Live blog: Zelenskyy calls for more weapons, seeks Russia's isolation

Thursday, October 13, 2022

Ukraine presses Europe on air defences, seeks Russia's isolation

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has made a new plea to Western partners to help beef up Ukraine's air defences and called for further steps to isolate Russia. The US and other NATO members have already provided Ukraine with weapons but Ukraine has said repeatedly that it needs more to fend off Russian forces.

In a video link with the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe — Europe's leading human rights watchdog — Zelenskyy said his country had only about 10 percent of what it needs in terms of air defences as its cities and energy facilities are attacked by Russian missiles and drones.

Zelenskyy again ruled out talks with Russia, saying there could be no diplomacy with "the leadership of a country that kills, captures and does not respect international law." He also said Moscow "must be diplomatically isolated".

Russia to help people leave annexed region as Kiev advances

Russia has agreed to help residents leave a region it has annexed in a new sign Kiev's counter-offensive is advancing. Russia's decision came a day after Kiev said it had retaken five settlements in the southern Kherson region.

"The government took the decision to organise assistance for the departure of residents of the (Kherson) region," Russian Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin said.

Earlier, the Moscow-backed head of Kherson region, Vladimir Saldo, said: "We suggested to all people of the Kherson region to, if they wish, leave to other regions to protect themselves from missile hits."

Russia confirms death of five soldiers drafted to Ukraine

Five Russians drafted to fight in Ukraine following a "partial" mobilisation order from President Vladimir Putin have died since joining the army, authorities have said, without disclosing the location of the deaths.

Five people from the poor, industrial Chelyabinsk region in Western Siberia have died since their call-up, the press service of the regional government said in a statement carried by Russian news agencies.

"We will provide all the necessary assistance to the family and loved ones of our fallen soldiers," it said, promising a pay-out of one million rubles ($15,800) for each soldier.

Ukraine shells housing, Russian munitions depot near border: Governor

Ukrainian shelling hit housing in the southern Russian city of Belgorod and blew up a munitions depot in the border region, the local governor has said.

Belgorod region governor Vyacheslav Gladkov added in a statement on Telegram hat initial information showed there were no dead or injured and that residents were being moved to a "safe" place.

Earlier on Thursday, Gladkov said Kiev's forces shelled homes in Belgorod but Ukraine denied any involvement.

A senior Ukrainian presidential aide, Mykhaylo Podolyak, denied Kiev's military was responsible. Russia had tried to shell Ukraine's second-largest city of Kharkiv on the border "but something went wrong", he said.

Russia, Ukraine exchange 40 prisoners in new swap

Moscow and Kiev have said they have exchanged 20 soldiers each in their latest prisoner swap.

"Another exchange of prisoners, another moment of joy," Ukrainian presidential aide Andriy Yermak said on Telegram. "We have managed to free 20 people." They were "14 soldiers of Ukraine's army, four members of the territorial defence, a member of the national guard and a member of Ukraine's navy".

Russia's defence ministry said in a statement on Telegram: "Twenty Russian soldiers have returned from Ukrainian territory controlled by Kiev" and were getting the medical and psychological help they needed.

Ukraine's Kiev area hit by Iranian-made kamikaze drones

Russian forces have attacked Ukraine's Kiev and Odessa regions with Iranian-made drones and used missiles to strike other areas, Ukrainian officials have said, with Moscow punishing the country for a fourth day after a truck bomb damaged a bridge to the annexed Crimean Peninsula.

Ukrainian officials said that Iranians in Russian-controlled territories of Ukraine were training Russians how to use the Shahed-136 systems, which can conduct air-to-surface attacks, electronic warfare and targeting. Ukraine’s air force command said on Thursday its air defence shot down six Iranian drones from over the Odessa and Mykolaiv regions during the night.

The British Defence Ministry has said the Iran-made drones were unlikely to be fulfilling their purpose of providing strike options deep into Ukrainian territory, with many reportedly destroyed before they hit their targets.

France: Iranian drone sales to Russia would violate UNSC resolution

France's foreign ministry has said that any sale of Iranian drones to Russia would be a violation of the United Nations Security Council resolution that endorsed the 2015 nuclear accord between Iran and world powers.

The ministry added that it was coordinating with its EU partners on how to respond.

Three drones operated by Russian forces attacked the small town of Makariv, west of Ukraine's capital, early on Thursday, with officials saying that critical infrastructure facilities were struck by what they said were Iranian-made suicide drones.

Russia denounces exclusion from Nord Stream leaks probe

Russia's foreign ministry has said it has summoned envoys of Germany, Denmark and Sweden to express "bewilderment" over Moscow's exclusion from an investigation into leaks on the Nord Stream pipelines.

Multiple leaks were discovered on the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines connecting Russia to Germany, further raising political tensions already sky high since the Kremlin sent troop to Ukraine in February.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said the leaks were an act of "international terrorism" that would benefit the United States, Poland and Ukraine.

IAEA's Grossi raised issue of detained Zaporizhzhia plant official with Russia

United Nations nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi has said he has raised the issue of the detained deputy head of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant with the Russian authorities.

Speaking on a visit to Kiev, Grossi said the detention of the plant’s deputy director, Valeriy Martynyuk, was unacceptable.

Spain to send air defence systems to Ukraine: NATO chief

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg has said Spain is sending four medium-range air defence systems to Ukraine, as Western backers scramble to help Kiev against Russia's missile barrages.

Ukraine's international supporters have held talks at the NATO headquarters in Brussels with the focus on air defences after Moscow unleashed a blitz across Ukraine following a blast at a bridge to the annexed Crimea peninsula.

Stoltenberg said the older Hawk launchers from Madrid would complement more modern systems being supplied by Germany, France and the United States.

Ukraine blows up Russian munitions depot near border: Governor

Ukrainian shelling has blown up an ammunitions depot in a Russian border village, the governor of Russia's frontier Belgorod region has said on Telegram.

"In a village of the Belgorod district an ammunition depot was blown up as a result of shelling by the Armed Forces of Ukraine," the governor of the Belgorod region Vyacheslav Gladkov said. "Residents will now be taken to a safe distance."

Kremlin: Goals of 'military operation' may be achieved through talks: Izvestia

The Kremlin has been quoted as saying that the goals of its "special military operation" in Ukraine are unchanged, but that they may be achieved through negotiations.

In comments to the Russian newspaper Izvestia, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Russia was open to negotiation.

"The direction has not changed, the special military operation continues, it continues in order for us to achieve our goals," Peskov was quoted as saying. "However we have repeatedly reiterated that we remain open to negotiations to achieve our objectives."

Swedish academy expels Russian conductor Gergiev over Ukraine

Russian conductor Valery Gergiev has been expelled from his position as a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music for his reluctance to condemn the Russian offensive against Ukraine, the academy has said.

The academy, which cited his relationship with the Kremlin and Russian President Vladimir Putin, said it had demanded Gergiev take a stand against the war.

"Through his close ties with the Russian government which today is attacking Ukraine, we find that he has acted in a way that we cannot afford not to distance ourselves from," Susanne Ryden, president of the academy, told AFP news agency. "This is unacceptable and not something the academy can be associated with," she added.

Pro-Russian forces say captured villages near Bakhmut in Donetsk region

Russian-backed separatist forces in the eastern Donetsk region of Ukraine they had captured two villages near the industrial city of Bakhmut, posting small gains against Kiev's counter-offensive.

"A group of DNR and LNR troops – with fire support from the Russian Armed Forces – liberated Opytine and Ivangrad," a statement released by separatist authorities said on Telegram, using acronyms for the so-called Donetsk and Lugansk people's republics.

The villages are located just south of Bakhmut, a wine-making and salt-mining city that used to be populated by some 70,000 people and which Russian forces have been pummelling for weeks to capture. 

Admission of Ukraine to NATO can lead to third world war - Russian official

The admission of Ukraine to NATO could result in a third world war, the deputy secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, Alexander Venediktov, told the state TASS news agency in an interview.

"Kiev is well aware that such a step would mean a guaranteed escalation to a World War Three," TASS cited Venediktov as saying.

"Apparently, that's what they are counting on - to create informational noise and draw attention to themselves once again." 

Ukraine's Kiev area hit by Iranian-made kamikaze drones

Ukraine’s capital region was struck by Iranian-made kamikaze drones, officials said, sending rescue workers rushing to the scene as residents awoke to air raid sirens for the fourth consecutive morning following Russia’s major assault across the country earlier this week.

Kiev regional governor Oleksiy Kuleba said the strike occurred in the area around the capital. It wasn't yet clear if there were any casualties.

Deputy head of the presidential office Kyrylo Tymoshenko said on Telegram that “critical infrastructure facilities” in the area were hit, without offering any details on which ones. 

Ukraine nuclear chief: Zaporizhzhia plant does not need Russian fuel

The head of Ukraine's state nuclear energy company decried as "fake news" Russian assertions that the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant will need Russian fuel.

Energoatom chief Petro Kotin, speaking in a Reuters interview, said there are fresh fuel supplies in storage at the six-reactor plant, the largest in Europe.

His comments came after an official of Rosenergoatom, Russia's nuclear power operator, was quoted by Russia's TASS state news agency as saying that the Zaporizhzhia plant would be switched to Russian fuel once its reserves are exhausted.

NATO holds nuclear talks amid war tensions, Putin threats

NATO’s secretive Nuclear Planning Group met as the military alliance presses ahead with plans to hold a nuclear exercise next week as concerns deepen over President Vladimir Putin’s insistence that he will use any means necessary to defend Russian territory.

Defence ministers led the session, which usually happens once or twice a year, at NATO headquarters in Brussels. It comes against a backdrop of high tension as some NATO allies, led by the US, supply Ukraine with advanced weapons and munitions to defend itself against Russian aerial attacks.

NATO is keeping a wary eye on Russia’s movements but has so far seen no change in its nuclear posture.

G20 to meet under Ukraine war, inflation cloud

A divided G20 holds talks under the shadow of multiple crises, from Russia's offensive in Ukraine to a global economic slowdown, on top of soaring inflation and climate change.

Finance ministers and central bankers from the Group of 20 major economies are gathering in Washington during annual meetings of the IMF and World Bank this week that have underscored the multiple challenges the world is facing.

The list of threats ranges from rising interest rates to soaring food prices, along with growing poverty and natural disasters blamed on climate crisis. 

Ukraine to fend off Russian strikes with UK-donated missiles

Britain has said it would supply Ukraine with air defence missiles to defend itself against Russian assaults and will for the first time provide rockets capable of shooting down cruise missiles.

"The AMRAAM rockets ... will be provided in the coming weeks for use with the NASAMS air defence systems pledged by the US," the British Defence Ministry said in a statement.

Britain said it would also send hundreds of drones to support Ukraine's intelligence services as well as 18 howitzer artillery guns, in addition to 64 already delivered.

Ukraine authorities report shelling in Kiev region

A settlement in the Kiev region of Ukraine has been hit by shelling, the region’s administration said on the Telegram messaging app.

"Rescuers are already working at the site," the administration said, without providing further details on where the shelling took place.

Reports were not independently confirmed.

Biden: Russia cannot erase Ukraine from map

US President Joe Biden has said the United Nations General Assembly has sent a "clear message" to Moscow by voting to condemn Russia's annexation of parts of Ukraine, according to a White House statement.

"The stakes of this conflict are clear to all — and the world has sent a clear message in response: Russia cannot erase a sovereign state from the map," Biden said.

US pitches for Russian oil price cap at $60 

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has said that a price cap on Russian oil exports in the $60-a-barrel range would likely be sufficient to reduce Moscow's energy revenues while allowing profitable production.

Yellen told an event at the International Monetary Fund and World Bank meetings in Washington that the United States and its Western allies are still discussing where to set the price for a capping mechanism meant to punish Moscow for its aggression against Ukraine while keeping Russian crude on the global market.

Backers of the cap, which would deny Western-supplied shipping insurance, finance other services to Russian oil cargoes above a specified price, and aim to implement it on December 5, as the European Union implements a phased ban on Russian crude.

For live updates from Wednesday (October 12), click here