Heading towards World War III?

Officials in Ukraine reported Russian attacks on critical infrastructure on Monday, with one claiming that some 40 missiles had been detected in the air.

All Ukrainian regions sounded the alarm in the morning, with the media reporting explosions in several parts of the country, including the capital Kiev. Anton Gerashchenko, an aide to the interior minister, urged people to take cover in shelters, claiming on social media that “at the moment, there are already 40 [Russian] missiles” incoming at targets in the country.

Some hits have been confirmed by regional officials. Kiev Mayor Vitaly Klitschko reported that strikes on the capital had caused a partial blackout and disrupted the water supply. He said that due to damage to energy infrastructure, some 350,000 apartments were without power, while around 80% of consumers didn’t have water.

Kharkov Mayor Igor Terekhov, said there were two airstrikes, which targeted a “critical infrastructure site.” The city’s metro system also suspended work.

Igor Taburets, the head of the Cherkasy regional administration, reported an attack on critical infrastructure too, adding that it had caused a partial blackout. His counterpart in Vinnitsa Region, Sergey Bozov, claimed that one missile was intercepted and “fell on civilian sites.”

A report on social media, claimed a transformer station serving the Dnieper hydropower plant in the city of Zaporozhye had been hit. Footage purportedly shot near the station’s dam showed black smoke billowing into the sky.

Local authorities, loyal to Kiev, confirmed the strike and warned of possible blackouts, but offered no details.

Russia started targeting Ukrainian energy sites earlier this month. President Vladimir Putin justified the change of tactic by what he described as Kiev’s ‘sabotage’ attacks on critical Russian infrastructure. The final straw was the deadly bombing of the Crimean Bridge, he said.

Ukrainian officials confirmed significant damage to the national energy system. Grid operator Ukrenergy introduced rolling blackouts in many regions, stating that reduced consumption was necessary to avoid a total collapse.

Kirill Tymoshenko, the deputy head of President Vladimir Zelensky’s office, previously announced that starting this week the outages would become “regular, not an emergency response,” calling the situation difficult.

www.rt.com/russia/565639-ukraine-missile-attacks-energy

The US will send an initial two NASAMS air defense systems to Ukraine “in the very near future,” a Pentagon official said on Monday. With Russia targeting Ukrainian power infrastructure using missiles and drones, Kiev has lobbied the West for better air defense weaponry.

In a briefing to reporters, the defense official said the US has “committed eight NASAMS and associated munitions, and two of those will be in Ukraine in the very near future.” The official also said that Washington would send spare parts for Ukraine’s Soviet-era air defense systems, as well as various counter-unmanned aerial systems.

The National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS) is manufactured by US defense contractor Raytheon Technologies, and fires AIM-120 or AMRAAM missiles at short ranges to bring down drones, missiles, and aircraft. The US announced in September that it would provide these systems to Ukraine, with National Security Council Spokesman John Kirby stating last month that deliveries would be expedited after Russia began nationwide drone and missile strikes on Ukrainian military and infrastructure targets.

Russia has made effective use of inexpensive ‘kamikaze’ drones to cripple Ukraine’s infrastructure, with Kiev’s Soviet and NATO-supplied air defense systems unable to stop the unmanned aircraft. It is unclear whether the NASAMS will prove more effective against the drones than the German IRIS-T systems already fielded by the Ukrainian military.

The Pentagon official said that “a number of countries” have agreed to provide AMRAAM missiles for the systems.

Russia shifted its military tactics in Ukraine last month and began launching attacks against energy infrastructure, after a truck bomb killed three civilians on the Crimean Bridge. While Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky denied ordering the bombing, the attack was celebrated by officials in Kiev and blamed by Russia on Ukrainian intelligence.

Ukrainian officials responded by asking the West for better air defense systems, petitioning the US, UK, Germany, France, and Israel for their surface-to-air missile technology. While the NATO members have promised to deliver, Israel has refused, and Kiev now wants the US to pressure Tel Aviv. Israel has, however, offered to help Ukraine develop an alert system to warn of incoming missile attacks.

www.rt.com/russia/565750-nasams-missiles-arrive-ukraine

A Ukrainian terrorist attack on the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant has been thwarted, Russian officials have said, adding that the plot aimed to render the adjacent city of Energodar without heating during the winter.

“We have received information that our secret services have foiled a terrorist attack on the Zaporozye Nuclear Power Plant,” Nikolay Patrushev, Secretary of Russia’s Security Council, said on Wednesday.

Vladimir Rogov, a senior Zaporozhye regional official, told news agency RIA Novosti that the alleged plot had been orchestrated by the Ukrainian government.

He said that a cache with explosives had been discovered at the plant and that it had been placed there sometime after Russia’s military operation began in late February and before Moscow's forces seized the facility in March.

A spokesperson for the Zaporozhye authorities told the outlet that Kiev wanted to destroy the pipeline that delivers heat to Energodar, a city of 52,000 people located just outside the plant, and “leave the population without heating during the winter.”

According to the spokesperson, the Seсurity Service of Ukraine (SBU) had planned to recruit an employee of the facility and instruct that individual to detonate the bomb.

The plant was captured by Russian troops after Moscow launched its military operation in the neighboring country in late February. Zaporozhye Region eventually left Ukraine and joined Russia after holding a referendum in September.

Moscow and Kiev have repeatedly accused each other of shelling the plant. Patrushev said that Ukrainian troops have been using Western-supplied weapons to target the facility, risking “a global disaster.”

He added that the attacks continued after a team from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) visited the plant in late August.

“Unfortunately, the visit of an IAEA delegation to the plant did not lead to the cessation of attacks on the plant or to the condemnation of Kiev by the international community,” he said.

Russia also accused Ukraine of planning to detonate a so-called ‘dirty bomb’, a conventional munition with radioactive elements, in order to frame Moscow. Kiev, together with the US and other Western countries, have denied this claim.

www.rt.com/russia/565858-russia-foils-terrorist-nuclear

Moscow and Kiev have conducted a second major prisoner swap in under a week, the Russian Defense Ministry has claimed on Thursday.

It added that all of the 107 released Russian soldiers were airlifted for medical treatment and assessment in Moscow.

Acting Head of Russia’s Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) Denis Pushilin wrote on his Telegram channel that 65 of the returnees are from the DPR and neighboring Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR).

“We are handing over the same number of prisoners, mostly members of the Armed Service of Ukraine,” he added.

On Saturday, 50 soldiers were returned to Russia, according to the country’s Defense Ministry. Ukrainian officials, meanwhile, stated that 52 servicemen were handed over by Moscow, including soldiers, national guardsmen, navy personnel, and border guards.

Last month, Russia released 108 female Ukrainian soldiers in exchange for 110 Russian nationals, many of whom were civilian sailors.

www.rt.com/russia/565881-russia-ukraine-new-swap

Russia has summoned the British Ambassador to Moscow, Deborah Bronnert, over claims that the UK provided training to Ukrainian forces that attacked Russia’s Black Sea Fleet in Crimea last week.

The Russian Foreign Ministry presented the diplomat with a “steadfast protest” and warned her that London’s hostile actions “could lead to unpredictable and dangerous consequences,” according to a statement published on the ministry’s website on Thursday.

“If acts of aggression that risk turning [Britain] into a direct party in the conflict continue, the British side will solely bear the responsibility for their negative consequences and the increase in tensions between our countries,” the ministry said.

The move came after the Russian Defense Ministry claimed that British instructors led the training of Ukrainian troops who carried out aerial and seaborne drone attacks on Russian ships in Sevastopol naval base in Crimea, on Saturday. A minesweeper was damaged in the raid.

A person familiar with the matter told RT on Thursday that a group of senior Ukrainian naval officers, including ship commanders and missile specialists, had completed a two-week training course at a UK base in September. While the course was officially designated as demining training, it focused on teaching Ukrainians how to use “modern British-made unmanned underwater vehicles,” the source said.

The Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying that British personnel had been helping Ukraine train frogmen and underwater demolition experts in the Black Sea ports of Ochakov and Odessa. On Saturday, the British Defense Ministry denied the allegations.

www.rt.com/russia/565883-russia-summons-uk-ambassador

Bulgarian lawmakers voted on Thursday to supply Ukraine with arms, with socialist and nationalist MPs resisting the decision. This leaves Hungary as the final NATO member refusing to provide military aid to Kiev.

A bill authorizing weapons supplies to Ukraine passed Bulgaria’s National Assembly by 175 votes to 49, the Novinite news site reported. The pro-Western GERB party, currently the largest faction in the assembly, proposed the bill amid coalition talks following elections last month.

The issue of arms supplies to Ukraine is a contentious one in Bulgaria, where nearly a third of the population view Russia as their country’s most important strategic partner, 35% see Ukraine as a “puppet of the West,” and 38% want to leave the NATO alliance, according to Globsec, a Slovakian think tank.

Bulgarian President Rumen Radev has spoken out against weapons transfers to Kiev, arguing that those in favor of arms shipments are “warmongers” who risk dragging Bulgaria into the conflict with Russia.

Socialist leader Kornelia Ninova, whose party was in a ruling coalition until August, warned on Thursday that “the Bulgarian national interest is not to provide weapons, because that would make us a party to the conflict.” Kostadin Kostadinov’s ‘Revival’ party also voted against the bill, with the nationalist leader complaining that “Bulgaria is supposedly ruled by Bulgarians, and we are talking about providing our little remaining armaments and literally bringing Bulgaria into the war.”

While Bulgarian parliamentarians have been debating the country’s official stance on arming its neighbor, the country’s arms industry has reportedly sold more than $1 billion worth of weapons to customers in Poland and Romania for re-export to Ukraine since February.

It is still unclear how much of Bulgaria’s predominantly Soviet weapons stock will be sent to Ukraine, and what, if any, NATO equipment the alliance will offer Sofia in replacement. The government now has a month to list equipment for export and negotiate with Western NATO members for replacements.

With the bill’s passage, only one NATO member remains steadfast on refusing to arm Ukraine: Hungary. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has refused to supply weapons or allow arms to enter Ukraine via Hungarian territory. Orban has also refused to embargo Russian energy exports and has called for direct talks between Russia and the US to end the conflict.

www.rt.com/news/565894-bulgaria-weapons-aid-ukraine