Britain, France, and US reject Russian accusation that Ukraine preparing to use a ‘dirty bomb’ as ‘transparently false’

In response, the U.S., U.K., and France issued a joint statement calling the allegation a “pretext for escalation by Russia.”

“Our countries made clear that we all reject Russia’s transparently false allegations that Ukraine is preparing to use a dirty bomb on its own territory,” the statement said. “The world would see through any attempt to use this allegation as a pretext for escalation.”

A two-sentence readout of Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s call with Shoigu simply said that Austin “rejected any pretext for Russian escalation and reaffirmed the value of continued communication,” while a British Defense Ministry tweet said U.K. Defense Minister Ben Wallace rejected Shoigu’s claims and “cautioned that such allegations should not be used as a pretext for greater escalation.”

LLOYD AUSTIN HAS FIRST CONVERSATION WITH RUSSIAN COUNTERPART IN MONTHS

ZELENSKY: RUSSIA IS ‘SOURCE OF EVERYTHING DIRTY’: In his Sunday night video address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky flatly denied Ukraine would ever use a radioactive bomb and said it was Russia that resorts to weapons of terror.

“When today the Russian minister of defense organizes a phone carousel and calls foreign ministers with stories about the so-called dirty nuclear bomb, everyone understands everything well — understands who is the source of everything dirty that can be imagined in this war,” Zelensky said.

“It was Russia who blackmailed with the radiation disaster at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant … Russian troops who mined the dam and aggregates of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant are blackmailing with their detonation. It is Russia that uses phosphorus munitions, banned anti-personnel mines and the entire range of weapons against civilian infrastructure.”

“If Russia calls and says that Ukraine is allegedly preparing something, it means one thing: Russia has already prepared all this,” he said. “I believe that now the world should react in the toughest possible way.”

THE WAR AT EIGHT MONTHS: Today marks eight months since Russian President Vladimir Putin sent his invasion force into Ukraine without provocation. One of the first prizes captured by Russian troops was the southern city of Kherson, which at the time had 280,000 residents.

Today Russian authorities are telling the remaining residents to evacuate as Ukrainian forces make slow but steady progress advancing on the city while Russian troops pull back from the western part of the Kherson province.

“The Ukrainian General Staff noted that some Russian elements are preparing Kherson City for urban combat, while other servicemembers continue to flee the city via … ferry,” said the Institute for the Study of War in its latest update.

Russian-installed officials said there could soon be heavy shelling and “terror attacks” in the city, but Ukraine said it does not launch attacks on its own citizens.

US MILITARY FORCES ‘FULLY PREPARED’ TO CROSS INTO UKRAINE

THE ‘WAGNER LINE’: Meanwhile in eastern Ukraine, Russian forces are digging in behind newly constructed anti-tank defenses in the Luhansk region dubbed the “Wagner line,” after the Wagner Group mercenaries who are fighting there on behalf of Moscow.

Wagner Group owner Yevgeny Prigozhin has posted images along with a map showing the planned line of defense with trenches and other obstacles.

“If the plans are as extensive as Prigozhin claims, the works likely aim to integrate the Siversky Donetsk river into the defensive zone, partially following the 2015 Line of Control,” the British Defense Ministry said in a tweet. “The project suggests Russia is making a significant effort to prepare defenses in depth behind the current front line, likely to deter any rapid Ukrainian counter offensives.”

MCCONNELL CALLS FOR ADMINISTRATION ‘TO DO MORE’ TO HELP UKRAINE

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XI’S THE ONE: As was a surprise to no one, Xi Jinping was anointed Sunday as China’s uncontested leader for an unprecedented third five-year term at the conclusion of the weeklong Chinese Communist Party National Congress held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

As expected, Xi was granted third terms as both general secretary and head of the Central Military Commission, thus securing a lock on power, which many think will allow him to serve for life.

The new appointees to the party’s seven-member Standing Committee are all Xi loyalists, and observers noted that Premier Li Keqiang, an advocate of market-style reform and private enterprise, was dropped from Xi’s inner circle.

“Xi has cemented his place as a 21st century emperor of China,” said Rep. Michael Waltz (R-FL) on Fox News. “He has become the most powerful Chinese dictator since Mao.”

“He humiliated his predecessor. He has stacked the organs of power in China with his loyalists. He has centralized power with himself. He has eliminated term limits. So, essentially, he is dictator for life now, all with a major step towards what he sees as his legacy, and that’s returning China to become the global superpower, not a superpower, but the global superpower, in line with ancient Chinese greatness,” Waltz said.

“And to do that, he’s told his military to rapidly modernize, to prepare for war by 2027. Their navy is larger than ours. Their space force is launching more than we are. And he’s told his economy to become self-sufficient, both technologically and from a manufacturing standpoint, so that they can resist any type of outside pressure.”

CHINA’S LEADER-FOR-LIFE, AND AMERICA’S DIMINISHED MILITARY, RAISE RISK OF WAR OVER TAIWAN

THE HUMILIATION OF HU: As Waltz mentioned, there was a curious moment at the Saturday session of the party congress when former Chinese President Hu Jintao seemed to be escorted off the stage against his will.

A man is seen approaching the 79-year-old former Chinese leader and helping him out of his seat. Hu seemed confused and tried to talk to Xi on his way out.

The scene was widely described as a humiliation of the former president, but a tweet by Xinhua News Agency said the elderly Hu was simply in poor health.

“When he was not feeling well during the session, his staff, for his health, accompanied him to a room next to the meeting venue for a rest,” the tweet said. “Now, he is much better.”

WATCH: SHOCK MOMENT FORMER CHINESE PRESIDENT HU JINTAO GETS ESCORTED FROM PARTY CONFERENCE

BIDEN: GOP RESERVATIONS ABOUT UKRAINE FUNDING ABOUT ‘LACK OF KNOWLEDGE OR POWER’: In an interview with MSNBC on Friday, President Joe Biden weighed in on House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s (R-CA) comments that if Republicans take control of Congress, there won’t be a “blank check” for Ukraine.

“I can understand somebody having that view who’s uninformed and believes it because it costs so much money to help them,” Biden told MSNBC’s Jonathan Capehart. “We’re spending a lot of money helping the Ukrainians, but it’s so much more than the Ukrainians. It’s about NATO. It’s about Western Europe. It’s about making sure that Putin is not able to succeed in the way that he is using the brutality of his activities.”

“I just think it’s about, again, this notion of power,” Biden said. “Lack of knowledge or power — one of the two is the driving force, maybe both, but I don’t know.”

OPINION: THREE JUSTIFICATIONS FOR KEVIN MCCARTHY’S UKRAINE AID STANCE

BLINKEN ON IRAN DEAL: ‘NO PROSPECT FOR AN AGREEMENT’: At a joint appearance with his French counterpart on Friday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken all but conceded the Biden administration’s efforts to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, formerly known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, have failed.

“The JCPOA, when it was in existence, was successful in putting Iran’s program, its nuclear program, into a box. And unfortunately, in leaving that agreement, it’s allowed Iran to get out of the box that it was in, in terms of its nuclear program,” Blinken said. “We continue to have an interest in seeing that program put back in the box, we continue to believe that diplomacy is the best way to do that, but in this moment, there’s no prospect for an agreement, again, because Iran continues to inject extraneous issues into the conversations that we’ve had.”

NETANYAHU: ‘ARGO ON STEROIDS’: Meanwhile in an interview on CNN on Sunday, former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has just released a memoir and is making a comeback bid in Israel’s elections, said Israel has proof positive that Iran never abided by the terms of the 2015 agreement despite statements from the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Netanyahu said a covert Israeli operation, which he compared to the 2012 movie Argo, produced a treasure trove of evidence that Iran was cheating.

“This was Argo on steroids,” Netanyahu told CNN’s Fareed Zakaria. “I mean, our men pilfered from locked safes half a ton of materials, disks, documents and were being chased by Iranian security. They got it out, they got themselves out, and when we looked at this material, we could see that Iran was lying, that it wasn’t keeping to the agreement. In fact, we then went to the IAEA with three sites, three nuclear sites that they hadn’t declared.”

“With a deal or without a deal, Iran would go forward to develop nuclear weapons,” he argued. “The only thing that stops a rogue regime from developing nuclear weapons, and I say this very specifically in my book, is the combination of crippling sanctions and a credible military option.”

CHENEY: ‘NOT GOING TO ALLOW … A CIRCUS’: Asked on NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday if the Jan. 6 committee might consider former President Donald Trump’s suggestion that he might be willing to testify if his appearance before the committee was broadcast live, Vice Chairwoman Liz Cheney (R-WY) seemed unenthusiastic about the idea.

“We are not going to allow the former president — he’s not going to turn this into a circus,” Cheney told host Chuck Todd, who said Trump could turn the hearing into a “spectacle.”

“This isn’t going to be like his first debate against Joe Biden and the circus and the food fight that that became. This is a far too serious set of issues,” Cheney said. “So the committee treats this matter with great seriousness. And we are going to proceed, in terms of the questioning of the former president under oath. It may take multiple days. And it will be done with a level of rigor and discipline and seriousness that it deserves.”

LIVE JAN. 6 TESTIMONY? LIZ CHENEY VOWS TRUMP WON’T GET A ‘CIRCUS’

The Rundown

Washington Examiner: US military forces ‘fully prepared’ to cross into Ukraine

Washington Examiner: Lloyd Austin has first conversation with Russian counterpart in months

Washington Examiner: McConnell calls for administration ‘to do more’ to help Ukraine

Washington Examiner: Republicans protest the Defense Department paying for abortion travel

Washington Examiner: Congress sounds off on retired military leaders’ lucrative foreign contracts

Washington Examiner: Classified secrets on Iran and China stashed at Mar-a-Lago: Report

Washington Examiner: Live Jan. 6 testimony? Liz Cheney vows Trump won’t get a ‘circus’

Washington Examiner: Troops from 25 states across the country sent to border at Biden’s request

Washington Examiner: North, South Korea exchange fire over shared sea border

Washington Examiner: Senate Republican warns British Conservatives not to bring back Boris Johnson

Washington Examiner: Opinion: Three justifications for Kevin McCarthy’s Ukraine aid stance

Straits Times: New Military Leadership Appointments Show China Is Bracing Itself For Conflict

New York Times: Attacks Flare Across Ukraine; U.S. And Russia Discuss Nuclear Threats

AP: Weapons Shortages Could Mean Hard Calls For Ukraine’s Allies

USNI News: U.S. And Japan Prepare For Joint Exercise; U.S. Wraps Up Drills With Allies In South China Sea

USNI News: Bombers Could Help Australia Deter China During Transition to Nuclear-Powered Submarines

Air & Space Forces Magazine: B-1s Land in Guam to Start Bomber Task Force in Indo-Pacific

Marine Corps Times: Prototype Air Defense Interceptor For Marine Corps Wraps Up Last Test

Military Times: Marine Boot Camp Study Calls For Mixed-Gender Drill Instructor Teams

Washington Times: ‘Disgusting’: Republicans Fume Over Pentagon Plan To Pay For Troops’ Abortion Travel

Air & Space Forces Magazine: Air Force Acquisition Report Shows Savings on Space Launch, Cost Increase for F-15 EPAWSS

Air & Space Forces Magazine: New Mitchell Institute Paper Argues Space Force Must Take Lead Role in JADC2

19fortyfive.com: Russia Says Ukraine Will Attack Using a Radioactive ‘Dirty Bomb’

19fortyfive.com: Putin Has a New Ukraine Problem: His Forces Can’t Retreat?

Calendar

MONDAY | OCTOBER 24

10 a.m. Wilson Center Asia Program virtual discussion: “Recalibrating U.S.-Japan Indo Pacific Strategies Toward ASEAN,” with Kei Koga, associate professor at Nanyang Technological University; Prashanth Parameswaran, director of Bower Group Asia; and Shihoko Goto, deputy director of the Wilson Center’s Asia Program https://www.wilsoncenter.org/event/recalibrating

12 p.m. 1957 E St. N.W. — George Washington University Elliott School of International Affairs discussion: “Putin and War: How He Sees the World and How this Led to Ukraine,” with Mark Galeotti, executive director of Mayak Intelligence and honorary professor at University College London http://elliott.gwu.edu

1 p.m. — Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft virtual discussion: “What Does the 20th Party Congress Tell Us About the Future of China?” with Michael Swaine, director of the Quincy Institute’s East Asia Program; Jake Werner, research fellow at the Quincy Institute; and Kelley Beaucar Vlahos, senior adviser at the Quincy Institute https://quincyinst.org/event/what-does-the-20th-party-congress-tell-us

TUESDAY | OCTOBER 25

8 a.m. 7920 Jones Branch Dr., McLean, Virginia — Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association Northern Virginia Chapter “Naval IT Day 2022” forum, with Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro and Brig. Gen. Kyle Ellison, commanding general of the Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory and vice chief of the Office of Naval Research https://afceanova.swoogo.com/NavalITDay2022

8:30 a.m. 1700 Army Navy Dr., Arlington, Virginia — Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies first annual Spacepower Security Forum with Gen. David Thompson, vice chief of space operations; Lt. Gen. Stephen Whiting, commander, Space Operations Command; Air Commodore John Haly, air and space attache, Australian Defense Staff; Air Commodore Jeremy Attridge, U.K. air and space attache to the U.S.; Derek Tournear, director, Space Development Agency; and retired Air Force Gen. Kevin Chilton, former commander, U.S. Strategic Command https://mitchellaerospacepower.org/event

8:30 a.m. — Center for Strategic and International Studies virtual discussion: “Unpacking the 20th Party Congress,” with David Finkelstein, vice president of the Center for Naval Analyses, and Lucy Hornby, visiting scholar at the Harvard University Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies https://www.csis.org/events/unpacking-20th-party-congress

9 a.m. — Atlantic Council virtual discussion: “European perspectives on Russian-Chinese strategic convergence,” with Jakub Janda, executive director of the European Values Center for Security Policy; Mikko Huotari, executive director of MERICS; and Valerie Niquet, senior research fellow at the Foundation for Strategic Research https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/event/european-perspectives

9 a.m — Washington Post Live virtual discussion: “The course of the Russia-Ukraine war,” with Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki https://www.washingtonpost.com/washington-post-live

10 a.m. — R Street Institute virtual discussion: “The Tricks and Treats of Cybersecurity,” with Patrick Hedger, executive director of the App Security Project; retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, former national security adviser to former Vice President Mike Pence; Shane Tews, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute; and Brandon Pugh, resident senior fellow for cybersecurity and emerging threats at R Street https://www.rSt..org/event/the-tricks-and-treats-of-cybersecurity

12 p.m. 1111 19th St. N.W. — National Committee on North Korea discussion: “Korean Peninsula Nuclear Update,” with Rachel Minyoung Lee, regional issues manager and senior analyst at the Open Nuclear Network; Jaewoo Shin, analyst at the Open Nuclear Network; Lauren Sukin, assistant professor of international relations at the London School of Economics and Political Science; and Tianran Xu, analyst at the Open Nuclear Network https://www.ncnk.org/event-calendar/korean-peninsula-nuclear-update

1:30 p.m. 5000 Seminary Rd., Alexandria, Virginia — Institute for Defense and Government Advancement Defense Logistics and Support Conference with the theme, “Beyond Disruption: The Future of Logistics,” with Deputy Assistant Air Force Secretary for Logistics and Product Support Angela Tymofichuk https://www.idga.org/events-defenselogistics

2 p.m. — Wilson Center Polar Institute virtual discussion: “Unpacking the 2022 U.S. National Strategy for the Arctic Region,” with Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans, Fisheries, and Polar Affairs Maxine Burkett; Gregory Pollock, principal director for Arctic and global resilience at the Defense Department; and David Balton, executive director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy Arctic Executive Steering Committee https://www.wilsoncenter.org/event

WEDNESDAY | OCTOBER 26

8:15 a.m. Brussels, Belgium — NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg press conference with Romanian Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca at NATO Headquarters https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/news

9 a.m. 1030 15th St. N.W. — Atlantic Council conference Oct. 25-26: “Turmoil and Transition: Iraq Twenty Years After the Invasion,” with panel discussions “Energy, Economy, and the Environment” and “Iraq’s Democratic Experience” https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/event/iraq-twenty-years-after

4:30 p.m. 1619 Massachusetts Ave. N.W. — Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies discussion: on “Crisis Stability in Space: China and Other Challenges,” with National Security Council Space Policy Director Audrey Schaffer; Brian Weeden, director of program planning at the Secure World Foundation; and Kari Bingen, director of the Center for Strategic and International Studies’s Aerospace Security Project https://www.eventbrite.com/e/crisis-stability-in-space-china

4:30 p.m. 1740 Massachusetts Ave. N.W. — Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies book discussion: “Overreach: How China Derailed its Peaceful Rise,” with author Susan Shirk, chairwoman of the 21st Century China Center at the University of California, San Diego https://sais.jhu.edu/campus-events

6:30 p.m. — Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute virtual discussion: “Great Power competition, the legacy of the late former Secretary of State George Shultz,” with former U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Burt, managing partner at McLarty Associates; former U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Eric Edelman; and former Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute https://www.reaganfoundation.org/reagan-institute/events

THURSDAY | OCTOBER 27

9 a.m. 400 New Jersey Ave. N.W. — Carnegie Endowment for International Peace 2022 Carnegie International Nuclear Policy Conference, with discussions on “Can the Russo-Ukrainian War End Without Nuclear Use?” and “Tick, Tick, Book? Presidential Decision-making in a Nuclear Attack,” with Gustavo Zlauvinen, president of the Tenth Review Conference for the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty https://carnegieendowment.org/2022/10/28/2022

10 a.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. N.W. — Center for Strategic and International Studies discussion on “U.S. cybersecurity,” with National Cyber Director Chris Inglis and Anne Neuberger, deputy assistant to the president and deputy national security adviser for cyber and emerging technology https://www.csis.org/events/conversation

5:30 p.m. — Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies virtual discussion: “Breaking the Nuclear Taboo after 77 Years: Are Putin’s Threats Credible, Crazy or Just Psywar?” with Josef Joffe, senior fellow at the SAIS Kissinger Center https://sais.jhu.edu/campus-events

6 p.m. 1625 I St. N.W. — Women’s Foreign Policy Group book discussion: on “Overreach: How China Derailed its Peaceful Rise,” with author Susan Shirk, chairwoman of the 21st Century China Center at the University of California, San Diego https://www.wfpg.org/

FRIDAY | OCTOBER 28

11 a.m. — Center for Strategic and International Studies virtual conversation: “DHS Cyber Priorities for the Coming Year,” with Rob Silvers, undersecretary for policy, Department of Homeland Security; and Suzanne Spaulding, senior adviser, homeland security, CSIS International Security Program https://www.csis.org/events/dhs-cyber-priorities-coming-year