Saturday, October 12

Russia’s war against Ukraine

An Odesa resident eyes her smartphone in a park overlooking the port of Odesa on Oct. 11, 2024. Odesa observes a day of mourning after a missile attack on the city’s port on Oct. 10, 2024. Russian missiles struck a civilian container ship docked at the port, resulting in the deaths of several people. (Pierre Crom/Getty Images)

Russia launched new push in Kursk Oblast, Kyiv claims attack ‘thwarted’. A Ukrainian official commented that the “Russian plan in Kursk Oblast has been thwarted so far” as Russian forces suffered losses.

Russia has redeployed 50,000 troops to Kursk Oblast, Syrskyi claims. “We know about roughly 50,000 soldiers from other sectors who were transferred to the Kursk direction,” Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said in a documentary aired on national television.

Ukraine destroys Russian Mi-8 helicopter in Kharkiv Oblast, military says. The General Staff did not provide any more details about how the helicopter was destroyed.

Ukraine holds 40-50% of Toretsk, official says. Administration head Vasyl Chynchyk said that roughly 1,150 people remain in the ruined town.

Russian troops renew assaults in Kherson, Zaporizhzhia oblasts, military says. Since the start of the week, Ukraine’s forces have repelled 29 Russian attacks in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts, Operational Command South said on Oct. 11.

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Journalist Roshchyna, who died in Russian captivity, held in ‘one of the most brutal detention centers,’ NGO says. Viktoriia Roshchyna, a Ukrainian journalist who died in Russian captivity, was held in Russian detention centers where torture is used against the prisoners, the Media Initiative for Human Rights said on Oct. 11.

Germany delivers IRIS-T air defense system, Zelensky says next year’s support is key. President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked Germany for its support but highlighted the importance of German assistance next year and the need for it to remain unchanged.

Ukraine sets up supervisory boards for lethal and non-lethal procurement agencies, Defense Minister says. Defense Minister Rustem Umerov planned to merge the Defense Procurement Agency (DPA) and the State Rear Operator (DOT) into one agency but changed his mind after a NATO statement said that the two agencies should be kept separate and two separate supervisory boards should be established.

Conscription officers detain men outside Okean Elzy concert in Kyiv. Video footage taken at the scene shows officers stationed outside the doors to the venue, intercepting male attendees as they exited the concert. Officers are shown forcibly arresting some men.

Zelensky gives Pope painting about Bucha massacre during Vatican meeting. During a meeting that lasted 35 minutes, the pope reportedly presented Ukraine’s head of state with a bronze bas-relief with a flower and an inscription, “Peace is a fragile flower.”

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Ukraine braces for winter freeze amid potential Russian strikes targeting nuclear power

Ukraine is set to face its toughest winter since the start of the full-scale invasion as Russia eyes cutting off its nuclear power after bombing out capacity from half of its electricity generation sector in large-scale air strikes.

Photo: Roman Pilipey / AFP via Getty Images

Woodward revelations deepen debate on whether Trump will sell out Ukraine to Kremlin

As the Nov. 5 presidential election in the U.S. approaches, debate is intensifying over whether one of the two potential winners, Donald Trump, will act in the interests of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images

What we know about Ukrainian journalist Viktoriia Roshchyna

Ukrainian journalist Viktoriia Roshchyna, 27, was about to be released from Russian captivity and returned home, when the news of her death broke out on Oct. 10, shocking Ukraine and the world.  

Photo: Nataliia Humeniuk / X

Why the Baltic States fear Russia’s Kaliningrad exclave

Lithuania announced this week it had blocked and fortified a bridge over the Nieman River linking it to the exclave Kaliningrad, the latest in a series of escalations in the Baltic Sea region.

Photo: Laurynas Kasciuna

Human cost of war

Russian missile attack on Odesa Oblast kills 4, injures 10. Russia launched a ballistic missile attack against the Odesa district, killing at least four people, including a 16-year-old girl, Governor Oleh Kiper reported early on Oct. 11.

Russian attacks against Ukraine kill 6, injure 27. Russian attacks across Ukraine killed at least six people and injured at least 27 over the previous day, regional authorities reported early on Oct. 11.

General Staff: Russia has lost 666,340 troops since Feb. 24, 2022. This number includes 1,140 casualties Russian forces suffered over the past day.

Ukrainian prisoners prepare to fight Russians for a chance at freedom

International response

World Bank approves fund to facilitate G7’s $50 billion loan for Ukraine, Reuters reports. The funding will come from the U.S., Japan, and Canada, sources told Reuters, adding that it will be backed by interest generated from frozen Russian assets.

Scholz unveils $1.5 billion allied aid package during meeting with Zelensky. During a joint press conference, Scholz revealed that Germany has already delivered a package of aid for Ukraine worth 600 million euros ($660 million).

Rome to host next Ukraine Recovery Conference on July 10-11, 2025. “Looking at a future of peace and prosperity also means looking at reconstruction, and I am happy to announce that the ‘Ukraine Recovery Conference’ will be held in Rome on 10 and 11 July 2025,” Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said.

EU demands investigation of Roshchyna’s death, condemns ‘abuses against journalists.’ The European Union was “appalled” by Victoria Roshchyna’s death and demanded a “thorough and independent” investigation into the circumstances of her death, its External Service’s spokesperson said in a statement on Oct. 11.

NATO to rethink alliance’s relationship with Russia for first time in decades. “It’s time to now craft a new strategy in terms of (the allies’) specific positions,” a senior U.S. official said. Defense ministers from NATO member nations will convene in Brussels Oct. 17-18 to discuss the matter.

House Speaker has no ‘appetite’ for more US support for Ukraine. “I don’t have an appetite for further Ukraine funding, and I hope it’s not necessary,” U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson said on Oct. 11.

US actor, Russian propagandist Steven Seagal says he would ‘die for Putin’ in new documentary. In Steven Seagal’s new documentary, entitled “In the Name of Justice” and shared on the Russian state-run media platform Smotrim, he is shown visiting various occupied territories of Ukraine, including Mariupol.

In other news

Silence from Zelensky’s Office as CPJ urges halt to Kyiv’s ‘systematic pressure’ against Ukrainska Pravda. The alleged attempts to pressure the media outlet are “are nothing short of anti-democratic given the essential role of the newsroom in upholding a core national value of freedom of the press,” said Gulnoza Said, the Committee to Protect Journalist’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator.

Putin meets with Iranian President Pezeshkian for first time. “We are actively working together in the international arena and our assessments of events taking place in the world are often very close,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said of the meeting.

Multi-vehicle crash involving passenger bus in Lviv Oblast kills at least 3. The passenger bus, which bore the logo of the popular transport company FlixBus, was running from Warsaw to Odesa, said Lviv Oblast Governor Maksym Kozytskyi.

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