow’s move to annex partially-occupied regions in Ukraine.

Late Monday, the audience reaction summed up the initial results: Ukraine’s UN Ambassador received applause while Russia’s delegate was met with silence. 

Ukraine’s Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya opened his remarks by saying, “My day started almost 14 hours ago because my country was under attack” and described his family sheltering in a building.

“My immediate family was in a residential building under attack, unable to go to a bomb shelter because there was no electricity. Because Russia has already killed some of my family members and we see no end to that cruelty,” Kyslytsya said.

A debate of more than 66 speakers is expected to lead to a vote on a resolution strongly condemning Russia’s annexation and declaring the move illegal under international law. 

Russia’s UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said he saw dangerous cynicism in the room with countries ganging up on Moscow, and he scoffed at nations who accused his country of breaching the UN charter by invading Ukraine.

Earlier, the General Assembly soundly defeated a Russian bid to allow the vote on the annexation to be carried out by secret ballot. The vote in favor of a non-secret ballot was 107 nations. Thirteen were opposed. Thirty-nine nations abstained.

The huge explosion on the Crimea bridge shortly before dawn on Saturday severely curtailed road and rail traffic along an important artery — both civilian and military — at a critical moment in Russia’s campaign in Ukraine.

At first sight, it was another embarrassment — even humiliation — for the Russian state, still reeling from battlefield setbacks in Kharkiv, Donetsk and, more recently, in Kherson in the south.

But by Monday the bridge attack had also become the Kremlin’s justification for a sudden blitz of missile attacks across Ukraine. By midday, according to Ukrainian authorities, some 80 missiles and rockets had been fired at infrastructure in a dozen cities — and Russian officials were promising more to come.

In the hours after the bridge explosion, Russian investigators fastened onto one explanation for the blast: It was a terrorist attack using a massive explosive charge hidden in a truck and then detonated as the vehicle crossed the bridge toward Crimea.

Russian President Vladimir Putin picked up the theme on Monday, saying Kyiv had “put itself on a par with the most odious terrorist groups,” which had prompted the subsequent “massive strike with precision-guided weapons on Ukrainian infrastructure — energy infrastructure, military command and communications.”

Putin went on: “In terms of the further act of terrorism on the territory of Russia, the Russian reply will be harsh and will be corresponding to the level of threat to the Russian Federation, have no doubt about it.”

Read the full analysis:

Cars burn after Russian military strike, as Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues, in central Kyiv, Ukraine October 10, 2022. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich

Related article The Crimea attack triggered a wave of strikes on Ukraine. But mystery swirls over who blew up Putin's bridge | CNN

President Joe Biden spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday after a deluge of Russian missiles targeted cities across Ukraine, condemning the strikes and pledging continued US security assistance “including advanced air defense systems.”

During the call, a White House statement said, Biden “expressed his condemnation of Russia’s missile strikes across Ukraine, including in Kyiv, and conveyed his condolences to the loved ones of those killed and injured in these senseless attacks. President Biden pledged to continue providing Ukraine with the support needed to defend itself, including advanced air defense systems.”

The White House did not specify which air defense systems Biden discussed with Zelensky, but the United States previously committed to providing Ukraine with National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems. NASAMS would be capable of engaging Russian cruise missiles.

Biden, the statement said, “also underscored his ongoing engagement with allies and partners to continue imposing costs on Russia, holding Russia accountable for its war crimes and atrocities, and providing Ukraine with security, economic, and humanitarian assistance.”

Asked whether the attacks of the past 24 hours would change the calculus on what the US would consider offering Ukraine, a senior administration official said they had no announcements to make on that front, but that the US will continue to help provide Ukraine with short- and long-range air defense systems, as it has in the past.

Read more:

Related article Biden promises Ukraine 'advanced air defense systems' after Russian missile strikes | CNN Politics

In a television appearance Monday, President Vladimir Putin said Russia had struck military and infrastructure targets across Ukraine following the Crimea bridge blast on Saturday.

Putin threatened further “harsh” responses that correspond “to the level of threat to the Russian Federation, have no doubt about it,” while accusing Kyiv of “terrorism.”

Ukraine has not claimed responsibility for the attack on the Kerch bridge, a key link between the Russian mainland and Crimea, which Moscow annexed illegally in 2014.

Putin listed a catalogue of alleged acts of “terrorism” by what he called the “Kyiv regime” at a Russian Security Council meeting on Monday, accusing “Ukrainian special services” of the “sabotage act on the Crimean bridge.”

He went through a list of what he called acts of terrorism including “terrorist shelling of the citizen towns in Donbas for over eight years,” and alleged acts of terrorism against Russian energy infrastructure, including electric power facilities, the gas transportation infrastructure and “an attempt to undermine one of the sections of the Turkish Stream gas transportation system.”

He warned of a harsh response that corresponds to the level of threat toward the Russian Federation in case of further “acts of terrorism.”

More on the explosion: An explosion early Saturday severely damaged parts of the Crimean bridge, which is a road and rail link between the peninsula and the Russian Federation. Kyiv has not claimed responsibility for the blast on the enormous 19-kilometer (about 12-mile) bridge, which was was opened by Putin in 2018. Ukrainian reaction to the explosion has been gleeful and triumphant.