Further strikes on Donetsk; Russia takes dubious ‘dirty bomb’ case to UN security council
Donetsk oblast was hit hard in the past day, with at least 15 Russian strikes killing seven civilians and injuring three more. The Ukrainian national police said the strikes also destroyed 19 residential buildings and one power line.
Farther south, a car explosion near the office of Russian propaganda channel ZaTV in Russia-occupied Melitopol injured at least five people, including company employees, authorities said. While investigators were still looking into the blast, Vladimir Rogov, a Russian-appointed occupied Zaporizhia oblast official, reportedly told Russian state media the explosion came from an “improvised explosive device”.
Russia took its case to the UN security council that Ukraine is preparing to use a “dirty bomb” on its own territory, an assertion dismissed by western and Ukrainian officials as misinformation and a pretext for intensifying the war.
Ukraine’s foreign minister said inspectors from the UN nuclear watchdog would soon inspect two Ukrainian sites at Kyiv’s request, adding that it feared Moscow’s “dirty bomb” allegations were preparation for a “false-flag” operation.
The US congressional Progressive Caucus withdrew a letter to the White House urging a negotiated settlement, its chair, Pramila Jayapal, confirmed.
Vladimir Putin said Russia needed to speed up decision-making in the military campaign in Ukraine.
Moscow was generally supportive of the idea of creating a secure zone around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia’s ambassador to international institutions in Vienna, told the Tass news agency.
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, reiterated a pledge to retake the city of Kherson, which would be a big setback for Putin.
Russia has notified the US of plans to carry out annual exercises of its nuclear forces, the US government said, adding that it lowered the risk of miscalculation at a time of “reckless” Russian nuclear rhetoric.
Britain’s incoming prime minister, Rishi Sunak, promised Zelenskiy that the UK’s support for Ukraine would be steadfast and “as strong as ever” under his premiership”.
A Russian court dismissed WNBA basketball star Brittney Griner’s appeal against a nine-year sentence for possessing and smuggling vape cartridges containing cannabis oil. Griner’s lawyer said she hoped she could be released in a prisoner exchange with the US.
The US is considering sending older Hawk air defence equipment from storage to Ukraine, two US officials told Reuters.
Zelenskiy and the European hosts of a donor conference laid out a vision of a future Ukraine as a European Union member and major exporter of green energy to the continent.
The European Commission urged EU countries and companies to donate more money and equipment to support the energy sector in Ukraine, over a third of which has been destroyed by Russian missile and drone strikes.
Ukraine’s external financing needs will be around $3bn a month through 2023 in a best case scenario, but could rise as high as $5bn, said the IMF managing director, Kristalina Georgieva.
Poland’s prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, has said Russian assets and those of Russian oligarchs amount to “huge pot of gold” that should be used for Ukraine’s reconstruction. “We must make sure that the offender pays for reconstruction. Russia should pay Ukraine war damages, war reparations.”
Police rescued an eight-year-old boy whose parents were killed in Russian shell strikes in Bakhmut, it was reported. Iuliia Mendel, a former spokesperson for Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said the boy’s mother was seven months pregnant when she died “in the street” along with his father.
Ukrainian authorities are estimating that Russian forces have lost nearly 68,420 personnel since the start of the invasion.
Refugees who fled in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine should stay abroad this winter due to blackouts created by Moscow’s bombardment of energy infrastructure, a Ukrainian minister has said.
