Closing summary
It’s 9pm in Kyiv and Moscow. That’s it from me, Léonie Chao-Fong, and the Russia-Ukraine war live blog today.
Here’s where we stand:
Russia’s grip on the city of Kherson appeared increasingly fragile after a weekend in which all civilians were ordered to evacuate immediately in the face of the advancing Ukrainian counteroffensive. The US thinktank the Institute for the Study of War said the urgent call indicated that the occupiers “do not expect a rapid Russian or civilian return” to the city, and appeared to be trying to depopulate it to damage its “long-term social and economic viability”.
All men remaining in Kherson have been invited to join a newly formed local militia. In a notice on Telegram, the occupation authorities said men had the “opportunity” to join territorial defence units if they chose to remain in Kherson of their own free will. Compelling civilians to serve in the armed forces of an occupying power is defined as a breach of the Geneva conventions.
The head of Ukraine’s defence intelligence directorate said Russia was bringing new military units into Kherson as it prepares to defend the city in the face of the advancing Ukrainian counteroffensive. Kyrylo Budanov also said Russia would slow Ukrainian troops’ advance in the south by only about two weeks if it blows up the Kakhova hyrdoelectric dam near Kherson.
Russia’s defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, has told western counterparts that the war in Ukraine is heading for an “uncontrolled escalation” amid evidence that the Kremlin is weighing how to respond to yet another anticipated battlefield defeat around the key southern city of Kherson.
The United Nations has said urgent steps are needed to relieve a backlog of more than 150 ships involved in a deal that allows Ukraine to export grain from ports in the Black Sea. Ukraine said Russian inspections that have been creating “significant” delays for the export of Ukrainian food products were “politically motivated” and a cause for concern. Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, said Moscow had asked the UN for data on the destination and end-consumers for Ukrainian grain exports, saying that “corrections” to the agreement would depend on this information.
The United States has no indications that Russia has made any decision to use a nuclear weapon, biological weapon or chemical weapon, a US military official has said. The US believes Russia is “keeping lines of communication open” after Moscow requested a call between US defence secretary Lloyd Austin and Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu on Sunday, the official added.
Ukraine and the US denounced suggestions from Russia that Ukraine was preparing to use a “dirty bomb” as dangerous lies. “If Russia calls and says that Ukraine is allegedly preparing something, it means one thing: Russia has already prepared all this,” Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a video address. The White House national security council also rejected Shoigu’s claims. “The world would see through any attempt to use this allegation as a pretext for escalation,” a statement said.
Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, has asked the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, to send experts to Ukraine’s nuclear facilities to disprove Russian claims that Ukraine plans to use a “dirty bomb”. The EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell welcomed Ukraine’s decision to request an expert mission from the UN’s nuclear watchdog to examine its facilities.
Nato’s secretary general Jens Stoltenberg said he spoke with the US secretary of defence Lloyd Austin and his British counterpart Ben Wallace about Russia’s evidence-free claim that Ukraine plans to use a “dirty bomb”. The alliance rejects Moscow’s claims, he said, warning that Russia “must not use it as a pretext for escalation” in its war in Ukraine.
Russia’s military chief of general staff Valery Gerasimov held calls with Britain’s chief of defence staff Tony Radakin and the chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff Mark Milley on Monday. The Russian defence ministry said Radakin and his British and American counterparts discussed the possibility, raised by Moscow without providing any evidence, that Ukraine might use a “dirty bomb”.
Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has urged Israel to join the fight against Russia and repeated an appeal for Israeli air defence systems. Israel has condemned Russia’s invasion and has limited its assistance to deliveries of humanitarian aid and defensive equipment. Most recently it offered to help Ukrainians develop air attack alerts for civilians. Zelenskiy said that was not enough and asked that Israeli leaders reconsider sending air defences as well.
Ukraine’s special operations forces said that Iranian drone instructors have been spotted in Belarus. According to special operations forces, Iran’s Islamic revolutionary guard corps are training Russian forces in Belarus and coordinating the launches of Iranian-made drones.
Ukraine faces power outages after Russian strikes target energy facilities. Russian airstrikes on energy infastructure across the country have left more than a million households in Ukraine without electricity, the deputy head of the Ukrainian presidency, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, said at the weekend.
Rebuilding Ukraine will be a “task for a generation” that no country, donor or international institution can manage alone, Germany’s chancellor Olaf Scholz said. Scholz said it was important to repair destroyed energy plants and networks but also to make them more efficient, to ultimately allow an expansion of Ukrainian electricity exports to the EU and a step-by-step transition to climate neutrality.
An overwhelming majority of Ukrainians believe the country should keep up its armed resistance to Russia’s invasion, according to a new poll. The survey, conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) took place after two weeks of heavy Russian shelling of Ukrainian cities, including the capital Kyiv. It showed 86% said it was necessary to continue fighting even if missile and drone attacks on Ukrainian cities persist.
A pro-Kremlin television presenter has been accused of inciting genocide after calling for Ukrainian children to be “drowned” and “burned” alive during an interview on the state-funded RT channel. Anton Krasovsky, the chief of Russian-language broadcasting for the channel formerly called Russia Today, was suspended from RT, and the head of Russia’s powerful investigative committee said it would review his remarks as part of a potential criminal investigation.
US basketball star Brittney Griner “does not expect miracles” at her appeal hearing on Tuesday, her lawyers said in a statement. The two-time Olympic gold medallist is appealing against a nine-year Russian jail term for drug possession and smuggling. Her lawyers said she would take part in Tuesday’s hearing by video link from the detention centre where she has been held, and that they expected a verdict the same day.
US basketball star Brittney Griner “does not expect miracles” at her appeal hearing tomorrow, her lawyers said in a statement.
The two-time Olympic gold medallist is appealing against a nine-year Russian jail term for drug possession and smuggling. Griner pleaded guilty at her trial but said she had made an “honest mistake” and had not meant to break the law.
Griner’s lawyers said she would take part in Tuesday’s hearing by video link from the detention centre where she has been held, and that they expected a verdict the same day, Reuters reports.
They said:
She is very nervous waiting for the appeal hearing. Brittney does not expect any miracles to happen but hopes that the appeal court will hear the arguments of the defence and reduce the term.
Nato’s secretary general Jens Stoltenberg has spoken with the US secretary of defence Lloyd Austin and his British counterpart Ben Wallace about Russia’s evidence-free claim that Ukraine plans to use a “dirty bomb”.
The alliance rejects Moscow’s claims, he said, warning that Russia “must not use it as a pretext for escalation” in its war in Ukraine.
Spoke with 🇺🇸 @SecDef & 🇬🇧 @BWallaceMP about #Russia’s false claim that #Ukraine is preparing to use a dirty bomb on its own territory. #NATO Allies reject this allegation. Russia must not use it as a pretext for escalation. We remain steadfast in our support for Ukraine.
— Jens Stoltenberg (@jensstoltenberg) October 24, 2022
The EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has welcomed Ukraine’s decision to request an expert mission from the UN’s nuclear watchdog to examine its facilities over Russian claims that it is developing a “dirty bomb”.
Borell said he had spoken with Ukraine’s foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba on the Russian claims, which he described as false.
Arriving in Uruguay, I held a call with @DmytroKuleba on Russia’s latest false allegations.
— Josep Borrell Fontelles (@JosepBorrellF) October 24, 2022
Welcome Ukraine’s decision to request an @iaeaorg expert mission to be dispatched.
EU support to Ukraine continues unabated, including in countering disinformation.
Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has urged Israel to join the fight against Russia and repeated an appeal for Israeli air defence systems.
Zelenskiy said in a video speech to a conference for the Israeli newspaper Haaretz:
Isn’t it time for your state to choose who you are with as well? Is it with the democratic world, which is fighting side by side against the existential threat to its existence? Or with those who turn a blind eye to Russian terror, even when the cost of continued terror is the complete destruction of global security.
Israel has refused to sell air defence weapons to Kyiv, wary of straining relations with Moscow despite reports that Iran is providing support for Russian pilots flying Iranian-made drones to bomb civilian targets in Ukraine.
Moscow has denied its use of the Iranian drones against Ukrainian cities, but Tehran officials have confirmed it and said they will also supply ballistic missiles to help replenished Russia’s dwindling armoury.
Israel has condemned Russia’s invasion and has limited its assistance to deliveries of humanitarian aid and defensive equipment. Most recently it offered to help Ukrainians develop air attack alerts for civilians.
Speaking today, Preisident Zelenskiy said that was not enough and asked that Israeli leaders reconsider sending air defences as well.
US has seen no indication Russia has decided to use nuclear weapon in Ukraine, says US official
The United States has no indications that Russia has made any decision to use a nuclear weapon, biological weapon or chemical weapon, a US military official has said.
From Foreign Policy’s Jack Detsch:
NEW: U.S. has seen no intelligence to indicate that Russia has made any decision to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine: senior U.S. defense official
— Jack Detsch (@JackDetsch) October 24, 2022
U.S. believes that Russia is "keeping lines of communication open" after Russia requested a call between U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu on Sunday.
— Jack Detsch (@JackDetsch) October 24, 2022
The U.S. requested a call between Austin and Shoigu on Friday. Two calls in 48 hr
Updated
An overwhelming majority of Ukrainians believe the country should keep up its armed resistance to Russia’s invasion, according to a new poll.
The survey, conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) took place after two weeks of heavy Russian shelling of Ukrainian cities, including the capital Kyiv.
It showed 86% said it was necessary to continue fighting even if missile and drone attacks on Ukrainian cities persist.
The proportion of people backing continued armed resistance remained high, at 69%, even in the Kharkiv and Donetsk regions which have seen more fighting and are home to larger numbers of Russian speakers.
The results of the survey showed Russia’s shelling of Ukrainian cities had achieved the opposite of its intended aim “to sow panic, despair and force Ukrainians to surrender”, the deputy director of KIIS Anton Hrushetskyi said. He added:
Yes, the terror continues, people die or are injured, Ukrainian families are forced to spend their evenings in the dark. However, the national pain from losses and destruction does not frighten people. The Ukrainian people maintain strong unity and stability and are ready to continue the struggle to victory.
Russian military chief holds calls with UK and US counterparts
Russia’s military chief of general staff Valery Gerasimov has spoken with Britain’s chief of defence staff Tony Radakin and the chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff Mark Milley today.
The Russian defence ministry said Radakin and his British counterpart discussed the possibility, raised by Moscow without providing any evidence, that Ukraine might use a “dirty bomb”.
Radakin rejected Russia’s allegations that Ukraine is planning actions to escalate the conflict during the call, the British defence ministry said in a statement.
An MoD spokesperson added:
The military leaders both agreed on the importance of maintaining open channels of communication between the UK and Russia to manage the risk of miscalculation and to facilitate de-escalation.
The conversation followed the defence secretary’s call with his Russian counterpart yesterday and a call between the foreign ministers of France, the UK, and the USA last night.
Shortly after, Radakin had a similar conversation with Milley.
Olaf Scholz: Rebuilding Ukraine a 'task for a generation'
Rebuilding Ukraine will be a “task for a generation” that no country, donor or international institution can manage alone, Germany’s chancellor Olaf Scholz said.
Speaking at a German-Ukrainian business forum, Scholz pointed to the EU’s decision in June to make Ukraine a candidate to join the bloc. He said:
This decision also sends a signal to private investors: anyone who invests in rebuilding Ukraine today is investing in a future EU member country that will be part of our legal community and our single market.
Scholz said it was important to repair destroyed energy plants and networks but also to make them more efficient, to ultimately allow an expansion of Ukrainian electricity exports to the EU and a step-by-step transition to climate neutrality.
He stressed the need for more transparency and “an even more determined fight against corruption” as Ukraine strives ultimately to join the bloc.
Ukraine’s prime minister Denys Shmyhal told the forum that rebuilding will be a forward-looking process.
During the meeting with @OlafScholz we discussed Ukraine’s recovery & important aspects of cooperation between the countries. I am grateful to the Chancellor for organising the #RecoveryOfUkraine conference & finding ways for long-term consolidated support for our country. 2/2 pic.twitter.com/AT2FxbICID
— Denys Shmyhal (@Denys_Shmyhal) October 24, 2022
🇩🇪 system IRIS-T has been extremely effective in protecting Ukrainian sky. I thanked Germany and Chancellor @OlafScholz for the comprehensive support of our state. I was glad to hear that 🇩🇪 will supply 🇺🇦 with 3 more such systems in the near future. 1/2 pic.twitter.com/mdsirQAKwA
— Denys Shmyhal (@Denys_Shmyhal) October 24, 2022
A pro-Kremlin television presenter has been accused of inciting genocide after calling for Ukrainian children to be “drowned” and “burned” alive during an interview on the state-funded RT channel.
Anton Krasovsky, the chief of Russian-language broadcasting for the channel formerly called Russia Today, said Ukrainian children who said they were being occupied by Russia should be “thrown in a river with a strong undercurrent”.
“They should have been drowned in the Tysyna [river],” said Krasovsky during an interview with the fantasy writer Sergei Lukyanenko.
Just drown these children. Drown them.
Russian state media has previously hosted commentators who have denied the existence of Ukrainian culture or called for the country’s total annexation by Russia.
But even in the era of Russian wartime propaganda, where it appears that anything goes, Krasovsky’s remarks have provoked a backlash.
On Monday, he was suspended from RT, and the head of Russia’s powerful investigative committee said it would review his remarks as part of a potential criminal investigation.
Read the full story here:
Ukraine’s defence ministry said its troops have liberated more than 90 settlements in the Kherson region from the Russians.
It said in a post on Telegram:
In the Kherson region, the Southern Defense Forces liberated more than 90 settlements that are home to more than 12,000 people live.
Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak has accused Russia of only communicating with the world in the language of “blackmail”.
Russian claims that Ukraine is preparing to use a “dirty bomb” are another example of this use of blackmail, Podolyak said on Twitter.
RF's only language of communication with the world is blackmail. Previously – with food, energy, migrants, ZNPP. Now – with a "dirty bomb", dam explosion. The reasons change, but Russian terrorist essence does not. The only way to end the endless ru-blackmail is 🇺🇦 victory.
— Михайло Подоляк (@Podolyak_M) October 24, 2022
France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, held talks today with Pope Francis, with the war in Ukraine expected to have been their main topic of discussion.
The Vatican said the conversation lasted 55 minutes but, as is customary, did not specify what they discussed.
It said Ukraine, in particular its humanitarian situation, topped the agenda in later talks Macron had with the Vatican’s two top diplomats.
Updated
Summary of the day so far
It’s 4pm in Kyiv and Moscow. Here’s where we stand:
Russia’s defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, has told western counterparts that the war in Ukraine is heading for an “uncontrolled escalation” amid evidence that the Kremlin is weighing how to respond to yet another anticipated battlefield defeat around the key southern city of Kherson.
The United Nations has said urgent steps are needed to relieve a backlog of more than 150 ships involved in a deal that allows Ukraine to export grain from ports in the Black Sea. Ukraine said Russian inspections that have been creating “significant” delays for the export of Ukrainian food products were “politically motivated” and a cause for concern. Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, said Moscow had asked the UN for data on the destination and end-consumers for Ukrainian grain exports, saying that “corrections” to the agreement would depend on this information.
Russia’s grip on the city of Kherson appeared increasingly fragile after a weekend in which all civilians were ordered to evacuate immediately in the face of the advancing Ukrainian counteroffensive. The US thinktank the Institute for the Study of War said the urgent call indicated that the occupiers “do not expect a rapid Russian or civilian return” to the city, and appeared to be trying to depopulate it to damage its “long-term social and economic viability”.
All men remaining in Kherson have been invited to join a newly formed local militia. In a notice on Telegram, the occupation authorities said men had the “opportunity” to join territorial defence units if they chose to remain in Kherson of their own free will. Compelling civilians to serve in the armed forces of an occupying power is defined as a breach of the Geneva conventions.
The head of Ukraine’s defence intelligence directorate said Russia was bringing new military units into Kherson as it prepares to defend the city in the face of the advancing Ukrainian counteroffensive. Kyrylo Budanov also said Russia would slow Ukrainian troops’ advance in the south by only about two weeks if it blows up the Kakhova hyrdoelectric dam near Kherson.
A former chief of the British army has said Russia faces an “inevitable defeat” in Kherson ahead of an expected battle. Gen Lord Dannatt claimed Vladimir Putin’s troops are attempting to save face to make their defeat appear “less chaotic”. Dannatt also suggested Russia was targeting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure as they were “still on the back foot” on the battlefield.
Concern is also growing that Russia may blow up a large hydroelectric dam at Nova Kakhovka, upstream from Kherson, which holds back 18m cubic metres of water. On Friday, Ukrainian defence intelligence warned that the dam had been mined and that two trucks full of explosives had been placed on top of its 30m-high walls.
The US has rejected as “transparently false” Russia’s evidence-free claim that Ukraine is preparing to use a “dirty bomb” on its own territory as part of an escalation of Vladimir Putin’s war. Secretary of state Antony Blinken told his Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba, on Sunday “the world would see through any attempt by Russia to use this allegation as a pretext for escalation”.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy reacted swiftly to Moscow’s claims, calling for a united international response. “If Russia calls and says that Ukraine is allegedly preparing something, it means one thing: Russia has already prepared all this,” Zelenskiy said in a video address on social media. His foreign minister Kuleba denounced Moscow’s claims as “absurd” and “dangerous”.
Russia continues to use Iranian uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs), otherwise known as drones, against targets throughout Ukraine, though Ukrainian efforts to defeat the Shahed-136 UAVs are increasingly successful, the UK Ministry of Defence has determined. Official sources, including Ukraine’s president Zelenskiy, claim that up to 85% of attacks are being intercepted, according to the latest British intelligence report.
Updated
The head of Russia’s nuclear, chemical, and biological forces has said Moscow has “readied all forces and capabilities to fulfil tasks in conditions of radioactive contamination”, Max Seddon from the Financial Times writes.
The head of Russia’s nuclear, chemical, and biological forces just gave a briefing about Moscow’s claims Ukraine is developing a “dirty bomb.” Russia has “readied all forces and capabilities to fulfill tasks in conditions of radioactive contamination.”https://t.co/c02P92ZLpM pic.twitter.com/f0qgdY6KWY
— max seddon (@maxseddon) October 24, 2022
Updated
Russia’s defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, has told western counterparts that the war in Ukraine is heading for an “uncontrolled escalation” amid evidence that the Kremlin is weighing how to respond to yet another anticipated battlefield defeat around the key southern city of Kherson.
With Russian troops setting up new defences for a fresh Ukrainian offensive in Luhansk in the country’s east as well, Moscow appears to be preparing the ground for yet further escalation, with discredited claims that Kyiv may be preparing to use a dirty bomb as a “false-flag operation” to blame Russia.
Russian officials – including Vladimir Putin – have repeatedly hinted that the Kremlin may be prepared to use a nuclear weapon as part of its so-far failed brinkmanship to discourage Kyiv and its western allies, which have been supplying Ukraine with modern weapons, intelligence and training.
Shoigu discussed the “rapidly deteriorating situation” in phone calls with his British, French and Turkish counterparts and also spoke by phone with the US defence secretary, Lloyd Austin, for the second time in three days. The Pentagon said Austin told Shoigu he “rejected any pretext for Russian escalation”.
Without providing evidence, Shoigu said Ukraine could escalate by using a “dirty bomb” – conventional explosives laced with radioactive material.
The United Nations has said urgent steps are needed to relieve a backlog of more than 150 ships involved in a deal that allows Ukraine to export grain from ports in the Black Sea.
The comments by Ismini Palla, a UN spokesperson for the Black Sea Grain Initiative, come as Ukraine accused Russia of blocking the full implementation of the agreement.
The deal, brokered by the UN and Turkey to facilitate Ukrainian grain shipments that it had blocked since the start of its war with Ukraine, comes up for renewal next month.
Russia has threatened to pull out, claiming that the deal is not directing grain to the world’s poorest countries.
Vessels carrying grains and other foodstuffs to and from Ukrainian ports must be inspected by teams organised by the four-party Joint Coordination Centre (JCC) at anchorages in Turkey.
Palla said:
There are currently over 150 vessels waiting around Istanbul to move and these delays have the potential to cause disruptions to the supply chain and port operations.
Ukraine said Russian inspections that have been creating “significant” delays for the export of Ukrainian food products were “politically motivated” and a cause for concern.
Ukraine’s foreign ministry said in a statement:
We have reason to believe delays in Russia’s inspections of the grain initiative*s vessels are politically motivated.
Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow had asked the UN for data on the destination and end-consumers for Ukrainian grain exports, saying that “corrections” to the agreement would depend on this information.
Speaking at a press briefing broadcast on state television, Lavrov said:
This is not just curiosity. The correction or redirection of further actions to implement the grain deal depend on it.
Updated
Romania’s defence minister, Vasile Dîncu, has announced his resignation, weeks after he said Ukraine’s only chance to end the war was to negotiate with Russia.
Dîncu said in a statement:
My gesture (resignation) comes as it is impossible to cooperate with the Romanian president, the army’s commander-in-chief.
He added:
I think my withdrawal from the post is necessary so as to not harm decisions and programmes which require fluid command chains and to not block a series of projects which are absolutely necessary for … the ministry and the army.
Dîncu had come under fierce criticism for suggesting that Ukraine needed international allies to negotiate security guarantees and peace with Russia. He later said his comments were taken out of context.
President Klaus Iohannis said Ukrainians were paying with blood in the war and only they could decide what and when to negotiate, a position held by Romania and the EU.
Updated
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has said only Russia would use nuclear weapons in Europe, following evidence-free allegations by the Russian defence minister that Ukraine was preparing to use a “dirty bomb” on its own territory.
Zelenskiy pointed out that Russia was using “nuclear blackmail” at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, “phosphorus munitions” and “banned anti-personnel mines against civilian infrastructure’”. He said Russia was preparing to use the very weapon it was accusing Ukraine of holding.
The US and UK have dismissed Russia’s claims, with the British defence ministry cautioning against using such allegations to escalate the conflict.
Updated
Ukraine invites UN nuclear watchdog mission to disprove Russian 'dirty bomb' claims
Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, has asked the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, to send experts to Ukraine’s nuclear facilities to disprove Russian claims that Ukraine plans to use a “dirty bomb”.
The UN nuclear watchdog chief had agreed to “urgently send experts to peaceful facilities in Ukraine”, he said.
In my call with @RafaelMGrossi I officially invited IAEA to urgently send experts to peaceful facilities in Ukraine which Russia deceitfully claims to be developing a dirty bomb. He agreed. Unlike Russia, Ukraine has always been and remains transparent. We have nothing to hide.
— Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) October 24, 2022
During his regular briefing with reporters today, the Kremlin’s Dmitry Peskov reiterated the Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu’s evidence-free claim that Ukraine is preparing to use a “dirty bomb” on its own territory as part of an escalation of the war.
Peskov said:
Their distrust of the information that has been provided by the Russian side doesn’t mean that the threat of using such a dirty bomb doesn’t exist.
Such a threat exists, and the defense minister has given the information about it to his interlocutors. It’s up to them whether to trust it or not.
Updated
The Kremlin has claimed France and Germany have shown “no desire” to participate in mediation on Ukraine, while praising an offer by Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, to organise talks.
The French president, Emmanuel Macron, and Germany’s chancellor, Olaf Scholz, have shown “no desire to listen to Russia’s position or participate in mediation efforts”, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters. He added:
Ankara takes a different position from that of Paris and Berlin … and has declared its readiness to continue mediation efforts.
Updated
Russia not abandoning Kherson but preparing to defend city, says Ukrainian intelligence chief
Here’s more from that interview with Kyrylo Budanov, the head of Ukraine’s defence intelligence directorate, who said Russia was bringing new military units into Kherson as it prepares to defend the city in the face of the advancing Ukrainian counteroffensive.
Orders from the occupied city’s Russian administration for residents to evacuate are part of an “information operation and manipulation” by Moscow, Budanov told Ukrainska Pravda.
He said:
They are taking out cash, [internet] servers, the so-called occupation authorities … All the non-walking, seriously injured are being taken out, they are trying to discharge those who can walk as soon as possible from hospitals. They conduct this crazy information campaign that ‘we care about people’ and so on. They create the illusion that everything is gone.
At the same time, on the contrary, they bring new military units there and prepare the streets of the city for defence.
Budanov said Moscow was acting out of fear that Ukrainian troops might retake the Kakhovka dam, upstream from Kherson, and encircle its troops in the city. He added:
They understand that if we take at least control over the Kakhovka dam, which is the only transport artery that is fully functioning now, they will have to make a decision very quickly. Either very, very quickly leave the city and get out, or they risk ending up in the same situation that our units in Mariupol found themselves in earlier.
He concluded by saying:
Understanding all this, they are preparing the groundwork so that, if necessary, they can get out of there very quickly. However, they are not preparing to exit now, they are preparing to defend.
Updated
Russia would slow Ukrainian troops’ advance in the south by only about two weeks if it blows up the Kakhova hyrdoelectric dam near Kherson, according to Ukraine’s military spy chief.
The comments by Kyrylo Budanov come amid growing concern that Russia is planning to blow up the large hydroelectric dam at Nova Kakhovka, upstream from Kherson, which holds back 18m cubic metres of water.
Such a move would flood Russian-occupied territory and deprive Moscow of a vital water canal for annexed Crimea, Budanov said in an interview with Ukrainska Pravda.
On Friday, Ukrainian defence intelligence warned that the dam had been mined and that two trucks full of explosives had been placed on top of its 30m-high walls.
But Budanov, head of Ukraine’s defence ministry’s main intelligence directorate, said the dam had been only partially mined and that destroying it completely would require many tonnes of explosives.
Russian forces would get “a total flooding” of the Russian-occupied left bank of Kherson, he said. He added:
They will lose even theoretically the possibility of supplying water to the North Crimean Canal, to Crimea …
He continued:
Of course, they would complicate our advance for a certain period of time. And this, by the way, is not a very long period of time, around two weeks or thereabouts.
He added that blowing up the dam would also “destroy the possibility of the existence of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant because this facility is inextricably linked to it”.
Updated
Summary of the day so far
It’s just past 1.30pm in Kyiv and Moscow. Here’s where we stand:
Russia’s grip on the city of Kherson appeared increasingly fragile after a weekend in which all civilians were ordered to evacuate immediately in the face of the advancing Ukrainian counteroffensive. The US thinktank the Institute for the Study of War said the urgent call indicated that the occupiers “do not expect a rapid Russian or civilian return” to the city, and appeared to be trying to depopulate it to damage its “long-term social and economic viability”.
All men remaining in Kherson have been invited to join a newly formed local militia. In a notice on Telegram, the occupation authorities said men had the “opportunity” to join territorial defence units if they chose to remain in Kherson of their own free will. Compelling civilians to serve in the armed forces of an occupying power is defined as a breach of the Geneva conventions.
A former chief of the British army has said Russia faces an “inevitable defeat” in Kherson ahead of an expected battle. Gen Lord Dannatt claimed Vladimir Putin’s troops are attempting to save face to make their defeat appear “less chaotic”. Dannatt also suggested Russia was targeting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure as they were “still on the back foot” on the battlefield.
Concern is also growing that Russia may blow up a large hydroelectric dam at Nova Kakhovka, upstream from Kherson, which holds back 18m cubic metres of water. On Friday, Ukrainian defence intelligence warned that the dam had been mined and that two trucks full of explosives had been placed on top of its 30m-high walls.
The US has rejected as “transparently false” Russia’s evidence-free claim that Ukraine is preparing to use a “dirty bomb” on its own territory as part of an escalation of Vladimir Putin’s war. Secretary of state Antony Blinken told his Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba, on Sunday “the world would see through any attempt by Russia to use this allegation as a pretext for escalation”.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy reacted swiftly to Moscow’s claims, calling for a united international response. “If Russia calls and says that Ukraine is allegedly preparing something, it means one thing: Russia has already prepared all this,” Zelenskiy said in a video address on social media. His foreign minister Kuleba denounced Moscow’s claims as “absurd” and “dangerous”.
Russia continues to use Iranian uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs), otherwise known as drones, against targets throughout Ukraine, though Ukrainian efforts to defeat the Shahed-136 UAVs are increasingly successful, the UK Ministry of Defence has determined. Official sources, including Ukraine’s president Zelenskiy, claim that up to 85% of attacks are being intercepted, according to the latest British intelligence report.
A Russian fighter jet crashed in Siberia, killing two crew members. The Su-30 fighter jet came down on a private, two-storey building housing two families in Irkutsk, a major industrial centre in eastern Siberia. The crash appears to reflect the growing strain that the fighting in Ukraine has put on the Russian air force.
Hello everyone. It’s Léonie Chao-Fong here, taking over the live blog from Zaina Alibhai to bring you all the latest developments on the Russia-Ukraine war. Feel free to get in touch on Twitter or via email.
Updated
The United Nations has said more needs to be done to clear a backlog of grain exports in the Black Sea.
It’s claimed there are more than 150 ships waiting around Istanbul, with the delays potentially causing disruption to supply chains and port operations.
The export deal, brokered by the UN and Turkey in summer, allowed Ukraine to resume exporting grain from ports in the Black Sea that had been shut down amid Russia’s invasion.
Ukraine said seven vessels carrying grain had sailed from its ports on Sunday but accused Russia of blocking them.
A Russian TV presenter has apologised for claiming children who opposed Russia should be drowned in a river.
The Russia Today anchor Anton Krasovsky said he was “really embarrassed” after getting “carried away” with his comments.
“Well, it happens. You’re on air, you get carried away, and you can’t stop. I ask for the forgiveness of everyone who was stunned by this,” he said.
The state broadcaster suspended Krasovsky shortly after his remarks, and suggested the incident was a result of “temporary insanity”.
Yet it appears he crossed the line, with Russia’s state investigative committee confirming it was looking into and would produce a report on the matter.
The presenter’s comments came last week in a broadcast in which he was responding to an account by the science fiction author Sergei Lukyanenko about his first visit to Ukraine in the 1980s during which children told him they would live better lives were it not for Russian occupiers.
“They should have been drowned in the Tysyna. Just drown those children, drown them,” he said.
Updated
Russia faces ‘inevitable defeat’ in Kherson, former UK army chief says
A former chief of the British army has said Russia faces an “inevitable defeat” in Kherson ahead of an expected battle.
Residents in the Russian-occupied region have been urged to leave, with all men who choose to stay behind being asked to join a newly formed militia.
Gen Lord Dannatt has claimed Vladimir Putin’s troops are attempting to save face to make their defeat appear “less chaotic”.
“The Russians are obviously thinking about trying to turn what is probably an inevitable defeat there into some kind of managed withdrawal to make it appear less chaotic from their point of view,” he told Sky News.
Dannatt suggested Russia was targeting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure as they were “still on the back foot” on the battlefield.
Updated
A leading Iranian general accused of supplying drones to Russia has reportedly mocked the European Union over sanctions.
Maj-Gen Mohammad Bagheri has suggested the bloc “buy coal” for its citizens to warm their houses this winter, amid rising energy prices caused by the war.
Bagheri was among three Iranian military officials sanctioned recently by the UK and European Union after claims of Iranian drones being used in attacks against Ukraine.
“They are allowed to identify and confiscate all the properties and assets of Maj-Gen Mohammad Hossein Bagheri in banks around the world and use them to buy coal for European citizens, a difficult winter is ahead,” he is reported to have said.
The chief of staff of the armed forces also described the sanctions a “mistake” similar to those the US made when it sanctioned him in 2019.
Updated
Russia Today has been accused of inciting genocide after a presenter claimed children who criticised the Kremlin should be drowned.
The state-controlled broadcaster last week suspended anchor Anton Krasovsky within hours of his comments, insisting nobody at RT shared his views.
Its editor-in-chief, Margarita Simonyan, has since suggested the “wild and disgusting” remarks from Krasovsky – a pro-war commentator who has been sanctioned by the European Union – were a result of “temporary insanity”.
Ukraine has called for a worldwide ban on RT, urging countries who had not yet done so to watch Krazovsky’s segment.
“Aggressive genocide incitement (we will put this person on trial for it) which has nothing to do with freedom of speech,” foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba said.
Updated
Men in the Russian-occupied region of Kherson have been invited to join a newly formed local militia.
Russian authorities have been urging residents to leave the city, fearing an attack from Ukrainian troops, and claim 25,000 residents have left since Tuesday.
Kherson is one of the four regions in Ukraine that Russia annexed last month, and is key to both sides due to its proximity to the Dnieper River.
Updated
Summary so far
Russia continues to use Iranian uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs), otherwise known as drones, against targets throughout Ukraine, though Ukrainian efforts to defeat the Shahed-136 UAVs are increasingly successful, the UK Ministry of Defence has determined. Official sources, including Ukraine’s president Zelenskiy, claim that up to 85% of attacks are being intercepted, according to the latest British intelligence report.
Russia has urged more civilians in occupied Kherson to leave amid an exodus to escape an anticipated Ukrainian counteroffensive. Russian authorities told residents to take “documents, money, valuables and clothes” due to “the tense situation on the front” and reported on Sunday that there had been a sharp increase in the number of civilians trying to leave. About 25,000 people have been “evacuated” since Tuesday, the Interfax news agency said.
Russia’s grip on Kherson appears increasingly fragile. The US thinktank the Institute for the Study of War said the urgent call to leave indicated that the occupiers “do not expect a rapid Russian or civilian return” to the city, and appeared to be trying to depopulate it to damage its “long-term social and economic viability”.
One person was killed by a homemade bomb in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson on Sunday, according to Russia-installed authorities in the region. “An improvised explosive device, attached to a street pole and detonated remotely, killed a civilian from Kherson,” local pro-Russian official Kirill Stremousov wrote on social media, adding that a passerby had been wounded, according to a report from Agence France-Presse.
Russia and Ukraine have accused each other of planning to blow up the Nova Kakhovka dam. Breaching it could flood a swathe of southern Ukraine, including Kherson.
Ukraine and the US denounced suggestions from Russia that Ukraine was preparing to use a “dirty bomb” as dangerous lies. “If Russia calls and says that Ukraine is allegedly preparing something, it means one thing: Russia has already prepared all this,” Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a video address. The White House national security council also rejected Shoigu’s claims. “The world would see through any attempt to use this allegation as a pretext for escalation,” a statement said.
A Russian fighter jet crashed in Siberia, killing two crew members. The Su-30 fighter jet came down on a private, two-storey building housing two families in Irkutsk, a major industrial centre in eastern Siberia. The crash appears to reflect the growing strain that the fighting in Ukraine has put on the Russian air force.
Ukraine said seven vessels sailed off from its ports on Sunday carrying grain bound for Asia and Europe, but accused Russia of blocking the full implementation of Black Sea grain deal.
French president Emmanuel Macron said it’s up to Ukraine to decide the time and terms of peace with Russia, and cautioned that the end of war “can’t be the consecration of the law of the strongest.” “To stay neutral would mean accepting the world order of the strongest, and I don’t agree with this,” Macron said at the opening of a three-day peace conference in Rome on Sunday.
Ukraine faces power outages after Russian strikes target energy facilities. Russian airstrikes on energy infastructure across the country have left more than a million households in Ukraine without electricity, the deputy head of the Ukrainian presidency, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, said at the weekend.
A German lobby group representing companies with interests in eastern Europe has called for a plan to rebuild Ukraine that would mirror the Marshall plan that helped Europe recover from the second world war, the media group RND reported. A Ukraine-Germany business forum in Berlin on Monday will discuss the plan set to be attended by German chancellor Olaf Scholz and Ukrainian prime minister Denys Schmyhal.
Updated
The Guardian’s Daniel Boffey spoke with one of the women freed in last week’s prisoner swap.
It was like something from the cold war. After five months in the most notorious jail in occupied Ukraine, Alina Panina, 25, had found herself, without explanation, at the foot of a bridge over a river in no man’s land with 107 fellow female Ukrainian prisoners of war.
Behind Panina lay Russian-occupied territory and her experiences of the siege of Mariupol’s Azovstal steelworks, the subsequent surrender and then captivity in Olenivka prison in Donetsk. There she was witness to the aftermath of an explosion that killed 53 male prisoners, a blast said by Kyiv to have been engineered by Moscow to silence the victims of torture.
Read the full story below:
Ukraine said seven vessels sailed off from its ports on Sunday carrying grain bound for Asia and Europe, but accused Russia of blocking the full implementation of Black Sea grain deal.
Ukraine’s infrastructure ministry said in a statement posted to Telegram on Sunday:
Russia is deliberately blocking the full realisation of the Grain Initiative. As a result, these (Ukrainian) ports in the last few days are working only at 25-30% of their capacity.”
The UN-backed agreement paved the way for Ukraine to resume grain exports from Black Sea ports that had been shut since Russia invaded. Moscow won guarantees for its own grain and fertiliser exports.
Ukraine called for the renewal of the deal but concerns over whether Russia will agree to an extension beyond the 19 November deadline has intensified after Russia has repeatedly raised complaints about its implementation.
Some recent images to come through our newswires today show the situation currently unfolding in Ukraine.
Updated
Ukraine is facing more power outages after Russian strikes continue to target energy facilities.
Russian airstrikes on energy infrastructure across the country have left more than a million households in Ukraine without electricity, the deputy head of the Ukrainian presidency, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, said at the weekend.
Zelenskiy has urged Ukrainians to conserve energy.
We should consume electricity very consciously. Please remember to limit the use of unnecessary and energy-consuming appliances,” he said in his latest national address on Sunday night.
It is necessary to be really frugal with energy consumption in public space.”
Spanish authorities moved a luxury yacht linked to the sanctioned head of Russian defence group Rostec after the shipyard where it was berthed stopped receiving payments for its repairs, a transport ministry source told Reuters news agency.
The 85-metre (279ft) long yacht, that Spain has said is worth $140m, was transferred to a marina last month, the source and other officials said, highlighting the logistical challenges authorities have faced managing vessels being held across Europe because of sanctions imposed over Russia’s military actions in Ukraine.
Spain ordered the ship Valerie “frozen” – meaning the vessel can not be used or sold – in March, saying it was acting on European Union sanctions. The yacht is tied to Sergei Chemezov, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, a police source and another source with knowledge of the matter said.
The Valerie is now moored in the nearby Marina Vela marina and its name has been changed to the Meridian A, Reuters documentation checks and pictures of the vessel show.
The yacht is formally owned by Chemezov’s stepdaughter, Anastasia Ignatova, according to the European Union’s sanctions list to which she was added in April.
Its immobilisation was unsuccessfully challenged in Spanish courts in March by Sulberg Services Limited, a company registered as the yacht’s owner in the Equasis shipping database. Sulberg argued that Spanish authorities could not prove who owned the yacht and could therefore not freeze it. A Madrid court rejected the claim in April.
Updated
A German lobby group representing companies with interests in eastern Europe has called for a plan to rebuild Ukraine that would mirror the Marshall plan that helped Europe recover from the second world war, the media group RND reported.
A Ukraine-Germany business forum in Berlin on Monday will discuss the plan set to be attended by German chancellor Olaf Scholz and Ukrainian prime minister Denys Schmyhal.
French president Emmanuel Macron said it’s up to Ukraine to decide the time and terms of peace with Russia, and cautioned that the end of war “can’t be the consecration of the law of the strongest.”
To stay neutral would mean accepting the world order of the strongest, and I don’t agree with this,” Macron said at the opening of a three-day peace conference in Rome on Sunday.
US dismisses Russia's claim Ukraine will use 'dirty bomb'
Ukraine and the US have denounced suggestions from Russia that Ukraine is preparing to use a “dirty bomb” as dangerous lies.
Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu made the allegation about a dirty bomb in a round of telephone conversations with western defence chiefs.
In those calls, Shoigu conveyed “concerns about possible provocations by Ukraine with the use of a ‘dirty bomb,’” the Russian defence ministry said.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Sunday sharply dismissed the claim that Kyiv was preparing to use a dirty bomb.
If Russia calls and says that Ukraine is allegedly preparing something, it means one thing: Russia has already prepared all this,” Zelenskiy said in a video address.
I spoke with Ukrainian Foreign Minister @DmytroKuleba today to discuss the United States’ continued support for Ukraine and to reject Russia’s false allegations that Ukraine is preparing to use a dirty bomb on its own territory.
— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) October 23, 2022
US secretary of state Anthony Blinken rejected Shoigu’s “transparently false” allegations that Ukraine is preparing to use a dirty bomb on its own territory and that the world would “see through any attempt by Russia to use this allegation as a pretext for escalation” in a statement issued by the White House.
A statement from US national security council spokeswoman, Adrienne Watson said, “We reject reports of minister Shoigu’s transparently false allegations that Ukraine is preparing to use a dirty bomb on its own territory.
The world would see through any attempt to use this allegation as a pretext for escalation.”
A so-called dirty bomb is designed to contaminate a wide area with radioactive material, making it dangerous for civilians. It does not involve a nuclear explosion.
Up to 85% of Russian drone attacks intercepted, UK cites sources
Russia continues to use Iranian uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs), otherwise known as drones, against targets throughout Ukraine, though Ukrainian efforts to defeat the Shahed-136 UAVs are increasingly successful, the UK Ministry of Defence has determined.
Official sources, including Ukraine’s president Zelenskiy, claim that up to 85% of attacks are being intercepted, according to the latest British intelligence report. The full report reads:
These UAVs are slow, noisy and fly at low altitudes, making lone aircraft easy to target conventional air defences.
Russia is likely expending a high number of Iranian Shahed-136 UAVs in order to penetrate increasingly effective Ukrainian air defences.
It is likely using them as a substitute for Russian-manufactured long-range precision weapons which are becoming increasingly scarce.”
Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine - 24 October 2022
— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) October 24, 2022
Find out more about the UK government's response: https://t.co/jVDRARAQjJ
🇺🇦 #StandWithUkraine 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/rWoxv4qHni
Here are a few more images we have received through the newswires today of civilians leaving the Russian-occupied Kherson region.
Updated
25,000 have left Kherson, Moscow says
Russian authorities in the occupied territory of Kherson continue to urge residents to leave fearing an anticipated Ukrainian counter-offensive in the region.
Since Tuesday, about 25,000 people have been “evacuated”, the Russian-installed deputy head of the region Kirill Stremousov claimed.
“We again recommend you to leave the city and the western bank of the Dnipro,” Stremousov said in a video message published on Telegram. “We are not going to give up Kherson.”
The occupied city’s Russian administration told residents to take “documents, money, valuables and clothes” due to “the tense situation on the front” and reported on Sunday that there had been “a sharp increase” in the number of civilians trying to leave.
Russian-installed officials in Ukraine’s south are trying to “evacuate” up to 60,000 people living on the western bank of the Dnipro River.
Updated
Summary and welcome
Hello and welcome back to the Guardian’s live coverage of the war in Ukraine. I’m Samantha Lock and I’ll be bringing you all the latest developments as they unfold over the next few hours.
Russian authorities in the occupied territory of Kherson continue to urge residents to leave fearing an anticipated Ukrainian counter-offensive in the region. Since Tuesday, about 25,000 people have been “evacuated”, the Russian-installed deputy head of the region Kirill Stremousov claimed.
The US, UK and France have rejected Russia’s latest claim that Ukraine is preparing to use a “dirty bomb” on its own territory as“transparently false” and just part of an escalation of Putin’s war.
Here are all the latest lines you may have missed:
Russia has urged more civilians in occupied Kherson to leave amid an exodus to escape an anticipated Ukrainian counteroffensive. Russian authorities told residents to take “documents, money, valuables and clothes” due to “the tense situation on the front” and reported on Sunday that there had been “a sharp increase” in the number of civilians trying to leave. About 25,000 people have been “evacuated” since Tuesday, the Interfax news agency said.
Russia’s grip on Kherson appears increasingly fragile. The US thinktank the Institute for the Study of War said the urgent call to leave indicated that the occupiers “do not expect a rapid Russian or civilian return” to the city, and appeared to be trying to depopulate it to damage its “long-term social and economic viability”.
One person was killed by a homemade bomb in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson on Sunday, according to Russia-installed authorities in the region. “An improvised explosive device, attached to a street pole and detonated remotely, killed a civilian from Kherson,” local pro-Russian official Kirill Stremousov wrote on social media, adding that a passerby had been wounded, according to a report from Agence France-Presse.
Russia and Ukraine have accused each other of planning to blow up the Nova Kakhovka dam. Breaching it could flood a swathe of southern Ukraine, including Kherson.
Ukraine and the US denounced suggestions from Russia that Ukraine was preparing to use a “dirty bomb” as dangerous lies. “If Russia calls and says that Ukraine is allegedly preparing something, it means one thing: Russia has already prepared all this,” Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a video address. The White House national security council also rejected Shoigu’s claims. “The world would see through any attempt to use this allegation as a pretext for escalation,” a statement said.
A Russian fighter jet crashed in Siberia, killing two crew members. The Su-30 fighter jet came down on a private, two-storey building housing two families in Irkutsk, a major industrial centre in eastern Siberia. The crash appears to reflect the growing strain that the fighting in Ukraine has put on the Russian air force.
Iran has said it will supply Russia with 40 turbines to help its gas industry amid western sanctions over Moscow’s war in Ukraine, local media reported. Iran’s “industrial successes are not limited to the fields of missiles and drones”, Iranian Gas Engineering and Development Company’s CEO, Reza Noushadi, was quoted as saying by Shana, the oil ministry’s news agency on Sunday.
Ukraine’s special operations forces said that Iranian drone instructors have been spotted in Belarus. According to special operations forces, Iran’s Islamic revolutionary guard corps are training Russian forces in Belarus and coordinating the launches of Iranian-made drones.
Russia fired missiles and drones into Ukrainian-held Mykolaiv on Sunday, destroying an apartment block. Mykolaiv lies roughly 35 km (22 miles) northwest of the frontline to occupied Kherson
UK defence secretary, Ben Wallace, rebutted claims made by the Russian defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, that Ukraine, facilitated by western counties including UK, was planning to escalate the conflict. “The defence secretary refuted these claims and cautioned that such allegations should not be used as a pretext for greater escalation,” the UK Ministry of Defence said in a statement after talks between the UK and Russia.
French president Emmanuel Macron said it’s up to Ukraine to decide the time and terms of peace with Russia, and cautioned that the end of war “can’t be the consecration of the law of the strongest.” “To stay neutral would mean accepting the world order of the strongest, and I don’t agree with this,” Macron said at the opening of a three-day peace conference in Rome on Sunday.
Ukraine faces power outages after Russian strikes target energy facilities. Russian airstrikes on energy infastructure across the country have left more than a million households in Ukraine without electricity, the deputy head of the Ukrainian presidency, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, said at the weekend.
A German lobby group representing companies with interests in eastern Europe has called for a plan to rebuild Ukraine that would mirror the Marshall plan that helped Europe recover from the second world war, the media group RND reported. A Ukraine-Germany business forum in Berlin on Monday will discuss the plan set to be attended by German chancellor Olaf Scholz and Ukrainian prime minister Denys Schmyhal.
Updated
