Wednesday, October 2

Russia’s war against Ukraine

A mural depicting Ukrainian poet and writer Taras Shevchenko reads ‘Fight and win your battle, God will help you’ on Oct. 1, 2024 in Pokrovsk, Donetsk Oblast. Russian invading forces, approximately 7 kilometers from Pokrovsk, are advancing and pushing Ukrainian defenses toward the city. (Pierre Crom/Getty Images)

Russian forces enter Vuhledar, situation ‘extremely difficult,’ governor says. “The fighting is going on within the town, so it is almost impossible to bring in humanitarian aid,” Donetsk Oblast Governor Vadym Filashkin said.

Ukraine faces ‘very challenging’ situation on front lines, Zelensky says. Russia continues to press forward on its offensives across the eastern front, primarily on the Pokrovsk, Vuhledar, and Toretsk axes in Donetsk Oblast.

Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant ‘on verge of blackout’ after Russian attack on substation, Ukraine says. President Volodymyr Zelensky told the U.N. Security Council on Sept. 24 that Russia was preparing to target three Ukrainian nuclear power plants.

Russia attempts to capture new positions in Zaporizhzhia sector, preparing small-scale assaults, military says. According to Ukrainian military’s Southern Command spokesperson Vladyslav Voloshyn, Russia does not have enough troops to launch a large-scale offensive.

Russian forces execute 16 Ukrainian POWs near Pokrovsk, prosecutors say. Russian forces appear to have shot 16 Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) in Donetsk Oblast, the largest recorded case of mass execution of surrendered soldiers on the battlefield, Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office said on Oct. 1.

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Ukraine boosts defense production, successfully tests ballistic missile, Zelensky says. “In the first half of this year alone, Ukraine produced 25 times more artillery and mortar ammunition than in the entire year of 2022,” Zelensky said at the second international defense industry forum in Kyiv.

Russia’s Crimean Bridge defenses are reportedly washing up on shore. According to the Crimean Wind Telegram channel, plastic and metal barrels connected by metal frames were spotted littering the beach in Kerch on the occupied peninsula.

Foreign Ministry refutes FT report that minister discussed territorial compromises. Ukraine’s new Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha did not discuss compromising with Russia in recent meetings with his Western counterparts, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi said on Oct. 1, refuting a report by the Financial Times (FT) that he had discussed “potential compromise solutions.”

Russia desperate to recruit workers at defense plants amid personnel shortage, BBC reports. More than 90,000 vacancies for defense industry jobs appeared on Russian job portals between Aug. 15 and Sept. 15, with companies offering triple the average regional salary for workers with high-demand specialties.

Ukraine names pro-Russian collaborators suspected of forcibly deporting Ukrainian children. One suspect was identified by the Kyiv Independent’s War Crimes Investigations Unit in the documentary “Uprooted.”

Read our exclusives

Ukraine war latest: Russian forces reportedly capture most of Vuhledar, Kyiv doesn’t comment

Geolocated to the northern streets of Vuhledar’s small and dense urban area, the videos suggest that a complete Ukrainian withdrawal from the town is highly likely. A total of 107 civilians remain in Vuhledar.

Photo: Libkos/Getty Images

Historical grievances resurface in Polish-Ukrainian relations, threatening to stall Kyiv’s EU accession

Relations between Ukraine and Poland have turned sour. Again. And the tune is much the same – a World War II massacre that has been at the center of bilateral relations between the two countries since the 1990s.

Photo: Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Two years on, the Nord Stream explosion remains a mystery

Two years after a series of explosions tore apart Russia’s controversial Nord Stream pipelines, the investigation has largely remained a mystery full of accusations that have exposed political fault lines across Europe.

Photo: Sean Gallup/Getty Images

The words of Ukraine’s fallen soldiers inspiring the nation to fight on

“When people ask me what war is, I will answer without hesitation: names.” Ukrainians gathered at war memorials around the country on Oct. 1 to honor the soldiers killed defending their nation from Russia’s invasion.

Photo: Danylo Antoniuk/The Kyiv Independent

Human cost of war

Russian attack on Zaporizhzhia kills 1, injures 24. Russia launched at least six guided aerial bombs against Zaporizhzhia, damaging apartment buildings and houses.

Russian strike hits market in Kherson, killing at least 6, injuring 6. Russian forces attacked downtown Kherson on Oct. 1, killing at least six people and injuring six others, President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

General Staff: Russia has lost 654,430 troops in Ukraine since Feb. 24, 2022. This number includes 1,370 casualties Russian forces suffered just over the past day.

Opinions and insights

The Counteroffensive: Why doesn’t Ukraine have a national military cemetery?

“Even in the third year of Russia’s full-scale invasion, and over 10 years since the war began, Ukraine still does not have a national military cemetery. Many veterans and their families fear this neglect reflects a lack of respect for those who sacrificed their lives,” write The Counteroffensive’s Tim Mak and Oleh Tymoshenko.

Photo: Kostiantyn Liberov/Libkos/Getty Images

International response

Ukraine top of the agenda as Mark Rutte takes up NATO general secretary role. “We have to make sure that Ukraine prevails as a sovereign, independent, democratic nation,” Mark Rutte said on Oct. 1.

Biden may advance Ukraine’s NATO membership bid status, FT reports. U.S. President Joe Biden may agree to advance the status of Ukraine’s NATO membership bid before leaving office in January, the Financial Times (FT) reported on Oct. 1, citing an unnamed Western official.

‘Ukraine will be 2nd strongest NATO member’ in Europe, Latvian FM says. Ukraine will have the second-strongest military in NATO on the European continent once it joins the alliance, Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braze said on Oct. 1.

Ukraine doesn’t need US permission to strike back at Russia with homemade weapons, State Department says. “If you look at the weapons we’ve provided them, we’ve made it very clear that they can use them to retaliate against Russian targets across the border that are conducting attacks,” U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said at a briefing on Sept. 30.

Germany’s Scholz hoping for phone call with Putin, Zeit reports. Olaf Scholz last spoke with Putin in December 2022, the same year the leaders of the U.S., France, and the U.K. last had direct contact.

Estonia’s planned ‘war tax’ unprecedented, defense minister says. Speaking at a panel discussion at the Warsaw Security Forum attended by the Kyiv Independent, Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur explained that “everybody in the society will contribute a bit more.”

European defense manufacturer KNDS opens office in Ukraine. French-German defense company KNDS has opened an office in Kyiv to support Ukraine carry out the domestic maintenance and repair of weapons systems, the company announced on Oct. 1.

‘A real myth’ — Trump’s Ukraine peace plan rubbished by former national security advisor. Trump has promised to end Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine within a day if elected but has not publicly elaborated on how he plans to achieve that.

In other news

Ukraine evacuates 179 people from Lebanon. Ukraine’s military intelligence (HUR) and Foreign Ministry evacuated 179 people, including 134 Ukrainian citizens, following Israel’s ground incursion into southern Lebanon, the Foreign Ministry reported on Oct. 1.

Ukraine’s defense minister requests dismissal of 3 deputies, state secretary. Defense Minister Rustem Umerov called the system of the Defense Ministry, including the Armed Forces, Ukraine’s military intelligence (HUR), and State Transport Special Service “a closed perimeter” during martial law, without giving a clear reason for the reshuffle.

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Today’s Ukraine Daily was brought to you by Kateryna Denisova, Chris York, Francis Farrell, Martin Fornusek, Elsa Court, Abbey Fenbert, and Nate Ostiller.

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