Ukraine-Russia latest: Kyiv strikes fuel depot supplying Putin’s army as Zelensky appeals to Pope Francis
Putin casualties reach more than 600,000 in Ukraine since the war began in 2022, says US
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Ukrainian forces hit a fuel depot supplying Russia’s army in an overnight strike, with a fire detected at the facility which stores oil and oil products, Kyiv said.
Their air force also shot down 24 out of 28 Russian drones launched overnight.
Meanwhile, Volodymyr Zelensky has carried out a whirlwind tour of European capitals in a bid to continue mustering support for Ukraine and to discuss his proposed “victory plan”.
In a visit to the Vatican, he asked Pope Francis for help in securing the release of Ukrainians held captive by Russia and voiced hope that the war would end next year in a trip to Berlin.
September proved to be the bloodiest month of attrition since the Russian invasion began in 2022, with the latest Western intelligence suggesting Vladimir Putin suffered as many as 36,000 casualties.
Russia suffered more than 1,200 casualties a day on average, according to the US and British military analysts, the New York Times reported. Officials in the West have called September the costliest month for Moscow’s troops but did not give an exact number of Russian casualties.
Russia has not released an official number of casualties of its forces in Ukraine and treats the information as a state secret.
Mapped: Russia claims to have captured two Ukrainian villages as it advances in Donetsk
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Putin hails ‘very close’ relationship with Iran in first meeting with new president
Russian president Vladimir Putin has hailed the country’s “very close” relationship with Iran in the first meeting with his newly-appointed counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian.
The sanctioned leaders held an inaugural meeting on the sidelines of a regional summit in Ashgabat, the capital of the Central Asian country Turkmenistan, to discuss - among other topics - the ongoing situation in the Middle East.
“We are actively working together in the international arena and our assessments of events taking place in the world are often very close,” Putin said during the meeting, according to Russian state media outlet Tass.
Read the full article here:
Putin hails ‘very close’ relationship with Iran in first meeting with new president
Moscow say the two leaders were scheduled to have ‘serious conversations’ about the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, one that Iran is helping fund from Tehran
African woman promised a life in Europe and duped into building Russia’s drone army
Social media ads promise young African women a free plane ticket, money and a faraway adventure in Europe. Just complete a computer game and a 100-word Russian vocabulary test.
But instead of a work-study program in fields like hospitality and catering, some of them learned only after arriving on the steppes of Russia’s Tatarstan region that they would be toiling in a factory to make weapons of war, assembling thousands of Iranian-designed attack drones to be launched into Ukraine.
In interviews with The Associated Press, some of the women complained of long hours under constant surveillance, of broken promises about wages and areas of study, and of working with caustic chemicals that left their skin pockmarked and itching.
Read the full article here:
African woman promised a life in Europe and duped into building Russia’s drone army
Tourism, paintball games and a pitch on TikTok - How Russia recruits women from Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya and Nigeria
Poland plans to suspend right to asylum as country faces pressure from Russia and Belarus
Poland’s leader said Saturday that he plans to temporarily suspend the right to asylum as part of a new migration policy, pointing to its alleged abuse by eastern neighbor Belarus and Russia.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that “the state must regain 100% of the control over who enters and leaves Poland,” and that a territorial suspension of the right to asylum will be part of a strategy that will be presented to a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Polish news agency PAP reported.
He didn’t give details, but said at a convention of his Civic Coalition that “we will reduce illegal migration in Poland to a minimum.”
Poland has struggled with migration pressures on its border with Belarus since 2021. Successive Polish governments have accused Belarus and Russia of luring migrants from the Middle East and Africa there to destabilize the West.
Ukraine will fight street to street to keep Russia out of key city
Ukraine will fight street to street to keep Russia out of key eastern city
The Russians taking Pokrovsk would split Ukraine’s defensive line in the region and harm supplies in the eastern part of Donetsk. Now facing constant bombardment, soldiers and residents in Pokrovsk speak to Askold Krushelnycky about the drawn-out siege they are bracing themselves for
One person killed by Ukrainian drone in Russian village
One person was killed when a Ukrainian drone struck the Russian village of Ustinka in the Belgorod region close to the border with Ukraine, regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said in a statement on Saturday.
What is the mysterious advanced Russian weapon downed by Moscow’s own forces?
Last week Russia’s air force was forced to shoot down one of its newest and most advanced models of attack drone, in an incident that is being seen as one of the biggest embarrassments ever suffered by the Russian Air Force.
On 5 October, videos showed a drone flying near Kostyantynivka in eastern Ukraine before it was shot down by another jet briefly flying alongside it. Initial reports suggested it was either a Russian jet taken down by the Ukrainian air force or a Russian jet losing control and being shot down by Moscow.
However, the drone that fell down was no ordinary weapon. It was later identified as a stealth S-70 Okhotnik-B, also known as “Hunter”, one of Russia’s most advanced stealth drones, designed to accompany an Su-57 fighter jet.
Read the full article here:
What is the mysterious Russian weapon downed by Moscow’s own forces in Ukraine?
Wreckage of one of Russia’s newest pieces of military hardware is now in hands of Ukrainian forces
Ukrainian emergency workers search rubble after Russian airstrike on Zaporizhzhia
Russia deliberately hitting port infrastructure to disrupt food exports
Ukraine has said Russia is deliberately hitting port infrastructure and commercial vessels in an effort to disrupt Ukrainian food exports, key to millions of people in northern Africa and the Middle East.
The attacks have intensified dramatically over the past week and the former tourist town of Vylkove is often in the path of drones.
Pickup trucks with machine guns, assault rifles, searchlights and thermal imaging cameras help fight off attacks, said a former computer teacher, now a soldier with the call sign IT. “In general, we also have training every day. This also includes training and physical exercises, as well as preparing weapons, preparing vehicles, checking all systems to ensure that everything works as it should, in good condition,” he said.
Anger towards Russia, which invaded Ukraine in February 2022, guides the soldiers’ actions, he said.
“Otherwise, there are no emotions at all. So we just have to do our job and that’s it. Emotions come later,” IT said.
Can Zelensky’s plan for peace actually work?
Remember when an appearance, virtual or real, by the president of Ukraine was the hottest of hot-ticket events in London?
When MPs and peers jostled for a standing-room-only place in parliament to see and hear him? When the one-time TV actor turned democratically elected president turned war leader drew rapt attention with his gritty determination and allusions to Churchill?
Well, those heady days of Britain reliving its finest hour by association are over.
Read the full analysis here:
Can Zelensky’s plan for peace actually work?
With the US election less than a month away, and his support dwindling across Europe, the Ukraine president is in a last-ditch race against time to shore up support, writes Mary Dejevsky
Mapped: Russia claims to have captured two Ukrainian villages as it advances in Donetsk
Russia has claimed further advances in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk as fears spread Moscow could capture a key city in the area.
The Russian defence ministry has claimed Moscow’s forces have captured the settlements of Zolota Nyva and Zhelanna Pershe.
The communities have an estimated population of a few hundred residents each but they lie to the north and south of the town of Kurakhove, one of the focal points of military activity on the eastern front.
Read the full article here:
Mapped: Where has Russia made advances in Donetsk?
Russia’s ministry of defence claims it’s forces have captured two small settlements around the city of Kurakhove in eastern Ukraine
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