Gen. Mark Milley, head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, reiterated US support for Ukraine while speaking with Gen. Valery Gerasimov, chief of Russian General Staff

The UN’s nuclear watchdog said it will send inspectors to visit two nuclear locations in Ukraine after receiving a request to do so from authorities in Kyiv. 

The International Atomic Energy Agency said it was “aware of statements made by the Russian Federation on Sunday about alleged activities at two nuclear locations in Ukraine,” according to a news release on the agency’s website Monday

The agency did not give the location of the two sites. 

The decision follows allegations made by Russian officials in recent days that Kyiv planned to use a so-called “dirty bomb” in a false flag operation.

The weapon is designed to combine a conventional explosive, such as dynamite, with radioactive material, such as uranium, so as to disperse radioactive material over a large area.

Moscow claims without evidence that there are scientific institutions in Ukraine housing the technology needed to create the weapon and accuses Kyiv of planning to use it.

The allegations have been strongly refuted by the US, Ukraine and the United Kingdom who in turn accused Russia of trying to launch its own false-flag operation.

IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi received a written request from Ukraine to send teams to carry out verification activities at the two locations.

Grossi stressed that both sites are under IAEA safeguards.

“The IAEA inspected one of these locations one month ago and all our findings were consistent with Ukraine’s safeguards declarations. No undeclared nuclear activities or material were found there,” the IAEA chief said. 

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Monday on a range of security issues, including Russia, according to a Pentagon readout.

“The leaders discussed recent diplomatic engagements with Russia, Russia’s false accusation that Ukraine is preparing to use a dirty bomb on its own soil, and the need for Russia to de-escalate,” Pentagon Press Secretary Brigadier General Patrick Ryder said in the readout.

“Both leaders agreed on the importance of maintaining strong deterrence and defense and emphasized that Russia’s actions have resulted in a stronger and more unified NATO,” the readout added.

Some background: Austin spoke Sunday with Russian defense minister Sergei Shoigu, who accused Ukrainians of planning to use a so-called dirty bomb – a claim US officials refuted as a Russian false flag operation.

It was the second call in three days between the top officials.

The Russian Ministry of Defense said the two discussed the situation in Ukraine but did not provide further details. It was Shoigu who initiated the phone call to Austin, according to a senior US administration official.

A second official familiar with the conversation said Shoigu made the claim about the planned usage of a dirty bomb, a weapon that combines conventional explosives and uranium. That claim, which the Kremlin has amplified in recent days, has been strongly refuted by the US, Ukraine and the United Kingdom as a Russian false flag operation.

Shoigu has made similar comments to his French and British counterparts as well.

The aftermath of a Russian drone strike, which local authorities consider to be Iranian-made unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) Shahed-136, in central Kyiv, on October 17.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky is continuing to urge for more air-defense systems, saying that according to Ukrainian intelligence, Russia had ordered about 2,000 Shahed drones from Iran.  

Zelensky made the comments in a pre-recorded video address to the Haaretz Democracy Conference. Haaretz is an Israeli daily newspaper and news website.

Ukraine’s president said Russia might be offering Iran assistance with its nuclear program in exchange for Iranian-made drones that Russia has used to batter Ukraine in recent weeks, though he didn’t offer any evidence to support that claim, nor can CNN independently authenticate that.   

Zelensky also spoke about why Russia had resorted to using drones.  

“Russia loses to us in a real confrontation on the battlefield. Putin’s army does not know how to fight. We beat them on our land in such a way that it is forced to withdraw its contingents even from other regions that they tried to destabilize,” he said.

He continued, “But, unfortunately, we do not have our own ‘Iron Dome’. We still do not have a modern and effective air defense and missile defense system that could secure our skies. That is why Russia hopes to use terror in the air to compensate for losses on the ground.”

Some background: Zelensky’s comments come about a week after Ukraine appealed to Israel for air-defense systems — like Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system — to counter Iranian ballistic missiles and long-range drones. 

Israel said it would help Ukraine develop an air defense alert system but did not plan to deliver any weapons systems. Israel has strategic ties with Russia, especially in its dealings with Syria, and while Israel has given Ukraine humanitarian aid, it has not offered any weapons support to date.   

Moscow is bringing new military units into Kherson as it prepares to defend the southern city from any fresh Ukrainian offensive, according to a Ukrainian intelligence chief. Residents report growing tensions, one saying that people are “emotionally exhausted.”

Meantime, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov reiterated accusations that Ukraine is preparing to use a “dirty bomb” despite Kyiv and Western officials refuting the claims.

Here are the top headlines to know:

• Nuclear watchdog requested to investigate “dirty bomb” claims: The European Union said it supports a request from Ukraine to have a representative from the International Atomic Energy Agency investigate Russia’s latest claims, the bloc’s chief diplomat told Ukraine’s foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba. The Russian defense ministry is claiming that Ukraine is planning a provocation related to the detonation of the so-called “dirty bomb” or low-yield nuclear weapon in its own territory.
• Rebukes of “dirty bomb” claim: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and US officials dismissed Russia’s allegations. The White House also said on Monday it is “monitoring as best we can” any potential preparations for use of a dirty bomb in Ukraine but doesn’t currently see anything to indicate the imminent use of such a weapon.
• Ukraine repelling Russian drone attacks, report says: Ukraine’s efforts to repel Russian attacks with Iranian-made drones are becoming “increasingly successful,” the UK Ministry of Defence said in its latest assessment. “Russia is likely expending a high number of Iranian Shahed-136 UAVs in order to penetrate increasingly effective Ukrainian air defences,” it said.
• Grain grain in jeopardy?: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov cast doubt on the future of a UN-backed grain deal, saying there is a “lot of work” to do before the agreement can be renewed next month. The agreement has allowed Ukraine – one of the world’s largest wheat producers – to export grain from its Black Sea ports since the beginning of August.
• The US and the war: A group of 30 liberal Democrats called on President Joe Biden to negotiate directly with Russia to end the war. Separately, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi reiterated the US commitment to Kyv, saying that “Iran is making a big mistake” in providing help to the Russians, adding that support for Ukraine is bipartisan.
• Detained Americans: Basketball star Brittney Griner is hoping that the Russian court will reduce her 9-year prison sentence at an appeal hearing Tuesday, her legal team said. At the same time, the State Department said the US has had active discussions “in recent days” with Russia on freeing Griner and other detained American Paul Whelan, ”but the discussions “have not gotten to the point where we would like them to be.”

More than two-dozen liberal House members are calling on President Joe Biden to shift course in his Ukraine strategy and pursue direct diplomacy with Russia to bring the months-long conflict to an end.

In a letter sent to Biden on Monday, the group of 30 Democrats praised Biden’s efforts to support Ukraine while avoiding direct US involvement on the ground. But they suggest a more forceful attempt at bringing the war to an end through diplomacy, saying it is necessary to prevent a long and slogging conflict.

“Given the destruction created by this war for Ukraine and the world, as well as the risk of catastrophic escalation, we also believe it is in the interests of Ukraine, the United States, and the world to avoid a prolonged conflict,” the group, led by Congressional Progressive Caucus chairwoman Pramila Jayapal, write in the letter. “For this reason, we urge you to pair the military and economic support the United States has provided to Ukraine with a proactive diplomatic push, redoubling efforts to seek a realistic framework for a ceasefire.”

The letter comes at a critical moment in the war, with Russia increasingly targeting civilian infrastructure with a particular focus on cutting power supplies ahead of winter.

In Congress, questions have grown about the willingness of lawmakers to sustain the massive financial and military support that has gone to Ukraine. Some Republicans have threatened to cut aid to the country if they take control of Congress in November.

The liberal Democrats, in their letter, say that more direct attempts at engaging Moscow were necessary.

John Kirby, the strategic communications coordinator at the National Security Council, said the White House had received the letter. He also said there were no indications that Russian President Vladimir Putin was willing to engage in serious diplomacy to bring the war to an end.

“When you see and you listen to his rhetoric, and you see the other things, be they atrocities, the war crimes, the airstrikes against civilian infrastructure that the Russians are committing, it’s clear Mr. Putin is in no mood to negotiate,” Kirby said.

He said it would be up to Ukraine and its president, Volodymyr Zelensky, to determine when the time is right to return to the negotiating table.

The State Department said the US has had active discussions with Russia on freeing Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan, “including in recent days,” but the discussions “have not gotten to the point where we would like them to be.”

“We put forward a substantial proposal a number of months ago now,” said State Department Spokesperson Ned Price. “We have consistently urged our Russian counterparts to act on this proposal.”

Asked about Griner’s hope that Russia would reduce her prison sentence on appeal, Price said that the US officials “have not weighed in on the various judicial proceedings and judicial steps because as we’ve made clear, we believe that these proceedings have been largely shambolic.”

Some background: A Russian court will hear Griner’s appeal arguments Tuesday, her legal team said on Monday. 

“She is prepared for the appeal and is very nervous. Brittney does not expect any miracles to happen, but hopes that the appeal court will hear the arguments of the defense and reduce the number of years,” her lawyers Maria Blagovolina and Alexander Boykov said. 

Her legal team expects there to be a verdict on the same day because appeal hearings normally happen within one court session. 

Brittney Griner was convicted in August of deliberately smuggling drugs into Russia and sentenced to nine years of jail time while Whelen has been held by Russia for alleged espionage since 2018.

The European Union said it supports Ukraine’s decision to invite experts from the United Nations nuclear watchdog to investigate Russia’s “false allegations” that Kyiv plans to frame Russia for using nuclear weapons in Ukraine, the bloc’s chief diplomat told Ukraine’s foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba on Monday. 

“(We) welcome Ukraine’s decision to request an IAEA expert mission to be dispatched. EU support to Ukraine continues unabated, including in countering disinformation,” EU’s foreign policy chief Joseph Borrell said in a tweet after his call with Kuleba. 

Borrell referred to Moscow’s claims as “Russia’s latest false allegations.” 

What Russia is saying: The Russian defense ministry said that it has information that shows Ukraine is planning a provocation related to the detonation of the so-called “dirty bomb” or low-yield nuclear weapon in its own territory.

The ministry didn’t provide any evidence to back its claim.  

Top US Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, spoke with his Russian and Ukrainian counterparts on Monday, his spokesperson said in brief readouts of each call.

In his conversation with the chief of Russian General Staff Gen. Valery Gerasimov, they “discussed several security-related issues of concern and agreed to keep the lines of communication open. In accordance with past practice, the specific details of their conversation will be kept private,” said Col. Dave Butler, the Joint Staff spokesperson.

Milley spoke with the Ukrainian Armed Forces Gen. Valery Zaluzhny about “the unprovoked and ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine and exchanged perspectives and assessments,” the spokesperson said.

“The Chairman reaffirmed unwavering support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” according to the readout.

Yesterday, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke via telephone, the second call in three days between the two.

American women’s basketball star Brittney Griner is hoping that the Russian court will hear her appeal arguments tomorrow and reduce her nine-year prison sentence, her legal team said on Monday. 

“She is prepared for the appeal and is very nervous. Brittney does not expect any miracles to happen, but hopes that the appeal court will hear the arguments of the defense and reduce the number of years,” her lawyers Maria Blagovolina and Alexander Boykov said. 

Her legal team expects a verdict on her appeal tomorrow because appeal hearings normally happen within one court session. 

“The appeal court can leave the verdict as is; it can overrule it and send back to the court of the first instance; it can reduce the number of years,” they said.

Griner’s lawyers see her often in Russia and said she is under mounting stress because of how long she has been detained.

“We see her often. Brittney is very mentally strong and has a champion’s character. However, she of course has her highs and lows as she is under an increasing amount of stress and has been separated from her loved ones for over eight months,” Blagovolina and Boykov said.

Griner remains in the detention center where she has been during all these months and tomorrow she will attend the hearing through videoconference, the lawyers said.

Griner was convicted of deliberately smuggling drugs into Russia and sentenced to nine years of jail time in August in a case that has raised concerns she is being used as a political pawn in Russia’s war against Ukraine.

US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi talks during a press conference in Zagreb, Croatia on Monday.

US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi reiterated her country’s commitment to Ukraine as they fight Russian aggression, saying that “Iran is making a big mistake” in providing help to the Russians, and that support for Ukraine will continue even if Republicans take over the House following the November midterm elections. 

“Support for Ukraine is bipartisan, bicameral, that means in the House and in the Senate, and it starts in the White House with our President,” Pelosi said in a bilateral news conference with Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković following the First Parliamentary Summit of the International Crimea Platform. 

“Someone made a statement of ‘We’re not giving a blank check to Ukraine.’ We’ve never given a blank check to Ukraine,” she said. “So the inference to be drawn from that is we wouldn’t be giving them a help, that’s not true. And that there’s has been a blank check, that’s not true. This has been a relationship of great integrity for democracy and freedom throughout the world.”

Last week, US President Joe Biden said he’s concerned for the future of US aid to Ukraine if GOP wins the House.

“They said that if they win, they’re not likely to fund – to help – continue to fund Ukraine, the Ukrainian war against the Russians,” Biden said at a fundraiser in Philadelphia Friday, according to the press pool. “These guys don’t get it. It’s a lot bigger than Ukraine – it’s Eastern Europe. It’s NATO. It’s real, serious, serious consequential outcomes. They have no sense of American foreign policy.”

Russia’s former President Dmitry Medvedev on Monday said Russian military production of weapons and equipment is increasing, in a statement on his Telegram channel.

Medvedev, a staunch ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, was reacting to recent reports by Western defense analysts suggesting that Russia is running low on missiles and armored vehicles it needs to continue its invasion of Ukraine.

“Reading enemy analytics, I have repeatedly come across statements that military equipment and weapons in Russia will soon run out. As if everything has already been used up,” Medvedev said. 

“Do not hope! The production of weapons and special equipment is increasing from tanks and guns to high-precision missiles and drones. Just wait!” he said.

Medvedev added that on Monday, following instructions given by Putin, there was a control check of the production of tanks at the Uralvagonzavod corporation in Nizhny Tagil, which is Russia’s largest manufacturer of armored vehicles.

“Issues of accelerating the supply of equipment to the troops for use during the special military operation were discussed,” Medvedev said.

Russia’s foreign minister Sergey Lavrov attends a joint news conference with Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Moscow on Monday.

Russia’s foreign minister Sergey Lavrov has cast doubt on the future of a UN-backed grain deal, saying there is a “lot of work” to do before the agreement can be renewed next month.

The agreement has allowed Ukraine – one of the world’s largest wheat producers – to export grain from its Black Sea ports since the beginning of August.

Lavrov said that Moscow wanted the UN to provide evidence that the exports, which must pass through a monitoring center in Istanbul, are being directed to the world’s poorest countries. Speaking during a joint press conference with the Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Moscow on Monday, he said he had asked the UN for data on the final destinations of the grain.

Lavrov said Russia understands the poorest nations receive only five to seven percent of the exported grain, while the rest goes to the EU countries.

“European countries give the following explanation: they say, yes, we receive most of the Ukrainian grain, but then this grain is distributed around the world, including to the poorest countries. I would like to have a clearer picture, so we asked the UN secretariat who is engaged in this operation, and who has all the data, to provide statistics on the movement of grain to the final destination,” Lavrov said.

The data requested from the UN will inform Russia’s decision on whether to remain in the grain deal, he added.

Lavrov also complained that the second part of the agreement, which deals with the supply of Russian food and fertilizers to the world market, “is practically not implemented.” Lavrov argued that there was a need for clear legal exemptions from sanctions for Russian companies, as well as guarantees for the free entry of Russian ships into European ports and foreign ships into Russian ones. He said one of the key problems is the sanctions imposed against the Russian Agricultural Bank, the main financial institution servicing the supply of fertilizers and grain to world markets.

“There is a lot of work. The deal expires in November. And we proceed from the fact that before the issue of its extension is considered, all the issues mentioned will be resolved in a satisfactory way,” Lavrov said.

Ukraine has invited experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to the country to disprove unsubstantiated Russian claims that Kyiv plans to use a “dirty bomb,” Ukraine’s foreign minister has said.

In a tweet on Monday, Dmytro Kuleba said he had spoken by telephone to IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi.

“In my call … I officially invited IAEA to urgently send experts to peaceful facilities in Ukraine which Russia deceitfully claims to be developing a dirty bomb,” he said.

“He [Grossi] agreed. Unlike Russia, Ukraine has always been and remains transparent. We have nothing to hide.”

Some context: Kyiv, the US and other Western officials have dismissed Moscow’s claims that Ukraine is planning to use a so-called “dirty bomb” as a Russian false flag operation.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu had called his counterparts in the US, Britain, France and Turkey in a phone “merry-go-round” to claim Ukraine planned to explode a weapon combining conventional explosives and uranium.

Zelensky said on Sunday: “If Russia calls and says that Ukraine is allegedly preparing something, it means only one thing: Russia has already prepared all this.” 

Civilians in occupied Kherson report growing tensions as Russia makes preparations for a potential Ukrainian counterattack, while Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has reiterated accusations that Ukraine is preparing to use a “dirty bomb” despite Ukraine and the US strongly refuting the claims.

Here are the latest headlines:

• US officials debunk Russia’s “dirty bomb” claims: Russia’s defense minister Sergei Shoigu has accused Ukrainians of planning to use a so-called “dirty bomb” — a claim that was strongly refuted by US officials on Sunday as a Russian false flag operation. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also dismissed the claims, which Kremlin spokesman Peskov repeated on Monday.
• Russia prepares for Ukrainian counterattack in Kherson: Moscow is bringing new military units into Kherson as it prepares to defend the city from any fresh Ukrainian offensive, according to a Ukrainian intelligence chief. The Russian-installed regional administration in Kherson has announced that it is giving men remaining in the city an “opportunity” to join territorial defense units.
• Civilians “emotionally exhausted” in Kherson: Russia is withdrawing its administrative services from the city, one resident told CNN, and the Russian-appointed administration in Kherson has ordered civilians to leave. Another Kherson resident described the situation in the city as tense, with people “emotionally exhausted,” the streets empty from mid-afternoon onwards, and Russian soldiers often seen in civilian clothes.
• Russian TV host suspended: Russian state-controlled TV channel RT has suspended presenter Anton Krasovsky after he suggested on air that Ukrainian children in the 1980s who saw Russian forces as occupiers should have been “drowned.” RT’s editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan has denounced Krasovsky’s comments, calling them “wild and disgusting.”
• Ukraine repelling Russian drone attacks: Ukraine’s efforts to repel Russian attacks with Iranian-made drones are becoming “increasingly successful,” the UK Ministry of Defence said in its latest assessment Monday. “Russia is likely expending a high number of Iranian Shahed-136 UAVs in order to penetrate increasingly effective Ukrainian air defences,” it said.

Anton Krasovsky attends a session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in Saint Petersburg, Russia on June 16.

Russian state-controlled TV channel RT has suspended presenter Anton Krasovsky after he suggested on air that Ukrainian children in the 1980s who saw Russian forces as occupiers should have been “drowned.”

On Monday RT’s editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan denounced Krasovsky’s comments in a Telegram post, saying they were “wild and disgusting.”

“For now, I’m stopping our collaboration, as neither I nor the rest of the RT team can afford to even think that any of us are capable of sharing such wild ideas,” Simonyan said.

Krasovsky is a commentator who hosts his own show on RT.

He made the comments in a broadcast last Thursday after author Sergei Lukyanenko said that, on a visit to Ukraine in the 1980s, children told him: “Ukraine is occupied by Muscovites.”

Krasovsky replied: “These children should have been drowned in the Tysyna [river].”

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba took to Twitter to call for a worldwide ban on RT, saying the comments amounted to “aggressive genocide incitement.”

“Governments which still have not banned RT must watch this excerpt. This is what you side with if you allow RT to operate in your countries,” Kuleba said, sharing a clip from the RT broadcast.

Krasovsky later apologized for his comments on Telegram, saying he “was really embarrassed” and “did not see the line.”

“It happens like this: You are on the air, you get carried away,” the anchor said.

“I apologize to everyone who was stunned by this. I apologize to Margarita, to everyone to whom this seemed wild, unthinkable and insurmountable. I hope you will forgive me,” Krasovsky added. 

The threat of Ukraine using a “dirty bomb” still exists whether NATO countries believe it or not, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on a conference call Monday.

“Their [the NATO countries’] disbelief of the information that was handed over by the Russian side does not mean that the threat of using a dirty bomb ceases to exist. The threat is clear,” Peskov told reporters during his daily press briefing.

“This information has been brought to the attention of the counterparts of defense minister [Sergei Shoigu]. Now it’s up to them whether to believe or not,” Peskov added.

Some context: Over the weekend Russia Defense Minister Shoigu accused Ukraine of planning to use a so-called “dirty bomb,” a claim that was refuted by US officials as a Russian false flag operation.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky mocked Shoigu’s claims to Western defense officials that Kyiv is planning to detonate a “dirty bomb.”

Zelensky said: “There’s only one individual who can use nuclear weapons in our part of Europe, and this person is the one who ordered Comrade Shoigu to call somewhere.”

The Russian-installed regional administration in Kherson has announced that it is giving men remaining in the city an “opportunity” to join territorial defense units.

“For all men who wish to stay in Kherson, despite the increased security threat due to the actions of Ukrainian nationalists, the opportunity has been created to join the city’s territorial defense units,” the administration posted on Telegram on Monday.

Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree introducing martial law in Kherson and three other Ukrainian regions the Kremlin claims to have annexed, in violation of international law.

Russian law states that territorial defense should be maintained in areas where martial law has been declared.

Some context: Moscow is bringing new military units into Kherson as it prepares to defend the city from any fresh Ukrainian offensive, according to a Ukrainian intelligence chief.

Meanwhile, Russia is withdrawing its administrative services from the city, one resident told CNN, and the Russian-appointed administration in Kherson has ordered civilians to leave.

Another Kherson resident described the situation in the city as tense, with people “emotionally exhausted,” the streets empty from mid-afternoon onwards, and Russian soldiers often seen in civilian clothes.

Russia is bringing new military units into Kherson as it prepares to defend the city from any fresh Ukrainian offensive, the head of Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence Agency said in an interview with Kyiv-based news website Ukrainska Pravda.

Maj. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov said that, while Moscow was moving injured people, cash and the Russian-installed administrative authorities and financial institutions out of the city, it was putting more troops in.

“[Russian bank] Promsvyazbank and other financial structures that the Russians brought there are being taken out,” Budanov said.

“They are taking out cash, [internet] servers, the so-called occupation authorities … All the non-walking, seriously injured are being taken out, they are trying to discharge those who can walk as soon as possible from hospitals … They create the illusion that everything is lost,” added Budanov.

“And at the same time, on the contrary, they bring new military units there and prepare the streets of the city for defense.”

Budanov said Moscow was acting out of fear that Ukrainian troops might retake the critical Kakhovka dam, which lies to the east of Kherson, and encircle its troops in the city. 

“They understand that if we take at least control over the Kakhovka dam … they will have to make a decision very quickly. Either [they will have to] very, very quickly leave the city and get out, or they risk ending up in the same situation that our units in Mariupol found themselves in earlier,” he said.

“Understanding all this, they are preparing the ground so that, if necessary, they can get out of there very quickly. However, they are not preparing to leave now. They are preparing to defend.”

Budanov repeated allegations that the Russians had “partially mined” the dam.

He said he didn’t believe Russian forces would completely destroy it, because doing so would flood much of the Kherson region and cut off the water supply to annexed Crimea and the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

“In other words, if you make a complete destruction, then the scenario is as follows. Are they ready for it? I don’t think so,” he said.

A view of the damaged village located in the border of the Kherson region on October 7.

A resident of Kherson has described the situation in the Russian-occupied Ukrainian city as tense, with people “emotionally exhausted,” the streets empty from mid-afternoon onwards, and Russian soldiers often seen in civilian clothes.

The woman was reached by CNN through a third party, and was speaking shortly before the Russian-appointed administration in Kherson ordered civilians to leave, as Ukraine tries to retake the city in its counterattack to Moscow’s invasion.

The administration said Saturday that “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!”

Previously the authorities had recommended people leave; Saturday’s announcement appears to go beyond that.

Speaking on Friday, the female civilian in Kherson city said: “Unfortunately, many residents of Kherson had to consider leaving the city. Everyone had their own reasons, worries and fears. But I am 100% sure that no one wanted to go.”

CNN is not identifying the woman for security reasons.

She said Kherson had become a ghost town. Tens of thousands of its residents have left since the Russian occupation began in March.

Read the full story here.

A resident in Russian-occupied Kherson confirmed to CNN’s Clarissa Ward that Russia is withdrawing its administrative services from the city, and said that there were many residents who have stayed behind awaiting Ukrainian liberation.

“For the last few days, Russians are leaving the city, they are taking out their administrative services,” the man, who preferred not to use his name out of security concerns, told Ward. “For example the passport center, where they were issuing Russian passports; pension funds and their documents; police.”

The Russian-installed governor of the region, Vladimir Saldo, said last week that the civil administration would move from Kherson city to the eastern (left) bank of the Dnipro River.

The Kherson resident described the city as calm, with very few people on the streets.

“There is no panic,” he said. “Those who wanted to leave, left.”

He suggested that the people in the city are preparing for a potential departure of the Russian occupiers. He said, for example, that market vendors no longer wanted to take Russian rubles, and asked for Ukrainian hryvnia.

“The people who are left here, they are united, they stick together, they … try to help each other.”

He and his neighbors are stocking up on food and essentials, he said, preparing for what could be a difficult period ahead.

“A lot of people have decided to stay, to wait for the Ukrainian army to come and not to go to the territory controlled by Russia,” he added.

Ukraine’s efforts to repel Russian attacks with Iranian-made drones are becoming “increasingly successful,” the UK Ministry of Defence said in its latest assessment Monday. 

“Russia continues to use Iranian uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs), otherwise known as drones, against targets throughout Ukraine, though Ukrainian efforts to defeat the Shahed-136 UAVs are increasingly successful,” the ministry said. 

“Official sources, including Ukraine’s President Zelensky, claim that up to 85% of attacks are being intercepted, according to the latest British intelligence report.

“Russia is likely expending a high number of Iranian Shahed-136 UAVs in order to penetrate increasingly effective Ukrainian air defences.

“It is likely using them as a substitute for Russian-manufactured long-range precision weapons which are becoming increasingly scarce.”

Some context: Drones have played a significant role in the conflict since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in late February, but their use has increased since the summer, when the United States and Kyiv say Moscow acquired the drones from Iran. Iran has denied supplying weapons to Russia despite evidence to the contrary.

Elon Musk addresses guests during a meeting in Stavanger, Norway on August 29.

SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk said Sunday that the firm’s satellite internet service Starlink, which provides crucial telecommunication services in Ukraine, would not be shut off regardless of whether the company receives funding from the US Defense Department.

“Before [the Department of Defense] even came back with an answer, I told @FedorovMykhailo that SpaceX would not turn off Starlink even if DoD refused to provide funding,” Musk tweeted Sunday evening, referencing talks with Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine’s Vice Prime Minister and minister of digital transformation.

Fedorov has previously praised SpaceX and Starlink, calling Musk “among the world’s top private donors supporting Ukraine.”

Some context: CNN first reported earlier this month that SpaceX had asked the Pentagon to pay tens of millions of dollars per month to fund Starlink in Ukraine and take the burden off SpaceX. In response to that reporting, Musk apparently reversed course, abruptly announcing on Twitter that SpaceX would continue funding the service in Ukraine for free.

The Pentagon said last week that talks with SpaceX about Ukraine are ongoing. 

SpaceX claims that providing Starlink services in Ukraine have cost it $80 million so far and that by the end of the year costs will exceed $100 million.

The Starlink satellite internet terminals made by SpaceX, which began arriving in Ukraine last spring, have allowed Kyiv’s military to fight and stay connected even as cellular phone and internet networks have been destroyed in its war with Russia.

CNN’s Natasha Bertrand and Alex Marquardt contributed reporting.

The United Nations is calling for “urgent measures to be taken” to prevent delays to ships sailing under the Black Sea Grain Initiative, UN spokeswoman Ismini Palla told CNN on Sunday. 

Ukrainian officials have claimed that Moscow is intentionally slowing down food shipments made under the agreement signed in July by Ukraine, Russia, Turkey and the UN.

“The United Nations convenes the parties daily and has urged full and good faith participation in the Initiative and the need for additional urgent measures to be taken so the supply chain does not get disrupted and the Initiative continues to deliver more and much needed food to the world,” Palla said.

Palla confirmed there are currently “over 150 vessels waiting around Istanbul to move, and these delays have the potential to cause disruptions to the supply chain and port operations.” 

She told CNN that the Joint Coordination Centre (JCC) — comprised of representatives from Russia, Turkey, Ukraine and the UN — has acknowledged the problem of delays and is discussing ways to address the backlog. 

What the Russians are saying: In recent weeks, Russia has complained that part of the agreement allowing for the export of its agricultural products and fertilizer is not being upheld.

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

Russia’s war in Ukraine has had a devastating impact on the country’s renewable energy infrastructure, according to Ukraine’s First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Emine Dzheppar.

Dzheppar tweeted Sunday that 90% of Ukraine’s wind energy infrastructure and between 40% to 50% of its solar energy infrastructure has been destroyed.

“Russia keeps terrorizing Ukrainians and it’s course [sic] to create energy crisis in our country,” Dzheppar said, calling on allied countries to help protect Ukrainian skies.

Solar and wind power accounted for 7% of Ukraine’s energy consumption in 2021, according to TEK, a Ukrainian energy trading company. Ukraine’s Ministry of Energy does not currently provide a breakdown of the country’s energy consumption sources because of martial law restrictions.

Some context: Ukrainian officials believe Russia’s countrywide drone and cruise missile attacks are being carefully orchestrated to target important infrastructure as Ukraine heads into winter. By hitting thermal power stations, electricity sub-stations, transformers and pipelines, Russian forces have been directly impacting Ukrainians’ ability to access power, water and the internet.

On Saturday alone, more than 1.5 million Ukrainian energy subscribers were without power, according to the deputy head of the President’s office, Kyrylo Tymoshenko.

During his nightly address on Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky mocked Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu’s claims to Western defense officials earlier in the day that Ukraine is planning to explode a so called “dirty” nuclear bomb.

Zelensky said Shoigu had called the defense ministers of the United States, Britain, France and Turkey in a phone “merry-go-round” to claim Ukraine planned to explode a weapon combining conventional explosives and uranium.

“And there’s only one individual who can use nuclear weapons in our part of Europe, and this person is the one who ordered Comrade Shoigu to call somewhere.”

Zelensky also accused Russia of planning to stage a false flag operation. “If Russia calls and says that Ukraine is allegedly preparing something, it means only one thing: Russia has already prepared all this,” he said.

Zelensky called on the world “to react in the toughest possible way” against the Russian threats.

Russia’s defense minister accused Ukrainians of planning to use a so-called dirty bomb — a claim that was strongly refuted by US officials on Sunday as a Russian false flag operation.

The allegation from Russian defense minister Sergei Shoigu came during a phone call with US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Sunday, the second call in three days between the two top officials.

The Russian Ministry of Defense said the two discussed the situation in Ukraine but did not provide further details. It was Shoigu who initiated the phone call to Austin, according to a senior US administration official.

A second official familiar with the conversation said Shoigu made the claim about the planned usage of a dirty bomb, a weapon that combines conventional explosives and uranium. That claim, which the Kremlin has amplified in recent days, has been strongly refuted by the US, Ukraine and the United Kingdom as a Russian false flag operation.

Shoigu has made similar comments to his French and British counterparts as well.

“We reject reports of Minister Shoigu’s transparently false allegations that Ukraine is preparing to use a dirty bomb on its own territory,” National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson told CNN in a statement. “The world would see through any attempt to use this allegation as a pretext for escalation.”

The US is also watching very closely for any intelligence that Russia has a specific plan to blow up a major dam near Kherson where Russia has ordered citizens to evacuate, the official said.

Joint statement: Later Sunday, the US State Department released a joint statement with the foreign ministers of France and the UK that also called Shoigu’s allegations false and reiterated their unified support for Ukraine’s territorial sovereignty.

On Friday, Austin called Shoigu, the first call between the two in several months. Before Friday, the two had not spoken since May.

CNN’s Jonny Hallam and Kylie Atwood contributed reporting.

Women walk towards their relatives as part of all-female prisoner swap with Russia on October 17.

Hundreds of Ukrainian civilians have been imprisoned unlawfully in Russia since the start of the war, according to human rights groups.

The lucky ones are eventually used as bargaining chips in prisoner swaps. On Monday, 108 women, including 12 civilians, were released from captivity in Russia as part of one such swap.

Some of these Ukrainian women have alleged brutal mistreatment by their captors — including torture by electric shock and scalding. The Ukrainian state news agency Ukrinform interviewed one of them — naming her only as Hanna O. She is 26, Ukrinform says, and had served in the 36th Marine Brigade.

Hanna O. had been in the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol but left when the Russians began bombarding it. She said she had spent just over six months in captivity. “They treated us like animals,” she told Ukrinform.

“They’d beaten the girls, they tortured the girls with electric currents, beaten them with hammers, that’s the lightest thing. They’ve hung them up.

“Those who had tattoos… they wanted to cut off our hands, cut off the tattoos, scalded us with boiling water just because you are there, because you are with the marines, because you speak Ukrainian.”

International law is clear that civilians should be treated as protected persons and cannot be held as prisoners of war. The act of forcibly transferring Ukrainian civilians to another country is a war crime.

According to a Human Rights Watch Report in July, “International humanitarian law also prohibits hostage-taking. Detaining civilians for the purpose of using them in future prisoner exchanges would constitute the war crime of hostage-taking.”

Read the full report here.

In an interview Sunday, Republican Rep. Nancy Mace said lawmakers will need to “find balance” in aiding Ukraine as US President Joe Biden questions her party’s commitment to helping combat the Russian invasion.

Mace, appearing on State of the Union, was asked by CNN’s Jake Tapper whether she supported House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy’s assertion that the GOP would not write a “blank check” to Ukraine if they are in the majority.

“It is something that we’re going to have to find balance on next year,” she said, due to the threat of a recession and Republican promises to cut government spending.

“If we keep — keep writing these blank checks to other countries, if we increase the deficit spending or government spending any more than we already have, we’re going to — we are going to exacerbate the situation,” Mace continued. “But make no mistake. Ukraine is very important, not only to the United States economy, but to countries all around the world.”

She said Russian President Vladimir Putin has “lost his marbles,” but argued McCarthy’s comments do not risk further emboldening him. Instead, she pointed at US infighting as a whole.

“The divisions that we have, and unwilling to work together on some of these issues and just the fighting, it makes us look weak on the world stage,” she told Tapper.

Biden questions Republican commitment: Biden has seized on McCarthy’s comments and similar remarks from some Republicans, framing the position as undermining US leadership in an increasingly volatile world.

“These guys don’t get it,” Biden said at a fundraiser in Philadelphia Thursday. “It’s a lot bigger than Ukraine — it’s Eastern Europe, it’s NATO. It’s real, serious, serious consequential outcomes. They have no sense of American foreign policy.” 

British defense minister Ben Wallace on Sunday refuted claims by his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu that Ukraine was planning to escalate the conflict with help from Western countries.  

Shoigu made the allegations in a call with Wallace, which the UK Defense Ministry said was held at the Russian Defense Ministry’s request. Wallace warned Shoigu that “such allegations should not be used as a pretext for greater escalation,” according to a statement from the ministry. Wallace “observed that both Ministers were professional and respectful on the call,” the statement added.

Shoigu warned Wallace of his concerns Ukraine would use a “dirty bomb,” against Russia, according to a Russian Defense Ministry statement. 

Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba vehemently dismissed the suggestion his country would use such a bomb — a weapon that combines radioactive material with conventional explosives.

“Russian lies about Ukraine allegedly planning to use a ‘dirty bomb’ are as absurd as they are dangerous. Firstly, Ukraine is a committed NPT (nuclear non-proliferation treaty) member: we neither have any ‘dirty bombs’, nor plan to acquire any. Secondly, Russians often accuse others of what they plan themselves,” Kuleba tweeted Sunday.