Day 257: Kyiv Mayor Urges Residents to Consider Evacuations; Zelenskyy Accuses Iran of Prolonging War

Facts

• Amid rolling blackouts in Kyiv and at least six other regions of Ukraine on Sunday, the city's mayor, Vitali Klitschko, urged residents to consider the prospect of evacuating the capital if the power situation deteriorates. Klitschko said authorities were preparing to deploy an estimated 1K "warming centers" across Kyiv but warned they'd be insufficient for a population of 3M if the city faced a total blackout.
• He said: "So I’m also asking people, in a bad scenario, if we don’t have electricity or water, and if you have relatives or friends in the suburbs of Kyiv who have a separate water supply, a stove and heating, plan to stay there temporarily. Please make arrangements so that in the event of a bad scenario, you can stay with your friends or acquaintances for a while."
• Meanwhile, following an admission from Iran that it had supplied Russia with drones, Ukrainian Pres. Volodymyr Zelenskyy conducted a call with EU Commission Pres. Ursula von der Leyen on Sunday. Zelenskyy stressed the need for increasing pressure on Tehran.
• "Its complicity in Russian terror must be punished," Zelenskyy said. "The whole world will know that the Iranian regime helps Russia prolong this war, and therefore prolong the effect of those threats to the world provoked precisely by the Russian war. If it was not for the Iranian supply of weapons to the aggressor, we would be closer to peace now."
• On the ground, with the brunt of fighting in Donetsk and a major battle expected in Kherson, Russian airstrikes were recorded in Ukrainian-controlled areas of the southern region. One civilian was reportedly injured, and Ukrainian officials stated one Russian fighter jet was shot down in the attack.
• Russian attacks were also recorded in the regions of Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhia, where one civilian was reported killed. Ukrainian officials reported that one civilian was killed and five others were injured in Russian attacks in Donetsk in the last 24hrs, and pro-Russia officials from the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) reported that one civilian was killed and three more were injured in Ukrainian attacks.
• Elsewhere, the Kremlin on Monday declined to comment on a Wall Street Journal report that top US officials held undisclosed talks with Russian counterparts about avoiding further escalation in Ukraine. It follows an earlier Washington Post report that Biden administration officials have privately encouraged Ukraine's leadership to soften their stance on peace talks with Russia.

Sources: Pravda, President, Ukrinform, and Reuters.

Narratives

• Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by AP. As Russia continues to attack Ukraine's energy infrastructure, many parts of the country, including Kyiv, will be forced to prepare for a winter with no heat, water, or power. The only good news is that the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant was reconnected to Ukraine’s power grid, as local media reported Sunday. Energy security is a concerning dimension of Ukraine's deepening humanitarian crisis.
• Pro-Russia narrative, as provided by Tass. According to reports, US and NATO officials have approved Kyiv's counteroffensive push in Kherson — instilling in Ukrainian leadership that peace talks from a position of strength would be possible if it retakes the strategically important area. Any news of possible negotiations must take this context into account.

Predictions