October 12, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

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

The UN General Assembly 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 result “historic” in a tweet. According to the final tally, 143 countries supported the resolution with five nations, including Russia, opposed and 35 member states abstaining.

Meanwhile, NATO defense ministers reaffirmed their commitment to support Ukraine with military aid following Russia’s recent wave of attacks.

Here are the latest headlines:

Western allies voiced their support Wednesday for Ukraine following the UN General Assembly’s condemnation of Russia’s attempted annexations of four regions in the war-torn country.

According to the final tally, 143 countries supported the motion that the annexations – announced last month by President Vladimir Putin – were illegal. Russia was one of the five countries in opposition while 35 member states abstained.

The German Foreign Office tweeted: 

The Italian Mission to the UN in New York tweeted:

Belgium’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs tweeted:

The Netherlands’ Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom Wopke Hoekstra tweeted: 

Norway’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs tweeted: 

Latvia’s mission to the UN tweeted:

Ireland’s mission to the UN tweeted:

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.”

“After all, the UN was built on an idea: that never again would one country be allowed to take another’s territory by force,” Thomas-Greenfield added. 

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.

“Our message Today is loud and clear: It does not matter if you, as a nation, are big or small, rich or poor, old or new. If you are a UN Member State, your borders are your own and are protected by international law. They cannot be redrawn by anyone else by force.” Thomas-Greenfield added. 

Canadian Defence Minister Anita Anand reaffirmed the country’s commitment to support Ukraine, saying on Wednesday that Canada would continue to do “whatever it takes” to stand in solidarity with Kyiv.

“We will continue to do whatever it takes to make sure we are standing in solidarity with Ukraine against this illegal and unjust Russian invasion,” she told CNN’s Isa Soares in an interview.  

Anand’s comments came after Canada earlier on Wednesday announced an additional $47 million in new military aid to assist Ukraine.  

Outlining what was in the aid package, Anand told Soares that there were three categories of aid: Military aid and equipment including winter clothes, training Ukrainian armed forces, and transporting aid from allies.     

“What I saw on the ground today in the meeting itself was incredible unity, collaboration, and cooperation,” she said speaking from Brussels, where NATO defence ministers met on Wednesday.

She went on to say that “each country is leveraging its own respective capacities.”  

Anand condemned Russia’s recent strikes across Ukraine attacking civilians and civilian infrastructure, calling them “war crimes.”  

On threats from Russia to the Arctic, she said Canada took this extremely seriously, and had already stepped up protection there to “ensure continental defense.”

German Economy Minister Robert Habeck said Wednesday that he is convinced Russian President Vladimir 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. 

The minister also addressed Germany’s economic health, stating that the country “will have a decline in economic growth this year.” 

Comparing growth forecasts from April 2022, autumn 2022 and 2023, he said that Germany was forecast to have “negative growth, a recession.” 

“This autumn, we are forecasting 1.4% growth. In April this year, that figure was 2.2%. Next year, growth will stand at minus 0.4%, in other words negative growth, a recession,” he said.

He estimated that inflation in Germany will stand at 8% this year and at 7% next year.

France will send air defense systems, radars, missiles and weapons to Ukraine in the coming weeks to defend against missile and drone attacks, French President Emmanuel Macron said in an interview with broadcaster France 2 on Wednesday. 

Macron, whose comments come after Ukraine experienced a wave of Russian missile attacks, said the French supplies would specifically help defeat these kinds of threats. 

He added that France would deliver the hardware and the necessary training to Ukraine. Ukraine has specifically requested the weapons as a priority.

The French president said that this decision followed “an unprecedented phase of bombings” that struck Ukrainian cities and infrastructure. 

Without going into detail, Macron said France was providing military intelligence to Ukraine. 

Pressed on the success of international sanctions, Macron said that they were working. 

“Russia is profoundly destabilized: in its capacity to regenerate its arms, its production and industry,” he said. 

Macron also declared, “We are in a hybrid war.”

“We are not just using weapons on the ground but using weapons of information,” he said, adding that Russia was using a wide variety of approaches to wage the conflict, including: propaganda channels, paying for influence including on social media, weaponizing migration, blackmail and hunger. 

Questioned on nuclear risks in Ukraine, the French president confirmed that France’s nuclear doctrine would not automatically commit to a retaliatory strike, if Russia used nuclear weapons in Ukraine. 

The president also refused to brand Russia a “terrorist state” saying that such labels “have little consequences”. 

“There’s one state that’s declared war and that’s more than enough,” he said. 

The head of the Russian state-owned energy giant Gazprom has warned European countries of the consequences of weaning off energy from Russia. 

There was “no guarantee” that Europe would survive this winter season, based on its current gas reserves, Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller said Wednesday. 

Speaking at the Russia Energy Week conference in Moscow, Miller claimed that gas in Germany’s underground storage will be enough only for between two and two and a half months.

The European gas storage levels is at around “90% full and we are top of the class in that respect,” Czech Minister for Industry and Trade Jozef Síkela said Wednesday, after a meeting of European Union energy ministers in Prague.

Some background: Europe’s energy crisis is deepening as Russia further limits exports of natural gas, forcing governments to spend billions to protect businesses and consumers from soaring bills as the region slides towards recession.

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. 

A Russian nuclear strike would ​”almost certainly​” trigger a “physical response” from ​Ukrainian allies and potentially from NATO, a ​senior NATO official said Wednesday​, according to a press officer.

Speaking to media representatives in Brussels covering the ongoing meeting of NATO defense ministers, the ​senior NATO official warned that any use of nuclear weapons by Moscow would have “unprecedented consequences” for Russia.

It would “almost certainly be drawing a physical response from many allies, and potentially from NATO itself,” the official said​, according to the press officer.

The official went on to say that Moscow was using its nuclear threats mainly to deter the alliance and other countries from directly entering its war on Ukraine.

Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden, who warned last week the risk of “nuclear Armageddon” was at its highest level in 60 years, said in an exclusive CNN interview Tuesday that threats emanating from Russia could result in catastrophic “mistakes” and “miscalculation,” even as he declined to spell out how precisely the United States would respond if Putin deploys a tactical nuclear device on the battlefield in Ukraine.

CNN’s Kevin Liptak contributed reporting to this post 

The US and its allies need to provide Ukraine with air defense systems in order for Ukraine to help defend its airspace against incoming attacks from Russian forces, Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said during a news conference after the Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting in Brussels Wednesday.

“What needs to be done here by all the various countries that were at the conference today is chip in and help them rebuild and sustain an integrated air and missile defense system,” Milley said. 

The United States’ proposed plan: Milley laid out a plan where different air defense systems that several countries have, including Israel and Germany, should be given to Ukraine, and then the systems can be used together to protect Ukraine’s airspace. 

“Many countries have Patriot, many countries have other systems, there’s a whole series of Israeli systems that are quite capable, the Germans have systems as we mentioned, so a lot of the countries that were here today have a wide variety of systems,” Milley said. “The task will be to bring those together, get them deployed, get them trained, cause each of these systems is different, make sure they can link together with a command and control and communication systems and make sure they have radars that can talk to each other so they can acquire targets on the inbound flights.”

The execution of this strategy will be “quite complicated from a technical standpoint,” but Milley said it “is achievable.” 

When asked by a journalist when the air defense systems will arrive in Ukraine, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said, “the systems will be provided as fast as we can physically get them there.” 

Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, called Russia’s attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure in Ukraine a “war crime” while speaking in a news conference after the Ukraine Defense Contact Group met in Brussels on Wednesday.

“Russia has deliberately struck civilian infrastructure with the purpose of harming civilians. They have targeted the elderly, the women and the children of Ukraine. Indiscriminate and deliberate attacks on civilian targets is a war crime in the international rules of war,” Milley said.

Milley added that while Ukraine’s citizens “have suffered greatly,” the country continues to “endure, and they are an inspiration to all.”

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said Russia’s recent attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure in Ukraine “reveal the malice of Putin’s war of choice.”

Austin, who hosted a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group in Brussels on Wednesday, said the “resolve” of allies and partners to help Ukraine has only solidified since the recent barrage of Russian attacks on civilians.

Austin held the meeting to discuss how to continue to support Ukraine in battling Russia’s ongoing invasion of the country, with more than 50 countries participating.

“That resolve has only been heightened by the deliberate cruelty of Russia’s new barrage of Ukraine cities,” Austin said. “Those assaults on targets with no military purpose again reveal the malice of Putin’s war of choice, but Russia’s atrocities have further united the nations of good will that stand with Ukraine.”

Austin called the recent attacks a “grim preview” of a future where “appetites of aggressive autocrats outweigh the rights of peaceful states.”

Austin said the US and allies will “continue” to send capabilities, like High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) systems, that have helped Ukraine in their counter-offensive against Russia. 

Rafael Grossi, chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), is traveling back to the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv after meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg, where the two discussed issues related to nuclear safety.

“As agreed with Ukraine President Zelensky, after my meetings in St Petersburg I am coming back to Kyiv,” Grossi tweeted.

“The work on the establishment of a nuclear safety & security protection zone around #Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant continues,” he added.

Grossi has repeatedly stressed in the past few weeks the urgent need to create a protection zone around the Europe’s largest nuclear plant in Zaporizhzhia, which has experienced frequent shelling in the past few months.

View Grossi’s tweet here:

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.

The Ukrainian government is appealing to people to reduce their electricity consumption to avoid blackouts — and wants peak demand reduced by 25%.

Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal appealed to citizens and businesses to reduce electricity consumption from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. in order to stabilize the power system, after 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%.”

Shmyhal asked that “external electric advertising and other energy-consuming devices” be turned off during the evening hours.

He also appealed to people to use gas and coal sparingly after turning on the heating. “The minimum indoor temperature this winter will be 16 degrees, and the average temperature will be 18 degrees,” he said. “This is a necessity and this is our contribution to victory.”

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 offensive in Kherson: 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 offensive 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.

US President Joe Biden says he hasn’t seen any movement from Russian President Vladimir Putin on the release of American women’s basketball star Brittney Griner.

“Not from Putin,” Biden said when questioned whether he’d seen any action on Griner’s case.

Speaking to CNN’s Jake Tapper on Tuesday, Biden said he’d be willing to meet Putin at the upcoming G20 summit in Indonesia if Putin was willing to discuss Griner’s release.

“I have no intention of meeting with him. But for example, if he came to me at the G20 and said I want to talk about the release of Griner, I’d meet with him. I mean, it would depend,” Biden told Tapper in the exclusive CNN interview.

Biden told reporters Wednesday that recent Russian attacks on Ukrainian civilian infrastructure were brutal and “beyond the pale.”

What Russia is saying: A Kremlin aide responded to Biden saying that he has “no intention of meeting” with Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying on Wednesday that Moscow “never refuses negotiations and any useful international contacts,” according to state media RIA Novosti.

“We never repel an outstretched hand. If we feel and understand that a partner for one reason or another does not want to meet, we do not impose ourselves,” Putin’s foreign policy aide Yury Ushakov told reporters.

When asked if Putin would attend the G20 summit taking place in November in Indonesia, Ushakov said “there’s still plenty of time” to decide.

“As for G20… It’s still a long way to it, as well as to other meetings (international forums in November), there is still a lot of time. Let’s wait and see,” he said, according to the state media. 

Russia is not to blame for Europe’s energy crisis, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday, adding that the European Union itself is to blame. 

“Ordinary Europeans are suffering. This year, their energy and gas bills have more than tripled. As in medieval times, the population began to stock up on firewood for the winter. What does Russia have to do with it?” Putin said during the plenary session at Russia’s Energy Week.

“They constantly try to blame someone else for their mistakes. In this case, Russia. They themselves are to blame. This is not the result of a special military operation in Ukraine, in the Donbas,” Putin said. 

Putin blamed EU countries for making poor decisions in the energy sector when it comes to cooperation with Russia. 

“The European well-being of the last decades was largely based on cooperation with Russia. The consequences of the partial rejection of goods from Russia are already negatively affecting the economy and the residents of Europe,” he added.

Putin also said on Wednesday that Russia is ready to start gas supplies via a link on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline that remains operational but it is the EU’s decision if they want it.

Remember: Russia was a major oil and gas supplier for European countries. Moscow’s war in Ukraine has brought this European reliance under scrutiny.

A leak has been detected in the Druzhba pipeline which supplies crude oil from Russia to Germany, the pipeline’s operator PERN said in a statement on Wednesday.

PERN said the leak was first detected Tuesday evening and located on one of the two lines of the western section of the pipeline, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) from the Polish city of Plock. The operator said “pumping on the damaged line was immediately switched off” but supplies were still continuing to their German partners and they were now investigating what caused the damage.

A spokesperson for Germany’s finance ministry said that initial information from Polish Authorities showed it was “assumed that the damage was accidental, not sabotage” but said the incident was still being investigated.

The spokesperson confirmed there had been a pressure drop in the Druzhba pipeline on Tuesday but stressed that Germany’s supplies were still “guaranteed”. 

“The two refineries in Schwedt and Leuna are currently continuing to receive crude oil via the Druzhba pipeline ‘Friendship 1’ via Poland. These supplies have not been interrupted,” she added.

Some more context: The discovery of this leak comes as Europe is already on high alert after multiple leaks caused extensive damage to both Nord Stream pipelines in September.

Swedish authorities found that the damage in both pipelines had been caused by “detonations” and their investigation had strengthened their “suspicions of gross sabotage.”

External power to the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has been restored after it was lost on Wednesday morning following the shelling of a substation, Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said in a tweet.

“I’ve been informed by our team on site that external power to #Zaporizhzhya NPP is restored,” he said. “#ZNPP’s operator says this morning’s outage was caused by shelling damage to a far off sub-station, highlighting how precarious the situation is. We need a protection zone ASAP.”

In a tweet earlier Wednesday, Grossi said plant has lost off-site power for the second time in five days and had to switch to generators.

See Grossi’s update:

NATO defense ministers gathering in Brussels on Wednesday will focus on how to provide Ukraine with more air defense systems to protect its civilians and critical infrastructure, a Ukrainian government official and US diplomat have said.

The NATO meeting comes two days after Russia launched its most intense air assault against Ukraine since it invaded in February, killing at least 19 civilians and hitting energy facilities across the country.

President Volodymyr Zelensky has sought to highlight Ukraine’s success in intercepting Russian missiles, saying more than half of the missiles and drones launched at Ukraine in a second wave of strikes on Tuesday were brought down. And given the success, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Tuesday underlined the need to supply more air defense systems to Kyiv, saying they “are making a difference.”

While Ukraine’s interception success rate has significantly risen over the course of the war, the country’s sheer size and the required rate of missile consumption would mean that it will “continue to take damage and suffer casualties” from such strikes “for the foreseeable future,” said Justin Bronk, a military expert with the London-based Royal United Services Institute (RUSI).

However, Bronk also noted that Moscow “does not have the ammunition reserves required to sustain heavy barrages of cruise and ballistic missiles such as those seen on Monday over the medium term.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that Russia is ready to start gas supplies via a link on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline that remains operational but it is the EU’s decision if they want it.

“Russia is ready to start such supplies. The ball is in the court of the EU. If they want, they can just open the tap,” Putin said in his annual address to the Russian Energy Week forum. 

Remember: The pipeline had yet to enter commercial operations. The plan to use it to supply gas was scrapped by Germany days before Russia sent troops into Ukraine in February.

The Nord Stream 2 pipeline is a multimillion dollar project that was designed to transport Russian gas to the EU. It was intended to deliver 55 billion cubic meters of gas per year – more than 50% of Germany’s annual consumption – and could have been worth as much as $15 billion to Gazprom, the Russian state-owned company that controls the pipeline, based on its average export price in 2021.

Nord Stream 1, on the other hand, was operational but Russia has been shutting off supply or decreasing it throughout the summer. However, it had been shut for weeks when western nations reported leaks in the two pipelines, saying it was likely the result of sabotage.

“The pipeline that runs through the Baltic Sea can be repaired obviously but it will make sense only in case there is further use if they are economically justified and definitely when the security is guaranteed,” Putin said. “If together with our European colleagues we take together the decision to supply gas through the remaining one link of Nord Stream 2. Apparently it still remains operational, unfortunately we are not allowed to test it.”

If you’re just joining us, here’s what you need to know about Wednesday’s developments in Russia’s war in Ukraine so far.

Here are the latest headlines:

Here’s where the state of control on Ukrainian territory stands

The major leaks which erupted in the Nord Stream gas pipelines in late September were an “act of international terrorism,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday.

“[This] was aimed to undermine the energy security of a whole continent,” Putin said at a plenary session of the annual Russian Energy Week in Moscow.

The attacks set a “dangerous precedent” and show that “any piece of critical transport or infrastructure is at risk now,” he added. 

European authorities are investigating the cause of the leaks but have said they suspect an act of sabotage.

At least seven people have died and eight more wounded after Russian forces shelled a market in the eastern Ukrainian town of Avdiivka, said Pavlo Kyrylenko, head of the Donetsk regional military administration.

“The Russians hit the central market, where there were many people at that moment,” he said on Telegram. “There is no military logic in such shelling — only an unbridled desire to kill as many of our people as possible and intimidate others.”

Tesla CEO Elon Musk did not have a conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin before publishing his “peace plan” for Ukraine, said Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov on Wednesday.

“No, this is not true,” Peskov told reporters on a regular press briefing, when asked if Musk had talked to Putin prior to publishing tweets in which he expressed his suggestions about the outcome of Russia’s war on Ukraine.

The “Ukraine-Russia peace plan” tweeted by Musk last week reflected demands that Kremlin officials have made repeatedly in recent months, including that Kyiv commit to military neutrality, acknowledge that Crimea is formally part of Russia, and ensure continued water supply to the peninsula annexed by Moscow in 2014.

Speaking to CNN on Tuesday, American political scientist Ian Bremmer, president of political consulting firm Eurasia Group, claimed Musk told him directly about his conversation with Putin last month, which Musk later denied.

“I have spoken to Putin only once and that was about 18 months ago,” Musk tweeted Tuesday. “The subject matter was space.”

On Wednesday Peskov confirmed that Putin had a phone conversation with Musk “about a year and a half ago,” but refused to provide any details. 

Recent comments from NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg constitute an admission that NATO is fighting on Ukraine’s side against Russia, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday.  

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

Peskov has previously warned that the involvement of NATO, and therefore the US, would be “extremely dangerous.”

On September 28 he said that the US is getting closer to becoming a party to the conflict.

“More and more, the American side is getting into this conflict, getting closer to becoming a party to the conflict, which is extremely dangerous,” Peskov told reporters.

Stoltenberg also said Tuesday that NATO has enhanced the protection of critical infrastructure following the suspected sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines in late September.

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

Stoltenberg went on to add that “hybrid and cyber attacks can trigger Article 5,” though he stressed that he could not comment on specific incidents while investigations were ongoing

Article 5 is the principle that an attack on one member of NATO is an attack on all members, triggering collective defensive action.

Pope Francis condemned the “relentless bombings” on the Ukrainian people on Wednesday, saying he carries “their pain within.”

“In these days my heart is always turned toward the Ukrainian people, especially the inhabitants of those places where there have been relentless bombings,” Francis said at the end of his Wednesday morning audience in St. Peter’s Square.

“I carry their pain within me and bring it to the Lord in prayer…. May the Spirit of the Lord transform the hearts of those who have in hand the outcome of the war, that the hurricane of violence may cease and that peace in justice can be re-built.”

Francis’ comments come after Russia launched several missile strikes on several regions of Ukraine on Tuesday, the second day of bombardment aimed at the country’s infrastructure.

Neither Russia nor the US has tried to instigate top-level negotiations, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday.

Peskov also told reporters that Russia deplores “every day that Western heads of state – the US as well as European – practice nuclear rhetoric every day. We consider this a pernicious and provocative practice. Russia does not want to take part in these exercises and does not take part in them.”

This came in response to a question about US President Joe Biden’s interview on CNN, in which he warned of potential catastrophic “mistakes” from Russia.

Biden, who cautioned last week that the risk of “nuclear Armageddon” was at its highest level in 60 years, said in the interview that threats emanating from Russia could result in catastrophic “mistakes” and “miscalculation,” even as he declined to spell out how precisely the United States would respond if Putin deploys a tactical device on the battlefield in Ukraine.

The Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has lost off-site power for the second time in five days and had to switch to generators, said Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), in a tweet.

Grossi described it as “a deeply worrying development.”

“Our team at #Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant informed me this morning that the plant has lost all of its external power for the 2nd time in five days,” he said.

“Its back-up diesel generators are now providing electricity for its nuclear safety and security functions. This repeated loss of #ZNPP’s off-site power is a deeply worrying development and it underlines the urgent need for a nuclear safety & security protection zone around the site.”

Ukraine’s state nuclear energy company Energoatom confirmed in a statement on Telegram that the plant was down to generator power, which it blamed on a rocket attack on a nearby substation. Energoatom accused the Russian forces occupying the facility of refusing to allow it to refuel the generators.

“This morning, October 12 at 08:59, the “Dniprovska” substation in the Dnipropetrovsk region was damaged as a result of rocket attack by Russian troops,” the company said.

“As a result, the 750-kV communication line of ZNPP – Dniprovska – was accidentally disconnected. As a result, the Zaporizhzhia NPP was completely de-energized,” it added.

“Diesel generators turned on automatically. Energoatom prepared and sent another batch of diesel fuel to the ZNPP. However, as of 10:00 a.m., the Russian side does not allow the company’s convoy of vehicles to pass.”

On Tuesday, Grossi met with Russian President Vladimir Putin to argue for a “protection zone” around the plant.

“We can’t afford to lose any more time. The stakes are high,” he said. “We must do everything in our power to help ensure that a nuclear accident does not happen during this tragic conflict, as it could cause even more hardship and suffering in Ukraine and beyond.”

The barrage of Russian strikes that rained down across Ukraine on Monday made the country’s cities all feel so much closer to the war than they had for months.

At least 19 people died and dozens were injured in the missile strikes, which were backed up by Iranian-made attack drones. Infrastructure was damaged, and homes ahead of winter plunged into blackout. Yet Ukrainian officials said about half the 84 missiles had been intercepted. Russian commentators even suggested 150 had been launched, indicating that the damage could have been worse.

It was a different level of force from Moscow, but perhaps not a sea change in their strategy, for two reasons.

Firstly, it is unlikely they can sustain this sort of barrage over time. They have been firing missiles intermittently at targets week after week across Ukraine, which will have had an impact on stocks. It is unclear how many drones they have received from Iran, but that too is limited and a reflection of depleted stocks, not an excess. Monday may have been more an expression of military might than a change of tactics in the long-term.

It is important to remember that Moscow has had absolutely no reservations about hitting civilian targets or infrastructure since the start of the war. In the week before Monday’s attacks, the city of Zaporizhzhia was hit repeatedly by missiles, that slammed into apartment blocks, killing and injuring dozens. Earlier in the war, a maternity hospital and theater-turned-shelter marked with the words “CHILDREN” in Mariupol were hit. Monday was not a sudden change in Russia’s moral compass. They just did the same thing they’ve been doing throughout the war on a larger, wider scale.

Secondly, it didn’t really work. For the volume of cruise missiles expended, the damage to Ukraine’s infrastructure was far from catastrophic. Kyiv endured appalling scenes of crowded rush hour streets being hit – along with playgrounds and parks – and a terror it had not seen for months. The net effect of the day of Ukrainians hiding in bomb shelters was some damage to energy infrastructure and a loss of civilian life, but also a promise from the White House to supply the advanced air defenses Kyiv has been begging for over months.

Read the full analysis here.

Russian authorities have detained eight people in connection with the deadly blast that damaged the only bridge between annexed Crimea and the Russian mainland on Saturday, state-run news agency RIA Novosti reported Wednesday. 

Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) claimed the “terrorist attack” was organized by the main intelligence department of Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense, its head Kyrylo Budanov, and its employees and agents, RIA reported. 

“At the moment, five citizens of Russia, three citizens of Ukraine and Armenia, who participated in the preparation of the crime, have been detained as part of a criminal case,” RIA reported, citing a report by the FSB and Russia’s Investigative Committee.

The report did not reveal where the suspects had been detained.

The FSB report said the explosive device, weighing nearly 23 metric tons, was hidden in polyethylene construction film, RIA reported. Russian officials had earlier claimed the explosion was caused by a truck blowing up on the road bridge.

The FSB report said the explosive device had been sent from the Ukrainian port of Odesa in early August through countries including Bulgaria, Georgia and Armenia, Russian state news agency TASS reported. 

Ukraine has yet to publicly comment on the new claims by Russia’s FSB and Investigative Committee. 

Some context: An explosion early Saturday killed three people and severely damaged parts of the Crimean bridge. Kyiv has not claimed responsibility for the blast on the enormous 19-kilometer (about 12-mile) road and rail link, which was was opened by Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2018.

Russian missiles hit the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia and its suburbs overnight into Wednesday, according to Oleksandr Starukh, head of the Zaporizhzhia regional military administration. 

“About seven S-300 missiles were launched … Fortunately there are no victims,” Starukh said on Telegram early Wednesday. 

Rescue workers pulled three people out of rubble after a residential building in a village close to Zaporizhzhia was damaged in the attack, he added. 

On Wednesday, Ukraine’s air defenses also shot down nine Iranian Shahed-136 drones over nearby Mykolaiv that were being used by Russia to attack the southern region, Ukraine’s Air Force said on Telegram.  

Some context: The latest attacks on Zaporizhzhia come after Russia launched missile strikes on several regions of Ukraine on Tuesday, the second day of heavy bombardment aimed at the nation’s infrastructure.

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. 

It’s never going to feel normal to hear a president discussing the danger of “Armageddon” – especially now, on camera.

But Joe Biden used an exclusive CNN interview on Tuesday to send another careful, yet clear and chilling message to Russian President Vladimir Putin about the disastrous consequences of using nuclear weapons in the war in Ukraine.

The first president since the 1980s to really have to game out calculations about nuclear arsenals and deterrence, Biden was asked by Jake Tapper whether he thought that Putin — who has warned he is prepared to use every option in Russia’s arsenal — might consider detonating one of the world’s most heinous weapons as an act of desperation in a losing war.

But the President, who first touched on this subject at an off-camera fundraiser in New York last week, made crystal clear he was sending a public message to Putin about the dangers of thinking that using a lower yield, tactical nuclear bomb would be an isolated event.

“What I am talking about, I am talking to Putin. 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 said, before warning of dangerous consequences of such a move.
“The mistakes get made, the miscalculation could occur, no one could be sure what would happen and it could end in Armageddon,” he said, again stressing that a nuclear blast that kills thousands of people could lead to events barreling way out of control.

Read Collinson’s full analysis:

President Joe Biden speaks with CNN's Jake Tapper during an interview in the Map Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., October 11, 2022.

Related article Biden sends a careful but chilling new nuclear message to Putin in CNN interview | CNN Politics

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has denied a claim that he spoke directly to Russian President Vladimir Putin in recent weeks about the war in Ukraine and a proposed “peace plan” to end the conflict.

Speaking to CNN on Tuesday, American political scientist Ian Bremmer, president of political consulting firm Eurasia Group, claimed Musk told him directly about his conversation with Putin last month.

In a tweet Tuesday, however, Musk said he hadn’t spoken with Putin in over a year.

Bremmer initially declined to comment further on his conversation with Musk — but later reiterated his claim on Twitter.

“Elon Musk told me he had spoken with Putin and the Kremlin directly about Ukraine. He also told me what the Kremlin’s red lines were,” Bremmer wrote.

Musk tweeted a succinct response: “Nobody should trust Bremmer.”

Eurasia Group is a political risk research and consulting firm that reports on emerging and developed economies. Bremmer, who is often cited by mainstream media, has also been involved with international organizations including the World Economic Forum.

The exchange comes after Musk tweeted a “Ukraine-Russia peace plan” last week that reflected demands Kremlin officials have made repeatedly in recent months, including that Kyiv commit to military neutrality, acknowledge that Crimea is formally part of Russia, and ensure continued water supply to the peninsula annexed by Moscow in 2014.

Read the full story:

Elon Musk walks from the the justice center in Wilmington, Del., Monday, July 12, 2021.

Related article Elon Musk denies claim he spoke to Vladimir Putin about the war in Ukraine | CNN Business

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.

Read more:

President Joe Biden speaks with CNN's Jake Tapper during an interview in the Map Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., October 11, 2022. Photo by Sarah Silbiger for CNN

Related article Biden says Putin 'totally miscalculated' by invading Ukraine but is a 'rational actor' | CNN Politics

As deadly Russian airstrikes continued into a second day, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday asked the Group of Seven nations to help his country establish an “air shield” against aerial attacks.

Zelensky’s plea comes amid one of the fiercest bombing campaigns that Russia has waged against Ukraine since invading in late February. At least 19 people have been killed and more than 100 wounded across the country, as far away as the western city of Lviv, hundreds of miles from the war’s main theaters in eastern and southern Ukraine.

Russia carried out at least 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 may be able to sustain such attacks. But Zelensky said his country needs more help with missile defense systems to combat Moscow’s blitz.

“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,” the Ukrainian President told leaders of the G7 nations Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Read more:

Rescuers in Zaporizhzhia, southeastern Ukraine.

Related article Zelensky asks G7 for 'air shield' as rockets rain down on Ukraine | CNN

About 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 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 is targeting Ukrainian military and energy facilities in attacks.

President Joe Biden has been thrust into addressing the latest escalations in the war in Ukraine just before a three-state swing through the West Coast to raise money for Democrats running in next month’s midterm elections.

Biden convened virtually with G7 leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday, amid a multi-day deluge of Russian missiles targeting Ukrainian energy facilities. Officials said they expected the meeting to focus on determining where they could bolster support for Ukraine’s air defenses and the uncertain energy situation as winter approaches.

After the meeting, G7 countries vowed to hold Russian President Vladimir Putin and those responsible accountable for the recent attacks in Ukraine. A joint statement from the group committed to support Ukraine for “as long as it takes,” while promising to continue to provide financial, humanitarian, military, diplomatic and legal support. “We are committed to supporting Ukraine in meeting its winter preparedness needs,” the statement said.

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Related article Biden confronted with Ukraine war escalation less than a month before the midterm elections | CNN Politics

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.”

Referencing Russian President Vladimir Putin’s veiled threats of a nuclear strike, Stoltenberg said “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 more than 30 ships and increasing intelligence-sharing.

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