LIVE – Ukraine: kyiv hit by suicide drones, Russian military plane crashes near border

Europe 1 with AFP 7:07 a.m., October 18, 2022, modified at 7:11 a.m., October 18, 2022

THE ESSENTIAL

Russian strikes, including using suicide drones, killed at least eight people in Ukraine on Monday and 13 people died in Russia when a Russian military plane crashed near the Ukrainian border.

In total, throughout the day, "the enemy carried out nine missile strikes, 39 air strikes, (fired) up to 30 shells with multiple rocket launchers", summarized in the evening the Ukrainian Army General Staff.

In addition to the capital, the surroundings of Kharkiv and Sumy (north-east), Donetsk (east), Dnipropetrovsk (center-east) or Kherson and Mykolaiv (south) were affected, a week after massive bombardments on Ukraine, he continued.

Crucial infrastructure in three regions, including that of kyiv, was affected, leaving "hundreds of localities" without electricity, said Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Chmygal, reporting "five drone strikes" of presumed Iranian manufacture on the only capital.

The Russian army, which will send up to 9,000 soldiers and some 170 tanks to Belarus, an ally of Moscow, for its part congratulated itself on having reached all its targets, with “high precision weapons”.

At the same time, in southwestern Russia, 13 people were killed and 19 others injured following the fall of a Russian military plane which caused a gigantic fire in a building in Yeysk, not far from the Ukrainian border, authorities said.

Key points to remember: 

- At least eight people died in Ukraine following an attack by Russia on Monday, October 17.

- The Russian army, which will send up to 9,000 soldiers and some 170 tanks to Belarus, an ally of Moscow, for its part congratulated itself on having reached all its targets, with "high precision weapons".

-In southwestern Russia, 13 people were killed and 19 others injured following the fall of a Russian military plane which caused a huge fire in a building in Yeisk, not far from the Ukrainian border. 

- kyiv has asked the EU to impose more sanctions on Iran, which denies supplying killer drones to Russia for its offensive against Ukraine.

Zelensky denounces Russian "terror"

"Russian terrorists managed to strike again. In kyiv, they killed a young family, targeting an apartment building with an Iranian Shahed (drone). A man and a six-month-pregnant woman (...) In the total, four people were killed by this one Shahed", Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky got carried away in the evening.

"Russia has no chance (of winning) on ​​the battlefield. And she tries to cover up her military defeats with terror. Why does she need terror? To put pressure on us, on the Europe and all over the world," he continued in his daily video message.

"In order to guarantee the protection of our skies and to reduce the capabilities of Russian terrorists to zero, we need significantly more modern air defense systems and more missiles for them," Zelensky said.

According to the Ukrainian emergency services, still in the capital, a suicide drone also hit an administrative building. 

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A series of explosions were heard in the early morning in the city.

An AFP journalist saw one of the suicide drones hit a building, after two police officers tried to shoot it down with their service weapons.

"We have been here for maybe half an hour and four drones have fallen," explained one of them, Yaroslav, still nervous after firing.

108 women freed by the Russians

In the Sumy region, five people lost their lives and 14 were injured by missile fire at an unspecified facility, local authorities said.

In that of Dnipropetrovsk, a cruise missile hit another transformer, injuring one. 

And the Ukrainian nuclear operator Energoatom said that the Zaporijjia nuclear power plant (south), at the center of all concerns for several months, had to be powered by its emergency diesel generators to cool its reactors, after being disconnected of the network by Russian bombardments.

However, despite this context, 108 women, mostly soldiers, were freed thanks to a new prisoner exchange with Russia, noted President Zelensky.

Threat of US sanctions

kyiv has asked the EU to impose more sanctions on Iran, which denies supplying killer drones to Russia for its offensive against Ukraine.

"Iran is responsible for the murder of Ukrainians. This country which oppresses its own people is now supplying monstrous weapons for mass murder in the heart of Europe", denounced Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to the Ukrainian presidency.

Tehran reiterated its denials.

"Iran has not exported arms to any of the warring parties," said Nasser Kanani, the spokesman for its diplomacy.

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Washington has threatened to sanction companies or states collaborating in Iran's drone program after Monday's attacks.

In southern Ukraine, the army had previously said it had shot down 26 Iranian Shahed-136 drones overnight from Sunday to Monday.

EU military aid

"The EU increases its military aid to Ukraine to 3.1 billion euros and launches a military training mission for our soldiers", welcomed the head of the cabinet of the Ukrainian presidency, Andriï Yermak. .

On Monday, EU foreign ministers discussed in Luxembourg an increase in European military aid and the training of some 15,000 Ukrainian soldiers. 

On October 10, Russian bombardments on a scale unmatched for months left at least 19 dead and 105 injured.

kyiv's Western allies then promised it more air defense systems and some have already been delivered. 

The Russians are on the defensive on most of the front in Ukraine, retreating since September in the north, east and south.

The only section where they are still advancing is the area of ​​the city of Bakhmout (east) which they have been trying to take since the summer.