News|Russia-Ukraine war

Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 221

As the Russia-Ukraine war enters its 221st day, we take a look at the main developments.

Ukrainian armed forces make a statement in front of Lyman Town Administration office, in Lyman, Ukraine
Ukrainian armed forces make a statement in front of Lyman Town Administration office, in Lyman, Ukraine, in this still image taken from a social media video, released on October 1, 2022 [Courtesy of 81 Airborne Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces/via Reuters]
Published On 2 Oct 2022

Here is the situation as it stands on Sunday, October 2.

Fighting

  • The “liberation” of Lyman in the Donetsk region is a key factor for “further de-occupation” in the neighbouring Luhansk region, said its Luhansk Governor Serhiy Haidai.
  • The head of Russia’s Chechnya region, Ramzan Kadyrov, said Moscow should consider using a low-yield nuclear weapon in Ukraine after the loss of Lyman.
  • US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin praised Lyman’s recapture, saying it was an encouraging battlefield success and that the loss of the logistics and transport hub will pose a dilemma for Russia’s military.
  • Ukrainian officials accused Russia of killing 24 civilians, including 13 children, in an attack on a road convoy near a recently recaptured town in Kharkiv.

Diplomacy

  • Russia failed to win enough votes for re-election to the United Nations aviation agency’s governing council, in a boost for Western powers that want to hold Moscow accountable following its invasion of Ukraine.
  • Germany will deliver the first of four advanced IRIS-T air defence systems to Ukraine in the coming days to help ward off drone attacks, defence minister Christine Lambrecht said during an unannounced visit to Odesa.

Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant

  • A Russian patrol detained the director general of Ukraine’s Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the state-owned company in charge of the plant said. The UN nuclear watchdog said Russia had confirmed the move.
  • International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi is expected to hold talks in Moscow and Kyiv in the coming days on the creation of a protection zone around the Russian-held plant, the UN watchdog said.

Gas flows

  • Italy’s Eni said it would not receive any of the gas it had requested from Russia’s Gazprom for delivery on Saturday, but the firms said they were working to fix this.
  • Greece and Bulgaria started the commercial operation of a long-delayed gas pipeline that will help decrease southeast Europe’s dependence on Russian gas and boost energy security.
  • The Danish Energy Agency says one of two ruptured natural gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea appears to have stopped leaking gas.
Source: News Agencies