Enlarge image
Rescue operations in Kyiv after Russian drone attack (on October 17)
Photo: Roman Hrytsyna / AP
What has happened in the past few hours
The
Ukrainian army
has reported violent
Russian attacks
in some regions.
"The enemy has tripled the intensity of the fighting on individual front sectors - up to 80 attacks a day," said the supreme commander of the Ukrainian armed forces, Valeriy Zalushny, in his Telegram channel, without giving details.
During a phone call with NATO Commander-in-Chief Christopher Cavoli, he discussed the situation at the front.
"The situation is tense, but under control," says Zalushnyj.
That says Kyiv
According to Ukraine, Russian attacks have again led to
power outages
in large parts of the country.
President
Volodymyr Zelenskyj called on the population to
hold
out in the face of massive Russian attacks on the country's energy infrastructure
.
"To endure the Russian
energy terror
is now our national task," said Zelenskyj in his evening video address on Thursday.
He spoke of around
4.5 million
people
who were repeatedly affected by emergency shutdowns, especially in Kiev and ten other areas.
The fact that Russia has recently been increasingly attacking
thermal power
stations and power plants
is “a sign of
weakness
,” said Zelenskyj
.
Unable to achieve success on the battlefield, the Russian army is now trying to "break" the Ukrainians on this path.
But this will not succeed.
The President urged the municipalities
to
save
electricity
.
“Now is definitely not the time for bright display cases, signs, advertisements and other similar lighting.” In addition, utilities would have to explain to people when and why areas would be switched off.
"If someone has no electricity for eight or ten hours and everything on the other side of the street is plugged in, including streetlights, that's definitely unfair," Zelenskyy said.
Ukraine is also complaining about
"mass
forced resettlements
" of its citizens from the Russian-occupied areas in the east and south of the country
.
The Foreign Ministry in Kyiv said on Thursday that the Russian occupation administration had started bringing citizens from the Kherson region to the annexed Crimea peninsula or to Russia.
"Similar deportations are also being carried out by Russia in the Zaporizhia, Lugansk and Donetsk regions and in Crimea." The ministry spoke of "looting" by Russian soldiers in the affected regions.
The Moscow-appointed authorities in Kherson announced further "evacuations" on Tuesday after around
70,000 civilians
had already left the region last week.
The governor of Cherson appointed by Moscow, Vladimir Saldo, justified this with the risk of "massive rocket attacks" by the advancing Ukrainian army.
Ukraine, on the other hand, interpreted this as “
deportation
” of its citizens by Russia.
Moscow annexed the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia regions of Ukraine in September.
Moscow says so
Russian
President Vladimir Putin
has ordered a
one-off payment
of 195,000 rubles (
$4,000
) to contract
soldiers
and
conscripts
called up for service in Ukraine.
The presidential decree states that the payments are for "social support."
The minimum wage for contract soldiers is 160,000 rubles ($3,000), three times the average wage in Russia.
humanitarian situation
Russia
's rapid
retreat
from the ban on Ukrainian
grain exports
across the Black Sea has raised new
hopes
of an
easing
in the international food situation.
At least six freighters were able to leave Ukrainian ports on Thursday, according to Turkish sources.
The country invaded by Russia is one of the largest producers of grain - important above all for millions of people in Africa and Asia.
However, the future of the transports depends on Moscow's behavior: Russia threatened to suspend the agreement again if there were new attacks on its Black Sea fleet.
International reactions
US Secretary of
Defense
Lloyd Austin
has
expressed confidence that
Ukrainians
can still retake Russian-held areas on the western side of the Dnipro River and around the city of
Kherson
.
"I think they're capable of it," Austin said Thursday in Washington.
"Most importantly, the Ukrainians themselves believe they can do it," he added.
The US is playing a central role in supplying arms and other aid to Ukraine in defense against Russia's war of aggression, which has been ongoing since February.
Western security circles announced on Thursday that Russia was
preparing to withdraw from
Cherson in southern Ukraine.
The strategically important city was one of the first to be occupied by Russian troops and is one of the four areas that Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin recently declared part of Russia, in violation of international law.
What is happening today
The G7 foreign ministers
continue their two-day meeting in Münster in the morning
with discussions on the violence against demonstrators in Iran .
In addition to the system-critical protests in the country, the G7 round around hostess Annalena Baerbock (Greens) should also deal with reports about possible additional
arms deliveries
from Tehran to
Russia
.
jok/dpa/Reuters