10/21/2022
Ukraine war in the live ticker
+++ 03:04 Biden worries about Ukraine aid in Republican election victory +++
US President Joe Biden fears continued military support for Ukraine if the Republicans win a majority in November’s general election. Biden said he was concerned because Republicans said they would cut aid to Ukraine. They don’t understand how momentous and serious this would be, not only for Ukraine but also for Eastern Europe and NATO, Biden complains.
+++ 02:15 Foreign Minister Kuleba talks to Israel about defense systems +++
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has discussed Kiev’s request for air and missile defense systems with Israeli Prime Minister Jair Lapid. “I informed him about the unspeakable suffering, the loss of life and the destruction caused by Russian missiles and Iranian drones,” Kuleba tweeted. According to the Israeli Prime Minister’s office, Lapid reiterated Israel’s support for Ukraine and expressed his “deep concern” about the military link between Iran and Russia. Israel has so far limited its support to humanitarian aid because it remains interested in working with Russia on neighboring Syria. However, recently the country offered Ukraine to help develop air raid warning systems for civilians.
+++ 01:21 Hungary would not agree to EU gas price cap +++
According to a high-ranking adviser to Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Hungary would not support any EU gas price cap. If the other EU countries agree on such a step, there would have to be an exception for his country for gas, as was the case with oil, Balazs Orban told the Reuters news agency. Russia has made it clear that Hungary will no longer receive natural gas in the event of an EU price cap.
+++ 00:32 Ukraine: Russians have mined the dam +++
Russian troops have mined a dam in the southern Ukrainian region of Cherson, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. “According to our information, the units and the dam of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station were mined by Russian terrorists,” says Zelenskyj in his daily video message. If the dam were to be destroyed, “the North Crimean Canal would simply disappear,” warns the Ukrainian head of state. This would be “a catastrophe on a large scale”. The dam of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station is located on the Dnipro River in the Kherson region, which is currently controlled by Russian troops.
+++ 23:42 arrest warrant against Russian journalist Ovsjannikova +++
A Russian court has ordered the arrest of journalist Marina Ovsyannikova, who became famous through a protest action on Russian television. This is reported by the Interfax agency, citing representatives of the authority. According to her lawyer, the former employee of state television, who is actually under house arrest because of “fake news”, has already fled abroad. Ovzyannikova drew global attention in March when she stormed into the studio with a poster during a live TV show. It read “Stop the war” and “They are lying to you”. The 44-year-old was sentenced to two months of house arrest in August after standing on a river bank opposite the Kremlin in July and holding up a placard. She then called President Vladimir Putin a murderer and his soldiers fascists.
+++ 23:05 Selenskyj: Russia wants to trigger a new wave of refugees by attacking energy networks +++
In a speech to the European Council, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accuses Russia of having turned his country’s energy infrastructure into a “battlefield”. The consequences are “very dangerous” for everyone in Europe, warns Selenskyj. Russia is thereby triggering a new wave of refugees from Ukraine to EU countries. Moscow’s intention is to bring electricity and heating problems to Ukraine in the fall and winter and “to send as many Ukrainians as possible to your countries,” Zelensky said to the EU states.
+++ 22:15 USA: resettlements in Cherson are “clumsy tactics” +++
The US government has criticized the resettlement in the southern Ukrainian region of Cherson by the Russian occupying power. “We are not surprised that the Russians are using such clumsy tactics to try to control a population that clearly rejects Putin and his war,” the White House spokeswoman said when asked by a journalist. The resettlements are another example of the cruelty and brutality of the occupiers. According to the Russian occupying forces in the south Ukrainian region of Cherson, they have already brought several thousand civilians to territory safely controlled by Russia. Ukraine speaks of deportations.
+++ 21:42 child from Kharkiv describes everyday life without electricity and water +++
The infrastructure destroyed by the war has massively changed everyday life in some places in Kharkiv. With no electricity, water or gas, residents are dependent on open fires. While the government wants to repair the lines again, the winter threatens to make the situation even worse.
+++ 21:26 Kyiv sees a growing danger of an offensive from Belarus +++
Ukraine sees a “growing danger” of a new Russian offensive from neighboring Belarus to the north, which had already served as a retreat for Russian forces when they invaded in February. “The aggressive rhetoric of the military-political leadership of Russia and Belarus is intensifying,” said senior Ukrainian military representative Oleksiy Gromov. The danger of an offensive by Russian forces on the northern front was growing, Gromov said. This time it could be in western Belarus “to cut off the main supply routes for foreign arms and military equipment entering Ukraine via the west, particularly Poland.”
You can read earlier developments relating to the Ukraine war here.