WAR IN UKRAINE: October 18, 2022
Shortly after 09:00 (06:00 GMT) on Tuesday, smoke could be seen on the left bank of the Dnipro river. Credit: Reuters
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: Day 237
“Everyone should be ready, first, to save electricity, and second, rolling power blackouts are also possible if strikes continue. The entire population needs to prepare for a tough winter”
Air raid sirens were heard throughout the night and into Tuesday morning in Kyiv, Odesa and other cities in Ukraine. Explosions were reported in Mykolaiv after midnight and there were blasts in Dnipro.
As the threat continues from Russian kamikaze drone and missile attacks, the US Defense Department is trying to rush delivery of two advanced surface-to-air missile systems to Ukraine. A US defense official told CNN Monday that the Pentagon is now trying to accelerate the delivery of two National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems, or NASAMS —systems owned by 12 nations and already used to protect Washington, DC. The systems are currently being manufactured by Raytheon in a joint partnership with Norway's Kongsberg Defense and Aerospace, according to the Pentagon. The US now is hoping to complete manufacturing two of the systems by the end of October or early November -- perhaps as much as a full month sooner than originally slated.
This morning more attacks on energy infrastructure facilities. In Kyiv, three strikes were reported on an energy supply facility in Desnyansky district. Power outages reported. President Zelensky and other officials are preparing the nation for power outages and people in many cities are being asked to conserve water and power. Zelensky said about 30 percent of Ukrainian power stations have been destroyed in the past eight days alone. "Everyone should be ready, first, to save electricity, and second, rolling power blackouts are also possible if strikes continue," said Kyrylo Tymoshenko, the deputy head of the president's office. "The entire population needs to prepare for a tough winter."
In Zhytomyr, the mayor said there was no power or water in the city and hospitals were working on back-up power. Eleven villages in the Zhytomyr region were also without electricity, officials said. Power and water supplies were disrupted in the central city of Dnipro, where a large energy facility was destroyed, and officials said street lighting would be turned off - BBC
British intelligence identified the drones used by Russia in the attacks as being Iranian-made. In its daily intelligence bulletin on October 18, the British Ministry of Defense said that Russia's heightened tempo of long-range strikes over the past week against targets across Ukraine included so-called kamikaze drones provided by Iran. "[Strikes] have been conducted by cruise missiles, air defense missiles in a surface-to-surface role, and Iranian-provided Shahed-136 one way attack un-crewed aerial vehicles," British intelligence said - RFE/RL
View CNN chief international correspondent Clarissa Ward’s report on the Monday drone strikes in Kyiv here
Ukraine says another "large-scale" prisoner swap has taken place with Russia, describing it as the first all-female exchange since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine - RFE/RL