Saturday, October 14

Russia’s war against Ukraine

Ukrainian servicemembers take part in a tactical training at an undisclosed location in Donetsk Oblast on Oct. 13, 2023. (Anatolii Stepanov / AFP via Getty Images)

Media: Marine drones strike Russian ships near Crimea. Experimental “Sea Baby” marine drones were used in recent attacks on Russia’s Black Sea Fleet patrol ship Pavel Derzhavin and cruise missile carrier Buyan, an unnamed source told the Ukrainian media outlet Hromadske on Oct. 13.

White House: North Korea delivers over 1,000 containers of military supplies to Russia. The U.S. believes that in return for ammunition shipments, Pyongyang seeks advanced Russian technologies for the North Korean military and nuclear program, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said.

Politico: Ukrainian pilots expected to start F-16 training in US next week. A small number of pilots who have passed their first English language tests after courses in Texas are heading to Morris Air National Guard Base in Arizona to learn to fly the aircraft, one of the officials said.

PACE declares Russia dictatorship, Putin’s rule illegitimate after 2024. The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) adopted a resolution on Oct. 13 declaring Russia a dictatorship and calling on the international community to recognize Vladimir Putin’s presidency as illegitimate after his current term ends in 2024.

Ukrainian resistance in occupied Melitopol blows up train carrying Russian ammunition, fuel. The National Resistance Center reported that at around 7:40 a.m., “partisans” blew up a train carrying fuel and ammunition from Crimea to the Ukrainian-occupied cities of Melitopol and Dniprorudne on a daily basis.

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Borrell calls on China to back Ukraine’s peace formula, sway Russia toward peace. “This war has to finish. And in order to finish the war, there have to be negotiations for peace,” the EU’s top diplomat said at a joint press conference with China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

UK Defense Ministry: Russia likely preserving long-range missile stock for winter strikes on Ukraine. Russia has not used its long-range aircraft for strikes on Ukraine since Sept. 21, likely because it aims to conserve its stocks of long-range missiles for strikes on Ukraine’s critical infrastructure in winter 2023, the U.K. Defense Ministry reported on Oct. 13.

Minister: UK explores using frozen Russian assets to fund Ukraine’s defense. U.K. Finance Minister Jeremy Hunt said that finance ministers of the Group of Seven (G7) members had also discussed “whether Russian sovereign assets could be used to fund Ukraine’s defense.”

ISW: Russian offensive in Avdiivka faces ‘setbacks’. Ukrainian forces in the area continued to repel Russian attacks and used minefields to hinder Russian advances toward the city, the ISW reported.

IAEA: Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant to move second reactor into hot shutdown.

IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said authorities at the plant informed the agency they were beginning to move reactor 5 from cold to hot shutdown in order to provide warm water and heating for Enerhodar ahead of the winter season.

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‘She needs armor.’ Female Ukrainian soldiers call for equality

Roughly 60,000 women currently serve in the Ukrainian military, while 5,000 of them have active combat roles, according to the Defense Ministry. But besides fighting Russia, they are also forced to battle for equality in the army.

Photo: Arm Women Now/Facebook


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Who’s who in Poland’s election, and where they stand on Ukraine, Russia, EU

Voters in Poland will cast ballots on Oct. 15 in a high-stakes parliamentary election, following months of acrimonious campaigning that saw Warsaw’s support for Ukraine emerge as one key point of contention.

Photo: Sean Gallup/Getty Images


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Opinions and Insights

Opinion: Ratcheting up the pressure on Russia’s oil revenues

“By declining to include funding for Ukraine as part of the recent deal to avert a government shutdown, the U.S. Congress sent a signal of encouragement to Russian President Vladimir Putin. That makes tightening the price cap on Russian oil exports all the more important,” write Simon Johnson and Catherine Wolfram.

Photo: Andrey Rudakov/Bloomberg/ Getty Images


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Human cost of war

Russian drone strike on Beryslav in Kherson Oblast kills 1, injures 2. A Russian drone dropped explosives on a car carrying a married couple in Beryslav in Kherson Oblast, killing a 34-year-old woman and severely injuring her 36-year-old husband, Governor Oleksandr Prokudin said. A 79-year-old woman who was in the vicinity was also injured.

23 injured in Russian strike on Pokrovsk. The police said earlier today that Russia had launched two Iskander missiles against the city at around 8:30 a.m. local time, killing one person and injuring many others.

This Week in Ukraine Ep. 29 — Is support for Ukraine declining worldwide?

International response

G7 countries to hold frozen Russian assets until Moscow pays reparations to Ukraine. The Group of Seven (G7) nations pledged on Oct. 12 that Russian assets held in their jurisdictions, so far estimated at around $280 billion, will remain frozen until Moscow pays war reparations to Ukraine.

UK to deploy 20,000 troops in Northern Europe to deter Russian hybrid threats. Meeting northern European leaders on the strategically vital island of Gotland, U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak pointed out accelerating “hybrid activities and strategic competition” in the region.

Ukrenergo: Germany to provide $80-million grant to protect critical infrastructure. The German development bank KfW will provide the Ukrainian state-run energy operator Ukrenergo with a 76-million euro ($80 million) grant to strengthen and protect Ukraine’s energy capabilities, Ukrenergo announced on Oct. 13.

PM Shmyhal: Switzerland contributes one-fifth of $530 million demining aid donation. The assistance package was presented at the International Donor Conference on Humanitarian Demining in Ukraine that took place in Zagreb on Oct. 11-12 with the participation of 35 countries and several international organizations.

Stoltenberg: Hamas attack on Israel will not undermine allied support for Ukraine. The ongoing war between Israel and Hamas will not undermine the allies’ resolve to continue supporting Ukraine against Russian aggression, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told Deutsche Welle on Oct. 13.

In other news

PACE recognizes Holodomor as genocide against Ukrainians. The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) adopted a resolution on Oct. 12 recognizing the Holodomor as a genocide of the Ukrainian people and calling on all member states to follow suit.

Politico: Blinken warns Azerbaijan may invade Armenia. In a conference call on Oct. 3, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned a select group of lawmakers that Azerbaijan may be planning to invade southern Armenia in the coming weeks.

Russian court arrests opposition leader Navalny’s lawyers. A Moscow court arrested three of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s lawyers on Oct. 13 following their detention earlier the same day, the court’s press service reported.

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

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Ukraine Daily Summary - Saturday, October 14

Marine drones strike Russian ships near Crimea -- Ukrainian resistance in occupied Melitopol blows up train carrying Russian ammunition, fuel -- Russian offensive in Avdiivka faces setbacks -- Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant to move second reactor into hot shutdown -- and more