West warns Russia against using dirty bomb pretext in Ukraine - Al Jazeera English

Western countries have accused Russia of plotting to use a threat of a dirty bomb laced with nuclear material as a pretext for escalation in Ukraine as Moscow evacuated civilians from a southern city in anticipation of a major battle.

With Ukrainian forces advancing into Russian-occupied Kherson province, top Russian officials phoned their Western counterparts on Sunday and Monday to tell them Moscow suspected Kyiv of planning to use a so-called dirty bomb.

In a joint statement on Monday, the foreign ministers of France, the United Kingdom and the United States said they had all rejected the allegations and reaffirmed their support for Ukraine against Russia.

“Our countries made clear that we all reject Russia’s transparently false allegations that Ukraine is preparing to use a dirty bomb on its own territory,” they said. “The world would see through any attempt to use this allegation as a pretext for escalation.”

Russian Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu phoned his Western counterparts on Sunday. British Chief of Defence Staff Tony Radakin again rejected Russia’s allegations in a call with Russian Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov on Monday, the British defence ministry said in a statement.

Russia’s RIA news agency reported Gerasimov also spoke to the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Mark Milley, on Monday, eight months to the day since Russia invaded Ukraine.

Russia’s defence ministry said the aim of a dirty bomb attack by Ukraine would to blame the resulting radioactive contamination on Russia.

“The aim of the provocation would be to accuse Russia of using a weapon of mass destruction in the Ukrainian military theatre and by that means to launch a powerful anti-Russian campaign in the world,” it said, adding that it had prepared its forces to work in conditions of radioactive contamination.

Al Jazeera’s Harry Fawcett, reporting from Kyiv, said Russia’s dirty bomb accusations are seen by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as “an attempt by the Russians to escalate the rhetoric and potentially the ground for some kind of false flag” attack.

“[Zelenskyy] said these claims coming from Russia were absurd and dangerous, … that Ukraine was a member of the non-proliferation treaty and had no such nuclear capabilities or ambitions and that when Russia makes these sorts of allegations, it means it’s planning something itself along such lines,” Fawcett said.

Evacuation of Kherson

Russia has ordered civilians to evacuate territory it controls on the western bank of the Dnipro River, where Ukrainian forces have been advancing since the start of this month shortly after Moscow claimed to have annexed the area.

A Russian defeat there would be one of Moscow’s biggest setbacks yet.

Kherson’s regional capital is the only big city Russia has captured intact since its February 24 invasion, and its only foothold on the west bank of the Dnipro, which bisects Ukraine. The province controls the gateway to Crimea, the peninsula Russia seized and claimed to have annexed in 2014.

The Russian-installed authorities in Kherson announced on Monday that men who stay behind would have the option of joining a military self-defence unit. Kyiv accuses Russia of press-ganging men in occupied areas into military formations, a war crime under the Geneva Conventions.

Kyrylo Budanov, Ukraine’s military spy chief, said Russian forces were preparing to defend Kherson city, not retreat.

“They are creating the illusion that all is lost. Yet at the same time they are moving new military units in and preparing to defend the streets of Kherson,” he told the Ukrainska Pravda online media outlet.

The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said on Facebook that Russian forces had launched three missile attacks and seven air raids throughout Ukraine in the past day, damaging infrastructure in heavily contested areas of the Donetsk region in the east and in areas of the Kharkiv region in the northeast freed last month from Russian occupation.

About 10 towns came under attack in the Zaporizhia region of central Ukraine, it said, as did eight towns on the southern front.

Meanwhile, Kyiv on Monday accused Russia of purposefully delaying the arrival from Turkey of more than 165 cargo ships heading to Ukrainian ports to be loaded with grain.

Russia’s inspectors “have been significantly prolonging the inspection of vessels. … As a result, more than 165 vessels have been stuck in a queue near the Bosphorus Strait and this number continues to grow daily,” the Ukrainian foreign ministry said.

“We have reason to believe that the delays in Russia’s inspections of the grain initiative’s vessels are politically motivated,” it added.

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2022-10-24 20:08:49Z
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Ukraine war: Russian forces preparing to defend Kherson, says Ukrainian spy chief - BBC

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By Hugo Bachega in Kyiv and Elsa Maishman in London

BBC News

Russia is sending more troops into the key southern city of Kherson and may be preparing to defend it, Ukraine's spy chief has said.

Ukraine had previously suggested some Russian units might be leaving.

Russia took Kherson in the early days of the war, but has recently come under pressure as Ukrainian troops advance along the Dnipro River.

Russian authorities in the city have ordered thousands of civilians to evacuate.

Kyrylo Budanov, the Ukrainian intelligence chief, dismissed this as an "information operation", telling the Ukrayinska Pravda website Moscow was "trying to create the illusion that everything is lost".

The Russian military is sending in more troops and preparing the streets for defence, he said, adding that the removal of citizens is a pretence to save face in case the city falls to Ukraine.

This is a departure from Kyiv's earlier comments that the invading forces were leaving the city. "They are not preparing to exit now," he said.

The BBC has not verified the precise movements of either sides' troops on the ground. The suggestion that Russian troops are digging in raises the possibility of a fierce fight in the coming weeks.

In other developments:

• Ukraine and its allies dismissed Russian claims Kyiv was planning to use a "dirty bomb", explosives laced with radioactive material
• German chancellor Olaf Scholz promised to give Ukraine emergency help to rebuild damaged infrastructure ahead of winter
• Romanian Defence Minister Vasile Dincu handed in his resignation on Monday, citing differences with president of the country, Klaus Iohannis, over the war in Ukraine. Mr Iohannis had previously criticised his defence minister for suggesting negotiation with Russia
• Ukraine accused Russia of obstructing the grain deal between the two countries, by holding up 165 ships with "artificial delays" to inspections
• Russian state broadcaster RT has suspended one of its top presenters, Anton Krasovsky, after he called for the burning and drowning of Ukrainian children

Ukraine has been advancing on Kherson since the start of October. It has reclaimed about 90 villages in the region, with a population totalling 12,000, according to its military.

On Monday, the Russian-appointed officials in Kherson announced the creation of militia units, saying that men would have the "opportunity" to join them.

But Serhiy Bratchuk, a Ukrainian military spokesman in Odesa, said this was a disguise to conscript male residents into the Russian army.

A defeat in Kherson would be a major setback for Russia.

It is the capital of one of the four regions President Putin attempted to annex after self-described referendums.

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It is also the only regional capital which has been captured since the invasion in February, and is the only foothold on the west bank of the Dnipro river which runs through Ukraine.

And Kherson province controls the gateway to Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014.

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2022-10-24 16:54:35Z
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Russia defense chief makes unfounded claims of Kyiv ready to use 'dirty bomb' - POLITICO Europe

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu on Sunday had telephone calls with his French, British and Turkish counterparts in which he made unfounded claims that Ukraine might be preparing to use a “dirty bomb,” according to Russian readouts of the conversations.

The conversations took place after Russian President Vladimir Putin recently raised the prospect of using nuclear weapons in the war he launched against Ukraine. And after Shoigu faced intensifying political pressure over a series of disorderly retreats in Ukraine.

The calls came as Russia continues a mass evacuation of civilians from occupied Kherson in southern Ukraine and defense analysts believe that the movement of people is setting the scene for Moscow to withdraw its troops from a significant part of the region. But among EU diplomats, there are fears that Moscow is only setting the scene for things to get worse.

During the call with French Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu, they discussed the situation in Ukraine, “which is rapidly deteriorating,” according to the Russian readout of the call. And Shoigu conveyed “his concerns about possible provocations by Ukraine with the use of a ‘dirty bomb’,” the Russian ministry said without giving any further detail.

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The same content of the readout was provided on the call with Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar.

The Russian readout of the call with U.K. Defense Minister Ben Wallace talks only about the risk of a “dirty bomb.” However, in none of the readouts does Moscow provide any evidence for its claims.

The U.K. said that “Shoigu alleged that Ukraine was planning actions facilitated by Western countries, including the U.K., to escalate the conflict in Ukraine,” according to a U.K. statement. “The Defense Secretary refuted these claims and cautioned that such allegations should not be used as a pretext for greater escalation,” it said.

No statement on the call was immediately made available by the defense ministries of France and Turkey.

On Friday, Shoigu spoke with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin for the first time since May, and, according to a Pentagon readout, in the call “Austin emphasized the importance of maintaining lines of communication amid the ongoing war against Ukraine.”

Shoigu spoke with Austin again on Sunday, according to the Russian defense ministry. In this case, the Russian readout says only that “they discussed situation in Ukraine.”

A dirty bomb is a bomb that combines conventional explosives, such as dynamite, with radioactive materials. For Dara Massicot, an analyst at U.S. research company Rand Corporation, “this reads like Russian false flag groundwork.”

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2022-10-23 17:31:43Z
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Salman Rushdie has lost sight in one eye, agent Andrew Wylie says - BBC

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Author Salman Rushdie has lost vision in one eye and the use of one hand following his stabbing in New York in August, his agent says.

"He has about 15 more wounds in his chest," Andrew Wylie, a New York-based agent, also told Spain's El País newspaper. "It was a a brutal attack."

Mr Wylie said he could not disclose the novelist's whereabouts. The assault occurred at an event in New York state.

Mr Rushdie has long faced death threats for his 1988 novel The Satanic Verses.

Some Muslims regard the book as blasphemous. The man charged over the attack, US-born Hadi Matar, 24, has pleaded not guilty to attempted murder.

"He's lost the sight of one eye," Mr Wylie said in his interview with El País. "He had three serious wounds in his neck. One hand is incapacitated because the nerves in his arm were cut."

Asked if the author was still in hospital, Mr Wylie replied: "I can't give any information about his whereabouts. He's going to live… That's the more important thing."

The attack took place at the Chautauqua Institution in New York State on 12 August. Mr Rushdie was about to give a speech about how the US has served as a haven for writers.

• The writer who emerged from hiding
• Horrifying, ghastly: Authors condemn attack

The novelist was forced into hiding for nearly 10 years after The Satanic Verses was published. Many Muslims reacted with fury to it, arguing that the portrayal of the Prophet Muhammad insulted their faith.

Reuters

He faced death threats and the then-Iranian leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, issued a fatwa - or decree - calling for Mr Rushdie's assassination, placing a $3m (£2.5m) bounty on the author's head.

The fatwa remains active, and although Iran's government has distanced itself from Mr Khomeini's decree, a quasi-official Iranian religious foundation added a further $500,000 to the reward in 2012.

Mr Wylie told El País that he had discussed such threats with Mr Rushdie over the years. "The principal danger that he faced so many years after the fatwa was imposed is from a random person coming out of nowhere and attacking.

"So you can't protect against that, because it's totally unexpected and illogical. It was like John Lennon's murder."

Mr Rushdie was born in India in 1947. He was sent to boarding school in England before studying at the University of Cambridge. In 2007, he was knighted for services to literature.

There has been an outpouring of support for him, with the attack widely condemned as an assault on freedom of expression.

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2022-10-23 16:19:18Z
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Russia strikes homes near Ukraine's southern front - Reuters

• Russian minister says Ukraine may use 'dirty bomb'
• Missile smashes into Mykolaiv apartment block
• Ukrainian forces on offensive in Kherson region
• Kherson is gateway to Russian-annexed Crimea

MYKOLAIV, Ukraine, Oct 23 (Reuters) - Under pressure in the south of Ukraine, Russia fired missiles and drones into Ukrainian-held Mykolaiv on Sunday, destroying an apartment block in the ship-building city near the front and warning the war was trending toward "uncontrolled escalation".

Mykolaiv lies roughly 35 km (22 miles) northwest of the front line to occupied Kherson, the southern region that is the target of a major offensive by Ukrainian forces to retake territory Russia captured soon after the Feb. 24 invasion.

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, who Russian nationalists have blamed for Moscow's setbacks in the war, discussed the "rapidly deteriorating situation" in calls with his French and Turkish counterparts, the ministry said.

Shoigu said Ukraine could escalate with a "dirty bomb," conventional explosives laced with radioactive material, without providing evidence. Ukraine does not possess nuclear weapons, while Russia has said it could protect Russian territory with its nuclear arsenal.

In one conventional Russian attack on Sunday, a missile strike wiped out the top floor of an apartment block in Mykolaiv, propelling shrapnel and debris across a plaza and into neighbouring buildings where windows buckled and walls cracked. Cars were crushed under the rubble, Reuters witnessed. No fatalities were reported.

"After the first blast, I tried to get out, but the door was stuck. After a minute or two, there was a second loud blast. Our door was blown into the corridor," said Oleksandr Mezinov, 50, who was awoken from his bed by the blasts.

Ukraine shot down 14 Russian "kamikaze" drones over Mykolaiv overnight, regional governor Vitaliy Kim said on Telegram. The drones are designed to explode on impact and have hammered Ukraine's energy infrastructure this month.

Kim said Russia also attacked with S-300 missiles, one of which hit the five-storey apartment building.

INTENSIFYING ATTACKS

Russian troops have withdrawn from parts of the front in recent weeks and occupation authorities are evacuating civilians deeper into Russian-held territory before 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.

Russian-installed authorities in Kherson said one man was killed and three injured after a blast in the city, a Russian state news agency said. Emergency services said an improvised explosive device was detonated near a car in the city.

Reuters could not verify the attack in Kherson, or Kim's report on missiles and drones.

Ukraine's advances in recent weeks around Kherson and in the country's northeast have been met with intensifying Russian missile and drone attacks on civilian infrastructure, which have destroyed about 40% of Ukraine's power system ahead of winter.

Russia and Ukraine have accused each other of planning to blow up the Nova Kakhovka dam, which holds roughly as much water as the Great Salt Lake in the U.S. state of Utah. Breaching it could flood a swathe of southern Ukraine, including Kherson.

Neither side has produced evidence to back up their claims about the dam, which supplies water to Crimea and the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

In Kherson the occupation authorities instructed civilians to get out, in the latest sign of the problems Russia is facing in what Moscow calls a "special military operation" in Ukraine.

"Due to the tense situation at the front, the increased danger of massive shelling of the city and the threat of terrorist attacks, all civilians must immediately leave the city and cross to the (east) bank of the Dnipro!" occupation authorities posted on Telegram.

'WE WANTED TO STAY'

Thousands of civilians have left Kherson after warnings of a Ukrainian offensive to recapture the city.

At Oleshky on the east bank, Reuters saw people arriving by boat from Kherson, loaded with boxes, bags and pets. One woman carried a toddler under one arm and a dog under the other.

"I really didn't want to (leave), I'm still in work," one resident said. "We wanted to stay here in the region, but now we don't know."

Ukraine's military said it was making gains in the south, taking over at least two villages it said Russia had abandoned.

Reuters could not independently verify the accounts.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the Russian attacks on energy infrastructure had struck on a "very wide" scale. He pledged his military would improve on an already good record of downing missiles with help from its partners.

With the war about to start its ninth month and winter approaching, the potential for freezing misery loomed.

More than a million people were without power, presidential adviser Kyrylo Tymoshenko said. A city official said strikes could leave Kyiv without power and heat for days or weeks.

Moscow has acknowledged targeting energy infrastructure but denies targeting civilians.

Additional reporting by Jake Cordell and Valentyn Ogirenko in Mykolaiv; Writing by Frank Jack Daniel; Editing by Edmund Blair

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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2022-10-23 14:36:00Z
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History made in China as Xi Jinping to serve third term - breaking decades-long precedent - Sky News

History has been made in China after it was confirmed that President Xi Jinping will remain in power - breaking with a decades-long precedent that limits the terms of Chinese leaders.

Having ruled China for 10 years already, Mr Xi will now stay on for at least another five-year term - and he could, in theory, make himself leader for life.

The break with tradition makes him the most powerful leader in China since Chairman Mao and his vision has become increasingly unchallengeable.

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1:24

China's former president escorted out

The confirmation came at the end of the week-long 20th Party Congress of the Communist Party of China.

The event happens once every five years and has the central purpose of selecting the people who will sit at the top leadership roles for the next five years.

This includes the two groups seen as the apex of political power in China - the 25-strong Politburo and the Politburo Standing Committee that is made up of seven people, including the president.

The new standing committee was revealed as President Xi led them on stage in rank order. His leadership of the procession served as the confirmation he will remain as the general secretary of the party. His official confirmation as president will happen in March.

More on China

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The two-term limit on Chinese presidents was introduced in the early 1980s after Chairman Mao's death.

Mao's nearly 30-year rule bought great chaos, violence and instability to China - and the idea was to move to a more "collective leadership" model and ensure power could never again be so centralised in the hands of one person.

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In 2018, Mr Xi successfully removed the two-term limit from the constitution, paving the way for the consolidation of his power this weekend.

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3:08

Xi Jinping set to tighten grip on China

There have been other constitutional amendments made this week to further highlight the "core" status of Mr Xi at the centre of the party.

Changes to the Politburo Standing Committee also suggest he has become increasingly unchallengeable.

Two figures in particular, Li Keqiang and Wang Yang, are notable in their demotion from the standing committee. Both are young enough to serve another term and are reportedly more reform-leaning, but neither are considered to be arch Xi loyalists.

With two other retirements, there were four new faces on the top team. All four are men considered to be within Mr Xi's inner circle. All have worked closely with him at various points in his career and are likely considered highly trusted.

It represents Mr Xi stuffing the standing committee with his closest allies and seems to offer little in the way of an olive branch to other wings of the party.

There also was no obvious successor in the standing committee line-up. A designated successor is usually anyone on that team who is young enough to serve one term in waiting and two terms as leader all before the retirement age of 68, but there was no one of that age.

This indicates Mr Xi may indeed intend to stay on for another 10 years or longer.

His consolidated position matters enormously in China and around the world because it means his vision for the country is here to stay.

Under his leadership, China has become increasingly rich and strong. His ultra-nationalist vision has made it more assertive of the foreign stage and unapologetic about its ascendency.

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1:01

Uyghur living in exile speaks out

But in his ten years in power President Xi has also centralised much of the power within the state and the party under his control. He has purged rivals and stifled dissent.

People in China are under increasingly heavy surveillance and censorship, while journalists, lawyers and civil society groups have largely been silenced.

In his speech he spoke about his ambition for a "great rejuvenation" of China but repeated mentions of a "dangerous storm" and "choppy waters" ahead which may concern some international observers.

Experts say it would now take a political earthquake to unseat him, something that feels increasingly unlikely.

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2022-10-23 13:17:02Z
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Blackouts in parts of Ukraine after ‘massive’ Russian attacks - Al Jazeera English

More than a million households in Ukraine have been left without electricity following Russian attacks on energy facilities and other areas across the country, as intense fighting continues in the southeastern region of Luhansk, Donetsk and Kherson where Russia has been struggling to stop renewed Ukrainian advances.

Reporting from Kyiv, Al Jazeera’s Harry Fawcett said on Sunday that the Russian attacks continued overnight according to Ukrainian officials, who did not specify what exactly was hit.

“They [Ukraine] are saying that there has been a specific shift in strategy, towards civilian infrastructure, particularly in terms of energy,” he said. “The strikes on Saturday were as widespread … most of them targeting energy infrastructure.”

Ukraine’s air force said in a statement on Saturday that Russia had launched “a massive missile attack” targeting “critical infrastructure”, hours after air raid sirens blared across the country. It said that it had downed 18 out of 33 cruise missiles launched from air and sea.

Local officials in regions across Ukraine reported attacks on energy facilities and power outages as engineers scrambled to restore the ruined network. Some advised residents to stock up on water in case of cuts.

Russia has intensified its attacks on power stations, water supply systems and other key infrastructure across the country since October 10, destroying one-third of Ukraine’s power stations in apparent retaliation to an attack on the Crimea bridge – a key military supply route – and recent advances made by Ukrainian forces.

(Al Jazeera)

No power, no water

After the first wave of missiles hit early in the morning, air raid sirens rang out again nationwide at 11:15am (08:15 GMT).

State grid operator Ukrenergo said the attacks targeted transmission infrastructure in western Ukraine, but that power supply restrictions were being put in place in 10 regions across the country, including in the capital, Kyiv.

“The scale of damage is comparable or may exceed the consequences of the attacks [between] October 10-12,” Ukrenergo wrote on the Telegram app, referring to the first wave of attacks on Ukraine’s power system last week.

“Another rocket attack from terrorists who are fighting against civilian infrastructure and people,” the Ukrainian president’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, wrote on the Telegram app.

The western city of Khmelnytskyi, which straddles the Bug river and was home to some 275,000 people before the war, was left with no electricity, shortly after local media reported several loud explosions.

The city council urged residents to store water, “in case it’s also gone within an hour,” in a social media post on Saturday.

The mayor of Lutsk, a city of 215,000 in Ukraine’s far west, made a similar appeal on Telegram on Saturday. Power in Lutsk had been partially knocked out after Russian missiles slammed into local energy facilities, he said.

The central city of Uman, a key pilgrimage centre for Hasidic Jews which counted some 100,000 residents before the war, was also plunged into darkness after a rocket hit a nearby power station, regional authorities said on Telegram.

In comments to the AFP news agency on Saturday, Ukrenergo said some parts of Ukraine are reducing their electricity use by up to 20 percent.

“We are grateful to both people, who have reduced their consumption at home, and to businesses, who are doing the same in their offices and workplaces. We see savings in different regions and on different days the level of voluntary consumption reduction ranges from five to 20 percent on average,” Ukrenergo chief Volodymyr Kudrytskyi said in written comments to AFP.

Earlier this week, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on consumers to curb their power use between 7am and 11am daily, and avoid using energy-guzzling appliances such as electric heaters.

Fighting in Kherson

Meanwhile, Russia’s defence ministry said on Saturday that its forces had repelled attempted Ukrainian offensives in the southern regions of Luhansk and Donetsk and the southern region of Kherson.

It said Russian forces had prevented an attempt by Ukraine to break through its line of defence in the Kherson region by the settlements of Piatykhatky, Sukhanove, Sablukivka and Bezvodne.

Ukrainian authorities say they have taken some 88 towns in the region. Al Jazeera could not independently verify reports from the battlefield.

Civilians evacuated from the Russian-controlled Kherson region of Ukraine arrive at a railway station in the town of Dzhankoi, Crimea, on October 20, 2022 [Alexey Pavlishak/Reuters]

Al Jazeera’s Fawcett said there was “something of a news blackout” being imposed by the Ukrainians in Kherson region. “We can’t get in. There’s not very much being said from the Ukrainian side,” he said.

Kherson is one of four Ukrainian territories illegally annexed by Moscow last month.

Russia and Ukraine have also accused each other of planning to blow up a huge dam in the Kherson region. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has alleged that Russian forces are planting explosives in the Nova Kakhovka dam.

He warned its destruction would be catastrophic. Meanwhile, Russian-installed officials in Kherson have accused Ukraine of firing missiles at the dam.

Neither side has produced evidence for their claims.

Al Jazeera’s Kimberley Halkett reporting from the White House spoke to the National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby who said Russia’s attacks on civilian infrastructure, including alleged ones on the dam, were “absolutely unacceptable”.

“It’s another example of Russian brutality against the Ukrainian people who he’s trying to strike fear into them and he’s trying to affect their ability to get through what will likely be a cold winter,” he said.

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2022-10-23 08:15:00Z
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