Russia's war in Ukraine - CNN

The Ukrainian subject has received accrued reports of looting and robbery successful the Russian-controlled city of Kherson, officials claimed successful a connection Saturday.

“The fig of cases of looting and amerciable actions successful Kherson has increased,” the Ukrainian General Staff of the Armed Forces said successful a statement. “Occupants prehend cars from the section colonisation and effort to permission the metropolis utilizing the ferry crossing adjacent Antonivskyi bridge.”

Earlier Saturday, the Russian-backed medication told civilians to evacuate to the eastbound slope of the Dnipro River. Ukraine’s counteroffensive is approaching, though the Kyiv authorities dismisses Russian claims of information to citizens arsenic unfounded “hysteria.”

Russian troops repositioning: Ukraine’s subject besides claims Russian forces are successful retreat from the Kherson region, leaving 2 settlements astir 100 kilometers (roughly 60 miles) northeast of the city, Charivne and Chkalove. Officers and aesculapian unit person evacuated from Beryslav, eastbound of Kherson city, arsenic well, the Ukrainian subject said.

CNN has not independently verified the military’s claims connected transgression successful Kherson oregon the Russian military’s movements.

Two civilians died successful Russia’s Belgorod portion — adjacent Ukraine’s eastbound borderline — aft Ukrainian forces shelled the area, a section authoritative said.

The politician of Belgorod, Vyacheslav Gladkov, besides claimed the onslaught knocked retired powerfulness for thousands of residents successful the area.

“In Shebekino, the shelling resulted successful the nonaccomplishment of powerfulness for astir 15,000 people. It volition instrumentality 5 to six hours to reconstruct power,” helium wrote connected Telegram.

Shebekino is simply a Russian colony extracurricular Belgorod city, located conscionable a fewer kilometers northbound of the borderline with Ukraine.

CNN has not independently verified Gladkov’s report.

People sojourn a supermarket without energy aft a Russian rocket onslaught successful Kyiv, Ukraine, connected October 22. 

Gleb Garanich/Reuters

More than subject bases oregon transport hubs successful caller weeks, Russia has bombarded Ukraine’s energy organisation and heating networks.

With wintertime weeks away, Russian rocket and drone strikes are hitting thermal powerfulness stations, energy substations, transformers and pipelines. The result: rolling powerfulness cuts, disabled h2o pumping stations and wide net outages.

“This is simply a violent enactment planned with the assistance of competent Russian vigor experts, which aims to unopen down the vigor strategy of Ukraine. That is, to execute a implicit blackout successful the country,” Oleksandr Kharchenko, CEO of the Energy Research Center successful Kyiv, said Friday.

A strategy emerges: As Russian forces endured losses successful September and into this month, pundits appeared connected authorities media urging that Ukraine beryllium plunged into a dark, freezing wintertime successful revenge. That present appears to beryllium the goal.

The casualties are comparatively fewer but the harm inordinate. Power infrastructure is an obvious, static people that is hard to support without an bonzer array of country defenses, which Ukraine has been begging for from its Western allies.

Electricians repair a powerfulness enactment damaged from shelling successful Kharkiv, Ukraine, connected October 21. 

Clodagh Kilcoyne/Reuters

Maksym Timchenko, the CEO of vigor institution DTEK, noted successful a caller interrogation that Russia has been precise selective successful their targeting. He told Ekonomichna Pravda that the strikes were aimed not astatine generating capacities but the cogs of distribution: switchgears and transformers, oregon output instrumentality astatine thermal powerfulness plants. 

Ukrainian authorities are intelligibly struggling to support up with an ever-longer database of needed repairs this month, and immoderate infrastructure is beyond repair.

Vitaly Koval caput of Rivne miltary admin/Telegram

Thick plumes of achromatic fume billowed from a powerfulness works successful the northwestern metropolis of Rivne Saturday, aft Ukrainian officials accidental Russian missiles deed the facility.

Similar scenes played retired crossed the country arsenic the state-owned utility, Ukrenergo, scrambled to reconstruct service. The bureau compared Saturday’s barrage to the consequences of attacks connected Oct. 10 done 12, saying the strikes were immoderate of the astir destructive this month.

If the Kremlin strategy of targeting civilian infrastructure continues, Ukrainians could beryllium successful for a long, acheronian winter, the country’s infrastructure curate told CNN Friday.

Vitaly Koval caput of Rivne miltary admin/Telegram

Vitaly Koval caput of Rivne miltary admin/Telegram

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian denied US and Western allegations that Iran is supplying Russia with drones, echoing denials from different officials successful Tehran and successful Moscow.

“We condemn the allegations of giving drones to Russia successful the Ukraine war. We are against warfare anyplace successful the world,” Abdollahian said Saturday, according to Iran’s semi-official Tasnim News Agency. 

The overseas minister’s remarks came arsenic the Security Service of Ukraine announced transgression proceedings to place anyone progressive successful supplying Iranian drones and short-range ballistic missiles to Russia.

“Those who assistance Russia motorboat strikes astatine peaceful Ukrainian towns and villages indispensable besides carnivore work for Russia’s warfare crimes,” the information work said successful a statement. “Because you cannot knowingly merchantability a sharpened weapon to a maniac and past beryllium amazed that helium kills people.”

Despite Russia’s attempts to disguise the (Iranian) Shaheds arsenic Gerans (Russia-branded drones), we volition beryllium their Iranian origin,” the acting caput of the information service, Vasyl Maliuk, said. “We are moving to teardrop masks disconnected each warfare criminals and punish them.”

Some background: A increasing fig of countries and planetary organizations person condemned Russian-Iranian coordination connected drone strikes.

Earlier this week, State Department spokesperson Ned Price said the US has “abundant evidence” that Russia is utilizing Iranian drones, specifically to target Ukrainian civilians and captious civilian infrastructure. The White House added claims that Iran’s subject gave Russians hands-on grooming with the weapons.

The European Union and the United Kingdom have rolled retired sanctions connected the manufacturers of Iranian drones.

The harm from Saturday’s wave of attacks connected Ukrainian powerfulness facilities is akin — oregon could beryllium worse — than Russian attacks earlier successful the month, the state-owned vigor bureau said.

On its Telegram channel, the inferior Ukrenergo compared the barrage’s interaction to the consequences of attacks connected Oct. 10 done 12, which reduced the country’s power-generating capableness by astir 30%. 

“Power proviso restrictions person been imposed successful Kyiv, Kyiv (region), Chernihiv, Cherkasy, Zhytomyr, Sumy, Kharkiv, Poltava, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kirovohrad regions,” the inferior wrote Saturday.

“The restrictions are indispensable to trim the load connected the networks and debar repeated accidents aft the powerfulness grids were damaged by violent rocket attacks.”

Repairs are underway crossed the country. In 1 confederate city, Mykolaiv, powerfulness has present been restored, its politician said connected his Telegram channel.

“Gradually, airy appears successful antithetic districts of the city,” Oleksandr Senkevych said. “I convey the powerfulness engineers for their work.”

Earlier Saturday, a typical for the Ukrainian president’s bureau said much than 1.5 cardinal vigor subscribers were without powerfulness aft the attacks.

A presumption of damaged buildings successful Kherson, Ukraine, connected October 7. 

Metin Aktas/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

A nonmigratory of Russian-occupied Kherson metropolis told CNN the concern determination is tense, with radical “emotionally exhausted” and the streets bare by mid-afternoon.

CNN reached the pistillate done a 3rd enactment and spoke with her soon before the Russian-appointed medication successful the metropolis ordered civilians to leave — the latest evacuation announcement implicit the oncoming Ukrainian counteroffensive.

Previously the authorities recommended radical leave; Saturday’s announcement appeared to spell beyond that.

“Unfortunately, galore residents of Kherson had to see leaving the city,” the woman, who CNN is not identifying for information reasons, said Friday. “Everyone had their ain reasons, worries and fears. But I americium 100% definite that nary 1 wanted to go.”

She said Kherson has go a ghost-town. Tens of thousands of its residents person near since the Russian concern began successful March.

“In the evening, you tin spot a ample fig of high-rise buildings successful which a maximum of 2 oregon 3 windows are lit,” the pistillate told CNN. “During the day, you tin conscionable radical mostly adjacent the market. But astatine 3 oregon 4 p.m. the streets are bare and determination is nary 1 astatine all.” 

The pistillate said she was not considering leaving.

“To beryllium honest, this question infuriates maine … This is my land. Kherson is my home,” she said. “We took portion successful rallies against the occupiers from the archetypal days of the war; we fought arsenic hard arsenic we could. This conflict is inactive going on.”

The pistillate besides insisted that astir radical near successful the metropolis understood the Ukrainian subject “will ne'er harm the colonisation and determination volition beryllium nary shelling of civilians.”

Ukraine’s authorities has accused Russia of generating “hysteria” to compel radical to leave.

You tin work the afloat study here.

The Ukrainian subject said it destroyed implicit a twelve Russian cruise missiles during a string of attacks connected vigor infrastructure crossed the state Saturday.

The country’s aerial unit said “18 force cruise missiles were destroyed by aviation, anti-aircraft rocket units and mobile occurrence groups.” 

“In addition, the Russians attacked from ships successful the Black Sea with Kalibr cruise missiles. A full of 16 starts,” the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine wrote online.

CNN cannot independently corroborate the Ukrainian military’s claims. 

Several rockets flying toward Kyiv Saturday were changeable down by aerial defence forces, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said successful a abstracted statement. 

Widespread powerfulness outages: A series of attacks crossed Ukraine Saturday near residents successful parts of Odesa, Cherkasy, Kropyvnitsky, Rivne, Khmelnytskyi and Lutsk without electricity, according to officials successful each region.

Ukraine has faced a wide battle connected captious infrastructure and powerfulness sources since Oct. 10. 

Evacuees from Kherson get astatine the railway presumption successful Dzhankoi, Crimea, connected Friday, October 21.

AP

Russian-installed authorities successful the metropolis of Kherson urged residents to permission the city Saturday, the latest successful a string of calls for civilian evacuations determination this week.

Kherson was annexed by Russia conscionable past month, amid wide planetary condemnation. Kyiv officials person accused the Kremlin of generating “hysteria” to compel radical to permission arsenic the Ukrainian counteroffensive approaches.

Saturday’s evacuation called for residents to transverse to the eastbound slope of the Dnipro River, which divides the region, arsenic you tin spot connected the representation below. Ukrainian gains successful caller weeks person travel connected the different broadside — successful villages and farmlands on the occidental bank.

Tetyana Safonova looks astatine her mobile telephone during a powerfulness outage connected October 20, successful Borodyanka, Ukraine.

Paula Bronstein/Getty Images

Over 1.5 cardinal vigor subscribers successful Ukraine person been near without powerfulness pursuing different question of Russian attacks, the lawman caput of the Ukrainian President’s Office said Saturday.

Repairs started instantly to hole the outages, according to Kyrylo Tymoshenko, who shared the update connected his Telegram channel.

Air sirens were activated crossed the country, but successful Russian-annexed Crimea, according to the Ministry of Digital Transformation.

Remember: Ukraine has been facing a wide battle connected captious infrastructure and powerfulness sources since Oct. 10. 

Government officials person warned of a perchance cold, acheronian winter.

Local leaders stock the concern connected the ground: The caller bid of attacks damaged infrastructure crossed cardinal and occidental Ukraine, officials successful assorted regions said Saturday.

Residents successful the occidental metropolis of Rivne were told to “stay successful shelters” portion electricians worked to reconstruct powerfulness crossed the city, the caput of the region’s subject administration, Vitaliy Koval, said connected Telegram. 

South of Rivne successful Khmelnytskyi, the metropolis assembly reported the full metropolis was without powerfulness aft a bid of explosions were heard. 

“Please banal up connected water, if possible, due to the fact that it volition besides vanish successful an hour,” the assembly wrote connected Telegram. 

Parts of Lutsk — in Ukraine’s acold westbound — were near without powerfulness owed to a deed connected an vigor installation there, Mayor Ihor Polishchuk said. He added rescuers were moving to find anyone injured and that 1 civilian was burned successful the blast, but nary 1 appeared to person been killed.

An onslaught connected an vigor installation successful the Kropyvnytskyi portion of cardinal Ukraine besides near residents determination and successful neighboring Cherkasy without power, according to officials from some region’s subject administrations. 

CNN’s Stephanie Halasz contributed to this report.

Evacuees from Kherson get astatine the railway presumption successful Dzhankoi, Crimea, connected Friday, October 21.

AP

The Russian-installed authorization successful the southern Ukrainian portion of Kherson has told civilians to “immediately permission the city” and relocate to the eastbound slope of the Dnipro River.

Kherson — a gateway to Crimea located connected the rima of the Dnipro River to the Black Sea — was annexed by Russia past month, unneurotic with 3 different Ukrainian regions amid wide planetary condemnation.

The Russian-backed authorization told civilians successful the metropolis Saturday to transverse to the eastbound slope of the river.

“Due to the tense concern astatine the front, the accrued information of monolithic shelling of the metropolis and the menace of violent attacks, each civilians indispensable instantly permission the city,” a connection to residents posted connected Telegram reads. “Take attraction of the information of your household and friends! Do not hide documents, money, valuables and clothes.”

Some context: Earlier this week, Kremlin-backed officials ramped up the relocation of up to 60,000 radical from the metropolis arsenic Russia’s forces struggled to withstand the Ukrainian counteroffensive.

The Kyiv authorities has accused Russia of generating “hysteria” to compel radical to leave. By Thursday, Ukrainian officials believed that less than fractional of Kherson’s civilian colonisation was near successful the metropolis – astir 130,000 people.

Ukrainian forces person been advancing done respective parts of the broader Kherson portion successful caller weeks, capturing villages and farmland on the occidental slope of the Dnipro River. Today’s bid urged residents to the different side.

Ukraine's Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov speaks with CNN connected Friday October 21.

CNN

The radical of Ukraine are “ready to suffer” done a perchance acheronian and acold wintertime arsenic agelong arsenic Russian troops are inactive occupying Ukraine’s territory, the country’s infrastructure curate told CNN connected Friday.

“Everybody feels that our service connected the battlefield is winning,” Oleksandr Kubrakov told CNN’s Julia Chatterley. But they besides recognize that the attacks connected the infrastructure are aimed astatine making people’s lives much complicated, helium said. 

Some background: Days of devastating attacks connected vigor infrastructure have caused the federation to suffer astatine slightest 40% of its power-generating capacity.

Ukrainian officials warned earlier this week that some exigency and scheduled blackouts would follow. Those powerfulness outages impacted the superior Kyiv and different cardinal regions Thursday earlier expanding to eastbound regions.

A apical precedence for Ukraine present is to support connectivity betwixt antithetic regions for subject and humanitarian transport, portion besides keeping the vigor infrastructure running, Kubrakov told CNN.

Ukraine volition not negociate with Russia arsenic agelong arsenic Russian soldiers are inactive occupying Ukrainian land, helium added.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky greets Rep. Jim Himes connected Friday October 21.

Office of President of Ukraine

Three members of the US House Intelligence Committee met with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky successful Kyiv connected Friday.

It is the archetypal sojourn by a legislature delegation to the metropolis successful much than a month, and the archetypal since Russia began a campaign of aerial strikes targeting civilian infrastructure successful the Ukrainian superior and different large cities.

Standing adjacent to the tract of a caller drone onslaught connected a powerfulness works successful Kyiv, Rep. Jim Himes, the caput of the delegation, told CNN’s Nic Robertson the sojourn was astir showing solidarity with Ukraine, which helium said was “fighting for the ideology that truthful overmuch of the satellite cares about.”

“We each felt it was truly important that we beryllium present connected a bipartisan ground to marque an unmistakable connection that the radical of the United States and the authorities of the United States stands with the radical and with the authorities of Ukraine,” said Himes, a Democrat.

GOP Rep. Mike Turner said “there is beardown bipartisan enactment for Ukraine, and it volition continue,” erstwhile asked by CNN whether US assistance to Ukraine could alteration if Republicans summation power of the House successful November’s midterm elections.

Remember: That contented became a run way talking constituent this week aft House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy said if the GOP wins the chamber, it whitethorn not beryllium arsenic forthcoming with assistance to the embattled nation.

US President Joe Biden seized connected those comments and akin remarks from immoderate Republicans, framing the presumption arsenic undermining US enactment successful an progressively volatile world.

Creating an “air shield”: Ukraine’s subject considers bolstering its aerial defence capabilities a cardinal concern. Zelensky appealed to the visiting delegation for assistance with creating what helium described arsenic an “air shield” implicit the country, according to a connection released by his office.

Turner told CNN the US proviso of weapons and quality to Ukraine would alteration arsenic the quality of the menace changes.

“We’re looking astatine some aerial defence and besides ways successful which we tin decision these idiosyncratic drones. But we’re going to person to execute that together,” helium said. “Our goals are aligned.”