Ukraine: Russia using tankers for sabotage, Kyiv says

Russian-installed officials have said parts of Ukraine's occupied Zaporizhzhia region were temporarily left without electricity on Tuesday after a Ukrainian drone strike.

Governor Yevgeny Balitsky later wrote on Telegram that power had been restored across the Russian-controlled areas and thanked emergency crews for their quick response.

In the neighboring Kherson region, Russian-appointed governor Vladimir Saldo said about 38,000 people were without power but did not say whether the outages were linked to the incident in Zaporizhzhia.

Russia controls roughly three-quarters of both southern regions, where front lines have remained largely unchanged since 2022, but not their capital cities. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has accused Russia of using oil tankers for intelligence gathering and sabotage operations.

Writing on Telegram after receiving a briefing from Ukraine's foreign intelligence chief, Zelenskyy said Kyiv is working with allies to address the threat.

"Our intelligence is actively working with partners to prevent Russia from using the vessels of the so-called shadow fleet to commit sabotage and other attempts at destabilization in Europe," he wrote.

"We provide all the necessary information to our partners and expect that the opposition to Russian interference will be much stronger."

"Currently, Russians are using tankers not only to earn money for the war, but also for reconnaissance and even sabotage activities. It is entirely possible to stop this."

Drones have attacked the oil-producing Tyumen region in western Siberia, Russian officials have said, with conflicting reports about the extent of the damage.

Authorities said three drones were discovered and neutralized Monday evening at a company site in the city of Tyumen, more than 2,000 kilometers from the front line. If launched from Ukraine, the strike would mark the first known drone incursion across the Ural Mountains.

"The swift intervention of emergency services prevented the drones from detonating," the regional administration said on Telegram, adding there were no injuries or damage.

However, the Ukrainian Telegram channel Exilenova claimed a refinery had been hit, posting a photo showing what appeared to be minor damage to a protective wall near oil tanks. The image could not be independently verified or confirmed as taken in Tyumen.

Last summer, Ukraine used drones to attack strategic bombers in Irkutsk, eastern Siberia. Those drones were reportedly smuggled into Russia by truck and launched near a military airfield.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has said it is not in Poland's interest to hand over a Ukrainian man wanted by Germany for suspected involvement in the 2022 Nord Stream pipeline explosions.

Tusk told reporters Tuesday that while the final decision rests with the court, Poland remains opposed to the pipelines, which it has long argued made Europe overly dependent on Russian energy.

"The problem of Europe, Ukraine, Lithuania, and Poland is not that Nord Stream 2 was blown up, but that it was built," he said.

"It is certainly not in the interest of Poland to hand over this citizen to a foreign country."

Volodymyr Z., the Ukrainian suspect, was detained near Warsaw in late September.

A Polish court ruled Monday that he must remain in custody for another 40 days while it considers Germany's request under a European arrest warrant.

The 2022 blasts on the Nord Stream pipelines were widely described as sabotage and deepened tensions over the war in Ukraine. No group has claimed responsibility, and Kyiv has denied involvement.

Another Ukrainian man suspected of coordinating the attacks was arrested in Italy in August and plans to fight extradition to Germany. Volodymyr Z.'s lawyer has said his client is innocent and will plead not guilty.

Finland's President Alexander Stubb said that he would deliver messages from his recent visit to Kyiv to US President Donald Trump. 

Stubb and Prime Minister Petteri Orpo are expected in Washington on October 9 and 10 to discuss bilateral relations and Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. 

Stubb visited Kyiv on 11 September, where he criticized Hungary and Slovakia for continuing to import Russian oil.  

"As far as getting our own house in order, I think [US] President [Donald] Trump, when he says that Europe needs to stop buying Russian oil and gas, is right," Stubb said in Kyiv, adding that "the finger points in two places," Hungary and Slovakia. 

Neutral throughout the Cold War, with a direct border to Russia, Finland sought and secured NATO membership in the aftermath of the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russia is waiting for clarity from the US about the possible supply of Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine. 

US President Donald Trump said on Monday that he would want to know what Ukraine planned to do with such weapons before sending them, because he did not want to escalate the war. However, he also said that he had "sort of made a decision" on the matter. 

Asked about the comments, Peskov said: "We understand that we need to wait, probably, for clearer statements, if any come." 

Peskov also said that Tomahawk missiles "could also be nuclear capable," and so said that providing them would be "truly a serious round of escalation." 

Ukraine is not a nuclear power, although three NATO members (the US, the UK and France) are.

Ukraine's Energy Minister Svitlana Hrynchuk told reporters in Kyiv that Ukraine wants to increase its natural gas imports by 30%. 

Hrynchuk said she had discussed the plans with G7 countries, and that Kyiv was also considering boosting liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports. 

She said that Russian airstrikes had caused "significant" damage to Ukraine's gas production capacity, while declining to give specific details.

Hrynchuk said the attacks targeted regional gas infrastructure and power transmission facilities in frontline regions. 

Russia has regularly targeted Ukraine's energy infrastructure since its full-scale invasion in 2022.

Hello and welcome to our updates on Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. 

Satellite images of Ukraine's strike on an oil depot in occupied Crimea on Monday have started to materialize. Meanwhile, Ukraine says it is looking at importing more natural gas and possibly LNG from G7 countries. 

Meanwhile, the Kremlin appears to be as perplexed as everyone else by Donald Trump's recent remarks suggesting the possibility of supplying Ukraine with Tomahawk missiles.

Stay tuned for the latest updates and analysis.