Ukraine Daily

Friday, October 28

Russia’s war against Ukraine

People continue to live under harsh conditions in Bakhmut city, where the most violent conflicts take place in Ukraine. Massive explosions can be heard in the city center of Bakhmut, where warplanes fly low and armies of Ukraine and Russia use artillery systems, tanks and other weapons. (Photo by Metin Aktas/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Putin: Nuclear strike on Ukraine would ‘make no political, military sense’. In his annual speech on foreign policy at a meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club, a geopolitical think-tank, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin said Russia “had never talked about using nuclear weapons.“ He accused the West, including former U.K. Prime Minister Liz Truss, of “engaging in nuclear blackmail” against Moscow. Previously Putin had repeatedly threatened to use nuclear weapons when talking about the war with Ukraine.

ISW: Putin continues to reject idea of Ukrainian sovereignty. The Institute of the Study of War said in its latest assessment that Russian dictator Vladimir Putin continues to reject the idea of Ukrainian sovereignty in a way that is fundamentally incompatible with serious negotiations. During a speech at the Valdai Discussion Club on Oct. 27, Putin said that the “single real guarantee of Ukrainian sovereignty” can only be Russia, which “created” Ukraine.

Zelensky: Russia has launched over 4,500 missile strikes on Ukraine since February. President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his evening address on Oct. 27 that Russian forces launched over 30 drones in the last two days and the Ukrainian military downed 23 of them. Ukrainian forces also downed Russia’s Kh-59 guided air missile, two Ka-52 attack helicopters and a Su-25 attack aircraft over the same reporting period.

Zelensky signs law to increase defense, security spending by Hr 387 billion ($10.5 billion) in 2022. Most of the additional funds, Hr 365 billion, will be allocated to the Defense Ministry. The implementation of the law “will make it possible to carry out urgent tasks in the field of national security and defense, and measures to repel the Russian aggression against Ukraine,” the statement reads. The initial budget for 2022 set defense and security spending at Hr 322.7 billion ($8.8 billion).

Ukraine imports energy from EU for the first time. The Energy Company of Ukraine, one of the biggest energy suppliers in the country, imported electricity with a capacity of 1 megawatt from Slovakia in test mode. “The technical possibility of importing electricity from Europe to Ukraine is another tool for stabilizing our energy system,” the company said. Since Oct. 10, Russia has launched over 300 strikes on Ukraine’s power stations, damaging around a third of the country’s power production capacity.

Ukraine accuses Russia of illegal construction at Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, asks IAEA to inspect it. Ukraine’s nuclear safety regulator said on Oct. 26 that Russia is conducting “some kind of illegal construction” at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.

Defense Ministry: Ukraine conducts 28 prisoner swaps with Russia since February. Nine hundred seventy-eight Ukrainians have been released from Russian captivity since Feb. 24, including 99 civilians, according to Deputy Minister of Defense Hanna Maliar. Ukraine has also returned the bodies of 579 soldiers, according to Security Service’s spokesman Artem Dekhtiarenko.

Governor: Ukrainian military slowly advancing in Luhansk Oblast. Luhansk Oblast Governor Serhii Haidai reported on Oct. 27. that the Ukrainian army continues to advance in the direction of Svatove-Kreminna, and also repelled all attacks by the Russian forces in Bilohorodka. Haidai added that the weather conditions slow down the Ukrainian offensive.

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Ukrainians in Russia fear mobilization: ‘If conscripted, I will shoot Russians and surrender.’ When Russia’s President Vladimir Putin announced partial mobilization, Ivan was desperate. Ivan, who fled Russian-occupied Donetsk in 2021 and is now a Russian citizen living in Novosibirsk in Siberia, realized he could be sent to fight against his native Ukraine.

Photo: Getty Images

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Ukraine war latest: Putin backs down on nuclear threats, repeats unproven claim about ‘Ukraine’s dirty bomb.’ Russian dictator Vladimir Putin backed down on nuclear threats on Oct. 27, after repeatedly warning to use nuclear weapons when talking about the war with Ukraine at a meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club, a Moscow-based geopolitical think-tank.

Photo: Getty Images

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The human cost of Russia’s war

General Staff: Russia has lost 69,220 troops in Ukraine since Feb. 24. Ukraine’s General Staff reported on Oct. 27 that Russia had also lost 2,631 tanks, 5,364 armored fighting vehicles, 4,078 vehicles and fuel tanks, 1,690 artillery systems, 379 multiple launch rocket systems, 192 air defense systems, 271 airplanes, 249 helicopters, 1,398 drones, and 16 boats.

Putin claims Russia’s war casualties are 10 times less than Ukraine’s. According to Ukraine’s General Staff, Russia has lost 69,220 troops in Ukraine since the start of the invasion, which is Russia’s highest death toll since World War II. Ukraine doesn’t reveal its combat losses.

Governor: Russian forces kill 3 civilians, injure 2 in Donetsk Oblast on Oct 26. Donetsk Oblast Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko reported that three people were killed in Bakhmut. According to Kyrylenko, at least 1103 civilians have been killed and 2474 wounded in Donetsk Oblast since Feb. 24. These numbers don’t include casualties in occupied Mariupol and Volnovakha.

International response

US launches program to prevent weapons from being acquired by Russia. The U.S. State Department announced on Oct. 27 that it had developed a program to prevent weapons supplied to Ukraine from being acquired by the Russian military or ending up in the black market. The program includes providing additional support to Ukraine’s efforts to account for weapons, including training for border guards and stricter monitoring of arms and ammunition.

UK, German leaders reaffirm support for Ukraine. Newly appointed U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz discussed Russia’s attacks on Ukraine on Oct. 27. They agreed to continue supporting Ukraine and maintaining pressure on Putin through “robust sanctions,” the British government’s press service reported.

Estonia’s minister: NATO should spend more on defense to protect ‘rules-based order.’ It is “vital” that all NATO members spend at least 3% of their gross domestic product on defense, Estonia’s Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu told BBC. He described Russia’s all-out invasion of Ukraine as a “game-changer.” “To defend our values – the rules-based order – we need also to invest in the weapons,” said Reinsalu.

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Today’s Ukraine Daily was brought to you by Denys Krasnikov, Dinara Khalilova, Oleg Sukhov, Thaisa Semenova, and Olena Goncharova.

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