Ukraine Daily

Sunday, October 16

Russia’s war against Ukraine

KYIV, UKRAINE - A view of Scientific Library Maksymovych inside Taras Schevchenko University, was the most affected as it is in the corner of the building next to the explosion, aftermath of Russian missile attacks on last Monday morning during Defenders Day in Kyiv on Oct. 14, 2022. (Photo by Andre Luis Alves/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Russian propagandists: Warlord Girkin sent to front lines in Ukraine. Russian warlord Igor Girkin, also known as Strelkov, was sent to the front lines as a deputy battalion commander or the chief of staff of a unit, Russian propagandist and war journalist Maksim Fomin and other propagandists reported. Girkin, who is usually active on social media daily, has been silent since Oct. 10. Girkin’s wife Miroslava Reginskaya posted a photo of him in a military uniform on Oct. 15 and added that he was alright and would soon be in touch again. Girkin effectively launched the war in the Donbas by seizing Sloviansk in April 2014. Since then, he has become critical of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, lashing out at him for mishandling the war effort. Girkin reportedly tried to go to the front in Ukraine in August 2022 but was blocked by the Russian authorities.

Additional Russian forces arrive in Belarus. The Belarusian Defense Ministry on Oct. 15 announced the arrival of the first group of Russian servicemen after the country announced the creation of a joint regional military command. Belarusian authorities say the arriving Russian troops are to be part of the new military structure.

Ukrenergo: Russian missile strike hit energy infrastructure in Kyiv Oblast. State-owned grid operator Ukrenergo reported on Oct. 15 that the morning missile strike on the outskirts of Kyiv had caused “heavy destruction” on the energy infrastructure.

Occupation government: Ukrainian troops launch offensive in Kherson Oblast. Kirill Stremousov, a deputy head of the Russian illegal occupation government in Kherson Oblast, said that the Ukrainian military is trying to launch an offensive near the village of Dudchany. The offensive was also reported by several pro-Kremlin war journalists, including Yevgeny Poddubny and Alexander Kots. Ukraine has not yet confirmed the reports. The Ukrainian military reported on Oct. 12 that it had destroyed an ammunition depot near Dudchany, as well as a control post and a communication hub in Kherson Oblast’s Sukhanovo district.

Governor: Fire breaks out at oil depot due to shelling in Belgorod, Russia. Vyacheslav Gladkov, governor of Russia’s Belgorod Oblast, said that emergency workers had extinguished the fire. On Oct. 13, Gladkov said an ammunition warehouse was blown up in Belgorod, blaming Ukraine’s Armed Forces for the explosion.

Russia kidnaps thousands of Ukrainian children from occupied Kherson Oblast. Moscow is relocating 500 Ukrainian children living in the occupied territory of Kherson Oblast to Russia every day, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin said on Oct. 15.

ISW: Russia continues to conduct massive, forced deportations of Ukrainians. The Institute for the Study of War reports that Russia’s deportations of Ukrainians likely amount to a deliberate ethnic cleansing campaign in addition to apparent violations of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. The ISW experts cite Russian Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin who said on Oct. 14 that “several thousand” children from Kherson Oblast are “already in other regions of Russia, resting in rest homes and children’s camps.

UK intelligence: Mobilized Russian soldiers lack gear. The U.K. Defense Ministry said in its intelligence briefing on Oct. 15 that mobilized Russian reservists deployed to Ukraine over the past two weeks were poorly equipped and likely forced to buy their own body armor. “Endemic corruption and poor logistics remain one of the underlying causes of Russia’s poor performance in Ukraine,” according to the ministry.

New York Times: Russian military has lost 6,000 pieces of equipment since Feb. 24. According to the New York Times, the Russian military has lost 6,000 pieces of equipment since launching a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February. The newspaper reported that Washington had detected Russia’s lack of critical supplies for diesel engines, helicopter and aircraft engine parts, and its armored tanks as early as May.

Russia shells Nikopol overnight, wounding civilian. More than 40 Russian shells were fired into Nikopol overnight, injuring a 47-year-old man, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Governor Valentyn Reznichenko said on Telegram. Russian forces used Grad multiple rocket launcher and other heavy artillery to fire at the Nikopolska and Marhanetska communities in the oblast.

The human cost of Russia’s war

General Staff: Russia has lost 64,700 troops in Ukraine since Feb. 24. Ukraine’s General Staff reported on Oct. 15 that Russia had also lost 2,524 tanks, 5,179 armored fighting vehicles, 3,951 vehicles and fuel tanks, 1,582 artillery systems, 365 multiple launch rocket systems, 186 air defense systems, 268 airplanes, 242 helicopters, 1,210 drones, and 16 boats.

Russian media: 11 Russian soldiers killed, 15 injured at training ground in Belgorod. Russian state-controlled RIA Novosti reported, citing the country’s Defense Ministry, that some “terrorists” opened fire at Russian “volunteers” preparing to fight against Ukraine at a training ground in Belgorod, Russia. RIA Novosti wrote that it was “a terrorist act” committed by two citizens of one of the post-Soviet states.

Two more bodies with traces of torture found in Kharkiv Oblast. The Prosecutor General’s Office said on Oct. 15 that two more bodies of men with “traces of violent death” were discovered in the liberated village of Kozacha Lopan in Kharkiv Oblast.

Governor: Another six civilian bodies found in liberated Lyman. Donetsk Oblast Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko reported on Oct. 15 that another six bodies of civilians were found in the liberated eastern city of Lyman. Kyrylenko said that they died during the Russian occupation, but the causes of death remain unclear.

International response

Washington Post: US ‘grows frustrated’ over EU delayed financial assistance to Ukraine. According to The Washington Post, “tensions are rising” between the U.S. and the European Union over Ukraine’s deteriorating economy. U.S. officials “increasingly prod” the EU to boost its financial assistance to Ukraine. U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has already called on her international counterparts to “accelerate both the speed and amount of money going to Ukraine,” the media reported.

Germany hands over 16 Biber bridge-layer tanks to Ukraine. The German Defense Ministry pledged the delivery in late July, saying that the tanks “will enable Ukrainian troops to cross waters or obstacles in combat.” According to the country’s government, Germany also supplied Ukraine with ten pontoon bridge machines. On Oct. 12, the German government announced it would hand over to Ukraine more Panzerhaubitze 2000 self-propelled howitzers and MARS II multiple rocket launchers “in the next few weeks.”

Media: France to train up to 2,000 Ukrainian soldiers. French President Emmanuel Macron has backed a proposal to train Ukrainian soldiers in the country, French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu told Le Parisien newspaper on Oct. 15, adding that the training plan will allow “up to 2,000 Ukrainian soldiers to be welcomed in France.” Ukrainian soldiers will be assigned to French units for several weeks, Le Parisien wrote.

Romania to allocate $400,000 for Ukraine as part of NATO assistance package. Romania “allotted up to $1.4 million as a voluntary contribution to NATO Trust Funds for enhancing resilience and defense capacities” of Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, and Jordan, Romanian Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu said on Oct. 15. Ukraine, in particular, will receive $400,000 from Romania.

Elon Musk says his company to continue funding Starlink service in Ukraine. The world’s richest man announced on Twitter on Oct. 15 that his company would continue to fund the operation of the Starlink internet service in Ukraine. “The hell with it,” he wrote. “Even though Starlink is still losing money & other companies are getting billions of taxpayer $, we’ll just keep funding Ukraine govt for free.” The announcement came a day after Musk said that his company SpaceX can’t pay for Starlink “indefinitely” while also sending “several thousand more terminals that have data usage up to 100X greater than typical households.”

In other news

Infrastructure Ministry: 7 more cargo ships leave Odesa Oblast. Seven vessels carrying 101,000 metric tons of agricultural products left Odesa Oblast for countries in Asia and Europe, the Infrastructure Ministry reported on Oct. 15. The ministry reported that 341 ships carrying 7.5 million metric tons of Ukrainian grain have left Ukrainian ports since Kyiv and Moscow signed the UN-backed grain deal on July 22.

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Today’s Ukraine Daily was brought to you by Oleksiy Sorokin, Asami Terajima, Oleg Sukhov, Thaisa Semenova, Denys Krasnikov, Teah Pelechaty, Daria Shulzhenko, and Olena Goncharova.

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