Here is the situation as it stands on Tuesday, October 18.
Fighting
- Russia targeted energy infrastructure north of Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, and Zhytomyr on the second day of attacks.
- On Monday, Kyiv was hit by “kamikaze” drones, resulting in the killing of at least four people. Russia said it was targeting military and power infrastructure in Monday’s attacks. The US has warned that it will hold Russia accountable for war crimes.
- Ukraine said the attacks were carried out by Iran-made drones. Britain, France and the US say Iran supplying drones to Russia would violate a UN Security Council resolution that endorsed the now floundering 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and six powers.
- Iran denies it is supplying drones to Russia, while the Kremlin has not commented.
- The EU has approved a military assistance mission to train 15,000 Ukrainian troops from next month and a plan to provide about 500 million euros ($486m) in extra funds to help buy weapons.
- Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of Putin’s security council, warned that it would be a mistake for Israel to supply weapons to Ukraine, Russian news agency Tass reported.
- “Israel seems to have decided to supply weapons to the Kyiv regime. That would be a very rash decision, for it would damage all the interstate relations between our countries,” Medvedev wrote on his Telegram channel.
Nuclear
- Russia still has not notified the United States about exercises of its nuclear forces that Washington has said it expects Moscow to carry out soon, a senior US military official said.
- The Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine is being supplied with backup power from a nearby coal-fired power plant after its main 750-kilovolt (kV) power line was cut again, the UN nuclear watchdog said.
Fighter crash
- A Russian fighter plane crashed into a residential building in the southern city of Yeysk shortly after takeoff, engulfing apartments in a fireball and killing 13 people, Interfax news agency reported.
Economy
- Exxon Mobil Corp said it had left Russia completely after President Putin expropriated its properties following seven months of discussions over an orderly transfer of its 30 percent stake in a major oil project.
- Discussions will continue on extending and expanding a UN-brokered deal allowing Ukrainian Black Sea grain exports, the UN spokesman said, after UN officials held talks in Moscow on the deal.
- The US Pentagon is considering paying for Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite network that helped restore communications in Ukraine, Politico reported. Musk said on Twitter that SpaceX has already withdrawn a request for Starlink funding for Ukraine.
