KYIV, Ukraine -- Pro-Kremlin officials on Sunday blamed Ukraine for a rocket attack that struck the mayor's office in Donetsk, a city controlled by separatists, while Ukrainian officials said Russian rocket strikes hit a town across from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, among other targets.
The attacks came as Russia's war in Ukraine nears the eight-month mark. Kyiv also reported holding the line in continued fierce fighting around Bakhmut, where Russian forces have claimed some gains amid a seven-week Ukrainian counteroffensive that has led Russian troops to retreat in some other areas.
On the front line, "the key hot spots in Donbas are [neighboring towns] Soledar and Bakhmut, where extremely heavy fighting continues," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a video address Sunday.
Those towns and Donetsk are in the industrialized Donbas region, where Russian-backed separatists have been fighting Kyiv since 2014. The Donetsk region is among four that were illegally annexed by Russia last month.
Zelenskyy accused Russia of including convicts "with long sentences for serious crimes" in its front-line troops in return for pay and amnesty -- something Western intelligence officials have also asserted.
The municipal mayor's building in Donetsk was seriously damaged by the rocket attack. Plumes of smoke swirled around the building, which had rows of blown-out windows and a partially collapsed ceiling. Cars nearby were burned out. There were no immediate reports of casualties. Kyiv didn't claim responsibility or comment on the attack.
Kremlin-backed separatist authorities have accused Ukraine of numerous strikes on infrastructure and residential targets in the occupied regions using U.S.-supplied long-range HIMARS rockets.
IRANIANS DISPATCHED
Last week, the Kremlin launched what is believed to be its largest coordinated air and missile raids yet on Ukraine's infrastructure. The wide-ranging attacks included the use of self-destructing explosive drones from Iran, and killed dozens of people.
In an apparent sign of Iran's expanded role as a military supplier to Moscow, Tehran dispatched officials to Russia on Sept. 18 to finalize terms for additional weapons shipments, including two types of Iranian surface-to-surface missiles, according to officials from a U.S.-allied country that closely monitors Iran's weapons activity.
An intelligence assessment shared in recent days with Ukrainian and U.S. officials contends that Iran's armaments industry is preparing a first shipment of Fateh-110 and Zolfaghar missiles, two well-known Iranian short-range ballistic missiles capable of striking targets at distances of 186.4 and 435 miles, respectively, two officials briefed on the matter said. If carried out, it would be the first delivery of such missiles to Russia since the start of the war.
The officials spoke on the condition that their names and nationalities not be revealed because of the extreme sensitivities surrounding intelligence-collection efforts.
In August, the same officials identified specific Iranian drones, the Shahed series and the Mohajer-6, that Tehran was beginning to supply to Russia for use in Ukraine. The remains of both types have been recovered, analyzed and photographed by Ukrainian forces in recent weeks. Russia appears to have repainted the weapons and given them Russian names.
The officials briefed on the planned missiles shipment said Iran also is preparing new deliveries of unmanned aerial vehicles for Russia, including "dozens" of additional Mohajer-6s and a larger number of Shahed-136s. The latter, sometimes called "kamikaze" drones because they are designed to crash into their targets, are capable of delivering explosive payloads at distances of up to 1,500 miles. Iranian technical advisers have visited Russian-controlled areas in recent weeks to provide instructions on operating the drones, the officials said.
U.S. intelligence agencies declined to comment on the reports of pending Iranian shipments to Russia. Russian and Iranian officials did not respond to requests for comment Saturday on reports of Russian-bound Iranian missiles.
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said "the Islamic Republic of Iran has not and will not provide any weapon to be used in the war in Ukraine," according to a Saturday readout of his call with his Portuguese counterpart. "We believe that the arming of each side of the crisis will prolong the war."
On Oct. 3, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kan'ani repeated Iran's persistent denials of any involvement with supplying drones to Russia. "The Islamic Republic of Iran considers reports about delivering drones to Russia for use in the Ukraine war 'baseless' and does not confirm them," he said. Kan'ani reasserted Iran's claim of neutrality in the conflict and stressed the need for the "two sides to solve their problems through political means free from violence."
The Kyiv government has been briefed on the evidence behind the new intelligence, a Ukrainian official told The Washington Post. Ukraine has separately assessed that the majority of drones recently deployed by Russia in the southern Ukraine are Iranian-made.
Iran possesses one of the largest and most diverse arsenals of short- and medium-range missiles in the Middle East. While Iranian weapons designers have struggled with reliability problems, the newest versions of the Fateh-110 and Zolfaghar are considered by experts to be both potent and reasonably accurate at relatively short distances, Nadimi said. Some models come with electro-optic guidance systems that allow missile operators to guide them in their final approach to the target.
Iran previously provided the same missiles to proxy militia groups in the Middle East, most notably Houthi fighters in Yemen. Houthi forces have displayed Iranian-designed missiles in military parades and used them in attacks against oil refineries and other civilian targets in neighboring Gulf countries.
Russia already possesses an array of unarmed aerial vehicles, or UAVs, which are used mainly for surveillance and artillery spotting. But Moscow has not invested in large fleets of armed drones of the type that U.S. forces have routinely used in military campaigns in Afghanistan and the Middle East.
Moscow did command a vast arsenal of precision-guided missiles and rockets at the outset of the Ukraine invasion, but U.S. officials say its stockpile has been dramatically reduced over the course of the war, now in its seventh month.
According to a presentation by a senior U.S. intelligence official on Friday, Russia's growing reliance on countries like Iran and North Korea is evidence of the impact of sanctions and export controls imposed by Western countries in the wake of the Ukraine invasion.
According to the information presented by Deputy Director of National Intelligence Morgan Muir, Russia has lost more than 6,000 pieces of equipment since the start of the war, and was "expending munitions at an unsustainable rate."
Blocked by sanctions from obtaining Western electronics, Russia is "turning to countries like Iran and North Korea for supplies and equipment," including drones, artillery munitions and rockets, Muir said, addressing a group of top international finance officials at the Treasury Department.
Muir also noted that Russia's defense industry depends heavily on imports for material such as microprocessors and optical and thermal imaging technology.
SHELLING CONTINUES
Zelenskyy's office said Moscow was shelling towns and villages along the front line in the east Sunday, and that "active hostilities" continued in the southern Kherson region.
The rockets at Nikopol, across from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, damaged power lines, gas pipelines and a raft of civilian businesses and residential buildings, Ukrainian officials said. Russia and Ukraine have for months accused each other of firing at and around the nuclear plant, which is Europe's largest. It's run by its pre-occupation Ukrainian staff under Russian oversight.
The region of Zaporizhzhia also was illegally annexed by Russia last month, despite the fact that some 20% of it remains under Ukrainian military control.
Meanwhile, in western Russia along the border with Ukraine, officials said air defenses shot down "a minimum" of 16 Ukrainian missiles in the Belgorod region, Ria Novosti reported. Russian authorities in border regions have accused Kyiv of frequently firing at their territory, and say civilians have been wounded. Ukraine hasn't claimed responsibility or commented on the alleged attacks.
Russia has used Belgorod as a staging ground for shelling and missile attacks on Ukrainian territory.
Meanwhile, Russia opened an investigation into a shooting in that region Saturday in which two men from a former Soviet republic who were training at a military firing range killed 11 and wounded 15 during target practice, before being slain themselves. The Russian Defense Ministry called the incident a terrorist attack.
In other developments, A Russian commander wanted for his role in the downing of a Malaysian airliner over eastern Ukraine in 2014 has been deployed to the front, according to social media posts by pro-Kremlin commentators. Posts by Maksim Fomin and others said Igor Girkin, also known as Strelkov, has been given responsibility for an unspecified Russian front-line unit.
Girkin has been on an international wanted list over his alleged involvement in the downing of Kuala Lumpur-bound flight MH17, which killed 298 people. He remains the most high-profile suspect in a related murder trial in a Dutch court, with a verdict expected Nov. 17.
Recently, Girkin's social media posts have lashed out at Moscow's battlefield failures. Ukraine's defense intelligence agency said Sunday it would offer a $100,000 reward to anyone who captures him.
STARLINK IS NEEDED
A Ukrainian diplomat expressed optimism Sunday about securing the money needed for the continued operation of a satellite network funded by billionaire Elon Musk that has provided key battlefield and humanitarian contacts in the war with Russia.
"It's there, it's working," said the envoy, Oksana Markarova. "It will need to be working for a longer time."
She did not indicate whether Musk had agreed to continue funding his rocket company SpaceX's Starlink internet service in Ukraine but said the country's collaboration with the company has been excellent.
"We got the Starlink in Ukraine very quickly, in some areas for humanitarian support, it's the only connection that we have," Markarova told CBS's "Face the Nation." "And it's very important to continue having it and I'm positive that we will find a solution there."
On Friday, senior U.S. officials confirmed that Musk had asked the Defense Department to take over funding for the service Starlink provides in Ukraine. Starlink, which provides broadband internet service using more than 2,200 low-orbiting satellites, has provided crucial battlefield communications for Ukrainian military forces since early in the nation's defense against Russia's February invasion.
Musk suggested in a tweet Saturday that SpaceX may continue funding Starlink after all, though his tone and wording also raised the possibility that the Tesla CEO was just being sarcastic. It is not clear whether SpaceX has actually established plans for future service in Ukraine.
"The hell with it ... even though Starlink is still losing money & other companies are getting billions of taxpayer $, we'll just keep funding Ukraine govt for free," Musk tweeted Saturday.
Musk also recently has sparred with Zelenskyy after the billionaire suggested that Ukraine cede the strategically important Crimea region to Russia and make other concessions as part of a peace deal, drawing a rebuke from Zelenskyy.
Musk tweeted on Friday that it was costing SpaceX $20 million a month to support Ukraine's communications needs.
Markarova said Ukraine has "disagreed with Elon Musk on some of his views about Crimea, and we were happy to discuss it with him." She added that Ukraine is proud "to be one of the fastest-growing Starlink countries globally."
Information for this article was contributed by Sabra Ayres and staff writers of The Associated Press and by Joby Warrick, Ellen Nakashima and Shane Harris of The Washington Post.
Two armed servicemen walk at the site of a damaged administrative building after shelling in Donetsk, the capital of Donetsk People's Republic, eastern in Ukraine, Sunday, Oct. 16, 2022. Russian media reports say the mayor’s office in a key eastern Ukrainian city controlled by pro-Kremlin separatists has been struck by rockets. There were no immediate reports of casualties in the Sunday morning attack. (AP Photo/Alexei Alexandrov)
A firefighter works at the site of the burning after shelling in Donetsk, the capital of Donetsk People's Republic, eastern Ukraine, Sunday, Oct. 16, 2022. According to the Donetsk People's Republic's (DPR) mission to the Joint Center for Control and Coordination, six 155 mm munitions were fired at Donetsk in the early hours of Sunday. (AP Photo/Alexei Alexandrov)
Investigators are seen through a broken window as they work at the site of the damaged administrative building after shelling in Donetsk, the capital of Donetsk People's Republic, eastern Ukraine, Sunday, Oct. 16, 2022. Russian media reports say the mayor’s office in a key eastern Ukrainian city controlled by pro-Kremlin separatists has been struck by rockets. There were no immediate reports of casualties in the Sunday morning attack. (AP Photo/Alexei Alexandrov)
A view of a damaged administrative building after shelling in Donetsk, the capital of Donetsk People's Republic, eastern in Ukraine, Sunday, Oct. 16, 2022. According to the Donetsk People's Republic's (DPR) mission to the Joint Center for Control and Coordination, six 155mm munitions were fired at Donetsk in the early hours of Sunday. (AP Photo/Alexei Alexandrov)
Investigators inspect a site after shelling near an administrative building, in Donetsk, the capital of Donetsk People's Republic, eastern in Ukraine, Sunday, Oct. 16, 2022. According to the Donetsk People's Republic's (DPR) mission to the Joint Center for Control and Coordination, six 155mm munitions were fired at Donetsk in the early hours of Sunday. (AP Photo/Alexei Alexandrov)
A burnt car is seen near an administrative building after shelling in Donetsk, the capital of Donetsk People's Republic, eastern in Ukraine, Sunday, Oct. 16, 2022. According to the Donetsk People's Republic's (DPR) mission to the Joint Center for Control and Coordination, six 155mm munitions were fired at Donetsk in the early hours of Sunday. (AP Photo/Alexei Alexandrov)
Investigators inspect a site after shelling near an administrative building, in Donetsk, the capital of Donetsk People's Republic, eastern Ukraine, Sunday, Oct. 16, 2022. According to the Donetsk People's Republic's (DPR) mission to the Joint Center for Control and Coordination, six 155mm munitions were fired at Donetsk in the early hours of Sunday. (AP Photo/Alexei Alexandrov)Gallery: Images from Ukraine and Russia, month 8
