Thursday, October 3

Russia’s war against Ukraine

The exterior of an administration building that was bombed earlier by Russian forces on Oct. 2, 2024 in Dobropillia near Pokrovsk in Donetsk Oblast. Russian forces are advancing toward Pokrovsk. (Pierre Crom/Getty Images)

Ukrainian forces withdraw from Vuhledar in Donetsk Oblast. “The higher command authorized a manoeuvre to withdraw units from Vuhledar in order to save personnel and military equipment and take up a position for further operations,” Ukraine’s Khortytsia group of forces said on Oct. 2.

Ukraine wants UN nuclear watchdog to place foreign observers near all its nuclear plants. Ukraine is in talks with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to place foreign observers near its nuclear power plants amid reports Russia is planning to attack the infrastructure connecting the plants to the country’s energy grid, an Energy Ministry official said.

Putin signs law allowing criminal defendants to join the military. Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law on Oct. 2 that exempts defendants from criminal liability if they join the Russian army, according to Russia’s legal information portal.

Russian proxies in occupied Kherson Oblast announce forced conscription of Ukrainians. From Oct. 1 to Dec. 31, men aged 18 to 30 living in occupied Kherson Oblast will be subject to conscription into the Russian military for a period of 12 months.

Ukraine’s military intelligence hacks Russian finance industry, source says. Russian banks Alfa-Bank and Otkritie Bank, as well as Rostelecom, Russia’s largest provider of digital services, were targeted, the source said, adding that these firms “ensured the aggression of the Russian armed forces against Ukraine.”

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1.5 million Ukrainian children at risk of being deported to Russia, ombudsman says. Russia has already abducted more than 20,000 children since the start of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said.

Ukraine aims to increase ballistic missiles, long-range arms production in 2025, Umerov says. “Our priority is to develop domestic drones and long-range weapons, including ballistic missiles,” Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said on Oct. 1 at Ukraine’s second international defense industry forum.

AeroVironment plans to start producing Switchblade kamikaze drones in Ukraine. The U.S.-based AeroVironment signed an agreement with a Ukrainian company to localize its production of Switchblade 600 loitering munitions, marking the latest of several recent agreements between Ukrainian and foreign companies to produce weaponry in Ukraine.

Ukrainian Armor to produce 155mm shells using Czechoslovak Group’s technology, components. Ukrainian Armor, a private defense enterprise, signed two deals on Oct. 2 with the Czech holding Czechoslovak Group (CSG) to cooperate on the production of 155mm shells, Ukrainian media outlet Militarnyi reported.

Ukraine’s defense procurement agencies should be kept separate, NATO reaffirms. The NATO statement came days after Umerov said the ministry was planning to merge the Defense Procurement Agency (DPA) and the State Rear Operator (DOT) into one agency.

Read our exclusives

Investigation: Shattering the secrecy of Putin’s top spy chief

Even for a Russian spy service official, Sergey Korolev stands out as exceptionally secretive. Korolev, the second-in-command at Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), has hidden the details of his life and identity so well that even the basics like his birth date and appearance are mixed up or appear to have been invented entirely.

Image: Karolina Gulshani / The Kyiv Independent

‘Human safari’ – Kherson civilians hunted down by Russian drones

In the ravaged city of Kherson, where Ukraine-controlled territory and Russian forces are separated by the Dnipro River instead of no man’s land between trenches in the eastern Donbas region, civilians are being targeted routinely with FPV and kamikaze drones. Terrified locals refer to the new strategy as “a human safari.”

Photo: Zarina Zabrisky/The Kyiv Independent

Human cost of war

Russian guided bomb hits apartment building in Kharkiv, wounding at least 10. Ten people were injured, including a 3-year-old girl, authorities said. Rescuers are searching for more victims who may be buried under the rubble.

Russian attacks against Ukraine kill 7, injure 50. Ukrainian forces downed 11 out of 32 Shahed-type drones launched by Russia overnight, the Air Force reported on Oct. 2. Ten more drones were “lost” due to electronic warfare and four others flew back towards Russia, it added.

589 civilians killed in Ukraine in summer 2024 by Russia’s war, UN reports. The number of victims in the summer increased by 45% compared to the spring monitoring by the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights.

General Staff: Russia has lost 655,560 troops in Ukraine since Feb. 24, 2022. This number includes 1,130 casualties Russian forces suffered just over the past day.

Opinions and insights

Opinion: We’re Republicans, and we’re voting for Kamala Harris to back Ukraine

“By ignoring Russia’s ongoing aggression in Ukraine and its implications for U.S. national interests and the security of European allies, Trump has aligned himself more closely with strongman Putin than with longstanding U.S. commitments to peace, democracy, and fundamental freedoms,” write U.S. Republican politicians James Greenwood and Gregory P. Wilson.

Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images

International response

NATO ‘inadequately’ prepared for large-scale war with Russia, Gen Ben Hodges says. NATO lacks adequate air defenses, military mobility, ammunition, and the mindset to be fully ready for a large-scale conventional war, retired U.S. Lieutenant General Ben Hodges said on Oct. 2.

USAID provides $237 million in humanitarian aid to Ukraine, launches Rehab4U initiative. The announcement came on Oct. 2 as USAID chief Samantha Power arrived in Kyiv, marking her third visit to Ukraine since 2020.

Number of Ukrainians willing to join Ukrainian Legion in Poland ‘too small,’ minister says. “Several thousand” people registered to participate in the legion as of July 11, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said previously.

Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili on Russia’s influence

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Today’s Ukraine Daily was brought to you by Kateryna Denisova, Chris York, Martin Fornusek, Elsa Court, Asami Terajima, Oleksiy Sorokin, Toma Istomina, Kateryna Hodunova, Abbey Fenbert, and Sonya Bandouil.

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