WAR IN UKRAINE: October 22, 2022
The police station of Velykyi Burluk, Kharkiv Oblast, on Oct. 2, 2022. Russian forces took it over during the occupation and the building was heavily damaged during Ukraine's September counteroffensive. (Alexander Query/ The Kyiv Independent)
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: Day 241
There were two Russian missile strikes against Odesa region's energy infrastructure facility this morning: there is no electricity in several settlements, according to the authorities. Three people are injured according to Suspilne News. Power is essential to Odesa’s ports, from where agriculture products flow to world markets
Separately, sites to the south and west of Kyiv have been struck and power cuts have been reported across the country. Ukrainian officials say many Russian cruise missiles have been intercepted by air defence systems. Almost a third of the country's power stations have been destroyed in a wave of air strikes since Monday last week. On Saturday Ukrainian officials said "critical infrastructure" had been hit in the Cherkasy region, south-east of the capital Kyiv. A huge fire has been reported near the town of Smila - BBC
Meanwhile, Kyiv has accused Russia of deliberately delaying the passage of ships carrying grain exports under UN brokered-deal; Ukraine says 150 vessels were waiting to be loaded. I can confirm the flow of ships has been reduced to a trickle. The deal is up for renewal shortly and Russia is expected to engage in negotiations tactics forwarding its own self interests
The Ukrainian military confirms it hit Antonivskyi Bridge near Kherson. Ukraine's Armed Forces, however, deny Russian media reports that three civilians were killed and nine injured as a result of the attack, Hromadske reports. The occupiers contradict themselves, as they had repeatedly claimed they enforced people to stay home after curfew, spokeswoman of Operational Command "South" Nataliia Humeniuk said. People who died must have been Russian soldiers, she added - Kyiv Independent
Media: Ukrainian troops kill 10 Iranian instructors in Russian-occupied territories. KAN, an Israeli radio station, cited an unnamed Ukrainian source. Iranian citizens who trained Russian troops to use Iranian-made combat drones have been killed over the past week in Russian-occupied parts of Kherson Oblast and in Russian-occupied Crimea, KAN reported. Tehran has denied the accusations of supplying Russia with Shahed-136 combat drones despite abundant evidence of their use by Russian troops (KI)
ISW: Russian forces will likely attempt to blow up Kakhovka dam to cover withdrawal from Kherson. The Institute for the Study of War said in its latest update that Russian forces will likely attempt to blow up the dam at the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant to cover their withdrawal and prevent Ukraine's forces from pursuing Russian forces deeper into Russian-occupied Kherson Oblast. According to the ISW, Russia "has every reason to attempt to provide cover to its retreating forces and to widen the Dnipro River, which Ukrainian forces would need to cross to continue their counteroffensive."
