News and information from Ukraine

Shipments from Ukraine. Day 957.

Regional. Kherson region. On October 7, Russian forces launched an airstrike on the city of Kherson, dropping four hover bombs on the area. The attack hit an already destroyed school and a residential area in the center of the city, injuring 23 people, including two children.

Donetsk region. Three Russian guided bombs hit Kostyantynivka on October 6, killing one person and injuring two others. Other recent Russian attacks four killed and one injured9 civilians in Kostiantynivka and elsewhere in the region.

Sumy region. Russian forces launched a drone strike on a residential area in Sumy, injuring four peopleincluding a child, on October 7. Later in the day, Russian artillery fire targeted the Konotop district, killing two people.

Kharkiv region. On the same day, Russian forces launched several attacks in the region, killing one person and injuring seven others. Two days earlier, the region marked the anniversary of a deadly Russian strike a year ago on the small village of Hroza, which killed 59 people, or 20% of the population.

Khmelnytskyi region. A Russian Kinzhal aeroballistic missile On October 7, the plane struck one of Ukraine’s main military airfields, in Starokostiantyniv, located in the west of the country. Although the Kremlin claims the Kinzhal is “impossible to shoot down,” Ukrainian air defenses first intercepted the missile in May 2023 and shot down two others while attacking the airfields. However, since August 2024, Russia has launched 119 Kinzhal missiles against Ukraine, most of which evaded interceptors and struck civilian targets. So far, only the American Patriot air defense system has been able to destroy them.

On October 7, Ukrainian forces struck a major maritime oil terminal in the town of Feodosia in Russian-occupied Crimea. The attack sparked a fire at the facility, which is the largest transshipment point for petroleum products in Crimea and was instrumental in supplying fuel to Russian forces.

National. Dutch Defense Minister Ruben Brekelmans announced delivery of the first F-16 combat aircraft from the Netherlands to Ukraine, with 24 planes arriving in the coming months. He also revealed an almost 450 million dollars joint drone development plan aimed at strengthening Ukraine’s reconnaissance and defense capabilities. Brekelmans stressed the urgency of testing and expanding production of drones, which play a central role in modern warfare.

For the first time during the war, a Russian Drone S-70 Okhotnik-B was shot dead on October 5. Eyewitness accounts of the incident, which occurred in the Donetsk region, however, suggest that the drone was hit by a missile launched from a Russian aircraft, which then retreated towards the occupied territories. Russian sources say the operators lost control of the drone and deliberately shot it down in an attempt to prevent Ukrainian forces from recovering it.

The Okhotnik is a cutting-edge combat drone designed for both reconnaissance and strike missions. It has a length of more than 60 feet with a payload capacity of up to seven tons and a top speed of approximately 550 miles per hour. Given the drone’s advanced technology and capabilities, it is likely that Ukrainian military experts, in partnership with their Western allies, will carefully disassemble the downed drone for analysis. The Ukrainian Air Force has not commented on the incident.

The Norwegian government is significantly increasing its support for Ukraine, proposing to increase the financing framework of the Nansen support program to $12.4 billion while extending the program for three additional years. Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store highlighted the urgent need for military and civilian assistance, with a total allocation of $2.5 billion for 2024. Since February 2022, Norway has contributed around $5 billion to Ukraine . The latest funding aims to boost Ukraine’s defense capabilities and maintain essential public services amid ongoing attacks, particularly as the country faces winter with limited energy supplies.

Russian forces would have executed four Ukrainian soldiers captured this summer at the Vovchansk aggregates factory. Supported by information from Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate, which recently captured the site, the incident prompted an investigation into a suspected war crime. Given that a potential suspect is currently detained in Ukraine, any resulting legal proceedings, at least in part, could take place in person rather than in absentia. Approximately 80% of execution-style killings documented of Ukrainian soldiers occurred this year. So far, the resulting investigations have identified 93 Ukrainian prisoners of war murdered in this way.

In September 2024, Russia suffered “record losses” in its war against Ukraine, with daily losses, killed and wounded, reaching an average of 1,271 soldiers, according to the British Ministry of Defense. This exceeds the previous record of 1,262 daily casualties recorded in May 2024. Ministry experts estimate that Russian casualties since the start of the invasion in February 2022 have exceeded 648,000 people and will likely continue at around 1,000 per day as Russia continues its attempts to expand Ukraine’s defenses by leveraging numerical superiority to achieve tactical breakthroughs.

A cyber attack by Ukrainian hackers against the Russian National Television and Radio Company, on October 7, interrupted all its digital media transmissions. Ukraine described the disruption as a “gift” from hackers to Russian President Vladimir Putin on his 72nd birthday.^sd birthday. The attack reportedly wiped servers and even destroyed backup data at the company, which provides 24-hour information to Russians.

By Danylo Nosov, Marko Syrovoi, Alan Sacks