October 28, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

Our live coverage for the day has ended. Follow the latest Ukraine news here or read through the updates below. 

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres called for the renewal of the Black Sea grain initiative between Ukraine and Russia which potentially runs out in three weeks.

“The impact of the agreement signed in Istanbul has been clearly demonstrated. Exports of grains and other food products under the Black Sea Grain Initiative have surpassed 9 million tonnes,” Guterres said in a statement Friday.

Some background: In July, Ukraine and Russia agreed to the deal that allowed the resumption of vital grain exports from Ukrainian Black Sea ports, a major diplomatic breakthrough at the time, aimed at easing a global food crisis sparked by the war.

Ministers from both countries signed an agreement brokered by the United Nations and Turkey in Istanbul. It came after months of negotiations and promises to unblock ports on the Black Sea to allow the safe passage of grain and oilseeds – some of Ukraine’s most important exports.

Guterres underlined the urgency to renew the deal on Nov. 19.

“If food and fertilizers do not reach global markets now, farmers will not have fertilizers at the right time and at a price they can afford as the planting season begins, endangering crops in all regions of the world in 2023 and 2024, with dramatic effect on food production and food prices worldwide. The current crisis of affordability will turn into a crisis of availability,” the statement said.

A United Nations humanitarian convoy delivered aid to more than 8,000 people in the community of Borova in eastern Ukraine which was recently retaken by Ukrainian forces.

UN partners delivered supplies like hygiene kits, bedding and kitchen sets which will help over 8,000 people as winter approaches, according to Dujarric.

Houses and key infrastructure are heavily damaged and “most of the 12,000 civilians who remain in the area are facing tremendous difficulties in accessing water gas and electricity,” Dujarric said, adding that millions more across the country are also struggling with the same problem.

Poland announced Friday it will work with the United States to kickstart its nuclear power program in an effort to diversify its energy supply as Europe faces an energy crisis following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. 

Following talks with Vice President Kamala Harris and US Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm, Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki announced on Twitter that his country’s “nuclear energy project will use the reliable, safe technology” from Westinghouse Electric — a Pennsylvania-based, nuclear-focused technology company. 

The project is valued at $40 billion and will “create or sustain” more than 100,000 American jobs, according to a tweet from Granholm.  

While Russia touts the hundreds of thousands of reservists that have bolstered its forces in recent weeks, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Friday that the new troops are ill-prepared for battle.

He added that Ukraine is preparing for Russian leadership to look for more opportunities to prolong the conflict.

For context: Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu reported in a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin Friday that the call for mobilization has been completed and the target goal of 300,000 mobilized citizens has been fulfilled.

The mobilization order got off to a rocky start and proved controversial in Russia, sparking protests and concerns from rights groups that ethnic minorities were disproportionately targeted for deployment.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced several new measures to assist Ukraine on Friday.

Canadians will be able to purchase government-backed Ukraine Sovereignty Bonds, which will help fund the Ukrainian government.

Canada is also sanctioning “35 senior officials of energy entities, and six energy sector entities, involved in Russia’s illegal invasion. We intend to impose sanctions on members of the Russian justice and security sectors, too,” Trudeau said in a tweet Friday.

In preparation for winter, Canada is allocating funding to help provide shelter, blankets, clothing and heating appliances. There will also be funding for de-mining efforts.

“As the Russian regime continues its unwarranted and unjustifiable aggression against Ukraine, we’ll continue to support the Ukrainian government and people,” Trudeau tweeted.

Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is seen from a distance in the Dnipropetrovsk region, Ukraine, Monday, October 17.

Progress at establishing a protection zone for Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant is going too slowly, according to Rafael Grossi, the head of the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog agency.

Grossi, who serves as director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, added that he is “very frustrated.”

Russia, which controls the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, detained two staff members there on Oct. 17, which caused “great concern” for Grossi.

Some background: The plant is the largest nuclear power facility in Europe and has been under Russian control since the beginning of the war, though it is still operated mostly by Ukrainian technicians.

Ukraine’s military alleged this month that plant employees are subjected to “moral and psychological pressure” to obtain Russian passports and sign employment contracts with Russia’s nuclear agency.

Grossi has repeatedly called for a nuclear safety zone around the plant “as soon as possible,” citing the threat that fighting over the facility could cause a nuclear accident.

It all comes at an increasingly fragile time for Ukraine’s energy supply. In recent weeks, Russian missile and drone attacks have targeted Ukraine’s power plants and electrical grid leading to rolling blackouts and water supply disruptions.

CNN’s Olga Voitovych and Joshua Berlinger contributed to this report.

The Pentagon announced an additional $275 million of security assistance for Ukraine through presidential drawdown authority, deputy Pentagon press secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters during a briefing at the Pentagon Friday. The package includes additional ammunition for high mobility artillery rocket systems, or HIMARS, that have been a key weapon helping Ukraine counter Russia in the ongoing conflict.

The package also includes “500 precision guided 155 artillery rounds; 2,000 155mm rounds of remote anti-armor mine systems, more than 1,300 anti-armor systems, 125 Humvees, small arms and more than 2.75 million rounds of small arms ammunition and four satellite communications antennas,” Singh said. 

The package is the 24th presidential drawdown authority package, Singh said. 

The US has committed “more than $18.5 billion dollars in security assistance to Ukraine” since the beginning of the Biden administration, Singh added.

Singh also said that a Defense Department training program for Ukrainians to operate the National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS) “will conclude soon.”

“Once it has been completed, the system will be ready for delivery to Ukraine,” she said.

CNN’s Michael Conte and Oren Liebermann contributed reporting to this post.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba speaks at UN headquarters in New York, on September 22. 

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said he spoke with his Iranian counterpart Friday and demanded Iran halt supplying Russia with weapons.

“Today, I received a call from Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian, during which I demanded Iran to immediately cease the flow of weapons to Russia used to kill civilians and destroy critical infrastructure in Ukraine,” Kuleba said in a tweet Friday.

Iran has repeatedly denied it is sending weapons to Russia for use in Ukraine. CNN has not seen a statement as of this writing from the Iranian foreign minister on this topic.

Some context: Ukraine said Friday it has shot down more than 300 Iranian-made Shahed-136 drones that Moscow is using to cripple infrastructure, according to Yurii Ihnat, spokesperson of the Air Force Command of Ukrainian Armed Forces.

The US, France and the UK have said the transfer of weapons from Iran to Russia would violate a UN Security Council resolution.

CNN first reported in August that the US believed Russian officials began training on drones in Iran during the summer.

It will take the Ukrainian capital at least two to three weeks to repair its power system damaged by Russian attacks, Kyiv Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko said on Friday as emergency power cuts have been implemented in the city.

“If there are no emergency accidents, ‘Ukrenergo’ (electricity company) specialists hope to eliminate the deficit caused by the attacks of Russian barbarians on critical infrastructure facilities within 2-3 weeks,” he said on his official Telegram channel.

Power supply is cut temporarily across all districts of Kyiv “due to a significant shortage of electricity - from 20 to 50% - today,” Klitschko added.

He called on residents and businesses to reduce electricity consumption to avoid potentially worse blackouts.

An apartment building is seen ruined in Kherson, Ukraine, on October 26.

Progress hasn’t come easily in recent days for Ukrainian troops in the eastern part of the country, while the nation’s capital deals with another day of power outages brought on by Russian strikes.

If you’re just joining us, here’s what you need to know about the war in Ukraine today:

The situation in the Russian-occupied southern city of Kherson is “tense,” with Russia stationing a large number of Russian soldiers there, a city official told Ukrainian TV on Friday. 

“People in the occupied territories with whom I communicate say that there are more Russian soldiers on the city streets than the local residents,” said Halyna Luhova, a member of Kherson’s city council. 

The UK’s defense ministry in its daily intelligence update on Friday said it was “likely” that “mobilized reservists” had been sent to reinforce Russian troops in the regional capital and Dnieper river’s west bank.

Serhii Khlan, an adviser to the governor of the Kherson region, told Ukrainian television that occupying forces had looted local businesses and civilians who remained in the city had been forced to become self-sufficient. 

Yuriy Sobolevskyi, a member of the Kherson regional council, posted photos on his Telegram account on Friday that he said showed near-empty shelves in the occupied region’s grocery stores.

A Chechen unit fighting in the southern Ukrainian region of Kherson suffered significant losses this week, pro-Kremlin leader of the Chechen Republic Ramzan Kadyrov said in a Telegram post late on Thursday. 

“At the beginning of this week, one of the Chechen units was shelled. This happened in the Kherson region. 23 soldiers were killed and 58 wounded,” he said. 

The Chechen Republic is a region in Russia’s North Caucasus. Kadyrov, a prominent ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has sent many of his troops to fight for Moscow in Ukraine.

Addressing his service members, he said, “If you are destined to fall in a holy war, then this is an honor and a great joy for every true Muslim.” 

In a separate Telegram post, an adviser to the Ukrainian governor of the Kherson region said that the Chechen fighters were shelled as they crossed the Dnieper river to the east bank. “They disclosed their location on their social networks like TikTok,” Serhii Khlan said. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks at a press conference on October 14, in Astana, Kazakhstan.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu told President Vladimir Putin during a meeting on Friday that the call for mobilization in Russia has been completed and the target goal of 300,000 mobilized citizens has been fulfilled, with no additional mobilization plans ahead. 

“The dispatch of citizens called for mobilization was completed today. Draft notifications to citizens have been discontinued. The task set by you — to mobilize 300,000 people — has been fulfilled. No additional tasks are planned,” Shoigu told Putin during the televised meeting. 

In his address, Shoigu also told Putin that out of those who were mobilized, 82,000 recruits are already in the conflict zone, with 218,000 recruits still in training.

Putin is the only official in Russia who can officially end mobilization in the country by issuing a decree.

Putin told Shoigu that “adjustments to all components of the Armed Forces” are needed for what Russia calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine.

“Based on the experience of conducting a special military operation, we need to think over and make adjustments to all components of the Armed Forces, including the Ground Forces,” Putin told Shoigu, asking the defense ministry to work out the details.

“Let’s agree that in December at the annual board after all this work, I repeat once again, including at the expert level, you will report proposals which could be accepted,” Putin said. 

Sweden will launch further investigations into gas leaks in two Russian pipelines in the Baltic Sea, prosecutors announced Friday, on top of the ongoing probe into what Swedish authorities call “gross sabotage.”

“I have decided, together with the Security Service, to carry out a number of supplementary investigations at the crime scene,” senior public prosecutor Mats Ljungqvist announced in a statement from the Swedish Prosecution Authority.

The Swedish Armed Forces will assist with the initial ongoing investigation into the leaks, Ljungqvist announced. A spokesperson for Sweden’s Prosecution Authority said it was unable to provide CNN with more detail. 

Remember: The initial investigation was launched after rare unexplained leaks were detected last month in the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines, which are designed to pump gas from Russia to Europe and are central to Europe’s energy crisis.

Former Russian President and Prime Minister and current deputy head of Russia's Security Council Dmitry Medvedev speaks during a meeting on the military-industrial complex at the Kremlin, on September 20, in Moscow, Russia.

Former Russian President and Prime Minister and current deputy head of Russia’s Security Council Dmitry Medvedev said the power supply situation in Ukraine could improve if Kyiv would recognize “Russia’s demands.”

Ukraine and the United Nations General Assembly have condemned Russia’s attempted annexations of four Ukrainian zones, saying it is illegal and not valid.

Emergency power outages in Kyiv continued on Friday morning as the city struggled to repair “significant damage” caused by an attack on energy infrastructure the previous day, according to the energy company DTEK. Russia has been striking key energy infrastructure across Ukraine in recent weeks, causing blackouts and leading to warnings that those living in the country could face a difficult winter period.

Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galushchenko told CNN Friday that Medvedev’s comments are the “usual Russian approach,” and “of course, it is even impossible to discuss and that is only giving evidence that all of these massive attacks on energy infrastructure were aimed to make terror to our people.”

“The main goal of this destruction is, especially on the upcoming winter, is to create problems for the civilians. … They aim to destroy the energy infrastructure of the country before the winter,” he added.

The energy minister also called for international assistance with more air protection systems to protect energy infrastructure from drone attacks. He said there is also an urgent need for equipment to replace what has been damaged.

US President Joe Biden’s administration is expected to announce a new round of security assistance for Ukraine totaling around $275 million today, according to a US official.

The fresh round of assistance will come through a presidential drawdown from existing inventories and will not include any new types of weapons systems, the official said.

The bones of a famed 18th-century Russian commander have been removed from St. Catherine’s Cathedral in the occupied city of Kherson, the region’s pro-Russian proxy leader has announced.

The remains of Prince Grigory Potemkin and a statue of him have been taken across the Dnieper river and further into Russian-held territory, Vladimir Saldo, the Russian-appointed governor, told Crimean TV.

“We have moved the remains of His Serene Highness Prince Potemkin from St. Catherine’s Church and the monument itself to the left [east] bank,” Saldo said, according to Russian state news agency RIA Novosti.

Potemkin played a critical role in the annexation of Crimea from the Turks in 1783, was a lover of Catherine the Great and namesake for the term “Potemkin village.” 

Monuments to naval commander Fyodor Ushakov and commanders Alexander Suvorov and Vasily Margelov were also removed from the church and taken to an undisclosed location, Saldo said. The relics will be returned when the city is safer, he added.

Uraine has shot down more than 300 of the Iranian-made Shahed-136 drones that Moscow is using to cripple critical infrastructure since Sept. 13, according to Yurii Ihnat, spokesperson of the Air Force Command of Ukrainian Armed Forces. 

Ukraine and Western allies have accused Russia of obtaining drones from Iran as it struggles to replenish its own stocks of munitions. Iran has denied sending the drones to Russia. 

In a briefing to journalists on Friday, Ihnat said Moscow was “changing tactics because it doesn’t have enough missiles left. They are running out of Iskander missiles. Other types of missiles are also scarce.” 

Russia’s air campaign against Ukrainian power plants and other crucial infrastructure has relied on the attack drones, which are designed to crash into a target and explode. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said more than a third of his country’s energy sector has been “destroyed” in the past month. 

The drones are often launched in the early hours of the morning when they can only be detected by Ukraine’s radar systems, Ihnat said. 

The US, France and the UK have said the transfer of weapons from Iran to Russia would violate a UN Security Council resolution.

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier speaks at a press conference on October 25, in Kyiv, Ukraine.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has plunged Europe into an era of insecurity, Germany’s President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said Friday, a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin said the world faces the ”the most dangerous decade” since the end of World War II. 

Russia’s war in Ukraine has ”also plunged us in Germany into another time, into an insecurity we thought we had overcome: a time marked by war, violence and flight, by concerns about the expansion of war into a wildfire in Europe,” Steinmeier said in a rare, nationally televised speech.

“Harder years, rough years are coming,” Steinmeier warned. 

“When we look at the Russia of today, there is no room for old dreams,” Steinmeier said, referring to former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev’s vision of a “common European home.”

Steinmeier, who is from a wing of Germany’s Social Democrats that long argued for closer economic ties to Moscow, said Russia’s invasion of Ukraine had caused an ”epochal break” in Germany’s ties with Moscow.

Steinmeier, whose role as head of the German state is largely ceremonial, said in his address to the nation that Russian President Vladimir Putin was personally responsible for the turmoil in Europe.

”In his imperial obsession, the Russian president has broken international law,” he said.

Steinmeier made a surprise visit to Kyiv on Tuesday, where he promised Germany’s ongoing support to Ukraine, particularly in the field of air defense. It was Steinmeier’s first wartime visit to Ukraine after two failed attempts in April, when he was uninvited due to his links with Russia, and last week when his visit was canceled for security reasons.