October 15, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

Our live coverage has ended for the day. You can scroll through the updates below or click here for more on Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Two gunmen opened fire on Russian military recruits at a training ground in Russia’s Belgorod region, killing at least 11 people and wounding another 15, Russia’s state news agency TASS reports.

The attack happened Saturday during a training session at the Western Military District, according to TASS, which cited the Russian Defense Ministry.?The gunmen were said to be from former Soviet states. Russian officials have branded the attack an act of terrorism.

“As a result of a terrorist attack at a military training ground in the Belgorod region, 11 people were killed, 15 were injured and are receiving medical assistance,” TASS reported.

“The incident occurred during a shooting training session with volunteers preparing for a special operation. The terrorists attacked the personnel of the unit with small-arms fire.”

According to TASS, two individuals who committed the “terrorist act” were killed in retaliatory fire at the training ground.

The Belgorod region is in western Russia on the border with Ukraine.

Very fierce battles are taking place around the eastern Donetsk region, and the Ukrainian military is holding its position there, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his nightly address Saturday.

Bakhmut is located in the northern portion of Donetsk region.

Work still to do on recaptured land: Zelensky also gave an update on the efforts to reconnect services to regions of Ukraine recently liberated from Russian forces.

He said homes in the northeastern Ukrainian city of Izium, which was?under Russian occupation for six months?before being liberated in September, are having their supply of natural gas restored.

“The first 500 families of the city already have gas in their homes again,” he said. “Just yesterday, more than 3,000 houses in the Izium, Kupiansk,?Chuhuiv?and?Kharkiv districts of Kharkiv region were connected to the gas supply. Work is ongoing in other directions as well.”

Weeks after SpaceX said the company could not keep funding the Ukrainian military’s use of its satellite services, US billionaire Elon Musk seemed to reverse course on Twitter today — though it wasn’t clear if the issue was actually settled.

“The hell with it … even though Starlink is still losing money & other companies are getting billions of taxpayer $, we’ll just keep funding Ukraine govt for free,” a tweet from Musk’s verified account read Saturday.

If you haven’t been following this: Starlink is the name of a satellite system, made by Musk’s SpaceX, which has been a vital source of communication for Ukraine’s military. The company’s internet terminals?have allowed troops to stay connected even as cellular phone and internet networks have been destroyed in the war with Russia.

SpaceX has warned the Pentagon it may stop funding the service in Ukraine unless the US military kicks in tens of millions of dollars per month. The company also requested the Pentagon take over funding for Ukraine’s government and military use of Starlink, which SpaceX claims would cost more than $120 million for the rest of the year and could cost close to $400 million for the next 12 months.

A Pentagon spokesperson said Friday it had been in communication with SpaceX over the funding of the Starlink satellite communication product.?

“No good deed goes unpunished,” Musk said in response to a follower who replied to his tweet Saturday. “Even so, we should still do good deeds.”

Ukrainian officials voice support: The situation involving Musk’s Starlink was complicated further when he publicly shared a Russia-Ukraine peace proposal this month. He faced withering criticism in Ukraine for the plan because it would see Kyiv surrender Crimea and agree to neutrality status.

However, some Ukrainian officials have since extended an olive branch.

Yegor “George” Dubynskyi, Ukraine’s deputy minister of digital transformation, told CNN Saturday that?Starlink?is crucial in newly liberated territories so that Ukrainian officials can communicate.

Ukraine continues to talk with donors such as the Polish and US governments on how to continue funding?Starlink, Dubynskyi said. He had no immediate response to Musk’s tweet.

CNN’s Sean Lyngaas contributed to this report.

The war in Ukraine, which for months appeared to be descending into a slow and painful grind, has erupted once again as winter nears. The conflict is teetering toward an unpredictable new phase.

“This is now the third, fourth, possibly fifth different war that we’ve been observing,” said Keir Giles, a senior consulting fellow at Chatham House’s Russia and Eurasia Programme.

An onslaught of Russian missile attacks this week was followed by steady Ukrainian ground gains and a huge explosion?on the Kerch bridge, the only crossing between the annexed Crimean peninsula and Russia. That blast bruised the Russian psyche and handed Ukraine a significant strategic boost.

With the cold months nearing and likely bringing a slowdown in ground combat, experts say the next weeks of the war will be vital.

“Playing for the whistle”: Russia said Thursday its forces would?help evacuate residents of occupied Kherson as Ukraine makes more gains in the region.

The successful offensive has shifted the momentum of the war and disproved a suggestion, built up in the West and in Russia last summer, that while Ukraine could stoutly defend territory, it lacked the ability to seize ground.

“If they can get to Christmas with the frontline looking roughly as it is, that’s a huge success for the Russians given how botched this has been since February.”

You can read Rob Picheta’s complete analysis here.

Ukrainian officials say Russia has been deploying an increasingly familiar weapon in its attacks: “kamikaze drones.”

Most recently, the southern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia was hit with four strikes by kamikaze drones overnight Saturday. Authorities said Moscow has also used them in assaults against Kyiv, Vinnytsia,?Odesa and other cities across Ukraine in recent weeks.

Ukrainian officials have pleaded with Western countries to step up their assistance in the face of the new challenge, in addition to developing its own technology to counter the strikes.

Kamikaze drones, or suicide drones, are a type of aerial weapon system. They are known as a “loitering munition” because they are capable of waiting in an area identified as a potential target and only strike once an enemy asset is identified.

The drones are capable of carrying precision-guided missiles and have a payload of approximately 50 kilograms (110 pounds). They are small, portable and can be easily launched — but their main advantage is that they are hard to detect and can be fired from a distance.

Ties to Iran: The Ukrainian military and?US intelligence?say Russia is using Iranian-made attack drones. US officials told CNN in July that Iran had begun showcasing Shahed series drones to Russia the previous month.

US officials later said?Russia bought the drones?and was training its forces how to use them. According to Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, Russia has ordered 2,400 Shahed-136 drones from Iran.

CNN’s Josh Pennington contributed to this report.

Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with Russian Armed Forces service personnel who took part in operations in Syria, including Sergey Surovikin, at the Kremlin on December 28, 2017.

There’s a new general in charge of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s devastating war on Ukraine — and he has a reputation for brutality.

After Ukraine made gains in its counteroffensive in recent weeks, Russia’s Ministry of Defense?named Sergey Surovikin?its new overall commander for operations in the war.

Notably, he previously played an instrumental role in Russia’s operations in Syria as Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Aerospace Forces. During these operations Russian combat aircraft caused widespread devastation in rebel-held area.

CNN spoke to a former Russian air force lieutenant, Gleb Irisov, who served under him in Syria.

He said Surovikin was “very close to Putin’s regime” and “never had any political ambitions, so always executed a plan exactly as ?the government wanted.”

Analysts say that while Surovikin’s appointment is highly unlikely to change how Russian forces are carrying out the war, it does speak to Putin’s dissatisfaction with previous command operations. It is also, in part, likely meant to placate the nationalist and pro-war base within Russia itself, according to Mason Clark, a Russia expert at the Institute for the Study of War think tank.

Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, who has called for Russia to “take more drastic measures” including the use of “low-yield nuclear weapons” in Ukraine following recent setbacks, welcomed the appointment of Surovikin.

Praise from Kadyrov, who is ?a key Putin ally, is significant, perhaps, as he himself is notorious for crushing all forms of dissent.

“They hated him”: As the commander’s one-time subordinate in Syria, Irisov said he saw Surovikin several times during some missions and spoke to high-ranking officers under him.

Just two days after Surovikin’s appointment last Saturday, Russia launched its heaviest bombardment of Ukraine since the early days of the war.

Surovikin is “more familiar with cruise missiles, maybe he used his connections and experience to organize this chain of devastating attacks,” Irisov said?, referencing reports that cruise missiles have been among the weapons deployed by Russia.

But Clark, from the Study of War think tank, suggests the general’s promotion is “more of a framing thing to inject new blood into the Russian command system” and “put on this tough nationalist face.”

You can read Sarah Dean’s full report here.

President Joe Biden speaks in Hagerstown, Maryland, on October 7.

US President Joe Biden has approved an additional $725 million in security aid for Ukraine, according to a statement from the State Department.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked Biden on Twitter Saturday morning.

The Biden administration authorized the additional presidential drawdown —?a form of military spending that allows for speedy approval — for Ukraine Friday.?

The $725 million package includes ammunition for HIMARS, HARMs (air-to-surface missiles), anti-tank weapons, Humvees, 155mm artillery rounds, small arms and small arms ammunition, precision-guided artillery rounds and medical supplies.

CNN’s Barbara Starr contributed to this report.

A missile from Ukraine hit an oil depot in the Russian region of Belgorod Saturday afternoon, causing a fire at the facility, according to a local official.

“I am at the scene. The Ministry of Emergency Situations is already fighting the fire. There is no threat of the fire spreading,” Vyacheslav Gladkov, Belgorod’s governor, said in a statement on Telegram.

Belgorod is near the border with Ukraine’s Kharkiv.

Emergency services said one of 10 tanks at the depot was damaged due to the shelling, according to Russian state media.?

Last week the Russian secret service said Ukrainian forces have significantly increased shelling of Russian territory in the Bryansk, Kursk and Belgorod regions since the beginning of October.

A medical worker runs past a burning car after a Russian attack in Kyiv, Ukraine on October 10.

Russian forces have launched hundreds of missile strikes in Ukraine over the past week, most of them at civilian targets, a senior US military official said Friday.

The official said Russians are mainly targeting civilians, especially civilian infrastructure including “electricity or bridges or otherwise.”

“They have been used at civilian targets either indiscriminately or certainly in a deliberate way as it relates to infrastructure targets like electricity or bridges or otherwise,” the official said.

The latest was a strike on energy infrastructure in the Kyiv region. A Russian missile attack Saturday morning severely damaged a facility, the Ukrainian national energy company Ukrenergo said in a statement, also warning about possible rolling blackouts.

The southern city of Zaporizhzhia was also hit by apparent Russian missile and drone attacks Saturday, according to Oleksandr Starukh, the head of the region’s military administration.

The city was struck by “10 or more” C300 missiles Saturday morning, following four strikes by kamikaze drones overnight.

Putin’s deadly onslaught: Viewed as retaliation for the bridge blast, the wave of deadly missile attacks began Monday and caused?major damage to power systems across Ukraine, forcing people to reduce consumption to avoid blackouts.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday that there is no need for more “massive” strikes against Ukraine “at least for now.” He also said he had no regrets for his actions.

Russia continues to face international backlash for the war and global outrage at its targeting of civilians. European lawmakers?voted overwhelmingly?Thursday to declare Russia a “terrorist” regime.

CNN’s Kostan Nechyporenko contributed to this report

Russia’s military uses rape and sexual violence as a part of its “military strategy” in Ukraine, a UN envoy said in an interview with AFP on Thursday.??

CNN did report at the time on the findings of the UN’s Independent International Commission on Ukraine. The commission said it had uncovered evidence of war crimes, including cases of rape and torture of children, without specifying the number of alleged cases.??

But Patten was more specific in her comments.

Patten repeated that the age of the sexual violence victims in the cases the UN has investigated ranges from four to 82-years old. She said “there are many cases of sexual violence against children, who are?raped, tortured and sequestered.”

CNN cannot independently verify these claims.?

Patten also said the number of victims is “never going to reflect reality,” because it is an underreported crime.??

“I have not stopped since February to emphasize the importance of having credible investigations into these cases of violence,” she said.

In?June, Ukraine’s Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Kateryna Pavlichenko said police received around 50 complaints of sexual crimes committed by Russian soldiers. Prosecutors are also investigating a number of allegations of rape in Kharkiv region after Ukraine recently recaptured territory there.??

Russia’s government spokesman Dmitry Peskov was asked in September about allegations of Russian forces committing war crimes in Ukraine, prior to the UN panel reporting on its findings, to which he responded it was all a “lie.”?

Ukraine’s counteroffensive in Kherson has intensified, according to a senior official in the southern region’s Russian-backed administration.

“Indeed, the active phase of fighting, which we expected, has begun,” Kirill Stremousov, the deputy head in Kherson said on Saturday, while speaking to the pro-Kremlin “Soloviev Live” show.?

He added the “(Russian) army is ready to repel all these attacks and stand to the end, because Kherson region is part of the Russian Federation.”

According to Stremousov, the goal of the Ukraine forces is to gain a foothold on the right bank of the Dnipro river. He urged residents in the area to “seize the moment, call the hotline, pick up the children and send them on vacation.”

On Thursday, the Russian-appointed head of the Kherson region, Vladimir Saldo, asked the Russian leadership to help evacuate locals to other regions in order to protect them from missile strikes.

Ukraine’s counteroffensive: Ukrainian forces have been making steady progress in the region since beginning an offensive at the end of last month.

Last week, the Ukrainian?military?said it has recaptured 2,400 square kilometers (about 925 square miles) of?territory in Kherson region “since the beginning of the full-scale war,” a senior Ukrainian official said on October 7.

Moscow announced evacuations of occupied areas, with Russia’s Rostov region set to receive Kherson residents.

The first group of Russian soldiers to form a new joint force with Belarusian troops arrived in the country Saturday, according to a statement from Minsk’s defense ministry.

“Due to the aggravation on the western borders of the Union State, we agreed to deploy a regional grouping of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus,” Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko said Monday, according to state news agency Belta.

The move follows claims made by Belarus that Ukraine is planning to attack its territory. The country’s defense minister said Tuesday that it is a defensive measure and was to ensure security.

The defense ministry also published a video Saturday showing the arrival of Russian military personnel and equipment, which included a comment from the deputy commander of a Russian military company, Viktor Smeyan.

“We arrived on Belarusian soil. The meeting was very warm, very pleasant. We arrived in the Republic of Belarus to help the fraternal Belarusian people, we are ready to perform any tasks that we receive from the command. Everyone is in a fighting mood,” Smeyan said.

More background: Lukashenko’s announcement raised fears of deepened military cooperation between the close allies and that Belarusian troops could formally join Russia’s invasion.

The impact of such an intervention in terms of pure manpower would be limited; Belarus has around 45,000 active duty troops, which would not significantly bolster Russia’s reserves. But it would threaten another assault on Ukraine’s northern flank below the Belarusian border.

CNN’s Tim Lister and Rob Picheta contributed to this report.

Russian attacks have killed at least 11 civilians and injured 11 others in Ukraine over the past day, a senior Ukrainian official said on Saturday.?

In the Donetsk region, eight civilians died and six were injured, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, the deputy head of the Ukrainian president’s office, said in a statement on Telegram. He added two more people were killed and one injured in the Zaporizhzhia region.

Tymoshenko also said one civilian was killed and another was injured in the Kharkiv region. Other injuries were reported in the Dnipro and Kherson regions, according to the official.

Some background: Russian forces have launched hundreds of missile strikes in Ukraine over the past week, most of them at civilian targets, a senior US military official said Friday.

One official said this is deliberate — Russians are mainly targeting civilians, especially civilian infrastructure including “electricity or bridges or otherwise.” The bombing of power installations appeared to be an unsubtle hint at the misery Russian President Vladimir Putin could inflict as winter sets in.

Read more about the strikes here.

Russia has increased security measures at military registration and enlistment offices due to “increasing attacks” on those facilities, a senior Russian official said Saturday.?

Some context: Since Russia announced a plan for mobilization last month, protests against the drive have erupted in ethnic minority regions, and some military enlistment offices have been set on fire. The announcement also prompted anti-war protests across Russia.?

According to Khinshtein, intruders have been caught “red-handed” trying to launch an attack on military enlistment centers.?

The battlefield is “complicated but controlled” as Ukrainian forces push ahead with their counteroffensive to take back parts of the country seized by Russia in the early days of?Moscow’s invasion, Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine’s Armed Forces Valerii?Zaluzhnyi?said Thursday.

Take a look at where the state of control stands in Ukraine: