Russia-Ukraine live news: Russia, US officials hold rare call

al Jazeera:

Russia-Ukraine live news: Russia, US officials hold rare call

Russia says it intends to ramp up its attacks on Ukraine’s power, water and other vital infrastructure in the latest phase of its months-long offensive [File: Leo Correa/AP]

Published On 21 Oct 202221 Oct 2022

• Russia’s Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu holds a phone call with his US counterpart, Lloyd Austin, where the pair discussed ‘issues of international security’.
• Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says Russia’s Putin appears to be “much softer and more open to negotiations” than in the past.
• Ukrainian forces killed at least four people in a missile attack on evacuating civilians in occupied Kherson, says Moscow.
• President Zelenskyy says Russia is planning to blow up a dam that would flood a swath of southern Ukraine to cover their retreat; Moscow denies the claim.
• Ukrainians are facing the first nationwide electricity outages since the war began, conserving energy by turning off some domestic appliances and wrapping themselves in blankets.