Ukraine and Russia: A quick update

Russian divers will examine on Sunday the damage caused by a powerful blast on Russia's road-and-rail bridge to Crimea that hit a prestigious symbol of Moscow's annexation of the peninsula and a key supply route to forces battling in southern Ukraine.

Ukrainian troops are involved in very tough fighting near the strategically important eastern town of Bakhmut, which Russia is trying to take, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said, as Kyiv's counteroffensive is expected to meet more determined resistance.

Russia's Defence Ministry named Air Force General Sergei Surovikin as the overall commander of Russian forces fighting in Ukraine, Moscow's third senior military appointment in a week.

Shelling cut power to Ukraine's Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, which needs cooling to avoid a meltdown, forcing it to switch to emergency generators, Ukraine's state nuclear company and the United Nations atomic watchdog said.

Ukraine's economy shrank an estimated 30% in the first three quarters of 2022 from the same period in 2021, with bad harvest weather compounding the impact of the war, the economy ministry said, although exports jumped 23% on month in September after an internationally brokered deal allowed Black Sea grain shipments.

The Sakhalin 1 oil and gas project in Russia is very important for Japan to ensure its diversified crude oil procurement, Trade Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said on Sunday after Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree establishing a new operator for the project in Russia's Far East.

NATO must do more to protect itself against Russia and Putin, said German Minister Christine Lambrecht, because we "cannot know how far Putin's delusions of grandeur can go".

To reverse the economic shock caused by the war, Ukraine's government is pinning its hopes on the entrepreneurial resolve of small businesses, along with the return of millions of refugees – and large-scale international financial aid.