Ukraine Daily
Thursday, October 27
Russia’s war against Ukraine
Construction workers rebuild a roof on an apartment building destroyed from shelling by the Russians during the Bucha occupation on October 26, 2022 in Bucha. Reconstruction funds are coming from the Ukrainian government via the local municipalities. (Photo by Paula Bronstein / Getty Images)
Russia’s recent attacks cause energy giant DTEK $40 million worth of damage. Ukraine’s largest private energy company DTEK has lost roughly $40 million since Oct. 10, when Russia started to massively hit the country’s energy infrastructure sites, Maxim Timchenko, head of DTEK, told Interfax Ukraine. Timchenko called the situation “catastrophic both from the point of view of the destruction and from the point of view of the efforts required for recovery.”
CNN: CIA director makes unannounced visit to Ukraine. C.I.A. Director William J. Burns met with President Volodymyr Zelensky and other officials earlier this month, CNN reported on Oct. 26, citing two unnamed sources. “While there, he reinforced the U.S. commitment to provide support to Ukraine in its fight against Russian aggression, including continued intelligence sharing,” CNN quoted one of the U.S. officials.
Reuters: Putin likely to use UN-backed grain deal to ‘gain leverage’ at G20 summit. An unnamed European diplomat told Reuters that Russian dictator Vladimir Putin is “likely to use the possible extension” of the U.N.-backed Black Sea grain deal, which expires on Nov. 19, “to gain leverage and dominate” at the Group of 20 summit that will start on Nov. 15 in Bali.
Russian forces attack Kyiv Oblast overnight on Oct. 27. Kyiv Oblast Governor Oleksiy Kuleba reported that Russian forces targeted one of the communities in Kyiv Oblast. Kuleba did not disclose the location of the attack but said that rescue workers were on site. According to preliminary information, there are no casualties, Kuleba said.
Ukraine downs 19 kamikaze drones in Odesa, Mykolaiv, Vinnytsia oblasts. The Air Force reported that within two hours on Oct. 26, air defense forces shot down 17 Iranian-made kamikaze drones, while two more Shahed-136 drones were downed by other units of the defense forces.
Zelensky: Russia has used nearly 400 kamikaze drones against Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Oct. 26 that Russia has used nearly 400 Iranian-made Shahed-136 kamikaze drones against Ukraine’s civilian population.
Putin oversees routine drill of ‘massive’ nuclear strike. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said the drills watched by Vladimir Putin on Oct. 26 simulated “a massive nuclear strike in response to an enemy nuclear attack,” according to the Moscow Times. The drill was held in the Barents Sea in the Arctic and the Kamchatka peninsula in Russia under the supervision of Putin from a control room.
National Resistance Center: Belarus drafts drivers, mechanics to help Russian army. Military commissariats are conducting covert mobilization to conscript truck drivers and mechanics in Belarus’ Gomel region to maintain Russia’s military equipment, according to the National Resistance Center. On Oct. 16, the Belarusian Defense Ministry said about 9,000 Russian soldiers would be stationed in Belarus as part of what Minsk called a “regional grouping” near the Ukrainian border.
ISW: Putin isn’t interested in negotiations, retains territorial ambitions beyond illegally annexed oblasts. The Institute for the Study of War reports that Russian dictator Vladimir Putin’s recent statements indicate that Russia “still seeks a military victory in Ukraine and regime change in Kyiv.” According to ISW, Putin’s rhetoric that Ukraine “lost sovereignty” during a meeting with the Commonwealth of Independent States was reinforced by Duma speaker Vyacheslav Volodin who said that “Ukraine has lost the ability to exist as a state” and “Ukraine is occupied by NATO.”
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Margaret Atwood: Russia’s propaganda narratives don’t stand up. Margaret Atwood, Canadian author of generation-defining dystopias “The Handmaid’s Tale” and “The Testaments,” is used to drawing her inspiration from history. At 83, Atwood got to witness another cataclysmic event when Russia began a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Photo: Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images
Ukraine war latest: Authorities exhume around 1,000 bodies in recently liberated territories. Ukrainian authorities said on Oct. 26 they exhumed the bodies of about a thousand people in recently liberated areas. According to the Reintegration Ministry, the bodies of civilians – including children – were exhumed alongside the remains of military personnel.
Photo: Getty Images
As Russia digs in along Donbas front line, no end in sight for civilian suffering. Less than two kilometers from front-line positions on the border with Luhansk Oblast, silence is deceptive. In one moment, the scene in any given village in this gray zone can be described as almost peaceful, as children play on sunny streets and flocks of geese mill around well-kept yards.
Photo: Francis Farrell/The Kyiv Independent
Ukrainian aerospace company allegedly supplied military helicopter parts to Russia during war. Eight months into the full-scale war, a scandal ripped through Ukraine’s defense industry. Two top executives of Ukraine’s most famous defense contractor, Motor Sich, were detained on Oct. 22 for allegedly collaborating with Russia.
Photo: Pavlo Bahmut / Ukrinform / Future Publishing via Getty Images
The human cost of Russia’s war
Ukraine returns 10 POWs, body of killed US soldier. President’s Office Head Andriy Yermak said on Oct. 26 that a Ukrainian officer and nine soldiers were among those released from Russian captivity. According to Yermak, Ukraine also returned the body of U.S. volunteer soldier Joshua Alan Jones, who was killed fighting for Ukraine.
Exhumation begins at a mass grave with Ukrainian soldiers in Kharkiv Oblast. Head of police in Kharkiv Oblast Volodymyr Tymoshko said that about 17 Ukrainian soldiers were buried in a mass grave, where exhumation started on Oct 26. Three bodies were exhumed on the first day. Tymoshko did not specify the location of the mass grave but said that Ukrainian soldiers buried there were killed while retreating from Kharkiv Oblast back in April.
About 1,000 bodies exhumed in recently liberated territories. The bodies of civilians – including children – were exhumed alongside the remains of military personnel, according to Ukraine’s Reintegration Ministry. The number includes the 447 bodies found at a mass burial site in liberated Izium, Kharkiv Oblast. The ministry didn’t specify the names of other settlements where Ukrainian authorities exhumed the bodies.
General Staff: Russia has lost 68,900 troops in Ukraine since Feb. 24. Ukraine’s General Staff reported on Oct. 26 that Russia had also lost 2,628 tanks, 5,351 armored fighting vehicles, 4,076 vehicles and fuel tanks, 1,686 artillery systems, 379 multiple launch rocket systems, 192 air defense systems, 271 airplanes, 248 helicopters, 1,379 drones, and 16 boats.
International response
Polish Senate recognizes Russian authorities as a terrorist regime. The Polish Senate voted unanimously in support of the resolution on Oct. 26. In the resolution, the Polish Senate “strongly condemns” Russian aggression saying that Russian forces are “terrorizing” Ukrainians by bombarding civilian targets in their cities, torturing and killing prisoners of war and civilians in the occupied territories, and kidnapping children.
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