Friday, October 20

Russia’s war against Ukraine

Deputies react to voting results in the Verkhovna Rada on Oct. 19, 2023. The Verkhovna Rada adopted the draft budget for 2024 and also supported the draft law on banning the activities of religious organizations connected to Russia, including the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate. (Andrii Nesterenko/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)

Parliament passes bill on banning Russia-affiliated religious organizations in first reading. The Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine’s parliament, passed in the first reading on Oct. 19 a bill that could ban the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP), lawmakers reported.

SBU: Russian Orthodox Church runs private military companies to train fighters for Ukraine deployment. The Church receives funding for these activities from financial and industrial groups close to the Russian state, the SBU said. These funds are reportedly donated as “charitable contributions” for “construction of churches.”

Military reports success southwest of Verbove in Zaporizhzhia Oblast. Ukrainian forces have achieved partial success southwest of the village of Verbove in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, General Oleksandr Tarnavskyi, the commander of the southern forces, reported on Oct. 19.

Zelensky speaks with Biden before US national address. President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke with United States President Joe Biden hours before Biden plans to deliver a national address about the wars in Ukraine and Israel.

Ukrainian writer Pavliuk to lead Defense Ministry’s press office. Ukrainian writer-turned-serviceman Illarion Pavliuk announced on Oct. 19 that he will now lead the Defense Ministry’s Press and Information Department. Former Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar previously held this position.

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Kuleba: ATACMS deliveries to increase, ‘optimistic’ that F-16s will arrive beginning of 2024. The U.S. will keep delivering Army Tactical Missiles Systems (ATACMS) to Ukraine on a consistent basis, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on the 1+1 TV channel on Oct. 19.

Military reports Russian strikes on east bank of Dnipro near Kherson, implying Ukrainian presence. Russia launched air strikes against the village of Pishchanivka on the east bank of the Dnipro River in Kherson Oblast, the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces wrote, implying the presence of Ukrainian forces in the settlement.

Russia says it intercepted UK military planes over Black Sea. Two Russian SU-27 fighter jets intercepted two Typhoon fighter jets and a RC-135 reconnaissance plane from the U.K.’s Royal Air Force (RAF), Russia’s Defense Ministry told the state-run media Tass on Oct. 19. At the time of publication, the RAF has not commented on the incident.

ICMP chief: 30,000 civilians missing in Ukraine. Around 30,000 civilians have gone missing in Ukraine since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, Kathryne Bomberge, the head of the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP), told Suspilne news outlet.

Russia withdraws from Convention for Protection of National Minorities. Russia claims it lost the opportunity to monitor and address cases of alleged rights violations of national minorities abroad, “primarily of the Russian-speaking population.” The Kremlin used false accusations of abuse and discrimination against Russian-speaking citizens of Ukraine to start armed aggression against its neighbor in 2014.

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Ukraine war latest: Military reports advance in southeast, indicates Ukrainian forces cross Dnipro

The commander of the Tavria Group fighting on the southern front lines, General Oleksandr Tarnavskyi, reported Ukrainian forces have achieved partial success southwest of Verbove in Zaporizhzhia Oblast.

Photo: Ozge Elif Kizil/Anadolu via Getty Images

The writing is on the wall: Ukrainian archivists collect Russian graffiti as evidence of war crimes

“It is not considered a war crime if you had fun,” reads graffiti left by Russian soldiers in the backroom of a bar in the village of Velyka Komyshuvakha, located in the Izium district of Kharkiv Oblast.

Photo: General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine

Opinions and insights

Mark Temnycky: It’s time to ban Russian athletes from the 2024 Olympic Games

“The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced on Oct. 12 that it would suspend the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) after it incorporated the regional sports organizations from four territories illegally annexed from Ukraine,” writes  Atlantic Counci Fellow Mark Temnycky.

Photo: Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Fedyk, Gorodnichenko, Sologoub: Russia’s defeat must be democracies’ goal

“The democratic world, one hears constantly from its leaders, will support Ukraine for ‘as long as it takes.’ But, what does this strong-sounding commitment really mean?” Anastassia Fedyk, Yuriy Gorodnichenko, and Ilona Sologoub write.

Photo: Contributor/Getty Images

Human cost of war

Ukrainian woman killed in Gaza, 18 citizens confirmed killed in Israel. A 24-year-old Ukrainian woman was killed in the Gaza Strip as the hostilities between Israel and Hamas continue.

Russian attacks kill 5, injure 11 in Ukraine. Russian multi-weapon attacks against Ukraine killed five civilians and wounded another 11 in the past day, regional authorities reported on Oct. 19.

General Staff: Russia has lost 290,680 troops in Ukraine since Feb 24, 2022. Ukraine’s General Staff reported on Oct. 19 that Russia had also lost 4,992 tanks, 9,437 armored fighting vehicles, 9,337 vehicles and fuel tanks, 6,983 artillery systems, 818 multiple launch rocket systems, 548 air defense systems, 320 airplanes, 324 helicopters, 5,318 drones, and 20 boats.

International response

Biden: ‘We’re not withdrawing’ support for Ukraine. In a national address from the White House on Oct. 19, United States President Joe Biden said he was going to send Congress an “urgent” funding request for aid to Ukraine and Israel on Oct. 20.

Kazakhstan bans export of 106 potential dual-use products to Russia. The Kazakhstani official said that these products include “drones, internal components, specialized electronics, chips,” and similar goods, that is, equipment that could be used for military purposes.

Finland rejects Russian nationals’ property acquisitions, citing security grounds.

Finland’s Defense Ministry blocked three planned property acquisitions by Russian nationals due to concerns that they would “hinder” national defense, the ministry said in a press release on Oct. 19.

Lithuanian PM: War in Israel will not affect support for Ukraine. Ukraine’s Western allies must continue to provide support, including weapons and financial assistance because it is vital that Russia is defeated, Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte said in an interview with Deutsche Welle on Oct. 19.

German ambassador: No supply of Taurus missiles to Ukraine for now. “At the moment, there will be no deliveries of Taurus missiles to Ukraine,” the ambassador said. “The government and the chancellor (Olaf Scholz) have made this very clear. We have informed the Ukrainian government about this decision in detail,” he said, adding that this is all he can say about it publicly.

Axios: Pentagon to send Israel shells initially earmarked for Ukraine. The Pentagon is set to deliver 155mm artillery shells to Israel that it had originally designated to be sent to Ukraine, unnamed Israeli officials told Axios on Oct. 19. In early 2023, the 155mm shells stored in the U.S.’s emergency stockpile located in Israel began to be transferred to Ukraine, Axios reported prior.

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In other news

Russia arrests another journalist with American citizenship. Russian authorities have arrested Alsu Kurmasheva, a dual-Russian/American citizen and journalist for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Tatar-Bashkir service, the news outlet reported on Oct. 19.

AP: Hamas likely used North Korean arms in attack on Israel. Hamas fighters attacked the Israeli settlements armed with North Korean F-7 rocket-propelled grenade launchers, the news agency said, citing South Korean officials, two experts on North Korean arms, and its own analysis of weapons captured by Israeli forces.

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Today’s Ukraine Daily was brought to you by Francis Farrell, Dinara Khalilova, Teah Pelechaty, Nate Ostiller, Oleksiy Sorokin, Martin Fornusek, Kate Tsurkan, and Abbey Fenbert.

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