The Ukrainian war between Kyiv restored 88 towns in the Kherson region and Moscow reported the death of a journalist in the city.
The Ukrainian war between US and Russian defence ministers
In a remarkable development, in the course of the Russian-Ukrainian war, a Pentagon statement said that Minister Lloyd Austin spoke Friday with his Russian counterpart Sergei Schweijo and stressed the importance of keeping lines of communication open during the war in Ukraine.
Murder of a journalist in Kherson
On Friday, a Russian official confirmed the death of a journalist and the wounding of 10 others in an overnight bombing of a bridge in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson, where evacuations were taking place as Kyiv forces advanced.
Aleksandar Malkevich, an official of the Russian Civil Chamber, a consultancy institution, said, "there are 10 injured and killed among journalists.
Earlier on Friday, the Russian occupation authorities accused Kyiv of killing four people in a bombing on Antonovsky Bridge over the Dnieper River, while the Ukrainian government denied responsibility.
Ukraine announces the restoration of 88 towns
- Ukraine, for its part, announced Friday that it had recovered 88 towns of Russian troops in the Jairson region of the south of the country.
- At the same time, local pro-Russian authorities evacuated thousands of civilians as Kyiv's forces advanced.
- The Kherson area: 88 towns have been recovered," Ukrainian President Kirilo Tymoshenko's adviser said via Telegram.
- On 13 October, the Kyiv authorities announced they had recovered 75 towns and villages.
Heartbreaking bombing
Pro-Moscow authorities in the Kherson region of southern Ukraine on Friday, October 21, accused Ukrainian forces of killing four people by shelling the Antonevsky Bridge over the Dnieper River, which was used for civilian evacuations.
"Four people were killed," said Deputy Head of Pro-Moscow Administration at Jerson Kirill Strymosov on Telegram, adding that "the city of Kherson, like the castle, is preparing to defend itself."
On the other hand, Ukrainian authorities said a series of explosions shook the cities of Kharkiv and Zaporeggia on Friday after Russian forces intensified missile strikes on Ukraine in the past few weeks targeting electric power installations.
Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terykhov said the rockets hit an industrial facility in the city on Friday, adding that rescuers had not yet assessed the extent of the damage or ascertained casualties.
On the other hand, the Governor of the Kharkiv region, Oleh Sinigopov, said five people were injured. At the same time, information on the Zapurijia explosions was provided by the Governor of the area, Oleksandr Stark.
Ukrainian concern
Bombed and facing Russian forces in the south and east, Ukraine expressed concern on Thursday, October 20, about the possible opening of a new front in the north of Belarus, while Washington said that Tehran's supposed military assistance to Moscow included the presence of Iranian elements in Crimea.
The White House statement raises further accusations against Iran that Ukraine's allies in the West targeted with sanctions on Thursday for handing Russia suicide rallies, an accusation the two countries deny.
Our estimates are that Iranian military elements were on the ground in Crimea and Russia assisted in these operations," White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said, referring to attacks by suicide marches on Ukrainian cities and infrastructure in recent days.
At the same time, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, speaking remotely to the European Council, accused Russia, which has been suffering defeats on the front since September, of transforming Ukraine's power grid into a "battlefield" by targeting air strikes to cripple the country as winter approaches.
Zelensky called on European countries to provide Kyiv with more sophisticated air defences and impose further economic sanctions on Moscow.
On Thursday, Ukrainian military personnel also expressed fear that Moscow would open a new front in the north of Belarus, which could threaten Western arms transfers.
Ukraine's Deputy Chief of General Staff Oleksiy Gromov said during a press briefing that "the risk of a resumption of attack on the northern front by the armed forces of the Russian Federation is increasing." He added that any new attack could further target western Ukraine "to cut off the main logistical arteries to supply arms and military equipment to Ukraine".
Sanctions against Tehran
Meanwhile, Ukraine's Western allies focused their efforts on Thursday on supposed arms shipments supplied by Iran to Russia and adopted a package of sanctions against Tehran.
Kyiv welcomed the European Union's "rapid" response. However, Russia again described its accusation of using Iranian drones as "fictional assumptions." Zelensky announced on Wednesday that his army had been destroyed by 233 of those Iranian drones.
London adopted European Union action on the same day by announcing new sanctions against Iran targeting three generals and an arms company "responsible for supplying suicide drones to Russia" to bomb Ukraine.
The member States of the European Union had accepted sanctions against Iran's "witness for the aerospace industries" company associated with the effective Revolutionary Guards, and the three military officials, including General Mohammad Hussein Bagheri, Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces.
Defence systems from Israel
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuliba said on Thursday that he had spoken to Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid and discussed in detail Kyiv's request for air, missile and technology defence systems.
"I informed him of the unspeakable suffering, loss of life and destruction caused by Russian missiles and Iranian-made drones," he wrote on Twitter.
Despite its condemnation of the Russian attack, Israel stated that it would not supply weapons to Ukraine. It limited its assistance to Kyiv to humanitarian relief, noting its desire to continue cooperation with Moscow on its war-torn neighbour Syria and to ensure the well-being of Russia's Jews.
Israel recently offered to assist Ukrainians in the development of air strike alarms for civilians.
According to Labid, the Israeli Prime Minister assured Kuliba of his country's support for Ukraine and expressed "deep concern" over military relations between Iran and Russia.
Iranian exile
On Thursday, Iran also denied information from the Washington Post that Tehran planned to send missiles to Russia for use in its war against Ukraine. Iranian Foreign Minister Hussein Amir Abdulhian said on Twitter that the allegations were "groundless."
After several waves of Russian strikes on its infrastructure, Ukraine on Thursday squeezed the supply of electricity to residents and businesses, particularly in Kyiv.
In the Ukrainian capital, Mayor Vitaly Klitschko urged businesses, shops, cafes and restaurants to "save as much as possible" in illuminated lighting and advertising.
In several other areas, local authorities called on residents to reduce their consumption after Russia destroyed 30 per cent of Ukraine's power plants in a week, Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday.
Chernivtsioplenergo said in a statement that restrictions on electricity consumption had been imposed, particularly in the Lviv and Chernivtsi regions.
Zelensky accuses Russia of clearing a dam
On Thursday evening, Ukraine's president accused Russians of mining the dam of a hydroelectric power plant in the Kherson region of southern Ukraine controlled by Moscow forces.
In his daily address posting on social networks Ross Kakhovka hydropower plant units and blocking them, Zelensky said. "
The Ukrainian President added: "If the dam is destroyed... The channel north of Crimea will disappear and it will be a "massive disaster."
The Kakhovka hydroelectric station dam was built on the Dnepr River in an area currently under the control of the Russian army and not far from the contact line with Ukrainian forces.
Evacuation of civilians from Kherson
In southern Ukraine, the Russian administration of the Kherson region confirmed that the evacuations of civilians had begun and included, on Thursday, the transfer of 15 1,000 people from the Moscow-annexed area, finally.
It intends to transfer "between 50 and 60,000" within a few days to the other bank of the Dnieper River.
Pro-Russian municipal authorities President Vladimir Saldo said the city of Kherson, occupied since the spring, would be vacated as Ukrainian forces advanced.
General Sergei Sorokin, who was appointed in charge of the Russian Operations Command in Ukraine, acknowledged on Tuesday that the situation there was "very difficult."
But for Ukrainian National Security and Defence Council Secretary Oleksiy Danilov, we are witnessing "preparations for the mass deportation of the Ukrainian population" to Russia "in order to change the ethnic composition of the occupied territories".
US state spokesman Ned Price considered that Russian President Vladimir Putin's announcement this week of the application of martial law in Ukrainian territory showed that Ukrainians did not want to join Russia contrary to the Kremlin's assertions.
Putin visits volunteer soldiers' training base
Putin visited a training centre for mobilized soldiers in the Ryazan region southeast of Moscow on Thursday, according to a video broadcast by Russian television. For the first time since the announcement of the partial mobilization of hundreds of thousands of reservists on September 21, the Russian President is on the ground conducting training for those civilians called in support of Russia's attack in Ukraine.
On a firing pad, the Russian President himself tried to use a machine gun after stretching the ground with a safety helmet and a black coat on his back, according to scenes broadcast on Russian television.
Putin also exchanged talks with some soldiers and asked someone "What about your family?" He replied, "I have a baby girl. Five years, the Russian President gave him a hug and "good luck" initiative.
Generals explained to Putin what supplies had been delivered to recruits and asked a group of recruits to open their backpacks to display them. One of the generals, hanging on a soldier's shoe, said it was "excellent" while Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu was seeing the shoes. "Everything is available to complete missions."
The visit followed information about the ill-processing of recruits and prompted dismay in Russia.
Biden "worried" about aid to Ukraine
U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday expressed concern about the future of U.S. aid to Ukraine should Republicans take control of one or both Houses of Congress in the November 8 midterm elections.
"I'm worried," Biden told reporters during a stop at a sandwich shop in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania when asked about the impact on aid to Ukraine if Republicans win.
Biden is visiting Pittsburgh as part of an election campaign for Democrat John Fetterman, whose U.S. Senate contest with Republican Mohamed Oz will help determine whether Democrats retain control of the Senate.
House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy said in recent days that he would not be "prepared to write a blank check" to help Ukraine if Republicans took over the House of Representatives from Democrats in the midterm elections.
The United States has provided more than $17.5 billion in US security assistance to Ukraine since the Russian attack on February 24.
Republicans are divided between those who see the need to rein in Russia and others who prefer a more isolationist foreign policy.