Putin is only deepening the Ukrainians’ resolves with a drone attack, said the US Secretary of state shortly after the defence ministers of each nation spoke on call for the first time since May. After the telephone conversation, the Pentagon press secretary has told that the US is ‘eager to keep lines of communication open’. The call came after hints from the Russian president that he may be willing to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine and a warning against this from US President Joe Biden.
Meanwhile, Zelensky in his nightly address has accused Russia of exacerbating the global food shortage in the recent delays in grain shipments. He further asserted that Vladimir Putin’s forces had mined the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant and planned to blow it up, in a bid to cover their retreat from the city of Kherson with a vast deluge of water.
According to the UN, more than 6000 civilians have been killed since Russia invaded Ukraine in Feb. As of Oct 18th 15,956 civilian casualties, 6,322 were killed and 9,634 were injured. As many as 397 children are said to have lost their lives in the attack.
According to sources, satellite images of Russian-occupied Hirske showed an almost 2 km long fortification being constructed in Eastern Ukraine. The fortification called the Wagner line— is cited as the second line of defence in case the Ukrainian defence tried to breach. The fortification has four rows of cement pyramids that Russians hope will stop artillery from moving eastward.