Live blog: Russia seeks to regain ground, hits Ukraine's infrastructure

Thursday, October 20, 2022

Russia seeks to regain ground, hits Ukraine's infrastructure

Russia's troops fought to regain lost ground in areas of Ukraine that Russian President Vladimir Putin has illegally annexed while Moscow tried to pound the war-torn country into submission with more missile and drone attacks on critical infrastructure.

Russian forces engaged Ukrainian positions on Thursday near Bilohorivka, a village in the Luhansk region of eastern Ukraine. 

In the neighbouring Donetsk region, fighting raged near the city of Bakhmut. Kremlin-backed separatists have controlled parts of both regions for 8½ years.

Iran personnel 'in Crimea' helping Russia: White House

Iranian personnel have been on the ground in Russian-annexed Crimea helping Moscow's forces conduct attacks on Ukraine with Iran-made drones, the White House said.

"We assess that Iranian military personnel were on the ground in Crimea and assisted Russia in these operations," White House national security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters.

Kirby said that the Iranians in Crimea were trainers and tech support workers, and that the Russians were piloting the drones, which have caused significant damage on Ukrainian infrastructure.

Russian official says 'practical' issues delay visit to POWs

The International Committee of the Red Cross has conducted at least five visits to Ukrainian prisoners of war since Russia launched attacks on Ukraine, a Russian diplomat said while insisting that “practical arrangements” were holding up a trip to a prison where dozens of POWs died. 

Gennady Gatilov, Russia’s ambassador in Geneva, said on Thursday that it was unreasonable to think Red Cross teams could visit all of the more than 6,000 Ukrainian POWs. Some critics say the Geneva-based ICRC has not done enough to try to obtain access to Russian detention centres. 

The humanitarian organisation said on Sunday that it has an 11-person team ready to visit any POWs in separatist-held areas of Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region, including those held at the Olenivka prison. 

Nearly 15,000 residents of Ukraine's Kherson evacuated: official

Some 15,000 residents of Ukraine's Kherson region, currently under Russian control, have been evacuated amid a Ukrainian counter-offensive, an official said.

"About 15,000 residents, having listened to the recommendations of the leadership of the Kherson region, moved to the left bank (of the Dnipro river)," Russian-installed regional official Kirill Stremousov said on Telegram.

Vladimir Saldo, who was appointed head of the southern coastal region by Russian President Vladimir Putin, earlier said evacuation accelerated due to the threat of possible flooding if Ukraine’s military hits the Kakhovskaya Hydroelectric Power Plant.

Ukraine curbs energy use, warns of threat from Belarus

Ukraine began curbing electricity consumption as it raced to repair infrastructure destroyed by Russian bombing as winter approaches.

Energy-saving measures were put in place on Thursday across the country after Russian missile and drone strikes destroyed at least 30 percent of the country's power stations in a week.

Ukraine also warned of a "growing" threat of a new Russian offensive from Belarus, after Minsk and Moscow last week announced a joint force to defend Belarusian borders.

 Moscow accuses West of 'pressure' on Iran over drones in Ukraine

Russia's foreign ministry said the West is seeking to put "pressure" on Tehran with accusations that Moscow is using Iran-made drones in Ukraine, claims that Russia and Iran deny. 

"Everything that is now being done on the Iranian track is subordinated to one goal -- pressure on this country. And Washington is mobilising NATO and EU countries for this in support of its position," ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a press briefing. 

Iran denies plan to send missiles to Russia for Ukraine conflict

Iran's top diplomat denied that Tehran planned to send missiles to Russia for use in the Ukraine war, an allegation made in several media reports. 

The denial on Thursday comes as the Czech Republic, which holds the European Union's rotating presidency, announced that the bloc had agreed sanctions against three individuals and one entity alleged to have supplied Iranian attack drones to Russia for use against Ukrainian targets. 

"During a telephone conversation with (EU foreign policy chief) Josep Borrell, I told him that our politics... is that we are opposed to the war and its escalation in Ukraine," Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said on Twitter.

West's Ukraine weapons are going onto the black market: Russia

Russia said that the West's supplies of advanced weapons to Ukraine were finding their way onto the black market and then into the hands of extremist and criminal groups in the Middle East, central Africa and Asia.

Maria Zakharova, Russia's foreign ministry spokesperson, said that NATO members had in total sent at least 700 artillery systems, 80,000 missile systems, 800,000 artillery shells and 90 million rounds of ammunition.

"A considerable part of these weapons have already entered, or will soon enter, the black market," Zakharova told reporters in Moscow. "Now the world community is facing this."

Authors must document Russian 'terror', Zelenskyy tells Frankfurt fair

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made an impassioned plea at the world's biggest publishing event for authors to write about the "terror" unleashed by Russia's attack. 

"Instead of importing culture, Russia imports death," Zelenskyy told the fair, in a video address.

"So I ask you, please do everything to make people know about the terror that Russia brought to Ukraine," he added.

Russia says discussing Red Cross access to bombed Ukraine prison

Russia said the Red Cross had permission to visit Olenivka prison, where dozens of Ukrainian prisoners of war died in a July bombing strike, but was blocked by the security situation.

Kiev earlier this week accused the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) of "inaction" over Ukrainian prisoners held by Russia, saying a lack of visits to detained soldiers and civilians left them vulnerable to being tortured.

The ICRC meanwhile has said it shares in the frustration, though stressing it could only conduct such visits when it was granted authorisation and security guarantees.

Finland plans fence on Russia border, dividing East and West

More than 30 years after the fall of the Iron Curtain, Finland plans to erect a barbed-wire fence on its border with Russia dividing East and West, following the war in Ukraine.

The Nordic country this week announced broad parliamentary support to replace its wooden fences, designed mainly to stop livestock from wandering across the 1,300-kilometre (800-mile) border, with sturdier barriers to keep Russians and migrants out.

"Hopefully the work can start as quickly as possible," Prime Minister Sanna Marin told reporters in Helsinki.

US sanctions charges against Russians are 'cynical' bid to intimidate: Moscow

Russia sees charges brought by the United States against five Russian nationals for alleged sanctions violations as an attempt to intimidate the business community in Russia and abroad, its foreign ministry said.

"The cynicism of this situation is that it is about taking hostages for further political gain," spokesperson Maria Zakharova said in a statement.

US prosecutors on Wednesday charged the five with sanctions evasion and other violations related to shipping military technologies bought from US manufacturers to Russian buyers. Some of the electronics obtained through the scheme have been found in Russian weapons platforms seized in Ukraine, prosecutors said.

NATO allies would act if Sweden, Finland come under pressure - Stoltenberg

NATO allies will act if Sweden or Finland come under pressure from Russia or another adversary before they become full members of the alliance, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said. 

"It is inconceivable that allies would not act should Sweden and Finland come under any form of pressure," Stoltenberg said at a news conference with Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson. 

Ukraine restricts electricity use after Russian strikes

Ukraine has urged residents to drastically restrict their electricity consumption starting to cope with the destruction of power stations by the Russian army as winter approaches. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said after a meeting with energy companies that they were preparing "for all possible scenarios with a view to winter", as Kiev accused Moscow of orchestrating a "mass deportation" of civilians from the occupied region of Kherson.

Russia imposed martial law on Wednesday in four areas recently annexed by the Kremlin, while its military maintain heavy attacks across Ukraine, including on Kiev and the country's west, which had previously been spared the brunt of the onslaught.

Russia to reassess working with UN chief if he inspects drones in Ukraine

Russia will reassess its cooperation with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and his staff if Guterres sends experts to Ukraine to inspect downed drones that Western powers say were made in Iran, Russia's deputy UN envoy said.

Russia's Deputy UN Ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy did not elaborate on what cooperation could be affected.

Moscow tells UN chief not to send experts to inspect drones in Ukraine

Russia said that it will "reassess cooperation" with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres if he sends experts to Ukraine to inspect downed drones that Western powers say were made in Iran and used by Moscow in violation of a UN resolution.

Speaking after a closed-door UN Security Council meeting on Moscow's use of drones, Russia's Deputy UN Ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy called on Guterres and his staff to "abstain from engaging in any illegitimate investigation."

"The UAVs used by the Russian army in Ukraine are manufactured in Russia," Polyanskiy told reporters outside the Security Council. "I would recommend that you do not underestimate the technological capabilities of the Russian drone industry."

US, allies discuss 'Iranian drone transfers' to Russia

The United States, Britain and France have raised the issue of Iran's alleged transfer of drones to Russia at a meeting of the UN Security Council, US State Department spokesperson Ned Price said.

"We expressed our grave concerns about Russia's acquisition of these UAVs from Iran," Price said in a statement. "We now have abundant evidence that these UAVs are being used to strike Ukrainian civilians and critical civilian infrastructure."

"We will not hesitate to use our sanctions and other appropriate tools on all involved in these transfers," Price said. 

For live updates from Wednesday (October 19), click here