October 21, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

The European Union is discussing plans to provide Ukraine with 1.5 billion euros per month ($1.45 billion) to help with basic needs such as energy, food and water, European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen said at a news conference Friday at the end of a two-day EU summit.

At this stage, it’s still a proposal and the 27 countries will explore ways to find ways to finance this aid to Ukraine.

“We have tasked the finance ministers to develop the appropriate mechanism, but it was important also to give this signal to Ukraine that we very well know how important this reliable flow of income is,” she said.

Defense Intelligence of Ukraine, part of the Defense Ministry, says Russian forces have begun mining the sluice gates and supports of the dam at Nova Kakhovka on the river Dnipro.

Its allegations follow comments by President Volodymyr Zelensky, where he claimed Russian forces are mining a critical dam on the Dnipro river in the southern Kherson region, as well as the adjacent hydroelectric plant.

Defense Intelligence said the "Russians foresee a quick liberation of the west bank part of Kherson region by the Ukrainian Defense Forces and are preparing a series of terrorist attacks on this territory. In particular, the dam of the Kakhovka reservoir and units of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant are under the threat of destruction."

"During the current week, the sluices and supports of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant were additionally mined," it said, claiming, "Two military tented Kamaz trucks without drivers were placed on the dam. Both vehicles are fully loaded with boxes of explosives.

Russian-appointed officials in Kherson have dismissed the claims as "nonsense."

The reservoir behind the dam, which provides water to cool the reactors at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, holds about 18 million cubic meters of water.

About Zelensky's comments: Zelensky claimed that Russia was creating grounds for a large-scale catastrophe in the south of Ukraine.

"If Russian terrorists blow up this dam, more than 80 settlements, including Kherson, will be in the zone of rapid flooding. Hundreds of thousands of people may suffer. Water supply to a large part of southern Ukraine could be destroyed. This Russian terrorist attack could leave Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant without water for cooling — water for ZNPP is taken from the Kakhovka reservoir," he said.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu by phone on Friday, a readout of the phone call from Pentagon press secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said.

Austin last spoke with Shoigu on May 13, a previous readout from the Pentagon said. The conversation in May was the first time the two leaders had spoken since Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. Austin urged Shoigu to implement an “immediate ceasefire,” according to a brief readout of the May call.

Before the May phone call, the leaders spoke on Feb. 18, days before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began on Feb. 24.

On Friday, Austin also spoke with Ukraine's Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov to “reiterate the unwavering US commitment to supporting Ukraine’s ability to counter Russia’s aggression,” a separate readout from Ryder said.

 Iran has urged its citizens in Ukraine to leave the country and avoid traveling there due to “intensifying military clashes and increased unrest,” according to a statement from the Iranian Foreign Ministry.

“Due to intensifying military clashes and increased unrest in Ukraine, Iranian citizens are strongly advised not to travel to this country. At the same time, all Iranians living in Ukraine are advised to leave the country to protect their life and safety,” the statement reads.

The move comes after the US and European allies accused Iran of supplying drones to Russia for use in Ukraine. State Department Spokesperson Ned Price said on Wednesday that the US has "abundant evidence" that Iranian drones are being used to strike Ukrainian civilians and critical civilian infrastructure.

The White House said Iranian military personnel have visited Crimea to assist with Russian operations targeting civilian infrastructure in Ukraine using drones.

Iran continues to deny it is sending weapons to Russia for use in Ukraine. “Iran does not send arms to the warring sides in Ukraine and wants an end to the war and an end to the displacement of people,” Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian tweeted on Friday.

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The European Union should use over €300bn ($292bn) of frozen Russian foreign assets to help Ukraine, Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said on Friday.

“Today we’re going to focus on Ukraine. First of all, we have to talk about the use of [frozen] assets that we have -- Russian [frozen] assets. We have over €300bn ($292bn) of [frozen] assets and how we can use them in benefit of Ukraine,” Kallas told reporters in Brussels, where she is attending a meeting of the Council of the European Union.

In a tweet, Kallas said it was “time [the EU] move ahead with making the aggressor pay.”

“Second, we definitely have to discuss the legal response to the crimes of aggression that have been committed and how to make a separate tribunal to prosecute those,” Kallas also told reporters.

Dam mining "pure terrorism": Kallas called the alleged mining of a critical dam on the Dnipro river in Ukraine’s southern Kherson region -- which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky mentioned to the Council on a video address on Thursday -- “pure terrorism.”

“If you look at the definition of terrorism, this is what it is. It is to make us afraid, it is to make us refrain from the decisions that we would otherwise make and this is awful that it is possible to do this in 2022,” Kallas said.

Zelensky claimed that Russia was creating grounds for a large-scale catastrophe in the south of Ukraine, with Russian forces mining a critical dam on the Dnipro river in the southern Kherson region, as well as the adjacent hydroelectric plant.

"If Russian terrorists blow up this dam, more than 80 settlements, including Kherson, will be in the zone of rapid flooding. Hundreds of thousands of people may suffer. Water supply to a large part of southern Ukraine could be destroyed. This Russian terrorist attack could leave Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant without water for cooling -- water for ZNPP is taken from the Kakhovka reservoir," Zelensky said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that Russia's attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure are aimed at creating a new wave of refugees.

Speaking to the European Council in a video address, Zelensky said after failing to use energy resources as a weapon against Europe, "the current Russian leadership has ordered to turn the energy system itself into a battlefield. The consequences of this are very dangerous, again for all of us in Europe."

"Attacks by Russian cruise missiles and Iranian attack drones have destroyed more than a third of our energy infrastructure," he said. "Because of this, unfortunately, we can no longer export electricity to help you maintain stability."

Days of devastating Russian attacks on energy infrastructure have caused the nation to lose at least 40% of its power-generating capacity. Ukrainian officials warned earlier this week that both emergency and scheduled blackouts would follow.

Zelensky added: "Russia is also provoking a new wave of migration of Ukrainians to the EU countries. Russia's terror against our energy facilities is aimed at creating as many problems with electricity and heat in Ukraine as possible this autumn and winter and making as many Ukrainians as possible leave for your countries."

Critical dam mined: Zelensky also claimed that Russia was creating grounds for a large-scale catastrophe in the south of Ukraine, with Russian forces mining a critical dam on the Dnipro river in the southern Kherson region, as well as the adjacent hydroelectric plant.

“We have information that Russian terrorists have mined the dam and units of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant,” Zelensky told the Council of Europe during a video address.

"The dam of this hydroelectric power plant holds about 18 million cubic meters of water.

"If Russian terrorists blow up this dam, more than 80 settlements, including Kherson, will be in the zone of rapid flooding. Hundreds of thousands of people may suffer. Water supply to a large part of southern Ukraine could be destroyed. This Russian terrorist attack could leave Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant without water for cooling - water for ZNPP is taken from the Kakhovka reservoir. "

CNN has reached out to the Russian Ministry of Defense for a response to the allegations.

The dam and hydroelectric plant have been working at much-reduced capacity as the area was captured by Russian forces in March. Ukrainian forces are some 40 kilometers (more than 24 miles) north of the dam. Over the past four months, they have launched several strikes against the bridge that forms part of the dam to prevent its use by the Russian military.

Separately, Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to the head of the Ukrainian President’s office, said on Twitter Thursday that Russia planned to mine the dam and transformers, forcing the deportation of Ukrainian civilians from Kherson and flooding territory to stop the Ukrainian counteroffensive in the region. The land to the south and east of the river is low-lying.

“Russia is preparing a man-made catastrophe,” Podolyak said.

What pro-Moscow officials are saying: The Russian-appointed head of the Nova Kakhovka administrative district, Vladimir Leontiev, told Russian state media TASS that it makes no sense for Russia to destroy the dam of the power station.

“What is the point for Russia to destroy it now? Even from a formal point of view, this is nonsense. This is absolute nonsense,” Leontiev said.

“First of all, you need to think about who benefits from it: it is only beneficial for Ukraine to destroy the dam, the hydroelectric power station, to disrupt logistics, to sow fear and panic, to stop the possibility of supplying water through the North Crimean Canal to the territory of Crimea,” he said, according to TASS.

At least two members of a local television station were killed by Ukrainian shelling late Thursday, the Russian-appointed deputy governor of the Kherson region, Ekaterina Gubareva, said.

A Russian producer was one of those killed, Gubareva said.

Despite its cooperation with Russia on defense capabilities, Iran respects Ukraine's "territorial integrity," the Iranian foreign minister claimed on Friday in a phone call with the European Union's top diplomat ― in which he also denied that Tehran had provided Moscow with the drones used in deadly attacks on Kyiv this week.

Some context: Iran has repeatedly denied supplying "kamikaze" drones to Russia in the face of mounting evidence to the contrary. On Thursday, the White House said Iranian military personnel have visited Crimea to assist with Russian operations targeting civilian infrastructure in Ukraine using drones. John Kirby, the communications coordinator at the National Security Council, said the presence of Iranian personnel was evidence of Tehran’s direct engagement in the conflict. “They can lie to the world but they certainly can’t hide the facts,” he said.

A least six people have been killed and 10 others injured in the past 24 hours by Ukrainian missile attacks on the eastern Luhansk region, according to pro-Russian officials in the occupied territory.

The Moscow-backed Luhansk People's Republic Joint Centre for Control and Coordination (JCCC) claimed the attacks were carried out by Ukrainian forces using American HIMARS multi-launch rocket systems. 

The settlements of Lysychansk, Brianka, Troitske, Rubizhne, Chervony Prapor and Brianka were hit in the attacks on Thursday and Friday, the JCCC said.

Five of those killed were employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations in Chervony Prapor, it added.

Some context: Luhansk is among four regions of Ukraine that Russia is attempting to annex in violation of international law even as a Ukrainian counteroffensive advances in the the south and east of the country. On Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that he had signed a law introducing martial law in the four regions.