Russia-Ukraine war live: Russian defence minister holds calls with foreign counterparts; Kyiv sees scheduled power cuts | Ukraine

Ukraine’s SBU intelligence service said Sunday it had detained two officials of Ukrainian aircraft engine maker Motor Sich on suspicion of working with Russia, Agence France-Presse reports.

SBU “detained the president of industrial giant Motor Sich, he is suspected of working with the Russian Federation,” it said in a statement. It added that it also detained the company’s department head for foreign economic activities and did not provide any names.

According to the SBU, their detention is part of a criminal probe into “the illegal supply by Motor Sich of military goods for Russian attack aircraft.”

They are held on suspicion of “collaborative activity” and “assistance to the aggressor state.”

The SBU said the management of the company’s plant in Ukraine’s southern Zaporizhzhia region – part of which is controlled by Russian forces – “acted in collusion” with Russian state-owned defence conglomerate Rostec.

“The suspects established transnational channel for the illegal supply of wholesale batches of Ukrainian aircraft engines to the aggressor country,” the SBU said, specifying that Russia used them to produce and repair attack helicopters.

These models of helicopter were used “en masse” during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to the SBU.

Motor Sich makes engines for helicopters and aircraft, as well as industrial turbines. Up until 2014 when Moscow annexed Crimea, Russia was the company’s largest client.

Summary

Russian defence minister holds calls with British and other counterparts, says ministry

The Ukrainian foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, has renewed a call for countries around the world to ban the Russian state broadcaster RT.

The appeal was prompted by a clip, shared widely on social media, in which the channel’s director of broadcasting, Anton Krasovsky, is seen inciting a number of violent crimes against Ukrainians.

“Governments which still have not banned RT must watch this excerpt,” Kuleba wrote on Twitter. “This is what you side with if you allow RT to operate in your countries. Aggressive genocide incitement (we will put this person on trial for it), which has nothing to do with freedom of speech. Ban RT worldwide!”

Numerous commentators have argued that misinformation and propaganda of the sort routinely shared on RT forms a central part of Russia’s war effort, and so should not be covered by freedom of the press.

The occupied city of Energodar is on the brink of a “humanitarian disaster” because of a lack of energy and water supply, its mayor has said.

Dmytro Orlov said “constant enemy shelling [has destroyed] civilian infrastructure and power grids”, the Ukrainian outlet Ukrainska Pravda reports.

“The city remains without electricity and without water supply. Gas has not been available in most parts of the city for almost six months,” he said.

Energodar lies in the Zaporizhia region on the southern bank of the Dnipro River, which marks the border between Ukrainian and Russian-controlled territory.

Orlov added that Energodar had a centralised heating system that had not been working since the spring.

“There are currently no prospects for starting heating. The city is in danger of not starting the heating season at all,” he said.

Much of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure has been targeted in recent weeks by Russian strikes and concerns raised that parts of the country could be left without heating over the winter.

Ports operating at quarter capacity because of ‘deliberate delays’, says Ukraine

Situation for Russian troops in Kherson ‘dire’, says milblogger

Pictures appear to show the aftermath of that fighter plane crash in the Russian city of Irkutsk.

The images, posted to Twitter by the Ukrainian news outlet Ukrainska Pravda, show thick smoke rising from a cluster of houses in a residential neighbourhood. Another shows flames engulfing a building.

The Guardian has not been able to independently verify the pictures.

A Russian fighter plane has crashed into a residential building in the Siberian city of Irkutsk, the regional governor has said.

Posting to Telegram on Sunday, Igor Kobzev said the plane hit a two-storey house and that its two pilots had both been killed. He added that there had been no other casualties.

Footage included in the post showed emergency workers moving among the wreckage and working to put out fires at the site.

It is the second such incident in six days, Reuters reports. Last Monday, at least 15 people were killed after a fighter plane hit an apartment block in the southern city of Yeysk, near the Ukrainian border.

Scheduled power cuts introduced in Kyiv

Russia is attempting to cut off telecommunications in Kherson in order to stop opposition figures within the city sending information to the Ukrainian armed forces, Ukraine’s government has said.

It comes amid the withdrawal of Russian troops from the west of the Kherson region ahead of an expected counteroffensive by Ukraine to recapture the city.

According to a report by the government-run Centre for National Resistance, Russia has begun dismantling communication equipment at the local television centre.

“In the future, the Russians plan to leave the city completely without communication, television, and radio broadcasting,” it said.

“In this way, the Russians are trying to informationally isolate Kherson in order not to allow the [underground resistance] to transmit information to the armed forces of Ukraine during counteroffensive actions.”

As the realisation dawns that Russia’s president will stop at nothing, EU leaders are wondering what he may do next to undermine support for Ukraine – and weaken their governments. Putin is losing on the battlefield and despite his nuclear threats, they plainly fears a head-on conflict with Nato he knows he could lose.

Thinking ahead, it’s logical – and prudent – to assume a desperate, heedless Putin will increasingly turn to hybrid attacks in Europe.

Very little is off-limits. Norway, now Europe’s biggest gas supplier, knows its oil and gas installations have become prime targets. Finland plans to fence parts of its border with Russia, fearing an influx of spies and saboteurs.

France worries transatlantic internet cables, essential for western security and communications, are in Putin’s sights. Britain, playing catch-up, has announced its first “multi-role ocean surveillance ship” will be operational in 2023.

These threats are adding to the already considerable political and social strains imposed on Europe by the Ukraine conflict.

Read Simon Tisdall’s piece here:

Russia appears to be preparing to destroy a dam on the Dnipro River as part of “delaying actions” intended to slow Ukrainian advances, according to a US thinktank.

It comes amid the withdrawal of Russian troops from the west of the Kherson region ahead of an expected Ukrainian counteroffensive intended to recapture Kherson city.

In its latest assessment of the conflict, the Institute for the Study of War said Russia was “likely preparing” to destroy the dam at the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant in order to flood the Dnipro River and delay Ukrainian forces.

The dam is located near the southern port city of Nova Kakhovka, where authorities announced on Saturday they were lowering the level of the reservoir behind the dam in order to minimise damage should it be destroyed, but claimed it was the Ukrainians who were planning an attack.

The institute said Ukraine had nothing to gain from destroying the dam and every interest in maintaining the energy supply in areas it expects to liberate, adding that the move appeared to be an attempt by Russia to “moderate” the flooding.

Footage shows a violinist performing for people gathered in a shelter amid yesterday’s blackouts.

The video, posted to Twitter by the Ukrainian defence ministry, shows dozens of people sat around and holding up torches as the man plays.

The ministry said the footage was shot in the western region of Rivne.

The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, has congratulated the Chinese leader, Xi Jinping, on securing a third term in office.

Xi was reconfirmed as general secretary of the ruling Chinese Communist party on Sunday, ending a precedent that presidents should serve for only two terms.

According to a statement posted on the Kremlin’s website, Putin told Xi in a message: “The results of the 20th congress of the Chinese Communist party fully confirmed your high political authority and the unity of the party you head.

“I am certain that the resolutions of the congress will help successfully implement the grand social and economic tasks facing China, and will assist in strengthening the country’s position on the international arena.

“It would be a pleasure for me to carry on our constructive dialogue and close joint work to develop the relations of comprehensive partnership and strategic alliance between our two states.”

The two leaders signed a “no limits” partnership agreement in February, three weeks before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Since then, China has taken a careful line, criticising Western sanctions against Russia but stopping short of endorsing or assisting in the military campaign.