War in Ukraine: Zelensky asks G7 for 'air shield'; Russia lists Meta as terrorist organisation and more

The Ukraine-Russia war is experiencing several twists and turns. The brutality of the war increased as Russia launched indiscriminate air strikes on Ukrainian cities, targetting civilians and civilian structures, starting this week.

Russian had hit Ukraine with more missiles and drones on Tuesday as widespread strikes killed at least 19 people. UN human rights office described as “particularly shocking” and amounting to potential war crimes, reported AP.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told the G-7 leaders during a virtual meeting that during the past two days Russia fired more than 100 missiles at Ukraine. Zelensky on Tuesday asked the Group of 7 nations to help his country establish an “air shield” against aerial attacks, reported CNN.

The world is on alert. Russian President Vladimir Putin is clamping down on Western organisations at home. 

Here are the latest updates: 

Meta Inc classified as a terrorist organisation in Russia

• Russia's financial monitoring agency, Rosfinmonitoring, added US-based tech giant Meta Inc. to the list of "terrorists and extremists" following increased Western action and statements against Moscow. Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, was accused of extremist activities in Russia in March 2022. 
• Facebook and Instagram have been restricted in Russia but Russians are still using the platforms using VPNs. However, WhatsApp has not been restricted yet and there is no clarity on whether the instant messaging app is also labelled 'terrorist'. 
• The terrorist designation may now make using Facebook or Instagram via VPN an illegal act. 

Elon Musk spoke to Putin before the Ukraine Twitter poll

• AVICE report has claimed that Elon Musk spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin before making the Ukraine peace deal tweets. 
• Putin reportedly told Musk that he was ready to negotiate only if Crimea remained Russian and Ukraine recognised the annexations of Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia.
• Musk had proposed a Ukraine-Russia peace deal where Ukraine accepts neutrality in Crimea and the annexation of the four Ukrainian regions by Russia is put to a vote by residents of those regions under the UN or a neutral country's supervision.

• Elon Musk responded to the report calling it untrue and saying he last spoke to Putin 18 months ago on the subject of Space. 
• Ian Bremmer, who first broke the news in a newsletter to Eurasia Group, countered Musk's claim saying that the Tesla chief told him he spoke to Putin directly about Ukraine and what Kremlin's red lines were. 

Other updates: 

• UK spy agency has said that it has not seen any signs of Russia preparing for nuclear war in Ukraine. 
• Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky called on G7 countries to help Kyiv with an "air shield". He said Russia fired another 28 missiles on Tuesday, October 11, most of which were Iranian drones. US and Germany are already committed to sending advanced air defence systems to Ukraine. 

• Outlining a peace plan, Zelensky told G7 leaders that there cannot be any more negotiations with Putin as he's at the end of his reign and can only resort to terror. 
• Japanese automaker Nissan is selling all its assets including a factory in Russia to a state-owned entity for just $1 (approx Rs 83), and taking a one-off impact of nearly $700 million. 
• India's Foreign Minister S Jaishankar said that targetting civilian structures and causing civilian deaths is not acceptable in any part of the world after Russian air strikes on civilian facilities in Ukraine. 
• Ukraine found a mass grave in some recently occupied cities with 78 civilians who died a violent death. The youngest appeared to be a year old.