Live blog: Russian strikes kill three, wounds four in Ukraine

Saturday, October 21, 2023

Russia has struck areas of eastern and southern Ukraine with artillery and missiles, killing at least three people and wounding four others, officials said.

Russia fired hundreds of shells into Ukrainian-controlled parts of the Kherson region in the south on Friday, local governor Oleksandr Prokudin said.

"The Russian military hit residential areas of the region's settlements. As a result of Russian aggression, one person was killed and one more was wounded," he said Saturday morning.

In separate attacks, the head of Ukraine's central Dnipropetrovsk region said Russia fired a missile at a group of dachas, a type of cottage, in Kryvyi Rig - President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's hometown - killing a 60-year-old man and wounding a woman.

More updates: 👇

1401 GMT — Zelenskyy discusses Middle East, Ukraine peace formula in call with Türkiye's Erdogan

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has talked with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, Zelenskyy said, in a call where the two men discussed Ukraine's peace formula, food security, and the situation in the Middle East.

"We discussed the next round of negotiations on the Peace Formula, which will take place in Malta. Türkiye will participate, adding its authoritative voice and position," Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram.

"We also discussed the situation in the Middle East and agreed on the need to ensure the protection of civilians and respect for humanitarian law," he added.

1329 GMT — Russia summoned Czech charge d'affaires over response to Hroza attack

Russia's foreign ministry said it had summoned the Czech Republic's temporary charge d'affaires in Russia, protesting against Prague's response to an air strike on Hroza in northeastern Ukraine this month that killed dozens.

The ministry said it had summoned the Czech diplomat on October 17 "in response to the recent demarche by the Czech foreign ministry".

"A decisive protest was lodged and the Russian position on the situation around Ukraine was thoroughly stated, including in the context of Ukrainian fabrications picked up by Prague about the alleged involvement of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation in the strikes on civilian infrastructure in Hroza," the ministry said.

0056 GMT — North Korea condemns US delivery of ATACMS to Ukraine

North Korea has condemned the United States for supplying Ukraine with long-range ballistic missiles known as ATACMS, saying any strike on Russia with them will only hamper peace efforts.

"The US finally delivered ATACMS ground-to-ground missile system to Ukraine despite the deep concern and strong opposition of the international community," Sin Hong-Chol, North Korea's ambassador to Russia, said in a statement carried by state media KCNA.

"Any strike at the interior of Russia, a nuclear power, will not be of help to the early end of the Ukrainian situation or its peaceful settlement as the US advocates but will serve as a catalyst for putting the whole Europe into the crucible of endless war and prolonging the war," the statement said.

Several variants of ATACMS can carry cluster bomblets.

The system provides "the ability to engage both point and area high-value targets with precision fires out to 300 km," a US Army website says.

For our live updates from Friday (October 20), click here.