Summary
The time in Kyiv is 9pm. Here is a round-up of the day’s top stories:
Ukraine has said that persistent Russian claims that Kyiv plans to detonate a dirty bomb made it look as though Moscow itself planned to conduct a false-flag operation, and that Ukraine has never had any plans to develop a dirty bomb. Foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba told a news conference that experts from the UN nuclear watchdog would soon be arriving in Ukraine and receive full access, and he called on Moscow to demonstrate the same transparency as Ukraine, Reuters reported.
The Donetsk oblast was hit hard in the past day, with at least 15 Russian strikes killing seven civilians and injuring three more. The Ukrainian national police said the strikes also destroyed 19 residential buildings and one power line.
Further south, a car explosion near the office of Russian propaganda channel ZaTV in Russia-occupied Melitopol has injured at least five people, including company employees, authorities said. While investigators are still looking into the blast, Vladimir Rogov, a Russian-appointed occupied Zaporizhia oblast official, has purportedly told Russian state media that the car explosion near the office of Russian propaganda channel ZaTv in Russian-occupied Melitopol was a terrorist attack stemming from an “improvised explosive device”.
Police rescued an eight-year-old boy whose parents were killed in Russian shell strikes in Bakhmut, it has been reported. Iuliia Mendel, a former spokesperson for the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said Bohdan’s mother was seven months pregnant when she died “in the street”, along with his father.
Ukrainian authorities are now estimating that Russian forces have lost nearly 68,420 personnel since the start of the invasion.
Refugees who fled in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine should stay abroad this winter due to blackouts created by Moscow’s bombardment of critical energy infrastructure, a Ukrainian minister has said. In an interview broadcast on Ukrainian national television on Tuesday, deputy prime minister Iryna Vereshchuk told Ukrainians currently sheltering abroad that they should wait until spring before returning to Ukraine.
Poland’s prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, has said Russian assets and those of Russian oligarchs present a “huge pot of gold” that should be used for Ukraine’s reconstruction. “We must make sure that the offender pays for reconstruction. Russia should pay Ukraine war damages, war reparations,” Morawiecki said on Tuesday at a conference in Berlin working to build international support to finance Ukraine’s postwar rehabilitation.
Russian president Vladimir Putin has addressed a new coordination council designed to boost support for an invasion now in its ninth month, Reuters reported. Putin set up the new council last week as he imposed martial law in four partly-occupied regions of Ukraine that he has declared part of Russia, where his forces have suffered several defeats by a resurgent Ukrainian army.
The US Congressional Progressive Caucus withdrew a letter to the White House urging a negotiated settlement to the war in Ukraine, chair Pramila Jayapal confirmed. “The Congressional Progressive Caucus hereby withdraws its recent letter to the White House regarding Ukraine,” Jayapal said in a statement.
Moscow was generally supportive of the idea of creating a secure zone around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia’s ambassador to international institutions in Vienna, told the TASS news agency on Tuesday.
The European Commission urged European Union countries and companies to donate more money and equipment to support the energy sector in Ukraine, over a third of which has been destroyed by Russian missile and drone strikes. “What is at stake is the protection and wellbeing of thousands and tens of thousands of households, vulnerable people, children and elderly before this coming winter,” EU energy commissioner Kadri Simson said.
That’s it from me, Tom Ambrose, and indeed the Ukraine live blog for today. Thanks for following along.
The US Congressional Progressive Caucus withdrew a letter to the White House urging a negotiated settlement to the war in Ukraine, chair Pramila Jayapal confirmed.
“The Congressional Progressive Caucus hereby withdraws its recent letter to the White House regarding Ukraine,” Jayapal said in a statement.
She added: “The letter was drafted several months ago, but unfortunately was released by staff without vetting.”
Refugees who fled in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine should stay abroad this winter due to blackouts created by Moscow’s bombardment of critical energy infrastructure, a Ukrainian minister has said.
In an interview broadcast on Ukrainian national television on Tuesday, deputy prime minister Iryna Vereshchuk told Ukrainians currently sheltering abroad that they should wait until spring before returning to Ukraine.
“I wanted to ask [them] not to return. We need to survive the winter,” she said.
The European Commission urged European Union countries and companies to donate more money and equipment to support the energy sector in Ukraine, over a third of which has been destroyed by Russian missile and drone strikes.
“What is at stake is the protection and wellbeing of thousands and tens of thousands of households, vulnerable people, children and elderly before this coming winter,” EU energy commissioner Kadri Simson said.
Speaking after a meeting of energy ministers in Luxembourg, she said Ukrainian transformers, circuit breakers and power lines had been destroyed, causing outages.
“It is urgent,” she told reporters.
Russian president Vladimir Putin has addressed a new coordination council designed to boost support for an invasion now in its ninth month, Reuters reported.
Putin set up the new council last week as he imposed martial law in four partly-occupied regions of Ukraine that he has declared part of Russia, where his forces have suffered several defeats by a resurgent Ukrainian army.
His comments and those of some of the council members amounted to a tacit acknowledgement that Russia was not fully prepared for the resistance it has met in Ukraine, whose capital Kyiv it failed to seize at the outset of the war in February.
Putin said increased coordination of government institutions and regions was necessary to manage the government’s work to produce more equipment for its forces and provide them with better medical and logistical support, though he did not explain in detail how this would work.
“I have discussed many times with many of you the issues related to the need to update all the work to improve administrative procedures,” Putin told the council, made up of members of the government and regional leaders, in televised remarks.
“Administrative reform is impossible without broader coordination between all departments: the economic bloc, the security bloc, the regions.”
Updated
Police rescued an eight-year-old boy whose parents were killed in Russian shell strikes in Bakhmut, it has been reported.
Iuliia Mendel, a former spokesperson for the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said Bohdan’s mother was seven months pregnant when she died “in the street”, along with his father.
She tweeted:
The boy was alone in the area, which is almost impossible to reach #StandWithUkraine
🇺🇦police rescued from Bakhmut an 8-year-old boy Bohdan whose parents were killed by a🇷🇺shell.
— Iuliia Mendel (@IuliiaMendel) October 25, 2022
His father & mother, who was 7months pregnant, died on the street during an russian artillery strike
The boy was alone in the area,which is almost impossible to reach #StandWithUkraine
Updated
Poland’s prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, has said Russian assets and those of Russian oligarchs present a “huge pot of gold” that should be used for Ukraine’s reconstruction.
“We must make sure that the offender pays for reconstruction. Russia should pay Ukraine war damages, war reparations,” Morawiecki said on Tuesday at a conference in Berlin working to build international support to finance Ukraine’s postwar rehabilitation.
He also said Europe had been “to some extent, a paper tiger” and was much stronger than Russia.
Updated
Ukraine fears Russia planning false-flag attack amid Kremlin's 'dirty bomb' claims
Ukraine has said that persistent Russian claims that Kyiv plans to detonate a dirty bomb made it look as though Moscow itself planned to conduct a false-flag operation, and that Ukraine has never had any plans to develop a dirty bomb.
Foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba told a news conference that experts from the UN nuclear watchdog would soon be arriving in Ukraine and receive full access, and he called on Moscow to demonstrate the same transparency as Ukraine, Reuters reported.
Updated
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that the country needs to speed up decision-making in relation to the military campaign in Ukraine.
Speaking at the first meeting of a new coordination council to manage the Russian government’s work on the home front, Putin said increased coordination of government structures and regions was necessary, Reuters reported.
Updated
John Hudson, a journalist with the Washington Post, has obtained the letter Russia sent to the UN security council on Ukrainian “dirty bombs”.
He says it is “way out there”, highlighting how it includes scenarios about how Ukraine would produce a “dirty bomb” using its existing nuclear power plants.
He also writes:
The claims in the letter, which U.S. and Western officials call preposterous, say the Ukrainian government would detonate the dirty bomb and describe the subsequent explosion as the result of a Russian tactical nuclear weapon.
Just obtained the letter Russia sent to the UN Security Council on Ukrainian "dirty bombs." It's way out there. It includes scenarios about how Ukraine would indigenously produce a so-called "dirty bomb" using its existing nuclear power plants. pic.twitter.com/jYr5yALod5
— John Hudson (@John_Hudson) October 25, 2022
The claims in the letter, which U.S. and Western officials call preposterous, say the Ukrainian government would detonate the dirty bomb and describe the subsequent explosion as the result of a Russian tactical nuclear weapon pic.twitter.com/IFqBlrqeqA
— John Hudson (@John_Hudson) October 25, 2022
Updated
Russian forces have been hitting the Donetsk oblast hard recently, taking aim in particular at the strategically placed towns of Bakhmut and Avdiivka in Ukraine’s industrial heartland of Donbas.
In the last day, seven civilians were killed and three wounded amid five strikes on eight settlements.
Here’s a look at the aftermath, as citizens stay behind to pick up the pieces, or evacuate in hopes of finding safety:
Updated
Report: Norway detains researcher suspected of being Russian spy
A man who entered Norway as a Brazilian citizen is being held for four weeks under suspicion of being a Russian spy, according to a Norwegian broadcaster.
Norwegian public broadcaster NRK is reporting that the country’s domestic security agency detained the man in the Arctic city of Tromø, according to the Associated Press.
The man had been based at the Arctic University of Norway as “a Brazilian researcher” and would be expelled from the country, “because we believe he represents a threat to fundamental national interests”, Norwegian police security service deputy chief Hedvig Moe told NRK.
The security service “is concerned that he may have acquired a network and information about Norway’s policy in the northern region”, Moe said. “Even if this network or the information bit by bit is not a threat to the security of the kingdom, we are worried that the information could be misused by Russia.”
In a statement, Arctic University of Norway administrator Jørgen Fossland said the person in question was “a guest lecturer” at the school.
The lecturer was apprehended Monday on his way to his job, NRK said.
His attorney, Thomas Hansen, told the VG newspaper the man denies any wrongdoing.
Updated
Moscow was generally supportive of the idea of creating a secure zone around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia’s ambassador to international institutions in Vienna, told the TASS news agency on Tuesday.
Reuters is reporting that Ulyanov had responded to long-standing calls by the International Atomic Energy Agency to de-escalate the conflict near the plant.
“The essence (of the IAEA proposal) in a nutshell is that you cannot shoot from the territory of the nuclear station and you cannot shoot at the station. Quite a reasonable idea, which we generally support. The question, as always, is in the details,” TASS quoted Ulyanov as saying.
The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has been a place of contention for months now, with both sides accusing the other of launching attacks on it. Any sort of accident or mishap at the plant – Europe’s largest nuclear facility – would have widespread environmental consequences for the surrounding areas for years to come.
Russian court upholds nine-year sentence for US basketball star Brittney Griner
A Russian court today rejected an appeal by US basketball star Brittney Griner against her nine-year prison sentence.
The two-time Olympic gold medallist has been in Russian custody since she was arrested on 17 February at a Moscow airport. Russian authorities said they found vape cartridges in her possession that contained cannabis oil, which is banned in Russia. She was sentenced on 4 August to nine years in a penal colony.
Her family has decried her detention as politically motivated, with many of her supporters raising concerns for her safety, in regards to her race and sexuality. Griner is married to a woman. The US has characterised Griner’s arrest and subsequent sentencing as a “wrongful detention”.
“President Biden has been clear that Brittney should be released immediately,” Jake Sullivan, national security advisor, said today. Sullivan called today’s rejected appeal “another sham judicial proceeding”.
Latest from @JakeSullivan46 on Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan detained in #Russia pic.twitter.com/wfVRyeH1wd
— Patsy Widakuswara (@pwidakuswara) October 25, 2022
Updated
A broken window of a damaged residential building following a shelling in the town of Bakhmut, Donetsk region.
The president of Ukraine has said he is “ready to continue strengthening the strategic partnership” with the UK as Rishi Sunak said the “terrible war … must be seen successfully to its conclusion”.
Speaking outside No 10 Downing Street, the new UK prime minister referenced Russia’s invasion of Ukraine twice, saying: “Putin’s war in Ukraine has destabilised energy markets and supply chains the world over.”
Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he hoped Sunak would “overcome all the challenges facing British society and the whole world today”.
In a tweet after Sunak’s first speech as prime minister, Zelenskiy said:
Congratulations to Rishi Sunak on taking office as Prime Minister!
I wish you to successfully overcome all the challenges facing British society and the whole world today.
I’m ready to continue strengthening the strategic partnership together!
Updated
Russia’s defence ministry claims its forces have repelled Ukrainian attacks in the southern Kherson region and eastern Luhansk region of Ukraine.
Russian-installed officials in Kherson are evacuating tens of thousands of civilians eastwards across the Dnipro river, facing a Ukrainian counteroffensive that has already seen Kyiv retake swathes of land seized by Russian forces in the first days of the war.
Reuters was unable to verify battlefield reports.
Updated
Alleged recordings of the head of a major Ukrainian aircraft manufacturer accused of aiding the Russian military – saying he “completely understands” why a Russian missile was fired at his factory – have been released by Kyiv’s security services after his arrest at the weekend.
Vyacheslav Boguslaev, the president of Motor Sich, has been charged with treason after a raid at the weekend on his home in the southern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia. The manufacturing heavyweight is suspected of selling engines – before and after the invasion – for Russian attack helicopters that have been used extensively against Ukrainian troops.
The release of the alleged recordings have served as a reminder of the historic ties between veteran figures in the two countries’ arms industries and Ukraine’s internal battle to root out collaborators.
Answering questions from journalists at a Kyiv courthouse about whether or not he had contracts with companies that work with the Russia military, Boguslaev said he was not “in the loop” and that Motor Sich produced some of the “best helicopters”.
A lawyer for Boguslaev said his client had poor hearing and had not yet listened to the recordings released by Ukraine’s security services . The lawyer added that Boguslaev would explain his position during the trial. A judge ordered for Boguslaev to be held for two months without the possibility of bail.
Firefighters work at the site of a car bomb explosion outside a building housing a local TV station in Melitopol, Zaporizhzhia oblast.
Updated
Today so far
The Donetsk oblast was hit hard in the past day, with at least 15 Russian strikes killing seven civilians and injuring three more. The Ukrainian national police said the strikes also destroyed 19 residential buildings and one power line.
Further south, a car explosion near the office of Russian propaganda channel ZaTV in Russia-occupied Melitopol has injured at least five people, including company employees, authorities said. While investigators are still looking into the blast, Vladimir Rogov, a Russian-appointed occupied Zaporizhia oblast official, has purportedly told Russian state media that the car explosion near the office of Russian propaganda channel ZaTv in Russian-occupied Melitopol was a terrorist attack stemming from an “improvised explosive device”. He wrote on Telegram that the power of the explosion was the equivalent of 2 kilograms of TNT.
Amid air raid sirens, Germany’s president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, arrived in Kyiv for his first trip to Ukraine since Russia invaded. His surprise visit comes six months after the Ukrainian government snubbed the Social Democrat’s offer of a visit over his past role in brokering closer economic ties between Germany and Russia.
Meanwhile, in Berlin, European leaders convened for a conference on Ukraine’s reconstruction. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told the conference in a video address that more than a third of the country’s energy sector has been destroyed by rockets and Iranian drones. Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, spoke strongly about the need to aid Ukraine in its reconstruction, especially as it pertains to the country’s ascension into the European Union.
Ukrainian authorities are now estimating that Russian forces have lost nearly 68,420 personnel since the start of the invasion.
Updated
A look at the impact of the Russian invasion on food prices:
Impact of war on food prices
— Emma Burrows (@EJ_Burrows) October 25, 2022
Russia: world's largest wheat exporter (pasta/bread/biscuits)
Russia: world largest fertilizer exporter (potatoes/chips)
Ukraine: world's largest exporter of sunflower oil (chips)
Russia: major energy supplier (everything)https://t.co/prlf0cdmQh
Groceries that have increased in price in the last year include:
— Office for National Statistics (ONS) (@ONS) October 25, 2022
🌶 vegetable oil by 65%
🍝 pasta by 60%
☕️ tea by 46%
🍟 chips by 39%
🍞 bread by 38%
🍪 biscuits by 34%
In the last five months:
🌶 vegetable oil by 46%
🍟 chips by 24%
🍞 bread by 22% pic.twitter.com/ySo3Cahwl9
Updated
15 Russian strikes in last day kill seven in Donetsk oblast
Seven civilians were killed and three wounded amid 15 Russian strikes on eight settlements in the Donetsk oblast in the past day, authorities said.
The Associated Press is reporting that the attacks came as Russian forces pressed their offensive on the strategically placed towns of Bakhmut and Avdiivka in Ukraine’s industrial heartland of Donbas. Ukrainian national police said the strikes destroyed 19 residential buildings and one power line.
Updated
The surprise visit by the German president to Kyiv on Tuesday comes six months after the Ukrainian government snubbed the Social Democrat’s offer of a visit over his past role in brokering closer economic ties between Germany and Russia.
Only last week, Steinmeier had aborted a trip to Kyiv due to security concerns, which led to the former foreign minister being criticised as cowardly by opposition parties in Germany.
“I am looking forward to my meeting with [Ukrainian] President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Kyiv,” he said, according to a confirmation sent by his spokesperson.
Before meeting Zelenskiy, Steinmeier will visit a town in the north of the country near the Belarusian border, which Ukraine says has been liberated from Russian troops but left with its infrastructure destroyed.
Steinmeier will provide aid to the municipality for its energy infrastructure, he said. “My message to Ukrainians: you can count on Germany”, Steinmeier said.
The German president has shown contrition since the start of the war in Ukraine. “My sticking to [the Baltic Sea pipeline project] Nord Stream 2, that was definitely a mistake,” he said in Berlin on 4 April. “We held on to bridges that Russia no longer believed in, and of which our partners warned us.”
Updated
Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, spoke strongly about the need to aid Ukraine in its reconstruction, especially as it pertains to the country’s ascension into the European Union.
We can never match the sacrifices Ukrainians are making every day.
— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) October 25, 2022
But we can stand with them and provide what they need – for relief, fast rehabilitation and reconstruction.
This is why we are gathered here today at the #RecoveryOfUkraine conference ↓
https://t.co/KpdLTOkPot
🇪🇺EU Commission President Ursula @vonderleyen on Ukraine's candidacy to the European Union: "we need to firmly embbed 🇺🇦 Ukraine's reconstruction as part of its accession process to the European Union"@dw_europe pic.twitter.com/0jWSSnGTmR
— Emmanuelle Chaze (@EmmanuelleChaze) October 25, 2022
🇪🇺 @vonderleyen reminds the amount of destruction on essential infrastructures, such as powerplants, that affects civilians and will make their lives unbearable this winter.
— Emmanuelle Chaze (@EmmanuelleChaze) October 25, 2022
She gets applause when she states "These are pure acts of terrors by Russia to paralyse Ukraine." pic.twitter.com/IkAOKGGO81
Zelenskiy: more than a third of Ukraine's energy sector has been destroyed
Meanwhile, while German president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, is in Ukraine for his first trip since the Russian invasion, European leaders are convening in Berlin for a conference on Ukraine’s reconstruction.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told the conference in a video address that more than a third of the country’s energy sector has been destroyed by rockets and Iranian drones, Reuters is reporting.
But despite Ukraine’s great need for funds to rebuild, Kyiv has not received a cent of the $17bn rapid recovery funds that the European Commission and World Bank determined that Ukraine would need for the first stage of recovery.
🇺🇦's president @ZelenskyyUa reminds that Ukraine stands ready to guarantee food security, energy security, & regulate migration towards Europe.
— Emmanuelle Chaze (@EmmanuelleChaze) October 25, 2022
In a few words, he gives reassurances on everything that worries the 🇪🇺 EU. This can only be achieved with a free, sovereign Ukraine pic.twitter.com/SHtmtx1AM9
@ZelenskyyUa reminds that defending Ukraine is paramount, at a time where "Russia destroys everything on its path", calls for proper & continued funding by Ukraine's allies. Grateful to the Rammstein format & says financial coordination platform is needed. pic.twitter.com/KgHXjznXoz
— Emmanuelle Chaze (@EmmanuelleChaze) October 25, 2022
Updated
German president arrives in Kyiv amid air raid sirens
Germany’s president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, is in Kyiv for his first trip to Ukraine since Russia invaded and Moscow has since escalated with unsubstantiated warnings of a “dirty bomb”.
He touched down in Kyiv as air raid sirens began to sound around the capital.
German Federal President #Steinmeier has arrived in Ukraine with a twofold message:
— Cerstin Gammelin (@BPrSprecherin) October 25, 2022
"My message to the people of Ukraine is: You can count on Germany! We will continue to support Ukraine: militarily, politically, financially and in humanitarian regards. 1/4 pic.twitter.com/7J6K9kmOtx
And at the same time, my message to all Germans at home is: Let's never forget what this war means for the people here! Despite all the hardships that the war also brings for us in Germany - let's look through the eyes of the Ukrainians for a moment, 2/4
— Cerstin Gammelin (@BPrSprecherin) October 25, 2022
...then we know that they need our full solidarity and support - as long as it is necessary.
— Cerstin Gammelin (@BPrSprecherin) October 25, 2022
It is also a matter of repairing destroyed infrastructure as quickly as possible, of repairing power grids, water pipes, heating systems, of eliminating supply bottlenecks. 3/4
Many German partner cities are providing great help in this regard. Together with the President @ZelenskyyUa I will take over the patronage of the 🇺🇦🇩🇪city partnership network. The more partnerships there are, the better it will be to get through the winter." 4/4
— Cerstin Gammelin (@BPrSprecherin) October 25, 2022
Updated
Vladimir Rogov, a Russian-appointed occupied Zaporizhia oblast official, has purportedly told Russian state media that the car explosion near the office of Russian propaganda channel ZaTv in Russian-occupied Melitopol was a terrorist attack stemming from an “improvised explosive device”.
He wrote on Telegram that the power of the explosion was the equivalent of 2kg of TNT.
Updated
A car explosion near the office of ZaTV in Russian-occupied Melitopol has injured at least five people – including some company employees, officials said.
ZaTv is a Russian propaganda channel that began broadcasting to the occupied parts of the Zaporizhzhia oblast on 1 August. It’s unclear yet if the blast was an accident or deliberate, or if anyone is taking responsibility for the incident.
A car exploded near the office of a #Zaporizhzhia TV company in occupied #Melitopol. pic.twitter.com/cuSNR1BdNB
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) October 25, 2022
The local propagandist Malkevich reports about five people to be injured after the explosion in #Melitopol.
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) October 25, 2022
According to him, company employees and civilians were injured.
Another video showing the aftermath of the explosion in #Melitopol. pic.twitter.com/oyezN4t0Ap
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) October 25, 2022
Updated
No one told the 108 female Ukrainian prisoners of war, why, after five months in the most notorious jail in occupied Ukraine, their Russian captors were leading them to a bridge in the small south-west village of Kam’yans’ke.
But when they saw their own soldiers, heard their own language being spoken, and realised that they were to be taking part in a prisoner exchange, they could not hold back their emotions, said 25-year-old Alina Panina, one of the Ukrainian soldiers. “They shouted glory to Ukraine. Some girls began to sing the national anthem of Ukraine,” Panina said. “Some girls could no longer hold back tears and cried. They fell to their knees on the ground.”
Panina spoke exclusively to the Guardian’s Daniel Boffey. Read more of her extraordinary account here:
Updated
As of today, Ukrainian authorities are estimating that Russian forces have lost approximately 68,420 personnel since the start of the invasion.
Загальні бойові втрати противника з 24.02 по 25.10 орієнтовно склали / The total combat losses of the enemy from 24.02 to 25.10 were approximately pic.twitter.com/P1rsHipm2z
— Генеральний штаб ЗСУ (@GeneralStaffUA) October 25, 2022
Updated
Summary so far
If you’re just joining us, here is a quick recap of where things 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.
Russia’s grip on the city of Kherson appears increasingly fragile. Russian forces seemed to be preparing to withdraw from the east bank of the Dnieper River, ordering a fresh evacuation of civilians and laying the ground for the potential loss of the city of Kherson itself. All civilians were ordered to evacuate immediately over the weekend in the face of the advancing Ukrainian counteroffensive.
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.
Russia is bringing new military units into Kherson as it prepares to defend the city in the face of the advancing Ukrainian counteroffensive, the head of Ukraine’s defence intelligence directorate has said. Kyrylo Budanov also said Russia would slow Ukrainian troops’ advance in the south by only about two weeks if it blows up the Kakhovka hyrdoelectric dam near Kherson.
The UK Ministry of Defence reports that there have been at least 23 verified losses of Russia’s Ka-52 Hokum attack helicopter in Ukraine since the invasion. This represents over 25% of the Russian air force’s in-service fleet of 90 Ka-52s, and nearly half of Russia’s total helicopter losses in Ukraine, according to British intelligence.
The US is considering sending older Hawk air defence equipment from storage to Ukraine to help it defend against Russian drone and cruise missile attacks, two US officials told Reuters.
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.
The UN nuclear watchdog is preparing to send inspectors in the coming days to two Ukrainian sites after Kyiv requested an expert mission be sent to disprove Russian claims that Ukraine plans to use a “dirty bomb”.
The US has had no indications that Russia has decided to use a nuclear, biological 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.
National leaders, development experts and CEOs will gather in Berlin today for a conference on what its hosts say must be a Marshall plan to rebuild Ukraine after Russia’s invasion. The conference, hosted by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and the European Commission, will not involve concrete pledges of cash towards the estimated $750bn reconstruction cost.
German president Frank-Walter Steinmeier arrived in Ukraine for a surprise visit on Tuesday morning. Steinmeier will meet with the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy. It is his first trip to the country since Russia invaded on 24 February, according to German broadcaster NTV.
The World Bank says it has disbursed an additional $500m to help Ukraine meet urgent spending needs created by the war. The financing by the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the bank’s main lending arm, was supported by $500m in loan guarantees from Britain that were announced on 30 September, the bank said on Monday.
Updated
There have been at least 23 verified losses of Russia’s Ka-52 Hokum attack helicopter in Ukraine since the invasion, the UK Ministry of Defence reports.
This represents over 25% of the Russian air force’s in-service fleet of 90 Ka-52s, and nearly half of Russia’s total helicopter losses in Ukraine, according to British intelligence.
The ministry believes the Russian attack helicopters have probably suffered particular attrition from Ukrainian man-portable air defence systems (Manpads), while the helicopters frequently operate with less consistent top-cover from combat jets than they would expect under Russia military doctrine.
“Russia is still failing to maintain adequate air superiority in order to reliably carry out effective fixed-wing close air support near the frontline, and its artillery ammunition is running low,” the latest intelligence report reads.
Russian commanders are also likely increasingly resorting to conducting high-risk attack helicopter missions as one of the few options available to provide close support for troops in combat.
Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine - 25 October 2022
— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) October 25, 2022
Find out more about the UK government's response: https://t.co/bZmLpOMrm8
🇺🇦 #StandWithUkraine 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/xz5YZDfgkT
Updated
The US is considering sending older Hawk air defence equipment from storage to Ukraine to help it defend against Russian drone and cruise missile attacks, two US officials told Reuters.
The Hawk interceptor missiles would be an upgrade to the Stinger missile systems – a smaller, shorter range air defence system – that the US has already sent to blunt Russia’s invasion.
The Biden administration would use the presidential drawdown authority (PDA) to transfer the Hawk equipment, which is based on Vietnam-era technology but has been upgraded several times.
The Hawk system is the predecessor to Patriot missile defence system made by Raytheon Technologies, which remains off the table for Ukraine, US officials told Reuters.
The US would likely initially send interceptor missiles for the Hawk system to Ukraine because it was unclear if enough US launchers were in good repair, one US official told Reuters. The US systems have been in storage for decades.
Updated
The World Bank says it has disbursed an additional $500m to help Ukraine meet urgent spending needs created by the war.
The financing by the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the bank’s main lending arm, was supported by $500m in loan guarantees from Britain that were announced on 30 September, the bank said on Monday.
World Bank group president David Malpass said in a statement:
The Russian invasion continues to cause massive destruction of Ukraine’s infrastructure – including water, sanitation, and electricity networks - just as winter is approaching, further endangering Ukrainian people.
The new portion of financing disbursed today will be used to maintain essential government services. We stand firmly to support the Ukrainian people as they face this unparalleled crisis.”
What is a dirty bomb, and how dangerous is it?
The Kremlin alleges that Ukraine is preparing to detonate a dirty bomb in order to blame it on Russia and force an escalation to the war. Western countries have dismissed that claim as “transparently false”.
So what is a dirty bomb?
“Dirty bombs” have long been feared as a potential weapon of terrorists, because their main objective is to sow panic, confusion and anxiety by hurling radioactive dust and smoke into the atmosphere.
Although no dirty bomb attack has ever been recorded, two failed attempts to detonate such a device were reported in the southern Russian province of Chechnya more than two decades ago.
Technically known as radiological dispersion devices, dirty bombs are relatively primitive, imprecise weapons. They are much easier and cheaper to build than a nuclear device and also far less dangerous.
Dirty bombs use conventional explosives, such as dynamite, placed alongside radioactive material, which is then flung outward by the force of the blast. The amount of radioactive material dispersed, while dangerous, is not necessarily lethal.
Read the full explainer below:
Russia to bring Ukraine ‘dirty bomb’ claim to UN
Russia has doubled down on its claim that Kyiv is preparing to use a “dirty bomb” in Ukraine, saying it would bring the issue to the UN security council on Tuesday.
Moscow sent a letter on its claims about Kyiv to the United Nations late on Monday, and diplomats said it planned to raise the issue with the security council at a closed meeting the following day.
“We will regard the use of the dirty bomb by the Kyiv regime as an act of nuclear terrorism,” Russia’s UN ambassador Vassily Nebenzia wrote UN secretary general Antonio Guterres and the security council in the letter, seen by Reuters.
“We urge the western countries to exert their influence on the regime in Kiev to abandon its dangerous plans threatening international peace and security,” he wrote. “We call on the Secretary-General of the United Nations to do everything in his power to prevent this heinous crime from happening.”
The foreign ministers of France, Britain and the United States have rejected Moscow’s allegations as “transparently false” and reiterated their support for Ukraine.
“The world would see through any attempt to use this allegation as a pretext for escalation,” they said in a joint statement.
UN nuclear watchdog to send inspectors to Ukraine at Kyiv request
The UN nuclear watchdog is preparing to send inspectors in the coming days to two Ukrainian sites at Kyiv’s request, in an apparent reaction to the Russian “dirty bomb” claims.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said both sites were already subject to its inspections and one was inspected a month ago.
IAEA director general Rafael Grossi said in a statement on Monday:
The IAEA inspected one of these locations one month ago and all our findings were consistent with Ukraine’s safeguards declarations.
No undeclared nuclear activities or material were found there.
The IAEA is preparing to visit the locations in the coming days. The purpose of the safeguards visits is to detect any possible undeclared nuclear activities and material.”
Comprehensive meeting with @SecBlinken today in Washington DC.
— Rafael MarianoGrossi (@rafaelmgrossi) October 24, 2022
I stressed @IAEAorg safeguards inspectors will visit #Ukraine this week and thanked the #US for supporting our efforts to establish a Nuclear Safety & Security Protection Zone at #Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant. pic.twitter.com/PIdAzE5xB4
Russia’s state news agency RIA had earlier identified what it said were the two sites involved in the operation - the Eastern Mineral Enrichment Plant in central Dnipropetrovsk region and the Institute for Nuclear Research in Kyiv.
The IAEA statement did not name the facilities it would inspect.
Safeguards inspectors to visit two nuclear locations in #Ukraine, IAEA’s @RafaelMGrossi says after receiving request from Ukraine. https://t.co/J36rBgf4dO pic.twitter.com/v0JDdBrKiZ
— IAEA - International Atomic Energy Agency (@iaeaorg) October 24, 2022
German president arrives in Ukraine for surprise visit
German president Frank-Walter Steinmeier has reportedly arrived in Ukraine for a surprise visit today.
It is his first trip to the country since Russia invaded on 24 February, according to German broadcaster NTV.
Steinmeier arrived in the capital, Kyiv, by train in the morning and will meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in the course of the day, according to the broadcaster.
Steinmeier’s spokesperson, Cerstin Gammelin, shared an image of the president arriving in Kyiv early this morning.
„Unsere Solidarität ist ungebrochen, und so wird es bleiben.“
— Cerstin Gammelin (@BPrSprecherin) October 25, 2022
Bundespräsident #Steinmeier ist in der #Ukraine eingetroffen pic.twitter.com/oLYlRZMTKL
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.
Russia plans to raise its accusation that Ukraine is planning a “dirty bomb” attack at the UN security council later today, diplomats have said.
Britain, France and the US have all rejected Russia’s warning about a “dirty bomb”.
Meanwhile the UN nuclear watchdog is preparing to send inspectors in the coming days to two Ukrainian sites at Kyiv’s request, in order to discredit Russia’s unfounded claims.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said both sites were already subject to its inspections and one was inspected a month ago.
Here are all the latest lines you may have missed:
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.
Russia’s grip on the city of Kherson appears increasingly fragile. Russian forces seemed to be preparing to withdraw from the east bank of the Dnieper River, ordering a fresh evacuation of civilians and laying the ground for the potential loss of the city of Kherson itself. All civilians were ordered to evacuate immediately over the weekend in the face of the advancing Ukrainian counteroffensive.
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.
Russia is bringing new military units into Kherson as it prepares to defend the city in the face of the advancing Ukrainian counteroffensive, the head of Ukraine’s defence intelligence directorate has said. Kyrylo Budanov also said Russia would slow Ukrainian troops’ advance in the south by only about two weeks if it blows up the Kakhovka hyrdoelectric dam near 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.
The UN nuclear watchdog is preparing to send inspectors in the coming days to two Ukrainian sites after Kyiv requested an expert mission be sent to disprove Russian claims that Ukraine plans to use a “dirty bomb”.
The US has had no indications that Russia has decided to use a nuclear, biological 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.
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.
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 but 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.
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.
National leaders, development experts and CEOs will gather in Berlin on Tuesday for a conference on what its hosts say must be a Marshall plan to rebuild Ukraine after Russia’s invasion. The conference, hosted by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and the European Commission, will not involve concrete pledges of cash towards the estimated $750bn reconstruction cost.
