The Ukrainian government has sought to allay public fears about Russia’s use of Iranian-built drones, claiming it has had good luck shooting down the small plane.
Cities across the country have been rocked by repeated Russian movements in force networks, be it missiles and drones.
The public asked to save electricity and many spaces suffered power cuts.
Ukraine’s army spy chief, Kyrylo Budanov, said the army had shot down more than two-thirds of the roughly 330 Shahed drones Russia had fired as of Saturday.
“Terror with the use of ‘Shaheds’ can last for a long time,” he told the Ukrainska Pravda newspaper.
“Air defense is confronted, 70% are shot down,” he added.
Russia claimed, offering evidence, that Ukraine had been in contact with the UK about the option of creating nuclear weapons.
In a lengthy Telegram post, the Russian Defense Ministry echoed comments by senior Kremlin officials that Ukraine is planning a “dirty bomb” attack (see 6:33 a. m. message).
He claimed that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had been in contact with British representatives about the option of obtaining generation for the creation of nuclear weapons.
“For this, Ukraine has a production base and clinical potential,” a Russian Defense Ministry spokesman said.
“So in Ukraine there are corporations in the nuclear sector that have stockpiles of radioactive ingredients that can be used to create a ‘dirty bomb. ‘”
It is vital to note that so-called filthy bombs are not nuclear weapons but traditional explosives containing radioactive materials.
Ukraine does not possess nuclear weapons, having renounced those it inherited from the Soviet Union in 1994.
Russia, by contrast, has a huge stockpile of nuclear warheads.
More data now on Black Sea grain exports.
As we report below, Kyiv accused Moscow of blocking the full implementation of a plan to resume grain exports from ports in southern Ukraine.
The United Nations said “urgent” action is needed to eliminate the backlog of more than 150 ships involved in the deal.
Now, Ukraine says the Russian inspections creating such “significant” delays in the Black Sea are “politically motivated” and worrying.
The United Nations said “urgent” measures are needed to eliminate the backlog of more than 150 ships involved in a deal allowing Ukraine to export grain from the Black Sea.
It will be renewed next month: Russia has threatened to withdraw.
Ships carrying grain and other foodstuffs to and from Ukrainian ports will have to be inspected by groups organized through the quadripartite Joint Coordination Centre (JCC) at Turkey’s anchorages.
Ukraine expects its economy to contract by 30% in 2022, after failing to export its main products (oilcake, oil and sunflower seeds) for months.
Exports have resumed in small quantities, but most likely this disruption in exports has contributed to the contraction of the economy reported by Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko.
Ukraine has been at war with Russia since February, when troops gathered on the border invaded and attempted to overthrow Kyiv.
Earlier this month, Ukraine’s Ministry of Economy said finances had exceeded around 30% in the first three quarters of 2022, compared to 2021.
Romanian Defense Minister Vasile Dincu announced his resignation, alluding to the president’s collaboration.
Mr. Dincu has been detained for almost a year.
This comes after he controversially claimed last week that Ukraine’s only hope of winning the war was to negotiate with Russia.
This is one with Romania’s official position on the conflict.
Romania is a member of NATO and a key best friend of Ukraine as it lies on its border.
Since the beginning of the war, it has hosted multinational battle groups and air defense systems for NATO.
Dincu said he had resigned himself to obstructing decision-making in army programs and “not blocking a series of projects surely mandatory for optimal functioning. “
No successor has been announced.
Today we report on Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu’s claims that Ukraine could simply use a “dirty bomb,” one containing radioactive fabrics, in a primary escalation of the existing conflict.
Despite the condemnation of the accusations by Ukraine and its Western allies, the Kremlin spokesman supports them.
Speaking to the media today, Dmitry Peskov said: “Their distrust of the data provided through the Russian side does not mean that there is no risk of such a dirty bomb.
“Such a risk exists, and the Minister of Defense has given the data to his interlocutors. It’s up to them to accept it as true with him or not. “
Shoigu made the claims in calls to his British, American, French and Turkish counterparts, but they later rejected his comments in a joint statement.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal spoke this morning at a German-Ukrainian forum.
After thanking Berlin for its continued support, he said reconstruction prices in Ukraine had recently stood at $750 billion ($663 billion).
Entire cities, such as Mariupol and Bucha, have been destroyed since the war began last February.
Experts vary according to their perspectives on the duration of the clash with Russia, from a few months to several years.
Last week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy claimed that Russia is making plans to blow up the Kakhova hydroelectric dam near Kherson.
But his army spy, Kyrylo Budanov, today downplayed the effect of such a bombing on the Ukrainian advance.
He says it would slow down its troops for about two weeks, and that it would also backfire on Russia by flooding the territory they occupy.
The head of the intelligence directorate of Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said on Monday: “They will suffer a general flood of Kherson’s left bank (occupied through Russia).
“They will even theoretically lose water supply to the Northern Crimean Canal, to Crimea. . .
“Of course, they would complicate our advantage for a while. And this, by the way, is an era of very long time, about two weeks or so. “
He added that this would “destroy the life of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant because this facility is inextricably connected to it. “
The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe, has been occupied by Russia since the early days of the war.
Ukraine says the Russians mined the dam and will blow it up, while the Kremlin says the Ukrainians are making plans to do the same.
This morning we reported on a false message from Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu that Ukraine may be employing a “dirty bomb. “
He made the claim in calls with his French, British and American counterparts, all of whom later made statements rejecting the idea.
However, the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine invites the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), a nuclear watchdog, to send experts to Ukraine’s nuclear facilities.
Kuleba said he had spoken with IAEA leader Rafael Grossi and called on the organization to “urgently send experts to nonviolent services in Ukraine, which Russia misleadingly claims is preparing a dirty bomb. “
Grossi agreed, he said.
“Unlike Russia, Ukraine has been and remains transparent. We have nothing to hide,” Kuleba said.
Western experts have stated that Mr. Shoigu is a component of a Russian disinformation crusade aimed at deterring the West from supplying arms to Ukraine.