October 20, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

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

President Joe Biden speaks to the press during a visit to Primanti Bros sandwich shop in Moon Township, Pennsylvania, on Oct. 20.

President Joe Biden seized on comments from several Republicans, including House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy, calling into question future Ukraine aid, framing the position as undermining the US role – and leadership – in an increasingly volatile world.

“You heard what they said today?” Biden asked at a fundraiser in Philadelphia for Senate candidate John Fetterman, according to the press pool. “They said that if they win, they’re not likely to fund – to help – continue to fund Ukraine, the Ukrainian war against the Russians. These guys don’t get it. It’s a lot bigger than Ukraine – it’s Eastern Europe, it’s NATO. It’s real, serious, serious consequential outcomes. They have no sense of American foreign policy.” 

Biden sought to broaden the implications for Republican opposition or reluctance, tying it to palpable concerns from allies after former President Donald Trump’s four years in office that the US was receding from its role in the world. Biden noted it was something that raised the stakes for the midterm elections even further, and explicitly tied in the Jan. 6 attack on the US Capitol – and the GOP’s response – as an element driving anxiety for allies. 

The President also repeated his story about how at his first G7 meeting when he said he told leaders “America’s back and one of the other heads of state turned to me and said ‘For how long’?”

On the Jan. 6 insurrection, Biden said that it was “a bunch of thugs attacked the United States Capitol,” continuing, “then they come along and they’re called patriots and heroes.”

“The rest of the world is looking at this election as well, both the good guys and the bad guys out there to see what, they want to see what’s going to happen,” Biden said, according to the pool. 

The White House says Iranian military personnel have visited Crimea to assist with Russian drone strikes targeting civilian infrastructure in Ukraine.

John Kirby, the communications coordinator at the National Security Council, said Iran’s training visit was evidence of Tehran’s direct engagement in the conflict.

“We can confirm that Russian military personnel that are based in Crimea have been piloting Iranian UAVs, using them to conduct strikes across Ukraine, including strikes against Kyiv,” Kirby said, referring to unmanned aerial vehicles.

CNN previously reported that Iranian military personnel had been sent to Crimea to train Russian forces.

“Iranian military personnel were on the ground in Crimea and assisted with these operations,” he said. “Russia has received dozens of UAVs so far and will likely continue to receive additional shipments in the future.”

The US has said that Russia was obtaining drones from Iran, but has not previously said that Iranian personnel were on the ground.

Kirby said it was a “relatively small number” of Iranian personnel on the ground.

Kirby said the Russians weren’t familiar with the use of the drones and needed Iranian training to use them.

He added that the US is now concerned that Russia will seek additional weapons, including surface-to-surface missiles, from Iran.

Some background: Iran has repeatedly denied supplying Russia with weapons for use in Ukraine, saying last week that it “has not and will not” do so.

A Russian representative to the UN also insisted that drones used against Ukraine have all been Russian — not Iranian. He called claims to the contrary a “disinformation campaign.”

That hasn’t convinced Ukraine’s Western allies. The European Union just agreed on new sanctions against Iran over the drone allegations.

“They can lie to the world but they certainly can’t hide the facts,” Kirby said Thursday.

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said he has spoken to Israel’s Prime Minister Yair Lapid to tell him about the “unspeakable suffering” caused by Russian missiles and Iranian-made drones.

It’s the latest appeal Ukraine has made to Israel to help it acquire modern air defense systems.

Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz responded to Ukraine’s request on Wednesday, saying that Israel would help Ukraine develop an air defense alert system, but had no plans to deliver weapon systems.

“We have sent a request to the Ukrainians to share information about their needs for air defense alerts. Once we gain this information, we will be able to assist in the development of a life-saving civilian early-warning system,” Gantz said.

View Kuleba’s tweet here:

US President Joe Biden speaks in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on Thursday.

US President Joe Biden said he’s worried the US commitment to supporting Ukraine could waver if Republicans retake control of the House of Representatives.

Biden made the remark to reporters on the midterms campaign trail, days after House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy said if the GOP wins the chamber they may not be as forthcoming with aid to the embattled nation.

“Yeah, I am worried about that because they said they’ll cut it,” Biden told reporters while visiting a sandwich shop in Moon Township, Pennsylvania, on Thursday. He was touring with Senate candidate John Fetterman.

What McCarthy said: The minority leader’s comments were published by the political news outlet Punchbowl News on Tuesday.

A former employee of state television network Channel One in Russia has been ordered under arrest in absentia for “spreading misinformation” about the war in Ukraine, according to state news agency TASS.

In March, journalist Marina Ovsyannikova appeared in the background during a live broadcast on Channel One holding a sign that read “Stop the war!” and “They’re lying to you!”

Ovsyannikova was fined twice and placed under house arrest. In early October, she and her family fled Russia to Europe while Russian authorities continued to investigate her.

Ovsyannikova joins a growing list of journalists, including Alexander Nevzorov and Dmitry Gordon, who Russia has ordered arrested in absentia for criticizing the state.

Soon after Russia’s invasion, the State Duma passed a law imposing a prison sentence of up to 15 years for anyone knowingly spreading “fake news” that discredits Russia’s Armed Forces and the “special military operation,” which is how it refers to the war in Ukraine.

As the Kremlin steps up its military assault, Ukrainian energy officials said they had no choice but to introduce emergency and scheduled blackouts Thursday. Days of devastating Russian attacks on energy infrastructure have caused the nation to lose at least 40% of its power-generating capacity. 

Meantime, fighting is escalating in the Russian-occupied part of Ukraine’s southern Kherson region where authorities are attempting to “relocate” up to 60,000 civilians, despite humanitarian bodies warning such a strategy could constitute human rights violations.

Here are the latest developments in Russia’s war in Ukraine:

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky alleged that Russian forces have mined a critical dam on the Dnipro river in the southern Kherson region, as well as the adjacent hydroelectric plant.

“We have information that Russian terrorists have mined the dam and units of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant,” Zelensky told the Council of Europe during a video address.

CNN has reached out to the Russian Ministry of Defense for a response to the allegations.

The dam and hydroelectric plant have been working at much-reduced capacity as the area was captured by Russian forces in March. Ukrainian forces are some 40 kilometers (more than 24 miles) north of the dam. Over the past four months, they have launched several strikes against the bridge that forms part of the dam to prevent its use by the Russian military.

Separately, Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to the head of the Ukrainian President’s office, said on Twitter Thursday that Russia planned to mine the dam and transformers, forcing the deportation of Ukrainian civilians from Kherson and flooding territory to stop the Ukrainian counteroffensive in the region. The land to the south and east of the river is low-lying.

What pro-Moscow officials are saying: The Russian-appointed head of the Nova Kakhovka administrative district, Vladimir Leontiev, told Russian state media TASS that it makes no sense for Russia to destroy the dam of the power station.

“What is the point for Russia to destroy it now? Even from a formal point of view, this is nonsense. This is absolute nonsense,” Leontiev said.

“First of all, you need to think about who benefits from it: it is only beneficial for Ukraine to destroy the dam, the hydroelectric power station, to disrupt logistics, to sow fear and panic, to stop the possibility of supplying water through the North Crimean Canal to the territory of Crimea,” he said, according to TASS.

A Russian military convoy near Stara Krasnyanka in the eastern region of Luhansk was struck by a Ukrainian missile, new video shows. 

CNN has geolocated and verified the authenticity of the video, which was posted on Thursday. The video is a compilation of a series of videos taken by a drone that shows five military vehicles, first traveling east on a road in eastern Kreminna. 

Later, the convoy is seen turning around in Stara Krasnyanka and returning to Kreminna. As the convoy nears a set of train tracks, it moves into a wooded area just outside of Stara Krasnyanka. 

They are then targeted by a Ukrainian missile salvo, and a number of explosions are seen. The resulting fire appears to explode the munitions that are being carried by the vehicles. Later, the burnt husks of the convoy are seen.

In recent weeks, Ukrainian forces have repeatedly hit Russian positions in the town of Kreminna, located just west of Severodonetsk. 

The UK is slapping new sanctions on Iran for supplying Russia with “kamikaze” drones used to bombard Ukraine, British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said.

In a statement, Cleverly accused Iran of “warmongering” by profiting off of “Russia’s abhorrent attacks on Ukrainian citizens and adding to the suffering of the people and the destruction of critical infrastructure.” 

The new sanctions match measures agreed to by the EU on Thursday, targeting three individuals and one business responsible for providing drones to Moscow. 

Subject to asset freezes and travel bans are:

One entity — Aerospace Force UAV Command — reported to have been in the temporarily controlled territories of Ukraine advising Russian forces on how to use the drones, is also subject to an asset freeze. 

More context: Iran has denied supplying weapons to Russia despite evidence to the contrary. CNN reported Tuesday that Iran has sent military personnel to Russian-occupied territory inside Crimea to train and advise the Russian military on the use of their drones, according to two sources familiar with US intelligence. 

A spokesperson for the Iranian mission at the United Nations said “Iran does not confirm this claim and rejects it.” 

“These cowardly drone strikes are an act of desperation. By enabling these strikes, these individuals and a manufacturer have caused the people of Ukraine untold suffering. We will ensure that they are held to account for their actions,” Cleverly said.

Former Italian leader Silvio Berlusconi speaks in Rome, Italy, on September 22. 

Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is facing criticism for comments on his relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin and the invasion of Ukraine.

The 86-year-old former Italian leader said he “re-established relations with President Putin,” according to audio released this week by Italian news agency LaPresse.

Putin sent him 20 bottles of vodka and a “very sweet letter” on his birthday last month, Berlusconi says, and he sent back a letter and some Italian sparkling wine, according to the LaPresse audio.

He went on to boast that Putin called him “the first of his five true friends.” 

A secret recording: Berlusconi’s comments were surreptitiously captured during a meeting of his Forza Italia party in the Parliamentary Chamber Tuesday, his office confirmed with CNN on Thursday, while confirming the authenticity of the audio clips released by LaPresse.   

Berlusconi, who will be part of Italy’s incoming coalition government, can be heard saying Putin “was against any initiative” for war against Ukraine.

In the audio clips, the Italian politician can be heard talking to the members of his party about what he thought led to the war.

He accuses Kyiv of violating a 2014 treaty with separatist-controlled regions in Donbas and says the Russian-backed leaders in the area asked Putin to defend them.

In the LaPresse audio, Berlusconi is also heard saying, “I do not see how Putin and Zelensky can sit at a mediation table.

Defending his remarks: Berlusconi defended his comments in an interview with the Italian daily Corriere della Sera Thursday.  

“Everything was taken out of context. It was circulated without knowing the global meaning of my words. With the only scope to spread disinformation and lies,” he told the newspaper.   

“I don’t deny my past friendship with Vladimir Putin, that brought to important results, which were achieved in full accord with our western allies … But today the circumstances have changed,” he said.   

The comments he made were “ended with the condemnation of the Russian invasion and with the hope of a negotiated solution that would put an end to this massacre and protect the rights of the Ukrainian people,” Berlusconi went on to say.  

A senior Ukrainian official says that Russian forces’ “task number one” is to hold the southern frontline.

The Russians are digging in and sending more resources in hopes of holding off the Ukrainian forces pushing toward Kherson, said Oleksii Hromov, a top official with the military’s General Staff.

“The enemy plans to fulfill this task with the help of the first wave of the partial mobilization and by increasing the number of their troops on the west bank of the Dnipro River,” he said, referring to a key waterway where fighting has recently taken place on both banks.

Hromov suggested there were now more than 40 Russian battalion tactical groups in the Kherson region. Each group usually comprises some 1,000 personnel.

Why this region is key:

In his own statement, the Russia-backed head of Crimea stressed the region’s importance to Moscow and its appointed leaders in occupied Ukraine.

“Our common position is that the protection of Kherson region will ensure the security of the Republic of Crimea. To that end, we will continue to take all necessary measures, including providing maximum assistance to the troops and law enforcement units on the front lines,” Sergey Aksenov said Thursday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin visits a training ground in the western Ryazan region of Russia, on October 20.

Russian President Vladimir Putin visited mobilized troops at a training ground in the western Ryazan region, according to a statement published by Kremlin on Thursday.

The statement said he inspected the “combat coordination of the units and the readiness of the military personnel to perform tasks” at the site in the Western Military District.

Russian Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu presented Putin with a report on combat training for the mobilized, according to the statement.

“Vladimir Putin inspected practical exercises as part of tactical, firearms, engineering and medical training,” officials said.

Putin also visited “a multifunctional shooting complex, where military personnel practice various types of shooting under the guidance of full-time commanders and professional instructors with combat experience,” according to the statement.

The Ministry of Defense says instructors are training newly mobilized servicemen with “increased intensity.” Recruits fire at least 600 rounds and use five grenades in the course of their training, according to the ministry.

Putin’s partial mobilization order: The Russian president announced in September that he sought to recruit 300,000 military personnel, but its execution has been widely criticized inside Russia.

The process has been beset by errors, caused angry protests and prompted a mass exodus when it was announced last month.

In early October, Russia’s Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said more than 200,000 new people had joined the Russian Armed Forces through the mobilization.

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba speaks during a meeting at UN Headquarters in New York, on September 22. 

Ukraine is turning to its global allies for help as it faces blackouts brought on by Russian attacks on its energy infrastructure.

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister, Dmytro Kuleba, said Thursday the Kyiv government is working with NATO, the European Union and other partners to overcome the effects of the Russian barrage, which knocked out at least 40% of the country’s power-generating capacity.

A statement from the Foreign Ministry added that Ukrainian diplomats have appealed to several dozen international and non-governmental organizations and private companies with a request for generators as well as equipment for the gas transportation system.

“Russia’s targeted attacks on critical energy infrastructure are war crimes for which we will hold Russia accountable,” Kuleba said. “Russian missile terror will not break either Ukraine or our partners.”

A senior Ukrainian military official says there is growing danger that Russia will open a new front in the war through its coordination with Belarus, using it to cut military supplies to Ukraine.

“The threat of the Russian armed forces resuming the offensive on the northern front is growing,” Oleksii Hromov, a senior official in the military’s General Staff, said at a news conference in Kyiv.

“This time, the direction of the offensive may be changed to the (western part) of the Belarusian-Ukrainian border to cut the main logistics arteries of supplying weapons and military equipment to Ukraine from partner countries.”

Hromov said Ukraine’s defense forces were “taking measures to ensure reliable coverage of the state border of Ukraine and the city of Kyiv from the northern direction. In case the enemy decides to open the so-called second front, namely, to conduct offensive actions from the Republic of Belarus, we will be ready for an adequate response.”

More background: Belarusian authorities have denied any plans for mobilization but have held a high number of training and readiness exercises this year and recently announced a joint force with Russian troops.

The last time Belarusian and Russian forces held joint exercises, in February, many of those Russian forces went on to cross the Ukrainian border in their ill-fated drive toward the capital.

Ukraine and Belarus share a 1,000-kilometer (about 620-mile) frontier, much of it sparsely populated and thickly forested.

Belarus does not have a mighty army in numbers. But the prospect of the long northern border again becoming a passageway for Russian forces would be a nightmare for Ukraine’s already stretched forces.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on October 19.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken described recent Russian attacks in Ukraine as another sign of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “desperation” in a television interview this week.

Blinken’s remarks came in an interview with George Stephanopoulos that aired Wednesday on ABC’s “Good Morning America.”

Blinken also said Putin’s latest moves were “pretty close” when Stephanopoulos asked if Putin was preparing for “all-out war.” When asked if the Russian president was acting rationally, he said that Putin’s “objectives are not rational.”

“We have not seen reason at this point to change our own nuclear posture,” he added.

US steaming at oil decision: “It’s helping to line Putin’s pockets,” Blinken said of Saudi Arabia and OPEC+’s recent decision to slash oil production, describing now as “exactly the wrong time to engage in production cuts.”

“There was no reason to make the decision when they made it,” he said, while also acknowledging: “We have a multiplicity of interests with Saudi Arabia.”

More context: OPEC+ is a group of major oil producers, including Saudi Arabia and Russia. The countries announced a production cut equivalent to about 2% of global oil demand earlier this month, despite US pressure not to tighten supply further.

Russia’s production has held up better than predicted against Western sanctions for the invasion of Ukraine, with supply being diverted to China and India.

Civilians evacuated from Kherson, Ukraine arrive at a railway station in Dzhankoi, Crimea, on October 20. 

Around 15,000 civilians in the Russian-occupied part of Ukraine’s southern Kherson region have been “relocated” away from the frontline, Kirill Stremousov, a regional leader backed by Moscow said Thursday.

“Already about 15,000 residents, having listened to the recommendations of the leadership of the Kherson region, have moved to the left bank of our region,” Stremousov said in a post on the Telegram messaging app. 

Remember: Pro-Moscow officials in occupied Kherson plan to move up to 60,000 residents across the Dnipro River, further into Russian-held territory, amid fears of a Ukrainian counteroffensive on the southern front. 

Civilians evacuated from Kherson, Ukraine arrive at a railway station in Dzhankoi, Crimea, on October 20.

Kyiv has dismissed what Stremousov and colleagues have termed an “organized relocation” as a “propaganda show” and accused Moscow of trying to “intimidate” residents.

In an earlier post on Thursday, Stremousov published guidance for residents crossing the Dnipro on what to take with them. The list included money, identity documents, a mobile phone, personal hygiene products, comfortable clothes, two to three days’ of food and drink and a first aid kit.

Stremousov said everyone would have to be registered and then stay in their assigned group.

Ukraine’s deputy head of the Kherson regional council, Yurii Sobolevskyi, claimed Thursday that the Russian troops in occupied Kherson planned to take over the houses of residents that leave.

Ukraine’s state energy company has been forced to extend its temporary electricity restrictions to three eastern regions as the nation continues to grapple with limited supply.

Kharkiv, Sumy and Poltava were added to the list of areas under a “temporary controlled restriction,” according to Ukrenergo, the energy agency.

The company said earlier Thursday that it had been forced to implement restrictions on electricity use in the capital Kyiv and other central regions because of high energy demand there.

Ihor Taburets, the head of the Cherkasy regional military administration, said the emergency power outages were needed to stabilize the country’s power grid.

The electricity supply to “socially important facilities” would be maintained, he added.

Remember: Days of devastating Russian attacks on energy infrastructure have caused the nation lose at least 40% of its power-generating capacity. Ukrainian officials warned earlier this week that both emergency and scheduled blackouts would follow.

The Ukrainian government has appealed to Jewish organizations to help it acquire modern air defense systems from Israel as the country continues to face Russian attacks.

Israel has a policy of not sending military equipment to Ukraine but has said it is ready to assist the country with early warning systems. Israel has some of the world’s most sophisticated air defense systems, including some developed to counter Iranian ballistic missiles and long-range drones.

Yermak told the meeting that Russia had carried out 190 strikes with missiles and drones on the territory of Ukraine on Oct. 7 and 8 alone.

“We are talking about the intention to intimidate civilians, efforts to destroy the critical infrastructure of Ukraine before winter, to plunge the country into darkness and frost,” he said.

Yermak told the meeting it was “important to unblock military-technical cooperation between the two countries” and Jewish organizations could “persuade the Israeli government to provide our state with the necessary systems.”

Natan Sharansky, the chair of the executive board of the Jewish Agency for Israel, said he believed “that being together with Ukraine at this moment is not just a moral obligation, it is in the interests of Israel.”

According to Ukraine’s presidential office, the chief rabbi of Kyiv, Yaakov Dov Bleich, said that they “are talking now about saving lives….This is terror to destroy people. We have to do something to stop this.”

Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz said Wednesday that Israel would help Ukraine develop an air defense alert system but does not plan to deliver weapon systems.

Ukraine’s state energy supplier Ukrenergo said on Thursday it had been “forced” to implement restrictions on electricity use in the capital Kyiv and other central regions because of a rapid increase in consumption there.

President Volodymyr Zelensky had appealed to Ukrainians to reduce their energy consumption from 7 a.m. local time on Thursday, but the restrictions were voluntary and not enforced.

Ihor Taburets, the head of the Cherkasy regional military administration, confirmed on Telegram that there would be “emergency power outages” in the region “to stabilize the operation of the country’s power grid.”

The electricity supply to “socially important facilities” would be maintained, he added.

On Thursday morning, the Kyiv region military administration had posted a schedule of potential power outages in the event that Ukrenergo needed to balance the power grid.