October 16, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

Our live coverage of Russia’s war in Ukraine has moved here.

Part of the seized Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant is controlled by armed Chechen forces, a Ukrainian military organization said?Sunday.

The forces in question, the so-called Special Rapid Response Unit Akhmat, are led by a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin: Chechen Ramzan Kadyrov.

“It is known that a part of the station has recently been controlled by a Kadyrov gang … which placed equipment and weapons directly in turbine halls #1 and #2,” the Center of National Resistance said in a statement.

The center is a military organization designed to support and coordinate Ukrainian troops.

On Wednesday, the Chechen leader Kadyrov wrote in a Telegram post that his unit is in Enerhodar, a city adjacent to the Zaporizhzhia plant. He accused Ukrainians of firing “indiscriminately at the coastline of Enerhodar, its industrial area and the Zaporizhzhia NPP.”?

Remember: Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, the largest nuclear complex of its kind in Europe, was seized by Russian forces at the start of the war.

In its statement, the Center of National Resistance?also claimed that “Russia is trying to connect the Zaporizhzhia NPP to its power system as soon as possible.”

“The occupiers are hastily carrying out measures to convert the spent nuclear fuel storage system at the ZNPP to Russian standards, as well as adapting all nuclear reactors of the ZNPP to use Russian fuel assemblies,” the Center wrote.

CNN cannot independently verify these claims.

More context: The Chechen Republic is a region in Russia’s north Caucasus.

Russian forces fought a brutal war for control of the territory in the mid-1990s and the early 2000s. Kadyrov was once a guerrilla who fought against Russia before switching sides.

During the Second Chechen War, which coincided with the rise of Putin, Kadyrov helped Moscow wrest control of the Chechen Republic from separatist rebels.

Kadyrov has been accused by international and independent observers of gross?human rights violations?in his home territory and beyond. He leads sizeable paramilitary forces that – while formally a part of Russian security structures – have personal loyalty to him.

Very fierce battles are taking place around the eastern Donetsk region, and the Ukrainian military is holding its position there, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his nightly address Saturday.

“Active operations continue in various areas of the front. A very difficult situation persists in Donetsk region and Luhansk,” the Ukrainian leader said, referring to another eastern region that has been?occupied by Russian troops for months.

CNN’s Mariya Knight contributed to this report.

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02:41 - Source: CNN

Ukrainian officials say Russia has been deploying an increasingly familiar weapon in its attacks: “kamikaze drones.”

Most recently, the southern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia was hit with four strikes by?kamikaze drones?overnight Saturday. Authorities said Moscow has also used them in assaults against Kyiv, Vinnytsia,?Odesa?and other cities across Ukraine in recent weeks.

Kamikaze drones, or suicide drones, are a type of aerial weapon system. They are known as a “loitering munition” because they are capable of waiting in an area identified as a potential target and only strike once an enemy asset is identified.

The drones are capable of carrying precision-guided missiles and have a payload of approximately 50 kilograms (110 pounds). They are small, portable and can be easily launched — but their main advantage is that they are hard to detect and can be fired from a distance.

CNN’s Ivana Kottasová and Josh Pennington contributed to this report.

Ukrainian ambassador Oksana Markarova speaks during an interview in Washington, DC, on August 11.?

A Ukrainian diplomat stressed the importance of nuclear deterrence Sunday, responding to comments from France’s president that he would not commit to making a retaliatory strike if Russia used a nuclear weapon.

“With regard to the global response, it has to be very harsh … this is a clear red line,” ambassador Oksana Markarova said. “This is on, you know, on what the whole security infrastructure of Europe and global is built.”

“I just hope everyone understands that,” Markarova added.

The Ukrainian ambassador attempted some deterrence of her own, suggesting not even a nuclear weapon would curb the Ukrainian people’s will to defend their homeland.

Markarova also reiterated Ukraine’s call for air defense systems from the US to combat Russian air strikes across the country. She said the country is “counting on” further reinforcements from the US.

A Ukrainian diplomat said Starlink satellite services are “instrumental” to combatting Russia’s invasion and that she’s confident a dispute over payment for the system can be settled.

Starlink internet terminals are produced by US billionaire Elon Musk’s company, SpaceX, and have been the subject of a back-and-forth between Musk and the Pentagon in recent weeks.

Ambassador Oksana Markarova described Ukraine’s relationship with Musk’s company as “excellent cooperation” in an interview with CBS Sunday. She stressed the importance of the terminals in facilitating humanitarian support to the most affected areas of Ukraine, adding the country will need that support for “a longer time.”

“It’s very important to continue having (Starlink) and I’m positive that we will find a solution there,” Markavova said.?

If you haven’t been following this:?Starlink has been a vital source of communication for Ukraine’s military. The company’s?internet terminals?have allowed troops to stay connected even as cellular phone and internet networks have been destroyed in the war with Russia.

SpaceX has?warned the Pentagon?it may stop funding the service in Ukraine unless the US military kicks in tens of millions of dollars per month. The company also requested the Pentagon take over funding for Ukraine’s government and military use of Starlink, which SpaceX claims would cost more than $120 million for the rest of the year and could cost close to $400 million for the next 12 months.

But on Saturday, Musk seemed to reverse course on Twitter— though it wasn’t clear if the issue was actually settled.

“The hell with it … even though Starlink is still losing money & other companies are getting billions of taxpayer $, we’ll just keep funding Ukraine govt for free,” a tweet from Musk’s verified account read.

Complicating Musk’s relationship with officials in the country, the billionaire faced fierce criticism in Ukraine for publicly floating a peace plan that would see Kyiv surrender Crimea and agree to neutrality status. Some Ukrainian officials have since?extended an olive branch.

Only rubble remains between the two towers at 2 Pershotravneva in Izium, pictured on September 30. Multiple families sheltering in the basement beneath the central part of the building were killed.

The Ukrainian government?says 54 people died?in a Russian assault on an apartment complex in the eastern city of Izium on March 9?— almost half of the building’s residents.

Entire families were killed in the attack, but their fates remained largely unknown until a few weeks ago. Ukrainian forces pursuing a counteroffensive?reclaimed Izium after six months of Russian occupation, revealing a mass burial site on the outskirts of the city.

Most of the residents of the apartment building, 2 Pershotravneva street, were buried there?among more than 400 graves, few with identifying marks other than numbers daubed on rough wooden crosses.

After speaking to a survivor, ex-residents and family members, and reviewing photos and video taken in the aftermath of the attack and following the town’s liberation, CNN can now tell the story of what happened at 2 Pershotravneva on that day.

Read the full report here.

Ships, including those carrying grain from Ukraine, await inspections off the coast of Istanbul, Turkey, on October 14.

The fragile Black Sea grain deal will continue after Nov. 22, when it is set to expire, Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister?Oleksandr Kubrakov said Sunday.

Kubrakov made the comments during a meeting with Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar in Istanbul.?They come after Russian officials, including President Vladimir Putin, cast doubt on the deal’s future this week.

The minister also emphasized the importance of getting faster ship inspections by the Joint Coordination Center. This allows for “a significant increase in the volume of grain exports to the countries of Africa, Asia, and Europe and prevents the formation of inspection queues,” he said.?

A crew member prepares a grain analysis for members of the Joint Coordination Center onboard the "Nord Vind" coming from Ukraine and anchored in Istanbul, Turkey, on October 11.

Some background: The Black Sea Grain Initiative — which was brokered by the UN and Turkey — was signed by representatives from Russia and Ukraine in July.

The agreement ended five months of Russian blockade, allowing ships carrying grain from Ukrainian ports in Odesa to navigate a safe corridor through the Black Sea, helping alleviate global food shortages.

Kubrakov said almost 7.7 million tons of agricultural products have been exported since the launch of the initiative, which “has stabilized food prices and countered the threat of global hunger.”

Russia casts doubt: Gennady Gatilov, Russia’s ambassador to the UN in Geneva, said this week that Russia could leave the deal, according to Reuters. Later,?Putin weighed in, saying Moscow would shut the export corridors if they are used to carry out “terrorist attacks.”

Jake Sullivan appears on CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday, October 16.?

The US will make no distinction in its response to Russia using any form of nuclear weapon in its war with Ukraine, national security adviser Jake Sullivan told CNN Sunday.

Sullivan was responding to a hypothetical question from CNN’s Dana Bash on “State of the Union.” Bash asked whether the US would treat the so-called “tactical” use of a nuclear weapon —?taking out a small target or detonating in the Black Sea, for example — any differently from wide-scale attacks.

“From our perspective, we believe it is incumbent upon the United States, working with our NATO allies and partners and other responsible countries around the world, including the likes of China and India, to send a very clear and decisive message to Russia that they should not contemplate the use of nuclear weapons in this conflict,” Sullivan continued.

The Chinese embassy in Kyiv, on March 1.

China and Kazakhstan are among the latest countries to call on their citizens to leave Ukraine, citing security reasons.

China’s Foreign Ministry and the Chinese Embassy in Ukraine told its citizens to evacuate Ukraine Saturday “given the severe security situation.”

The Chinese embassy said it will help evacuate and transfer those who need to leave.

Kazakhstan’s Embassy in Ukraine also urged its citizens to leave and warned against travel to Ukraine “in light of intensifying attacks on civil infrastructure and government facilities,” in a statement posted last week.

“For those still in the country, do not disregard the air-raid sirens, stay under cover and in bomb shelters,” the embassy added.

Serbia closes its embassy: Serbia —?which recommended its citizens leave the country back in February — has now closed its embassy in Kyiv for security reasons, according to a statement by the Serbian diplomatic mission in Ukraine Sunday.

A spokesperson said the move was temporary and that?staff will work in Belgrade until it is safe to return.

NATO and Russia are set to separately hold long planned exercises of their nuclear forces at a time of huge tension over Russia’s war on Ukraine.

The Pentagon and the US intelligence community are watching for any unexpected or unusual movements of Moscow’s nuclear weapons during Russia’s exercise, which is expected to take place before the end of the month, according to several US officials.

“We believe that that Russian nuclear rhetoric and its decision to proceed with this exercise while at war with Ukraine is irresponsible,” a senior defense official told CNN.?

The Russian exercise called Grom, which roughly translates into thunder, is conducted every year, according to the US. “We anticipate the exercise will span several days,” said John Kirby, coordinator for strategic communications at the National Security Council. It’ll include live missile launches and a deployment of strategic assets.”

Here’s what NATO will be doing: On Monday, NATO will begin its annual nuclear exercise known as Steadfast Noon, with the US among the 14 nations participating. It’s been conducted annually for over a decade, according to the Pentagon.?

The exercise includes fighter jets capable of carrying nuclear warheads but there will be no live weapons aboard. The US will provide B-52 bombers flying from Minot Air Base in North Dakota. The major exercise area will be more than 625 miles from Russia. The goal is to ensure NATO’s nuclear deterrent remains “credible, effective, safe and secure” the defense official said.

According to NATO there will be up to 60 aircraft involved including advanced fighter jets, surveillance and tanker aircraft. Flights will take place over Belgium, the UK and the North Sea.?

Biden warns of unprecedented nuclear threat: Though the Russian exercise is routine, it comes after President Joe Biden issued a stark warning earlier this month about the danger of President Vladimir Putin’s nuclear threats as Moscow faces military setbacks in Ukraine.

He added: “I don’t think there’s any such thing as the ability to easily (use) a tactical nuclear weapon and not end up with Armageddon.”

After Biden’s remarks, administration officials stressed that the US still has seen no evidence that Putin is moving toward using Russia’s nuclear capability, nor is there any intelligence showing he’s decided to do so.

US and allies keeping a closer eye on the exercises: The tension over Ukraine means there will be even more scrutiny on the Russian exercise.

The exercise is expected to focus on strategic weapons, meaning tests of ballistic missile systems that Russia would be required to provide advance notice of under treaty obligations.?

NATO and US officials have said they are confident they will be able to accurately monitor any Russian nuclear activity during the exercise. “We will remain vigilant not least in light of the veiled nuclear threats and the dangerous nuclear rhetoric we have seen from the Russian side,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Thursday.

Belarus' President Alexander Lukashenko meets with military officials in Minsk, on October 10.

The number of Russian troops forming the new Belarusian-Russian joint force will be less than 9,000 people, Valery Revenko, the head of the Belarus Department of International Military Cooperation, said in a statement Sunday.

“Their relocation will take several days. The total number will be a little less than 9 thousand people,” Revenko said on Twitter.

Revenko said more details will be provided at a briefing for foreign military attachés on Monday.

The Ministry of Defense of Belarus said in a statement Sunday that the Russian aviation component of the regional grouping of troops has already begun arriving in Belarus. The first group of Russian soldiers to form the joint force with Belarusian troops arrived in Belarus Saturday, Minsk’s Defense Ministry said in a statement.

“Due to the aggravation on the western borders of the Union State, we agreed to deploy a regional grouping of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus,” President Alexander Lukashenko said last week, according to state news agency Belta.

Some background:?The joint force has?raised fears of deepened military cooperation between the close allies and that Belarusian troops could formally join Russia’s invasion.

The impact of such an intervention in terms of pure manpower would be limited; Belarus has around 45,000 active duty troops, which would not significantly bolster Russia’s reserves. But it would threaten another assault on Ukraine’s northern flank below the Belarusian border.

CNN’s Tim Lister and Rob Picheta contributed to this report.

France will soon train up to 2,000 Ukrainian soldiers within its military units for several weeks, French Armed Forces Minister Sebastien Lecornu said in an interview published Saturday.

French President Emmanuel Macron has validated a plan with assignments lasting several weeks, Lecornu told the French newspaper Le Parisien. He noted that French troops have previously provided artillery training for Ukrainians, “but here we are changing the scale.”

In terms of additional military equipment that will be sent to Ukraine, Lecornu indicated that the number of Crotale anti-aircraft systems that will be sent to Kyiv is still under determination but “will be significant to enable them to defend their sky.”

French aid for the war: France has already sent 18 Caesar howitzers to Ukraine since the start of the war and “discussions are continuing to mobilize six additional guns,” Lecornu said.

Kyiv has also requested rocket launchers allowing long-range strikes, and France is studying the delivery of surface-to-surface missiles, the minister added.

Earlier this month, Macron?announced a €100 million (about $97 million) fund allowing Ukraine to directly purchase military aid from French manufacturers.

The Russian Investigative Committee has launched a criminal case into Saturday’s shooting at a training ground in the Belgorod region, according to a statement published Sunday.?

On Sunday, the Belgorod region governor Vyacheslav Gladkov shared his condolences in a video statement published on Telegram.

“Many soldiers were killed and injured. All the injured are being treated. We have medicines, doctors and everything that is needed. I would like to express my consolation and condolences to all the families of the victims. We are with you,”?Gladkov said. “We will help those who are now in our hospitals with everything that we can.”

Gladkov added that no residents of the Belgorod region were among the wounded and dead.

Police officers work at a site where several cars were damaged after a Russian attack in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, on October 15.

Ten civilians were killed and 14 injured in Ukraine as a result of Russian attacks in the past 24 hours, said?Kyrylo Tymoshenko, the deputy head of the Ukrainian president’s office, in a statement on Telegram Sunday.

In the Donetsk region, seven civilians were killed and three were wounded, according to?Tymoshenko.?The police of the Donetsk region reported earlier on Sunday that?Russian troops attacked seven settlements in the past 24 hours, resulting in several deaths and injuries among civilians.?

Tymoshenko said in the statement that there was also a death in the Zaporizhzhia region and two deaths and three wounded civilians in the Kharkiv region. Additionally, 6 people were wounded in the?Dnipropetrovsk region and 2 people were wounded in the?Kherson region.?

According to the statement published by the police, the Russian army struck Avdiivka, Bakhmut, Toretsk, Kostyantynivka, Chasiv Yar, Karlivka and Orlivka.?Bakhmut was hit the hardest, with 11 civilian homes damaged by the strikes.

This handout photo released by Vyacheslav Gladkov, governor of the Belgorod region, claims to show a crater created by shelling outside Belgorod, Russia, on October 16.??

Three civilians were injured in the Russian city of Belgorod as a result of the shelling by Ukraine, Vyacheslav Gladkov, Belgorod region governor, said Sunday.

The shelling had stopped as of Sunday afternoon, according to Gladkov. He added that “there is minor damage to houses, fences and cars. The operational services are now working on the location.”

The Russian state media RIA Novosti reported that at least 16 explosions were heard around the city Sunday.

The city administration building of Donetsk is damaged after shelling on October 16.?

Four civilians were injured during the shelling of the building of the city administration of Donetsk, the territorial defense of the self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic said in a statement on Sunday.

Alexei Kulemzin, the Russian-appointed mayor of Donetsk, said the victims are have been transported to a hospital and the severity of their injuries is being established.

Firefighters conduct work after the administration building of Donetsk was hit with shelling on October 16.

Two gunmen opened fire on Russian military recruits at a training ground in Russia’s Belgorod region, killing at least 11 people and wounding another 15, Russia’s state news agency TASS reports.

The attack happened Saturday during a training session at the Western Military District, according to TASS, which cited the Russian Defense Ministry.?The gunmen were said to be from former Soviet states. Russian officials have branded the attack an act of terrorism.

“As a result of a terrorist attack at a military training ground in the Belgorod region, 11 people were killed, 15 were injured and are receiving medical assistance,” TASS reported.

“The incident occurred during a shooting training session with volunteers preparing for a special operation. The terrorists attacked the personnel of the unit with small-arms fire.”

According to TASS, two individuals who committed the “terrorist act” were killed in retaliatory fire at the training ground.

The Belgorod region is in western Russia on the border with Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks during his evening video message on Saturday October 15.

Very fierce battles are taking place around the eastern Donetsk region, and the Ukrainian military is holding its position there, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his nightly address Saturday.

Bakhmut is located in the northern portion of Donetsk region.

Work still to do on recaptured land: Zelensky also gave an update on the efforts to reconnect services to regions of Ukraine recently liberated from Russian forces.

He said homes in the northeastern Ukrainian city of Izium, which was?under Russian occupation for six months?before being liberated in September, are having their supply of natural gas restored.

“The first 500 families of the city already have gas in their homes again,” he said. “Just yesterday, more than 3,000 houses in the Izium, Kupiansk,?Chuhuiv?and?Kharkiv districts of Kharkiv region were connected to the gas supply. Work is ongoing in other directions as well.”

A police officer inspects parts of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), that Ukrainian authorities consider to be an Iranian made suicide drone Shahed-136 on October 6.

Ukrainian officials say Russia has been deploying an increasingly familiar weapon in its attacks: “kamikaze drones.”

Most recently, the southern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia was hit with four strikes by kamikaze drones overnight Saturday. Authorities said Moscow has also used them in assaults against Kyiv, Vinnytsia,?Odesa and other cities across Ukraine in recent weeks.

Ukrainian officials have pleaded with Western countries to step up their assistance in the face of the new challenge, in addition to developing its own technology to counter the strikes.

Kamikaze drones, or suicide drones, are a type of aerial weapon system. They are known as a “loitering munition” because they are capable of waiting in an area identified as a potential target and only strike once an enemy asset is identified.

The drones are capable of carrying precision-guided missiles and have a payload of approximately 50 kilograms (110 pounds). They are small, portable and can be easily launched — but their main advantage is that they are hard to detect and can be fired from a distance.

Ties to Iran: The Ukrainian military and?US intelligence?say Russia is using Iranian-made attack drones. US officials told CNN in July that Iran had begun showcasing Shahed series drones to Russia the previous month.

US officials later said?Russia bought the drones?and was training its forces how to use them. According to Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, Russia has ordered 2,400 Shahed-136 drones from Iran.

CNN’s Josh Pennington contributed to this report.