Live blog: Kiev, Moscow carry out biggest prisoner swap so far

Monday, October 17, 2022

Ukraine says 108 women freed in swap with Russia

Moscow and Kiev carried out one of the biggest prisoner swaps of the war so far, exchanging a total of 218 detainees, including 108 Ukrainian women, officials from both sides said.

Andriy Yermak, head of the Ukrainian president's staff, said there were 12 civilians among the freed women.

"It was the first completely female exchange," he wrote on the Telegram messaging app, adding that 37 of the women had been captured after Russian forces took the giant Azovstal steelworks in the port city of Mariupol in May.

EU approves Ukraine training mission, arms funds

The European Union approved a military training mission in Europe for thousands of Ukrainian troops and a plan to provide around $486 million (500 million euros) in extra funds to help buy weapons for the war-torn country.

EU headquarters said in a statement on Monday that the mission’s aim is to allow the Ukrainian armed forces to “effectively conduct military operations,” so that Ukraine can “defend its territorial integrity within its internationally recognised borders, effectively exercise its sovereignty and protect civilians.”

The mission, which will have a headquarters in Brussels and be under the command of French naval officer Vice Adm. Herve Blejean, will initially run for two years with a budget of almost 107 million euros ($104 million).

Up to 9,000 Russian soldiers will be deployed in Belarus

Up to 9,000 Russian soldiers and around 170 tanks will be deployed in Belarus, a Moscow ally, to build up a new joint force, the Belarus ministry of defence said.

The "total number" of Russian soldiers "due to arrive in Belarus is up to 9,000", according to Valeri Revenko, the Belarussian defence ministry advisor for international military cooperation, speaking on Telegram on Monday.

The creation of the new force tasked with defending the Belarussian borders against a perceived Ukrainian threat was announced last week following Russian setbacks in its offensive in Ukraine.

Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant relying on backup power connection: IAEA 

The Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (ZNPP) in Ukraine is being supplied with backup power from a nearby coal-fired power plant after its main 750 kilovolt (kV) power line was cut again on Monday morning, the UN nuclear watchdog said.

"For about ten minutes, one of the ZNPP's 20 emergency diesel generators started operating after this morning's loss of the 750 kV line, but it was soon switched off again as the back-up electricity system provided the necessary power," the International Atomic Energy Agency said in a statement on Monday.

US, UK to deepen cooperation on Russia, other sanctions -statement

The United States and Britain will further their cooperation on sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine as well as on other targets, top financial officials for the two allied nations said in a joint statement.

"Over time, we expect to realise the benefits of our collaboration not only in relation to the sanctions imposed in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but also across other common sanctions regimes," Andrea Gacki, the head of the US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control, and Giles Thomson, the head of Britain's Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation, wrote on Monday.

Russia faces internal turmoil, says former diplomat who resigned over war

President Vladimir Putin's "special military operation" in Ukraine has set Russia on a path towards turmoil that could unseat the Kremlin chief, trigger civil war or even ultimately break the country apart, said a Russian diplomat who resigned over the war.

Boris Bondarev, a counsellor at Russia's permanent mission to the United Nations in Geneva, resigned in May because he felt the war had shown how repressive and warped his homeland had become.

In a 6,500 word critique of Putin's Russia, Bondarev said the state was infested by sycophantic "yes men", enabling Putin to make big decisions in an echo chamber of his own propaganda.

Russia hits 'critical infrastructure' in three Ukrainian regions

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmygal said that Russian strikes had hit critical infrastructure in three regions, knocking out electricity to hundreds of towns and village across the country.

"Russian terrorists once again attacked the energy infrastructure of Ukraine in three regions," Shmygal said.

"Five drone strikes were recorded in Kiev. Energy facilities and a residential building were damaged," he added.

He said Russia had also launched rocket attacks on "critical infrastructure" in the central Dnipropetrovsk region and Sumy region in the east.

'All assigned targets hit' after Ukraine strikes: Russia

The Russian army said it had hit "all" of its targets in Ukraine, several hours after deadly strikes on Kiev and other regions lead to power cuts across the country.

"The Russian armed forces continued to strike with high-precision and long-range ... weapons at military command and control facilities and the energy systems of Ukraine," Russia's defence ministry said in a statement, adding that: "All assigned targets were hit."

Three killed in Russian drone attack on Kiev residential building

Three people were killed in a Russian drone attack on a residential building in the Ukrainian capital Kiev, an official in the presidential office said.

Kyrylo Tymoshenko, the deputy head of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's office, wrote on the Telegram messaging app that 19 people had been rescued from the residential building and rescue work was continuing.

Ukraine's interior minister reported several deaths across the country following the Russian attacks, but did not give a more precise death toll. 

Zelenskyy says Russian strikes 'won't be able to break' Ukrainians

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Russia had launched a barrage of drone and missile attack across his country but that the attacks would not "break" Ukrainians.

"All night and all morning, the enemy terrorises the civilian population. Kamikaze drones and missiles are attacking all of Ukraine. The enemy can attack our cities but it won't be able to break us," he said.

He confirmed a residential building in Kiev had been hit, after the mayor of the capital said two people had been trapped under the rubble. 

EU set to train 15,000 Ukrainian troops, provide more arms funding for Kiev

European Union foreign ministers are expected to agree on a mission to train 15,000 Ukrainian troops from next month and an extra 500 million euros worth of funding for arms deliveries to Kiev when they meet in Luxembourg.

Two senior EU officials said the military training would start in mid-November and would take place on EU territory at one hub in Poland and another in Germany.

Several EU countries have already been instructing Ukrainian troops on how to use specific weapons and this will continue. 

NATO holds 'routine' nuclear drill amid Russia tensions

NATO launched its regular nuclear deterrence drills in western Europe, after tensions soared with Russia over President Vladimir Putin's statements in the face of setbacks in Ukraine.

The 30-nation alliance has stressed that the "routine, recurring training activity" – which runs until October 30 – was planned before Moscow began its attacks on Ukraine and is not linked to the current situation.

It will involve US B-52 long-range bombers, and up to 60 aircraft in total will take part in training flights over Belgium, the United Kingdom and the North Sea.

Ukraine's Kiev attacked by 'kamikaze drones': presidency

Kiev has been attacked by "kamikaze drones", the Ukrainian president's chief of staff Andriy Yermak said after several explosions were heard in the central Shevchenkivsky district of the capital.

"The Russians think it will help them, but it shows their desperation," he said on social media.

Earlier, several explosions were heard in Kiev, exactly a week after Russian missile strikes on the Ukrainian capital.

Three blasts occurred between 6:35 am and 6:58 am (0335 GMT and 0358 GMT). Air raid sirens sounded shortly before the first explosion.

Ukraine's Donetsk region sees heavy fighting — Zelenskyy

Heavy fighting is going on around two towns in Ukraine's Donetsk region, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

"The key hot spots in Donetsk are Soledar and Bakhmut," Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address. "Very heavy fighting is going on there."

The town of Bakhmut has been the next target of Russia's armed forces in their slow advance through the Donetsk region since taking the key industrial towns of Lysychansk and Sievierodonetsk in June and July.

Russia-Ukraine conflict pushes 4M children into poverty — UN

Russia's attacks in Ukraine and the resulting economic fallout have thrown four million children into poverty across eastern Europe and Central Asia, the UN children's agency said.

"Children are bearing the heaviest burden of the economic crisis caused by the war in Ukraine," UNICEF said.

"Russia accounts for nearly three-quarters of the total increase in the number of children living in poverty due to the Ukraine war and a cost-of-living crisis across the region, with an additional 2.8 million children now living in households below the poverty line," UNICEF found.

For live updates from Sunday (October 16), click here