Here is the situation as it stands on Saturday, October 22.
Fighting
- Russia has accused Ukraine of rocketing the Nova Kakhovka dam and planning to destroy it in what Ukrainian officials called a sign that Moscow might blow it up and blame Kyiv. Neither side produced evidence to back up their allegations.
- To Ukrainian soldiers entrenched north of Kherson, a drop-off in Russian shellfire and armour movements signal that their foes dug into a nearby tree line are suffering serious manpower, supply and hardware woes.
- Russian air attacks have hit at least half of Ukraine’s thermal generation capacity, causing billions of dollars of damage since October 10, though not all power units have stopped working completely, Ukraine’s energy minister said.
- The Ukrainian energy minister said he saw no signs of progress towards a deal involving Russia, Ukraine and the UN nuclear watchdog on resolving the situation at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant.
- Ukraine is taking down 85 percent of Iranian-made “kamikaze” drones fired by Russia but needs its allies’ support to prevent Tehran from selling Moscow ballistic missiles, an air force spokesperson said.
Diplomacy
- Britain, France and Germany called for a United Nations probe of accusations Russia has used Iranian-origin drones to attack Ukraine, in what they said was a violation of a UN Security Council resolution.
- US defence secretary Lloyd Austin and Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu spoke for the first time since May; a top Russian diplomat said the call was needed to eliminate misunderstandings, TASS news agency reported.
- The Pentagon declined to offer specifics beyond saying that Austin, who initiated the conversation, emphasised a need for lines of communication.
- The United States will consider every means to advance diplomacy with Russia if it sees an opening, but at the moment Moscow shows no sign of willingness to engage in meaningful talks, US Secretary of State Blinken said.
Economy
- Kyiv accused Russia of deliberately delaying the passage of ships carrying grain exports under a UN brokered-deal, and said 150 vessels were waiting to be loaded.
- An International Monetary Fund team held productive discussions with Ukrainian authorities and will work in coming weeks on their request for enhanced programme monitoring in the wake of Russia’s invasion, IMF mission chief Gavin Gray said.
