The strike in the shipbuilding town about 35 km (22 miles) northwest of the front line in Kherson came as Russia ordered 60,000 people to leave the area “to save your lives” ahead of a Ukrainian counter-offensive. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu discussed the “rapidly deteriorating situation” in telephone conversations with his British, French and Turkish counterparts, the ministry said. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comSign up He also spoke by phone with US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin for the second time in three days. The Pentagon said Austin told Shoigu he “rejected any pretense of Russian escalation.” Without providing specifics, Shoigu said Ukraine could escalate using a “dirty bomb” or conventional explosives with radioactive material. Ukraine does not have nuclear weapons, while Russia has said it could protect its territory with its nuclear arsenal. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba dismissed the accusation as “absurd” and “dangerous”, adding: “Russians often blame others for what they themselves plan.” In a joint statement after the talks, Britain, France and the United States said they were committed to supporting Ukraine “as long as necessary” and rejected Russia’s warning of a “dirty bomb”. “Our countries have made it clear that we all reject Russia’s patently false claims that Ukraine is preparing to use a dirty bomb on its soil,” they said. “The world would see any attempt to use this claim as a pretext for escalation.”
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Sunday’s rocket strike in Mykolaiv obliterated the top floor of the apartment building, sending shrapnel and debris into a square and into neighboring buildings, according to Reuters. No casualties were recorded. “After the first explosion, I tried to get out, but the door was stuck,” said Alexander Mezinov, 50, who was woken from his bed by the explosions. “After a minute or two, there was a second loud explosion. Our door was blown out into the hallway.” On Sunday, Ukraine’s General Staff said its air defenses shot down 12 of Russia’s Iranian Shahed-136 attack drones in the past 24 hours. Tehran denies supplying the weapons to Russia. Britain’s Ministry of Defense has said Russia is using Iran’s unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to replace increasingly scarce Russian-made long-range precision weapons. A local man throws debris from a broken window into a residential building heavily damaged by a Russian missile attack in Mykolaiv, Ukraine, October 23, 2022. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko read more However, Ukraine’s efforts to curb UAVs have been successful, the ministry added on Monday in its Twitter update. Ukraine’s advances in recent weeks around Kherson and in the country’s northeast have been met with stepped-up Russian missile and drone attacks on civilian infrastructure, which have knocked out about 40 percent of Ukraine’s electricity system before winter. . On Monday, the administration of the Russian-settled region announced the formation of a local militia, saying all men remaining in the city could join. Russian troops have withdrawn from parts of the front and occupation authorities are evacuating civilians deeper into Russian-controlled territory ahead of an expected battle for Kherson, the regional capital on the west bank of the Dnipro river. Kherson is a gateway to Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014. “The situation today is difficult. It is vital to save your lives,” Russian Education Minister Sergei Kravtsov said in a video message. “It won’t be long. You’ll be back for sure.” Authorities stationed there from Russia reported insufficient boats to ferry people across the river at one point on Sunday, blaming a “surge in the number of people wishing to leave”. About 25,000 people have been evacuated since Tuesday, the Interfax news agency reported. Ukraine’s military said it was making gains in the south, seizing at least two villages it said Russia had abandoned. Russia’s defense ministry said on Sunday that its forces continued attacks on Ukraine’s energy and military infrastructure, destroyed a large ammunition depot in the central Cherkasy region and pushed back Ukrainian counterattacks in the south and east. Reuters could not independently verify the accounts. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Russian attacks on energy infrastructure were “very broad” in scale. With the war about to enter its ninth month and winter approaching, the possibility of freezing misery loomed. Volodymyr Kudritskiy, head of Ukraine’s national energy company, Ukrenergo, said power had been restored to more than 1.5 million customers after massive weekend attacks on energy targets. Moscow denies targeting civilians in what it calls a “special military operation” in Ukraine. Ukraine also accused Russia of blocking a deal on grain exports through the Black Sea, saying its ports were only operating at 25% to 30% capacity. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comSign up Additional reporting by Jake Cordell and Valentyn Ogirenko in Mykolaiv. Clarence Fernandez writes. Edited by Stephen Coates Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
