Live: Kyiv slams Russia’s ‘dirty bomb’ claim as West warns Moscow against escalation

Issued on: 24/10/2022 – 07:13

4:45am: Russia strikes Ukraine’s Mykolaiv, orders civilians to evacuate Kherson

Russia has fired missiles and drones into the Ukrainian-held southern town of Mykolaiv, destroying an apartment block, even as it ordered 60,000 people to flee the Kherson region “to save your lives” in the face of a Ukrainian counter offensive.

Sunday’s missile strike in Mykolaiv wiped out the top floor of the apartment block, sending shrapnel and debris across a plaza and into neighbouring buildings, Reuters witnessed. No fatalities were recorded.

“After the first blast, I tried to get out, but the door was stuck,” said Oleksandr Mezinov, 50, who was woken from his bed by the blasts. “After a minute or two, there was a second loud blast. Our door was blown into the corridor.”

Ukraine’s General Staff said anti-aircraft defences had shot down 12 of Russia’s Iranian-made Shahed-136 attack drones in the past 24 hours.

Read more: Ukraine faces new Russian threat from Iran-made ‘kamikaze’ drones

2:53am: US, UK, France jointly reject Russia ‘dirty bomb’ claim

The United States, Britain and France have jointly dismissed Russian claims that Ukraine is preparing to use a dirty bomb and warned Moscow against using any pretext for escalating the conflict.

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu made the allegation about a possible dirty bomb attack in a round of telephone conversations with Western defense chiefs earlier Sunday.

“Our countries made clear that we all reject Russia’s transparently false allegations that Ukraine is preparing to use a dirty bomb on its own territory,” the US State Department said in a joint statement with the British and French governments.

“The world would see through any attempt to use this allegation as a pretext for escalation,” the statement went on. “We further reject any pretext for escalation by Russia.”

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken tweeted on Sunday that he spoke to Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba to “reject Russia’s false allegations that Ukraine is preparing to use a dirty bomb on its own territory”.

10:54pm: Iran says will provide Russia with ’40 turbines’

Iran announced Sunday a contract with Russia to supply it with 40 turbines to help its gas industry amid Western sanctions over Moscow’s war in Ukraine, local media reported.

Iran’s “industrial successes are not limited to the fields of missiles and drones”, Iranian Gas Engineering and Development Company’s CEO, Reza Noushadi, was quoted as saying by Shana, the oil ministry’s news agency.

“Currently, 85 percent of the facilities and equipment needed by the gas industry are built inside the country, and based on this capability, a contract has recently been signed to export 40 Iranian-made turbines to Russia,” he added. 

Noushadi did not specify when the contract was signed, and when the turbines are due to be delivered.

(FRANCE 24 with AP, AFP and REUTERS)