Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warns that the Russians have mined a dam in the Kherson region. If it were blown up, “a catastrophe of great proportions” threatened. Hundreds of thousands of lives are in danger, according to Selenskyj. what happened tonight
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has accused Russia of mining a dam in the southern Ukrainian region of Kherson. “According to our information, the units and the dam of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant were mined by Russian terrorists,” said Zelenskyy in his daily video message on Thursday evening.
In the event of the dam’s destruction, “the North Crimean Canal would simply disappear,” the Ukrainian leader warned. This would be “a catastrophe on a large scale”. A “historical disaster” threatens because the dam holds a huge water reservoir and in the event of an explosion, the city of Cherson and 80 other villages would be flooded. Hundreds of thousands of people could fall victim, according to Zelenskyj.
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.
The Ukrainian utility Ukrenerho announced in the evening that it expects temporary restrictions on energy consumption on Friday as a result of the damaged facilities across the country. The company was forced to cut power as early as Thursday.
The adviser in the President’s Office in Kyiv, Oleksiy Arestovych, did not rule out long-term problems. “We can certainly face a situation in which we will be stuck for weeks or even months without water, without light and heat or with major restrictions.” But he is sure that the Ukrainians will overcome the problems.
The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) wants to help displaced people and people living in homes in Ukraine that have been severely damaged by the war to get through the cold winter months in good health. “We have converted 390 public buildings in Ukraine so that there are now 109,000 sleeping places,” said Deputy UN High Commissioner for Refugees Kelly Clements of the German Press Agency in Berlin.
These are mostly schools or gyms. Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and Moldova also need further support in caring for Ukrainian refugees, explained Clements, who was in the Bundestag and the Foreign Office for talks this week. “What concerns us most at the moment is the cold,” she said.
At the EU summit in Brussels, Selenskyj thanked Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) for the delivery of the Iris-T air defense system in a video speech. “This German system not only shields Ukrainian airspace. It protects European stability by containing Russian terror, which hits both our country and your countries in the future,” Zelenskyi told the heads of state and government of the 27 EU countries. The first system was handed over to Ukraine a week ago. The Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov had spoken of a “new era of air defence”.
In Russia, Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin had himself filmed for the first time shooting with a sniper rifle at a military training area almost eight months after the start of the war in Ukraine. State television showed on Thursday how the commander-in-chief fired the Dragunov-type weapon while lying under a camouflage net.
He then spoke to soldiers in the Ryazan area, about 200 kilometers south-east of Moscow. Together with Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, Putin also demonstratively checked the equipment of the fighters in front of the camera. The visit came amid criticism of poor preparation of Russian soldiers for the war in Ukraine.
Selenskyj called the situation at the front difficult. This particularly affects the Donbass in the east and some directions in the south. “But we stand our ground. We defend our country. We are gradually moving forward, displacing the enemy.” Ukraine will win. “Terrorists always lose. Freedom always wins.”
According to the US government, Russia is using combat drones from Iran in the Ukraine war – with the support of Iranian forces on site. “We can confirm today that Russian military personnel stationed in Crimea piloted Iranian drones and used them in attacks across Ukraine, including attacks on Kyiv in recent days,” said the National Security Council’s communications director , John Kirby.
“We understand that Iranian military personnel were stationed in Crimea and assisted Russia in these operations.” Russia denies using Iranian drones; Iran denies supplying them to Russia.
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 seek control over a population that unequivocally rejects Putin and his war,” the White House spokeswoman said on Thursday 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 southern Ukrainian region of Cherson, they have already brought several thousand civilians to territory safely controlled by Russia. Ukraine spoke of deportations. The Russian army fears a major attack by the Ukrainian military to liberate the city of Kherson and the area on the north bank of the Dnipro River. Therefore, civilians are to be resettled from there.
US President Joe Biden has expressed concern about continued military support to Ukraine if the Republicans win the general election in November. He was concerned because Republicans said they would cut aid to Ukraine, Biden said on Thursday (local time) during a visit to the US state of Pennsylvania.
In the event of an election victory, the Republicans do not want to continue supporting Kiev as before. Biden complained that they did not understand how far-reaching and serious this would be, not only for Ukraine but also for Eastern Europe and NATO.
That will be important on Friday
Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) wants to take concrete steps towards better regional cooperation at a Western Balkans conference in Berlin. A vigil is taking place in Wismar as a sign of solidarity for refugees from Ukraine – the reason is the fire in an accommodation in Northwest Mecklenburg.
Also Read: The Ukraine Update of October 20”
The war in Ukraine is at a turning point, says military expert Carlo Masala. Ukraine is now under a lot of pressure and Putin is using drones because missiles are too expensive, according to the politics professor. The Kremlin boss could now open a second front and then offer a ceasefire, says the expert in a “Stern” podcast.
Russia wants to ramp up production of its own aircraft as quickly as possible. The state-owned company Rostec makes it clear how many planes should be delivered by 2030.
Hardly anyone “reads” Vladimir Putin and the Russians as knowledgeably as the Russian writer Viktor Erofeev, who fled to Germany. Germany’s Chancellor should meet with him. And be prepared for some uncomfortable truths.
