- Russia warns it will respond to more Western aid to Ukraine
- Zelenskiy after Biden’s call: Air defense is top priority
- Number of Russian strikes rises to 19 – Ukrainian officials
KYIV, Oct 11 (Reuters) – Russia will respond to the West’s growing involvement in the Ukraine conflict, although direct conflict with NATO is not in Moscow’s interests, the deputy foreign minister said on Tuesday from Russia after Washington promised more military aid to Kyiv.
Ukraine said on Monday it needed to bolster its air defenses after Russia’s biggest air assaults on cities since the start of the war, in retaliation for what Moscow called a Ukrainian attack on a strategic bridge in Crimea.
US President Joe Biden promised to provide advanced air defense systems, and the Pentagon said on September 27 that it would begin delivering the National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System in the next two months or so.
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Biden and Group of Seven leaders will hold a virtual meeting on Tuesday to discuss their commitment to support Ukraine, the White House said.
“We warn and hope that they realize the danger of an uncontrolled escalation in Washington and other Western capitals,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov was quoted as saying by the RIA news agency on Tuesday.
Russian missiles struck targets across Ukraine early Monday, killing 19 people and injuring 105, emergency officials said, as they plowed into intersections, parks and tourist spots. As many as 301 settlements in Kyiv, Lviv, Sumy, Ternopil and Khmelnytsky regions remained without electricity on Tuesday morning.
The barrage of dozens of cruise missiles fired from the air, land and sea was the most widespread wave of airstrikes to move far from the front lines, at least since the initial flurries of the first war day, February 24.
Ukrainian officials reported more strikes on Tuesday, including one in the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia that killed at least one person.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said he ordered “massive” long-range strikes after accusing Ukraine of an attack on the bridge linking Russia with annexed Crimea on Saturday.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy spoke with Biden on Monday and wrote on Telegram that air defense was the “number 1 priority of our defense cooperation.”
“We will do everything possible to strengthen our armed forces,” he said in a speech on Monday afternoon. “We will make the battlefield more painful for the enemy.”
Russia’s ambassador to the United States, Anatoly Antonov, said more Western aid to Ukraine increased the risk of a wider war.
“This assistance, in addition to providing Kyiv with intelligence, instructors and combat directives, leads to further escalation and increases the risks of a clash between Russia and NATO,” Antonov told media.
A driver walks near his burnt car after the Russian military attack, as the Russian invasion of Ukraine continues, in central Kyiv, Ukraine, October 10, 2022. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich
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Faced with blackouts, Ukraine halted electricity exports to neighboring Moldova and the European Union, at a time when the continent is already grappling with rising energy prices that have fueled inflation and hampered industrial activity.
Power outages caused by Russian missile attacks trapped 854 miners underground in Krivyi Rih mines, but rescuers pulled them out safely, said Oleksandr Vilkul, head of the city’s military administration.
BATTLEFIELD RETREAT
Russia’s airstrikes came three days after an explosion damaged the bridge it built after seizing Crimea in 2014. Russia blamed Ukraine and called the deadly blast “terrorism.”
“Leaving these acts unanswered is simply impossible,” Putin said, citing other unspecified attacks on Russian energy infrastructure. He threatened more attacks if Ukraine reached Russian territory.
Ukraine, which views the bridge as a military target supporting Russia’s war effort, celebrated the explosion without claiming responsibility.
After weeks of setbacks on the battlefield, Russian authorities are facing the first sustained internal criticism of the war, with commentators on state television calling for increasingly tough measures.
Putin responded to the Ukrainian advances by ordering the mobilization of hundreds of thousands of reservists, proclaiming the annexation of occupied territory and threatening the use of nuclear weapons.
Russia says it is conducting a “special military operation” in Ukraine to rid it of nationalists and protect Russian-speaking communities. Ukraine and the West say it is an unprovoked war of aggression.
Serhiy Gaidai, the regional governor of Luhansk, told Telegram that Ukrainian troops repelled attacks around several eastern towns, including Bakhmut, which has been a key target for Russian forces.
Reuters could not verify reports from the battlefield.
Russia also suffered a diplomatic setback on Monday as the UN General Assembly voted to reject its call for the 193-member body to hold a secret vote this week on whether to condemn Moscow’s annexations of four partially occupied regions in Ukraine. Read more
The president of the United Arab Emirates, a member of the oil producer group known as OPEC+ that rebuffed the United States last week by announcing sharp production cuts, will travel to Russia on Tuesday to meet Putin and push for a “military de-escalation” . , the UAE state news agency WAM reported.
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Reuters bureau reports; Written by Stephen Coates; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore
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