Live blog: No indication Russia has decided to use nukes in Ukraine - US

Monday, October 24, 2022

No indication Russia has decided to use nukes in Ukraine: US official

The United States has seen no indications that Russia has decided to use nuclear, chemical or biological weapons in Ukraine, a senior military official has said.

"We still have seen nothing to indicate that the Russians have made a decision to employ nuclear weapons," the official told journalists on Monday, later adding that the same applies to chemical and biological arms.

The remarks come after repeated Russian warnings that Ukraine could use a so-called "dirty bomb."

Russia ordered some 2,000 drones from Iran: Zelenskyy

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia had ordered around 2,000 drones from Iran, the same kind that Kiev says Moscow has been using in its recent attacks against Ukraine.

"The disgusting sound of Iranian drones is heard in our skies every night. According to our intelligence, Russia ordered about 2,000 'Shaheds' from Iran," Zelenskyy said on Monday during a speech at a conference organised by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz. 

It was not immediately clear if Zelenskyy was referring to Russia's past purchases or new ones.

Russian military chief speaks over phone with British, US counterparts

The Russian Defense Ministry said that the country's Chief of the General Staff Gen. Valery Gerasimov had separate phone talks with British Chief of the Defense Staff Adm. Tony Radakin and head of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Alexander Milley.

"On October 24, 2022, the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation - the First Deputy Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation - Army General Valery Gerasimov had a telephone conversation with the Chief of the Defense Staff of the United Kingdom Admiral Antony Radakin," the ministry said in a statement.

According to the statement, the military chiefs discussed the possible use by Ukraine of a "dirty bomb" an explosive device with radioactive components.

Türkiye, Hungary reaffirm importance of ensuring ceasefire

Ankara and Budapest both stressed the importance of establishing a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine as soon as possible to stop the bloodshed, the Turkish national defence minister said.

"We reaffirmed that we respect the territorial integrity, sovereignty and rights of all our neighbours, especially Ukraine," Hulusi Akar said at a news conference in the capital Ankara with his visiting Hungarian counterpart Kristof Szalay-Bobrovniczky.

"We expressed the importance of establishing a cease-fire as soon as possible and stopping the deteriorating humanitarian situation and bloodshed," Akar added.

Russia has frequent contacts with Türkiye: Kremlin

Russian President Vladimir Putin's frequent contacts with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan are linked to Ankara's desire to continue mediation efforts on Ukraine and extensive trade and economic relations between Russia and Türkiye, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said.

Meanwhile, contacts with German and French leaders have been reduced due to their unwillingness to take into account Russia's position, Peskov told a press briefing in Moscow.

"Ankara takes a position different from that of Paris and Berlin, declares its readiness to continue mediation efforts, and we know that President Putin has repeatedly praised these mediation efforts of Türkiye," Peskov said.

Most Ukrainians back continued armed resistance to Russia - poll

An overwhelming majority of Ukrainians believes the country should keep up its armed resistance to Russia's attacks, according to a survey after two weeks of heavy shelling of cities including the capital Kiev.

The survey published on Monday, conducted by the Kiev International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) on October 21-23, showed 86% of those polled said it was necessary to continue fighting against the Russian army even if missile and drone attacks on Ukrainian cities persist.

The proportion of people backing continued armed resistance remained high, at 69 percent, even in the eastern regions of Kharkiv and Donetsk, which have seen far more fighting and are home to larger numbers of Russian speakers.

Russia-controlled Kherson authorities create local militia

The Russia-backed administration of Ukraine's Kherson region has said that it was organising some local men into militia units.

In a notice on Telegram, the Russia-controlled authorities said men had the "opportunity" to join territorial defence units if they chose to remain in Kherson of their own free will.

However, men in other Russian-occupied Ukrainian regions such as Donetsk have previously been compelled to join up and fight with the pro-Moscow separatist groups in the conflict with Ukraine.

Ukraine calls on governments to ban Russia’s RT over presenter’s ‘genocide incitement’

Ukraine’s foreign minister has urged a global ban on the Russian RT news channel following a statement from presenter Anton Krasovsky saying that Ukrainian children should have been drowned.

“Governments which still have not banned RT must watch this excerpt. This is what you side with if you allow RT to operate in your countries. Aggressive genocide incitement, which has nothing to do with freedom of speech. Ban RT worldwide,” Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on his Twitter account.

Ukraine, US reject Russia's 'false' dirty bomb allegations

Top US and Ukrainian diplomats have rejected in a phone call Russia's Defence Secretary Sergey Shoigu's claims of preparing to use a "dirty bomb" by Ukrainian authorities on its own territory.

"I spoke to @SecBlinken. We both agreed Russia’s ‘dirty bomb’ disinformation campaign might be aimed at creating a pretext for a false flag operation," Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said.

Separately Kuleba's US counterpart Antony Blinken released a statement underlining Washington's continued support to Ukraine and to "reject Russia’s false allegations that Ukraine is preparing to use a dirty bomb on its own territory."

US, UK, France jointly reject Russia's 'dirty bomb' claim

The United States, Britain and France have jointly dismissed Russian claims that Ukraine is preparing to use a dirty bomb and warned Moscow against using any pretext for escalating the conflict.

"Our countries made clear that we all reject Russia’s transparently false allegations that Ukraine is preparing to use a dirty bomb on its own territory," the US State Department said in a joint statement with the British and French governments.

"The world would see through any attempt to use this allegation as a pretext for escalation," the statement went on. "We further reject any pretext for escalation by Russia."

Iran to provide Russia with '40 turbines' to ease gas supply

Iran has announced a contract with Russia to supply it with 40 turbines to help its gas industry amid Western sanctions over Moscow's aggression 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.

"Currently, 85 percent of the facilities and equipment needed by the gas industry are built inside the country, and based on this capability, a contract has recently been signed to export 40 Iranian-made turbines to Russia," he added.

For live updates from Saturday (October 23), click here