Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported on October 21 that the International Atomic Energy Agency has funded Russian state scientific research since the peninsula was illegally seized in 2014. Documents obtained by RFE/RL confirmed this.
According to internal documents of the agency, the IAEA has signed at least two agreements for research in Crimea that included fieldwork. The deals were signed from 2016 to 2019, and the first deal was reportedly extended during the summer of 2019.
The outlet described the project as being limited in scope and size.
The IAEA has publicly stated its commitment to Ukraine’s territorial integrity and urged Russia to withdraw from Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. This is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe that has been under Russian occupation for over a year.
In a statement sent to RFE/RL by the IAEA, the agency said that it continues to recognize Crimea’s status as part of Ukraine. It said that its studies on the occupied territories were of a “purely technological nature” and that they “does not constitute any changes in the agency’s status of Crimea.”
The IAEA representative called the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, an international research centre based in Moscow Oblast and the counterpart to one of the projects “not a Russian organisation but an International Intergovernmental Scientific Research Organization in Russia.”
Ukraine’s permanent diplomatic missions in Vienna, where IAEA headquarters are located, told RFE/RL, that none of IAEA’s projects in Crimea had been approved by the Ukrainian Government.
The Ukrainian authorities had previously criticized the agency’s “ambivalent position” as well as “the retransmission Russian propaganda.”
Rafael Grossi, director of the International Atomic Energy Agency(IAEA), has visited Kyiv and Moscow as well as the Russian occupied part of Zaporizhzhia Oblast since the beginning of the all-out conflict.
Since September 2022, IAEA monitoring teams have been stationed at the facility. However, Russian authorities continue to deny IAEA inspections full access.
Yonhap reported that South Korea summoned Georgy Zinoviev as the Russian ambassador to Seoul on October 21 to protest the dispatching of North Korean troops in support of Moscow’s war with Ukraine.
According to internal documents of the agency, the IAEA has signed at least two agreements for research in Crimea that included fieldwork. The deals were signed from 2016 to 2019, and the first deal was reportedly extended during the summer of 2019.
A military intelligence source told Kyiv Independent that Russian authorities had detained 18 North Koreans who had abandoned their positions in Russia’s Kursk Oblast.
The Air Force reported that Ukrainian air defenses destroyed 59 of 116 Shahed attack drones launched overnight by Russia. According to reports, 45 drones “lost” in Ukraine and 10 others were still present at the time of publication.
The election results were tainted with allegations of Russian interference. Moldovan lawmakers claimed that Moscow spent millions in a campaign against Maia Sandu, the pro-Western incumbent and voted down the EU referendum.
Dmitry Rogozin said that the Russian occupation of Zaporizhzhia Oblast was a major target for the enemy’s unmanned vessels.
According to Ukraine’s Military Intelligence (HUR), Russian Pilot Dmitry Golenkov sustained multiple head injuries that were probably caused by a heavy hammer.
CNN reported that U.S. defense secretary Lloyd Austin arrived in Kyiv, Ukraine on October 21 to ensure continued support before the uncertain U.S. presidential election.
According to regional authorities, the wounded include seven women ranging in age from 22 to 83 years old and five men ages 21 to 38. The attack caused some areas of the city to lose electricity.
This includes 1,710 casualties that Russian forces have suffered in the last day.
The memoir “Patriot” was compiled from the prison diaries of the Russian opposition leader and edited in part Yulia Nalnaya. The book will be published in 22 languages including Russian.
According to the drone’s creators, the Wild Hornets Group, “Sting” is able to fly altitudes of up to 10,000 feet with speeds exceeding 100 miles per hour. It is the world’s first drone designed to specifically target Russia’s Shaheds arsenal.
In his evening address of October 20, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that Russia had launched 6,130 drones of the type Shahed since 2024.
On October 20, a large rally in Tbilisi’s Freedom Square in support of Georgia’s accession to European Union was held ahead of the upcoming Parliamentary Election scheduled for October 26.
Belarusian Hajun, a monitoring group, reported that the Belarusian Air Force had downed an Russian Shahed drone in Belarus’ Homel Oblast over night on October 20. This is only the third time that a Belarusian aircraft downed a Russian drone that entered its airspace.
Sources told the Kyiv Independent that drones were used to target the large Sverdlov Plant, owned by the state and located in Dzerzhinsk, a city in the Nizhny Novgorod Region. This is about 900 kilometers into Russia.
Oleksandr Vilkul said that eight of the injured were currently hospitalized, but their condition is “moderate”.
This includes 1,340 casualties that Russian forces have suffered in the last day.
The upcoming presidential elections in Moldova and the EU referendum on October 20 are considered crucial for determining its future path towards European Union integration.
Regional authorities reported that Russian forces attacked Shostka in Sumy Oblast overnight on October 19 with guided bombs and drones. According to MykolaNoha, the mayor of Shostka, one civilian was killed and 11 others injured in the attack.
On October 19, Jean-Noel Barrot, the French Foreign Minister, said in Kyiv that a Russian victory would enshrine the law of the strong and bring the international order into chaos.
The National Police confirmed three air strikes by Russian forces on Zaporizhzhia, in the southeast of Ukraine, using high-explosive unguided bombs.
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