Top stories about the Russia-Ukraine war and other international affairs on Channel One from October 16 through October 23, 2022

By Eva Maitland

What follows is NewsGuard’s summary and translation of top news stories from Russia’s state TV Channel One. NewsGuard presents these stories in the order that they appear on the program. NewsGuard shares this summary as part of our mission to monitor and report all categories of misinformation, including Russian disinformation. Please note that these summaries of Russian state TV broadcasts may well contain falsehoods or propaganda, and NewsGuard does not vet them for accuracy or balance.

Ukraine is preparing a nuclear explosion on its territory as an anti-Russian provocation

“Dirty bomb” – this is the name of low-yield, but no less dangerous nuclear weapons. The Kyiv regime’s plans to use this weapon on the territory of Ukraine were reported this morning by RIA Novosti news agency, citing credible sources in various countries, including in Ukraine. The ultimate aim is to blame the use of weapons of mass destruction on Russia, and thereby cause a strong international backlash.

The dirty nuclear bomb is nearly ready, and the Kyiv regime is ready to use it. Under the direction of Western supervisors, Kyiv is preparing to carry out this plan. 

The leadership of the Eastern Mining and Processing Plant, located in the city of Zhovti Vody, Dnepropetrovsk region, as well as the Kyiv Institute for Nuclear Research, was tasked with building the “dirty bomb”. Work on it is already at the final stage.

Staff at the office of the President of Ukraine, on behalf of Volodymyr Zelensky, are secretly in contact with representatives of the UK, discussing the possible transfer of nuclear weapons components to the Kyiv authorities.

Recently, Zelensky has repeatedly called on NATO to make preventative nuclear strikes on Russia. No one is prepared to unleash a nuclear war because of an unstable Ukrainian president, however there are signs that Ukraine is preparing its dirty bomb with outside help.

Military expert Akesandr Artamonov said: “According to an operational source, the elements of this dirty bomb were delivered to Chernivtsi together with English-speaking specialists.”

It’s impossible to ignore the fact that this week, the UK Secretary of State for Defense, Ben Wallace, was called to the US for talks with United States Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, supposedly to discuss the Ukraine conflict. They were clearly discussing something extraordinary that couldn’t even be discussed over a secure telephone line. Russian Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu conveyed his concerns about the possibility of a nuclear provocation by Ukraine to his American, British and French counterparts over the phone.

Ukraine continues to attack civilians as it prepares further provocations

The Kyiv regime is deploying an anti-Russian provocation in another area. Our military does not rule out a Ukrainian attack on the dam of the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station. In the event of its destruction, 18 billion cubic meters of water will be released from the dam, which took two years to fill. An almost 5 meter high wave will travel down the Dnieper, creating a flood zone five kilometers wide, and reach Kherson in a couple of hours.

The entire right bank of the Kherson region is at risk. The only way for civilians to be safe is to resettle on the left bank. But the route there is fraught with mortal danger, as shown in the last few days.

Kherson residents are fleeing from the right to the left bank of the Dnieper to escape massive attacks on civilian targets in their town by the Ukrainian army. Families are being transported on boats and pontoon crossings.

The main transport artery, the Antonovsky Bridge, has for months suffered repeated rocket strikes. The bridge has been closed for travel since the end of summer. This week it became clear that the main aim of the Ukrainian Nazis is to destroy the civilian population, striking women, old people, and children with rockets.

Evacuation continued into the night due to the large amount of cars. 12 NATO Himars were launched on Friday night, our anti-rocket systems intercepted 11, but one rocket hit a convoy of journalists and their families.

Journalist and member of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation, Aleksander Malkevich, was driving in the convoy. He said, “In violation of the Geneva Convention, they hit a group of civilians and Kherson journalists. Two journalists and two civilians died.”

Everyone knew that the evacuation was conducted to take civilians to safety. But the Nazis, for whom territory is the only important thing, wanted to prevent people from leaving, as has happened more than once already. Ukraine attempted to hide their actions, claiming that civilians were not hit.

The fact that Ukraine plans on destroying the dam has been confirmed by Zelensky in his usual style; if you want to do something yourself, blame Russia for it first.

Martial law has been declared in the new Russian territories, protection measures have been strengthened in neighboring regions

The threats are clear and the situation requires prompt action at all levels: martial law in the new territories, enhanced protection measures in neighboring regions, and protection measures raised in a few other regions. Additional powers to governors and the formation of a new structure of a special coordinating council headed by Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin.

Putin said: “The most senior officials of the Russian regions should pay the necessary attention to the implementation of measures designed to ensure the safety of people, the safety and anti-terrorist protection of critical facilities, maintaining public order, increasing the stability of the economy and industry, establishing and expanding the production of items necessary for a special military operation.”

“Obviously, the situation is different in different regions, and the scope of measures taken, the range of tasks that the heads of regions have to solve will also be different, corresponding to the situation in each particular region of the Federation. Therefore, the decree provides for several levels of response to emerging risks,” the president explained.

Strikes on critical objects of Ukraine have increased after the terrorist attack on the Crimean bridge

Attacks on critical objects in Ukraine can also be called retaliation strikes, although the main task is to bleed the enemy, to deprive them of communications, energy supply and military supplies. Today, according to Telegram channels, two large substations in the Kirovograd region have been put out of action. These are important nodes in the Ukrainian power grids.

As for the growing shortage of electricity, the Kyiv regime exaggerates its losses and tries to beg for more military supplies.

Speaking from the area of the Special Military Operation, Russian Armed Forces Commander Sergei Surovikin said: “The new Kinzhal hypersonic missiles have shown themselves to be good and reliable in the destruction of objects. None of the enemy’s air defense systems will be able to resist the missile, or get in the way of achieving the goals of the operation.”

The European Union will continue to increase all types of assistance to Ukraine, and the US Congress may approve a new $50 billion military aid package for Ukraine

 

The head of the European Council, Charles Michel, said that the European Union will continue to increase all types of assistance to Ukraine. Kyiv continues to demand more money from the European Union. It received a billion euros in August, and needs at least 3-4 billion every month.

Hungary and Croatia refused to participate in the training of the Ukrainian military on their territory within the framework of the EU-wide project. And there was some difficulty around Ukraine’s request to Israel for air defense systems. The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry called the Israeli prime minister, and heard words of support from him, after which the Israeli Defense Minister was quick to clarify that Israel has not sold weapons to Ukraine.

Both Israel and other countries themselves determine whether to supply weapons to Kyiv and, if so, which ones. Biden will push the new $50 billion package through Congress, which he controls, for now.

The fact that Ukraine has become a black hole for American taxpayer dollars was indirectly confirmed by Kevin McCarthy, House Minority Leader in the US House of Representatives. McCarthy may become speaker of the House of Representatives following the US midterm elections, the third most senior position in the country. Biden may lose the support of the legislature, and become a lame duck – not a rosy prospect for Kyiv, to put it mildly.

On Tuesday, UK Secretary of State for Defense Ben Wallace, was urgently called to Washington. Reuters reported that the aim of the visit was to discuss current events in Ukraine. However, it’s hardly likely that it was purely for this reason that he so urgently traveled across the ocean. 

Military expert Konstantin Sivkov said, “Ben Wallace went to solve the question of what to do next. Either, try to solve the problem diplomatically, or increase the NATO contingent on the territory of Ukraine with weapons and military equipment, or, prepare a full-scale provocation, comparable to the September 11, 2001 provocation.”

Vladimir Putin personally checked the training of mobilized and volunteer soldiers, equipment and weapons

 

More and more Russian regions are reporting that they have completed partial mobilization – there are already more than 40 of them, from Kamchatka to Moscow. But volunteers can still sign up at the military registration and enlistment offices. Mobilized soldiers are developing their skills under the tuition of experienced instructors, many of whom have recently returned from the front line themselves.

The training of various units – tank, artillery, and communications – emulates a combat situation as close as possible. Vladimir Putin and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu inspected the training of those called up for partial mobilization this week, in the Ryazan region. Vladimir Putin traveled there to personally ensure the full combat readiness of mobilized soldiers. The commander-in-chief personally checked weapons at the firing line and spoke with the fighters.