Russia intensifies attacks across Ukraine with kamikaze drone strikes on the capital Kiev as the conflict enters 237th day.
Tuesday, October 18, 2022
Russia carries out new air strikes on Ukrainian energy facilities
Russian forces carried out new air strikes on Ukrainian energy facilities, causing several explosions in an area of northern Kiev where there is a thermal power station.
Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of the presidential office, said there had been three Russian strikes on an unspecified energy facility. City mayor Vitali Klitschko said the attack was on “critical infrastructure” in northern Kiev, where Reuters witnesses saw thick smoke rising into the sky.
Neither official said whether the thermal power station had been hit. They also gave no casualty details.
Power cuts in Kiev and Ukraine regions after strikes on energy facilities
Several regions of Ukraine, including the capital Kiev, were experiencing power cuts after multiple strikes targeted energy facilities, local officials and agencies said.
Many settlements in Zhytomyr region, west of Kiev, and parts of Dnipro city in central Ukraine were without electricity, while power was restored to the southern city of Mykolaiv after strikes overnight.
Thirty percent of Ukraine’s power stations destroyed in a week – president
Russian air strikes have destroyed 30 percent of Ukraine’s power stations since October 10, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
He wrote on Twitter that the attacks had caused massive blackouts across Ukraine and that there was “no space left for negotiations” with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Kremlin says it has no information on use of Iranian ‘kamikaze’ drones
The Kremlin said it had no information about whether or not Iranian “kamikaze” drones were used in large-scale attacks against Ukraine earlier this week.
Leaders in Ukraine have accused Russia of using Iranian Shahed-136 drones in attacks against Kiev.
Asked if Russia did use the Iranian drones in the attack on Monday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Kremlin did not have any information about their use.
Ukraine says Russia ‘kidnapped’ two nuclear plant workers
Ukraine’s state nuclear energy agency accused Russia of detaining two senior employees at the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine.
In a statement on social media, Energoatom said Russian forces on Monday “kidnapped” the head of information technology Oleg Kostyukov and the plant’s assistant general director Oleg Osheka and “took them to an unknown destination”.
Energoatom called on International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Rafael Grossi “to make every effort” to secure their release.
UAE leader says seeking Russia-Ukraine truce
The United Arab Emirates (UAE)’s President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, said his country is seeking a truce between Ukraine and Russia.
This came in a phone call on Monday between the UAE leader and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The two leaders discussed bilateral ties as well as the Ukraine war and the need to reduce tension between Kiev and Moscow via dialogue, the state news agency WAM reported.
Fifty metres of Nord Stream pipe destroyed: video
At least 50 metres of the Nord Stream 1 pipeline has been destroyed or buried under the seafloor, following an explosion assumed to be from sabotage, underwater images showed.
Danish police meanwhile said their inspections of the pipelines 1 and 2 in the Danish economic zone of the Baltic Sea confirmed the damage was “caused by powerful explosions”.
In videos published by Swedish newspaper Expressen, a massive tear and twisted metal can be seen on the Nord Stream 1 pipeline 80 metres down in the Baltic Sea.
Kiev comes under Russian attack for a second day, other cities are also targeted pic.twitter.com/j3ow3IwxKB
— TRT World Now (@TRTWorldNow) October 18, 2022
US warns of sanctions over Iran drone ties after Kiev strikes
The United States has warned it would take action against companies and nations working with Iran’s drone programme after Russia used the imports for deadly kamikaze strikes in Kiev.
“Anyone doing business with Iran that could have any link to UAVs or ballistic missile developments or the flow of arms from Iran to Russia should be very careful and do their due diligence – the US will not hesitate to use sanctions or take actions against perpetrators,” State Department spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters.
“Russia deepening an alliance with Iran is something the whole world – especially those in the region and across the world, frankly – should be seeing as a profound threat,” he said.
Zelenskyy asks for more weapons to defend ‘skies’
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy denounced a wave of Russian drone attacks and strongly urged the country’s allies to provide it with air defence weapons.
“To guarantee the protection of our skies and reduce the possibilities for Russian terrorists to zero, we need much more air defence systems and more missiles for those systems,” he said in a televised address to the nation.
“This is not only in Ukraine’s interests. The fewer opportunities for terror Russia has, the sooner this war ends.”
Zelenskyy urges troops to take more ‘Russian prisoners’
Zelenskyy has urged his troops to take more prisoners, saying this would make it easier to secure the release of soldiers being held by Russia.
“I thank everyone involved in this success, and I also thank all those who replenish our exchange fund, who ensure the capture of enemies,” he said in an evening address.
“The more Russian prisoners we have, the sooner we will be able to free our heroes. Every Ukrainian soldier, every frontline commander should remember this.”
Canada sanctions Russian journalists, TV personalities
Canada has announced new sanctions against 34 Russian journalists, actors and TV presenters, as well as state-owned national TV Zvezda, calling them “propaganda agents” for their government.
The list includes Vladimir Mashkov, best known in the West for his work in the films “Behind Enemy Lines” and “Mission Impossible,” Pavel Gusev, editor-in-chief of the Moscow daily Moskovskij Komsomolets, and Kirill Kleimyonov, head of the news division at Russia’s state-owned Channel One.
“The Russian regime’s war depends on lies and deception,” Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said. “It muzzles and imprisons its own citizens who dare speak the truth.”
For live updates from Monday (October 17), click here
Source: TRTWorld and agencies
Live blog: Fresh Russian strikes hit Ukraine’s energy facilities
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