Putin says risk of world conflict is ‘high’; Moscow official calls for ‘de-Satanization’ in Ukraine

Russia returned the body of an American citizen who died fighting for Kyiv to Ukrainian forces, the State Department confirmed.

“Out of respect for the privacy of the family, we will not release further details,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement.

Price reiterated that U.S. citizens should still not travel to Ukraine and urged all Americans currently in the war-weary country to “depart immediately.”

“U.S. citizens who travel to Ukraine, including to participate in the fighting there, face significant risks and the United States cannot guarantee their safety,” Price added.

Ukraine identified the American citizen as Joshua Jones, a former U.S. service member, who went to Ukraine with his friends to join the fight against Russian forces.

— Amanda Macias

About 1,000 bodies have been exhumed from mass graves in recently liberated territories of Ukraine, according to Ukrainian forces.

Of those, about 450 bodies were exhumed in Izium in what was described as one of the largest mass graves.

“The shocking facts of the atrocities committed by the occupiers are revealed: there are not only military personnel but also civilians – adults and children – among the dead,” said Ukraine’s Ministry for Reintegration of Temporarily Occupied Territories, according to an NBC News translation.

The ministry said that it was still investigating the mass graves.

— Amanda Macias

Ukraine’s Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization report that at least 10 million people will need psychosocial support due to the trauma from Russia’s conflict in Ukraine.

“This includes women and girls suffering sexual violence and other forms of gender-based violence, children hearing warning sirens daily, families who have been separated, or people just trying to survive every day,” said Denise Brown, the U.N. Resident Coordinator in Ukraine, in remarks before the United Nations Security Council.

Brown added that civilians in recently liberated areas of Ukraine are particularly vulnerable as they have “witnessed or experienced terrible violations” committed by Russian forces.

— Amanda Macias

U.S. Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth said it is unlikely that Russian President Vladimir Putin will deploy a nuclear weapon in his fight with Ukraine, but called the Kremlin’s recent rhetoric concerning.

“There is a lot of concern given how Putin has escalated [the conflict],” Wormuth told CNBC’s Morgan Brennan when asked about Western fears that Russia could resort to nuclear warfare in its armed conflict with Ukraine.

“Certainly there is a concern,” Wormuth said, adding that despite Putin’s threats to use such a weapon against its ex-Soviet neighbor, it is “still an unlikely event.”

President Joe Biden told reporters yesterday that Russia would be making “an incredibly serious mistake” if Moscow used a tactical nuclear weapon in its fight with Ukraine.

“I’m not guaranteeing that it’s a false flag operation,” Biden said, referencing Russian allegations that Ukraine is planning to use a “dirty bomb” in order to escalate the conflict.

“It would be a serious serious mistake,” Biden added.

The United States and Russia hold the lion’s share of the world’s nuclear weapons.

— Amanda Macias

More than 7.7 million Ukrainians have become refugees and moved to neighboring countries since Russia invaded Ukraine in late February, the U.N. Refugee Agency estimates.

Nearly 4.4 million of those people have applied for temporary resident status in neighboring Western European countries, according to data collected by the agency.

“The escalation of conflict in Ukraine has caused civilian casualties and destruction of civilian infrastructure, forcing people to flee their homes seeking safety, protection and assistance,” the U.N. Refugee Agency wrote.

— Amanda Macias

President Joseph Biden congratulated Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on her appointment as Italy’s first woman leader.

“The leaders underscored the strong relationship between the United States and Italy and expressed their readiness to work together within the transatlantic alliance to address common challenges,” a White House readout of the call said.

The two spoke about additional ways to offer aid to Ukraine in its months-long fight against Russia. Biden and Meloni discussed the importance of holding Russia accountable for its aggression.

— Amanda Macias

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg called Russian President Vladimir Putin’s nuclear rhetoric “dangerous,” adding that “it is reckless and irresponsible.”

Stoltenberg, speaking from the U.S. aircraft carrier U.S.S. George H.W. Bush, said that Russia “falsely claims Ukraine is preparing to use a radiological dirty bomb on its own territory.” 

Stoltenberg said NATO allies reject the false allegation.

“Russia often accuses others for what they intend to do themselves,” the NATO chief added.

Stoltenberg also said that NATO is “not seeing any changes in Russia’s nuclear posture,” which he added is being monitored closely.

— Amanda Macias

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday observed exercises by Russia’s strategic nuclear forces, the Kremlin said.

“The tasks envisaged during the training of the strategic deterrence forces were completed in full, all missiles reached their targets,” a Kremlin statement said.

The Zvezda military news channel showed Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu telling Putin that the exercises were practicing “delivering a massive nuclear strike by strategic offensive forces in response to an enemy nuclear strike”.

Chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov told Putin the exercise involved Yars intercontinental ballistic missiles, submarines and Tupolev strategic bomber planes.

Russian officials have in recent weeks repeatedly accused Ukraine of planning to use a “dirty bomb” – a bomb laced with radioactive material. They have provided no proof for the allegation.

— Reuters

Russian President Vladimir Putin said his government was “aware” of plans by Ukraine to use a “dirty bomb,” a claim that’s already been made by several Kremlin officials without evidence since the start of the week.

The Russian president, in a meeting with intelligence directors from several ex-Soviet countries, said that the risk of conflict in the world, and in the region, was “high” and that security needed to be increased around its critical infrastructure.

Ukrainian and Western officials as well as weapons experts say that Ukraine does not have the means to build a “dirty bomb,” which is a bomb laced with nuclear material deployed to contaminate a large area with radioactivity.

Kyiv has invited the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog agency, the International Atomic Energy Agency, to inspect its nuclear power plants to debunk Russia’s allegation, which they say is being spread as a “false flag” operation to escalate the conflict.

Moscow holds that its claim is true and has held high-level calls with defense ministers from NATO countries as well as India and China, and delivered a letter to the U.N., to emphasize it.

— Natasha Turak

Automaker Mercedes-Benz is the latest Western company to leave Russia, one of a handful of major carmakers to withdraw from the country.

The German car company ceased its manufacturing in and exports to Russia in March shortly after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began. Now, however, it says it will depart from the country’s market fully and sell its subsidiaries to local buyers.

Mercedes-Benz Chief Financial Officer Harald Wilhelm said the Russia exit was not predicted to have a major impact on the company’s profits.

French carmaker Renault and Japan’s Toyota and Nissan all halted their manufacturing operations in Russia in previous months. General Motors, Jaguar Land Rover, Rolls-Royce and Aston Martin also stopped deliveries to the country in the months following the invasion in February.

— Natasha Turak

The Kremlin on Wednesday said that assets in the four Ukrainian regions that Russia said it had annexed last month may in future be transferred to Russian companies.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it was obvious that “abandoned assets” could not be left inactive, and the government would deal with the issue.

Ukraine, its Western allies and an overwhelming majority of countries at the U.N. General Assembly have condemned Russia’s declared annexation of the four regions as illegal.

— Reuters

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu held calls with his Indian and Chinese counterparts during which he continued to push the Kremlin allegation, without evidence, that Ukraine is planning to use a “dirty bomb” on its own territory. A “dirty bomb” is laced with nuclear material and used to contaminate large areas with radioactivity without an explosion.

Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh told Shoigu that nuclear weapons must not be used at all by either side, saying that “the prospect of the usage of nuclear or radiological weapons goes against the basic tenets of humanity,” according to an Indian government statement. He also stressed the need for the conflict to be resolved through diplomacy.

The calls followed similar calls from Shoigu to NATO defense ministers.

Ukrainian and Western officials have roundly denounced the Russian claim as “false” and a pretext for escalation, and Kyiv has requested an inspection by the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, in order to debunk Russia’s accusation.

— Natasha Turak

A member of Russia’s security council is calling for a new mission of “de-Satanization” in Ukraine, after months of basing Moscow’s invasion on the need to “denazify” the country.

In a letter an article, Russian Security Council assistant secretary Aleksey Pavlov argued that this was increasingly urgent as there are, he claimed, “hundreds of sects” operating in the country.

“I believe that with the continuation of the special military operation, it becomes more and more urgent to carry out the de-Satanization of Ukraine, or, as the head of the Chechen Republic Ramzan Kadyrov aptly put it, its ‘complete de-Satanization’,” he said.

Pavlov claimed that the “Church of Satan… spread across Ukraine,” adding that it is “one of the religions officially registered in the United States.”

“All this Satanism finds a lively response and support from the official Ukrainian authorities,” he added, without citing evidence.

— Natasha Turak

Russian forces show no sign of abandoning Kherson despite the growing Ukrainian counteroffensive to retake the territory that Russia has occupied since early spring.

While Russian-imposed authorities in the region have ordered civilians to evacuate, “the Russians are replenishing, strengthening their grouping there,” Ukrainian President advisor Oleksiy Arestovych said.

“It means that nobody is preparing to withdraw. On the contrary, the heaviest of battles is going to take place for Kherson.”

Kherson is the largest Ukrainian city under Russian control, and lies in the strategic south-east area that Moscow wants as a land bridge to Crimea, which it annexed in 2014. Kherson is one of four major regions in Ukraine’s south and east that Russia declared as annexed — illegal under international law — in late September.

— Natasha Turak

Russian coal exports to energy-hungry China have jumped by about a third this year but the supply boom is being constrained by transport infrastructure limitations, industry sources and officials said.

China is seeking coal supplies from overseas, in particular after recent Covid-19 outbreaks in the major coal mining regions of Inner Mongolia and Shaanxi forced many mines to close, while coal demand at power generation and heating sectors will soon pick up with the coming of winter.

The Kremlin plans to increase its energy supplies to Asia, China in particular, to offset a slump in exports to the West, which has imposed sanctions on Russia over the conflict in Ukraine.

Russia is the world’s sixth-largest coal producer and one of top coal exporters, along with Indonesia and Australia. Its share of global coal exports reached 17% last year with supply of 223 million tons.

— Reuters

Ukraine’s deputy prime minister Iryna Vereshchuk asked Ukrainians who are currently abroad to not return home yet, according to an NBC News translation.

“I will ask you not to return, we have to survive the winter,” Vereshchuk said, adding that Ukraine’s energy sector and infrastructure is too weak from the war to provide adequate support.

“If there is an opportunity to stay, for the time being, spend the winter abroad,” she added.

In recent weeks, Russian missiles and drone strikes have targeted critical Ukrainian infrastructure like energy systems. The Kremlin has previously denied Ukrainian and Western claims that it targets civilian infrastructure, which is a violation of the laws of conflict.

— Amanda Macias

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said it would be “a major mistake” for Russia to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine and that it is taking the threat of a dirty bomb seriously.

“It would be a major mistake for Russia to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine leading to severe consequences,” Jean-Pierre said at the daily briefing.

The statement came in response to a question about the potential for Russia to use a dirty bomb. Russia has accused Ukraine of planning to use a “dirty bomb” on its own territory. On Tuesday Russia reiterated the allegations in a letter to the United Nations Security Council.

“We must take this seriously because in the past we have seen Russia use allegations as a pretext to escalate.”

— Emma Kinery