Day 240 of the Invasion of Ukraine: Explosions in Kharkiv and Kherson

@UNCLA

Here are the highlights of events related to the war in Ukraine over the past 24 hours:

Explosions in Kharkiv and Kherson

There is destruction in today's Russian shelling in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv. The district governor Oleg Sinegubov and the city mayor announced a series of explosions. According to preliminary information, a building in one of the Kharkiv enterprises was hit. So far, there is no information about injured people.

Russian forces have stepped up their attacks on Ukraine in recent weeks, targeting power plants as well, Reuters notes.

There were also explosions this morning in Zaporizhzhia, local authorities reported.

Four people were killed late last night after Ukrainian rocket artillery struck a ferry terminal in the Russian-controlled Ukrainian city of Kherson, Moscow-appointed deputy regional governor Kirill Stremousov said. Authorities in the region, which Russia declared annexed last month, said this week they plan to evacuate around 50,000-60,000 people over the next six days amid escalating pressure from a Ukrainian counteroffensive.

Zelensky: Russia is turning Ukraine's energy grid into a "battlefield"

President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday that Russian attacks on Ukraine's energy facilities had turned the country's power grid into a "battlefield", sparking a new wave of Ukrainians fleeing to Europe. "The leadership of Russia gave the order to turn the energy system itself into a battlefield. The consequences of this are very dangerous, again for all of us in Europe," Zelensky said in an address to the European Council.

Energy-saving measures are being implemented across Ukraine after Russian missiles and drones destroyed more than 30 percent of the country's power plants in a week. "Russia is causing a new migration wave of Ukrainians to EU countries," added Zelensky. He said the Russian strikes on Ukraine's energy facilities were "aimed at creating as many electricity and heating problems for Ukraine this fall and winter and as many Ukrainians as possible to go to your countries."

In response to the attacks, the Ukrainian leader called on European countries to supply Kyiv's military with more and advanced air defenses and to hit Moscow with more economic sanctions to curb Russia's ability to finance its war. He also said that Ukraine's proposal for an international monitoring mission to be stationed on Ukraine's border with Belarus "is becoming more relevant every day" after the Ukrainian military warned of a growing threat of a Russian attack from Belarusian territory.

The president accused Russia of mining the hydroelectric dam in the area of ​​the city of Kherson, which is under the control of Moscow's forces. "According to our information, the unit and dam of the Kakhovskaya HPP were mined by Russian terrorists," Zelensky said in his daily address posted on social networks. "If the dam is destroyed, ... the North-Crimean Canal will simply disappear," and that would be "a catastrophe on a large scale," the Ukrainian leader added.

ISW: The risk of Russia invading Belarus remains low

The risk of a Russian advance from Belarus into northern Ukraine remains low. This is reported in a new report by the US Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

Analysts note that the scenario of an advance from Belarus into northwestern Ukraine to cut Ukrainian supply lines from Western partner countries remains unlikely in the coming months. After all, the Russian military is unable to cut Ukrainian supply lines from the West through a ground offensive.

"The nearest Ukrainian east-west railway line is 30 km from the border with Belarus, and the Pripyat swamps in northern Ukraine and Belarus make the maneuver of war across the international border in the Volyn and Rivne regions extremely difficult," the report said. .

Analysts point out that Ukraine's road and rail network has enough junctions with Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Hungary. Therefore, a Russian invasion from Belarus would not seriously damage Ukrainian logistics lines unless it penetrated deeper into Ukrainian territory than the Russians did during the battle for Kyiv, when Russian forces were much stronger. Now their forces are significantly reduced, ISW notes.

Repeated offensive from Belarus

Russian troops invaded Ukraine in the early hours of February 24, including from the territory of Belarus, from where the first tanks of the occupiers entered northern Ukraine. The Kremlin did not declare war on Ukraine, but called the full-scale aggression a "special operation" aimed at, among other things, the "denazionalization" and "demilitarization" of the Ukrainian state. In the spring, however, the Ukrainian army liberated Northern Ukraine from the Russian occupiers. At the end of the summer, they launched a counteroffensive in the south of Ukraine and in the east, liberating almost the entire Kharkiv region.

Six months later, because of the huge losses it has suffered, Russia needs manpower to continue the war, but Putin has not given up on his original intention to occupy all of Ukraine.

Therefore, on September 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the beginning of a partial mobilization in the country. According to the Russian leadership, up to 300,000 people will be involved in the war against Ukraine.

The Russian military is now using Belarusian airspace to launch missile strikes on Ukrainian cities.

On October 14, the weekly "Nasha Niva" quoted its sources, according to which the President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko decided to conduct a secret mobilization in Belarus to equip the combat units.

Radio Svoboda journalists also analyzed satellite images from Zyabrovka Airport near the Belarusian city of Gomel and came to the conclusion that active changes have been taking place there over the past month. Russian troops and new equipment arrive at the airport.

On October 20, Brigadier General Oleksiy Gromov, deputy chief of the Main Operational Directorate of the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, stated that the threat of an offensive from the territory of Belarus remains.

Zelensky: Russian terrorists have mined the dam wall of the Kakhovskaya HPP

Russia has planted explosives on the dam wall of a hydroelectric power plant in the occupied Kherson region - this is what the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky told AFP, reports BTA.

"According to our information, the aggregates and the dam wall of the Kakhovskaya HPP were mined by Russian terrorists," Zelensky said in his traditional evening address and added that in the event of the destruction of the dam wall, the North Crimean Canal will simply disappear.

Earlier yesterday, the president of Ukraine also warned the leaders of the countries of the European Union, gathered at a meeting in Brussels.

The Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant is located on the Dnieper River, in an area under the control of the Russian army, but not far from the front line, reports AFP.

Zelensky's claims were denied by representatives of the Russian-appointed authorities in the Kherson region. Vladimir Leontiev, the head of the Novokakhovsk administrative district created by Russia in its annexed Kherson region in southern Ukraine, said that it is only profitable for Ukraine to destroy the dam, the hydroelectric plant, to disrupt logistics, to instill fear and panic, to end the possibility for water supply from the North Crimean Canal on the territory of Crimea. He, for his part, accused Ukraine of striking the region every day, "and not ten missiles, but significantly more".

The situation in the area is tense - the strategic industrial port of Kherson in the region of the same name in southern Ukraine, which Russia illegally annexed and in which martial law was imposed yesterday. According to the occupation authorities, 15,000 local residents were evacuated, AP reports.

The claims of both parties have not been confirmed, adds BTA.

Iranian troops sent to Crimea to train Russians to use drones, says US

The US alleged that Iranian military personnel have visited Crimea where Russian military personnel have been piloting the Tehran's drones which is targeting civilian infrastructure in Ukraine.

John Kirby, the communications coordinator at the National Security Council, said, "We can confirm that Russian military personnel that are based in Crimea have been piloting Iranian UAVs, using them to conduct strikes across Ukraine, including strikes against Kyiv," according to CNN. He further said that the presence of Iranian personnel was evidence of Tehran's direct engagement in the conflict.

"Iranian military personnel were on the ground in Crimea and assisted with these operations," Kirby said. "Russia has received dozens of UAVs so far and will likely continue to receive additional shipments in the future."

He further said that Tehran is now directly engaged on the ground and through the provision of weapons that are impacting civilians and civilian infrastructure in Ukraine, CNN reported.

He said the Russians weren't familiar with the use of the drones, and needed help from the Iranian personnel to use them.

This statement came after the three explosions that were heard in Kyiv at around 6.45 am (local time on Monday. US would set aside its efforts to renegotiate a nuclear deal with Iran, both because of its involvement with Russia's military, Kirby indicated, according to CBC.

And also Irans brutal crackdown on protesters following the September death of a woman who was arrested in Tehran for "inappropriate attire" is also the reason behind the renegotiation of nuclear deal.

Meanwhile, following Russia's attack on Ukranian capital with Iranian-made Kamikaze drones, Washington said that it will hold Moscow accountable for "war crimes" and will continue to impose costs on Russia for its aggression.

US President Joe Biden's press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, told reporters "The White House strongly condemns Russia's missile strikes today," Al Jazeera reported.

Jean-Pierre further noted that the US will continue to aid the people of Ukraine as she referred to a new USD 725m military aid package announced for Ukraine last Friday.

"More desperate and reprehensible Russian attacks this morning against civilians and civilian infrastructure. We admire the strength and resilience of the Ukrainian people. We will stand with you for as long as it takes," the US embassy in Ukraine tweeted.

The war between Russia and Ukraine has only escalated after a truck recently exploded on the Crimea road bridge, causing seven fuel tanks of a train heading to the Crimean Peninsula to catch fire. Three people were killed in the blast, which also led to the partial collapse of two spans of the road bridge.

The Crimean Bridge was opened in 2018 by Russian President Vladimir Putin, four years after Moscow annexed Crimea, and was designed to link the peninsula to Russia's transport network.

A Russian court ordered the arrest of Marina Ovsyannikova

A Russian court has ordered the arrest of journalist Marina Ovsyannikova, who in March interrupted the central news broadcast of the state-run First Channel with a poster against the war in Ukraine, Reuters reported, citing the Interfax news agency.

Earlier this month, Ovsyannikova escaped from house arrest, and on Monday her lawyer confirmed that she had left Russia.

Yesterday, a Russian court ordered that the TV journalist be detained in custody for 1 month and 29 days after she is extradited or detained in the country.

Earlier this month, the court refused to fulfill the request of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation to issue an arrest warrant for Ovsyannikova, notes Interfax.

In August, the Ukrainian-born Russian journalist was placed under house arrest and her home raided over accusations that she was spreading false information about the country's armed forces after protesting alone near the Kremlin.

Ovsyannikova could be sentenced to up to 10 years under an anti-disinformation law passed by the Russian parliament after the invasion of Ukraine.

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