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Russia has increased attacks on civilian targets, UK says
Russia reacted to its military setbacks last week by increasing its missile attacks on civilian infrastructure, even if it has no military impact, according to the latest British Ministry of Defense intelligence report. In a post on Twitter, it is stated that the move is intended to destroy the morale of the Ukrainian people. Russia has launched many thousands of long-range missiles against Ukraine since February 24, 2022. However, over the past seven days, Russia has increased its targeting of civilian infrastructure even where it may not perceive an immediate military effect. This mission category includes strikes against the electricity grid and a dam on the Inhulets River in Kryvyi Rih. As it faces setbacks on the front lines, Russia has likely expanded the locations it is prepared to strike in an effort to directly undermine the morale of the Ukrainian people and government.
Welcome
Welcome to live coverage of the war in Ukraine. I’m Martin Farrer and I’ll be with you in the next hour or so. The main developments you need to know are here:
US President Joe Biden has urged Russian President Vladimir Putin not to routinely use nuclear or chemical weapons in the wake of the failures in Ukraine. Asked by CBS what he would tell Putin if he were to consider using such weapons, Biden said: “Don’t. Don’t do it. Don’t do it. It would change the face of warfare unlike anything since World War II.” Biden said the U.S. response would be “consistent,” but declined to elaborate. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the global food crisis exacerbated by the war will be the focus of world leaders when they gather at the United Nations in New York this week. “It would be naïve to think that we are close to the possibility of a peace agreement,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said ahead of a high-level meeting of the 193-member UN general assembly that begins on Tuesday. “The chances of a peace deal are slim, right now.” The Czech Republic, which currently holds the EU presidency, called for a “special international tribunal” after the discovery of a mass grave in Izium, a town in northeastern Ukraine. “In the 21st century, such attacks against the civilian population are unthinkable and abhorrent,” said Jan Lipavsky, the Czech Republic’s foreign minister. More than 440 bodies were discovered by Ukrainian officials, some with their hands tied behind their backs. Satellite images emerged of the recently discovered mass grave site near Izium. The images, taken between March and August this year and released by Maxar Technologies, show the entrance to the “forest cemetery” where several bodies have been discovered. One of the four main power lines at the Russian-owned Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has been repaired and is supplying the plant with electricity from the Ukrainian grid two weeks after it shut down, the UN nuclear watchdog said. Although the six reactors at Zaporizhzhia, Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, have been shut down, the plant needs electricity to keep cool. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi told Putin on Saturday that “now is not the time for war,” when the pair met during a regional Asia summit in Uzbekistan. Putin told Modi he was aware of India’s “concerns” about the conflict, echoing language he had used with Chinese President Xi Jinping the day before. “We will do our best to end this as soon as possible,” Putin said, accusing Kyiv of rejecting negotiations. Speaking to reporters later, Putin vowed to continue his offensive in Ukraine and warned that Moscow could intensify its strikes on the country’s vital infrastructure if Ukrainian forces target facilities in Russia. Putin said the “liberation” of the entire eastern Donbas region of Ukraine remains Russia’s main military objective and he sees no need to revise it. “We are in no rush,” he said after the Shanghai Cooperation Organization meeting in Samarkand. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told leaders at the summit that efforts were being made “to finalize the conflict in Ukraine through diplomacy as soon as possible.” Putin told Erdogan, who has been a key broker in limited deals between Russia and Ukraine, that Moscow wanted to build closer ties with Turkey and was ready to “significantly increase” all exports to the country. Ukraine’s security service announced that officers of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSU) tortured residents in Kupiansk, a city in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region. The Kyiv Independent reports that when FSU officers were in then-occupied Kupiansk, they tortured residents and threatened to send them to minefields and kill their families.
