Live: Russian strikes cause blackouts in much of Ukraine, civilians flee Kherson

Issued on: 23/10/2022 – 08:58Modified: 23/10/2022 – 09:04

7:24am: Fearing conscription, Siberian asylum seekers flee to Alaska

Two Russian Indigenous Siberians were so scared of having to fight the war in Ukraine, they chanced everything to take a small boat across the treacherous Bering Sea to reach American soil, Alaska’s senior US senator said after talking with the two.

The two, identified as males by a resident, landed earlier this month near Gambell, on Alaska’s St. Lawrence Island in the Bering Strait, where they asked for asylum.

“They feared for their lives because of Russia, who is targeting minority populations, for conscription into service in Ukraine,” Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski said Saturday during a candidate forum at the Alaska Federation of Natives conference in Anchorage.

“It is very clear to me that these individuals were in fear, so much in fear of their own government that they risked their lives and took a 15-foot skiff across those open waters,” Murkowski said when answering a question about Arctic policy.

5:53am: Russian strikes cause blackouts in much of Ukraine, more flee Kherson

Russian missiles pounded Ukrainian energy and other facilities on Saturday, causing blackouts in various regions, Kyiv said, while Russian occupation authorities in the southern city of Kherson urged civilians to evacuate.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the Russian attacks had struck on a “very wide” scale. He pledged his military would improve on an already good record of downing missiles with help from its partners.

With the war about to start its ninth month and winter approaching, the potential for freezing misery loomed as Russia continued to attack Ukraine’s power grid.

In Kherson, a target for Ukraine’s aggressive counterattack to the invasion Russian President Vladimir Putin launched on February 24, the occupation authorities instructed civilians to get out.

“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!” occupation authorities posted on Telegram.

Thousands of civilians have left Kherson after warnings of a Ukrainian offensive to recapture the city.

At Oleshky on the opposite bank of the Dnipro, Reuters saw people arriving by river boat from Kherson, loaded with boxes, bags and pets. One woman carried a toddler under one arm and a dog under the other.

3:37am: G7 condemns Russia’s kidnapping of Ukraine nuclear plant leadership

The G7 condemned Russia’s kidnapping of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant leadership and called for the immediate return of full control of the plant to Ukraine.

“We condemn Russia’s repeated kidnapping of Ukrainian ZNPP (Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant) leadership and staff,” G7 Nonproliferation Directors General said in a statement dated Saturday.

“We urge Russia to immediately return full control of the ZNPP to its rightful sovereign owner, Ukraine,” it said.

(FRANCE 24 with AP, AFP and REUTERS)