Hi, this is Kateryna Hodunova reporting from Kyiv on day 1,342 of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Today’s top story so far:
An operation by Ukraine’s military intelligence (HUR) has killed the son of a Russian general in Zaporizhia Oblast, the agency said on Oct. 27.
Lieutenant Vasily Marzoev was killed by a glide bomb after drone operators in his unit were spotted in the village of Plavni, HUR said in a post on Telegram, adding he was also at the position at the time of the strike.
“The liquidated Vasily is the son of Lieutenant General Arkady Marzoev, commander of the 18th Combined Arms Army of the Southern Military District of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, who is involved in the commission of war crimes against Ukrainian civilians in Kherson,” HUR said.
The Kyiv Independent could not verify the claims.
Russia has killed 661 Ukrainian children during the full-scale invasion, prosecutor general says
Last updated 6:14 p.m. Kyiv time.
Russia has killed 661 Ukrainian children and injured 2,203 others during the full-scale invasion, Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko said on Oct. 27.
Moscow’s forces have also destroyed or damaged more than 4500 schools, kindergartens and 1294 hospitals, he added, as well as kidnapping and deporting more than 19,000, and committing sexual violence in at least 23 different cases.
“UN Security Council Resolution No. 1261 defines the six most serious crimes against children during war. And all six, Russia does them every day, here, in front of the world,” Kravchenko said in a post on social media.
The numbers do not include the full totals committed in Ukrainian territories still occupied by Russia and the real numbers are almost certainly far higher.
Russia’s children’s commissioner shamelessly describes kidnapping a Ukrainian child
Maria Lvova-Belova openly said around 20,000 Ukrainian children have been taken by Russia,
Russia withdraws from US deal to dispose of plutonium for thousands of warheads
Last updated 4:52 p.m. Kyiv time.
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law formally withdrawing from the Plutonium Management and Disposition Agreement with the U.S., according to a decree published on Oct. 27.
The 2000 agreement obligated both countries to dispose of 34 tons of weapons-grade plutonium — enough for thousands of nuclear warheads — no longer required for defense purposes.
Following the end of the Cold War, both Russia and the U.S. dismantled thousands of warheads, leaving costly stockpiles of weapons-grade plutonium and raising proliferation risks.
Under the deal, the plutonium was to be processed into fuel for civilian nuclear power plants. Russia ratified the agreement in 2011, with implementation initially planned to begin in 2018.
Moscow suspended its participation in 2016, accusing Washington of violating its obligations.
Russia withdraws from US deal to dispose of plutonium for thousands of warheads
The 2000 agreement obligated both countries to dispose of 34 tons of weapons-grade plutonium no longer required for defense purposes.
Saab says its ready to open Gripen fighter jet factory in Ukraine, FT reports.
Last updated 15:04 p.m. Kyiv time.
Saab, the manufacturer of the Gripen fighter jet, has said it’s ready to open a factory in Ukraine, the Financial Times (FT) reported on Oct. 27.
“It is not so easy during a war, but it would be great to set up a capacity for at least final assembly and tests and maybe part production in Ukraine,” Saab Chief Executive Micael Johansson said.
Sweden and Ukraine on Oct. 22 signed a letter of intent for a future contract on the purchase of up to 150 modern Gripen E fighter jets to bolster the Ukrainian Air Force.
The Saab JAS 39 Gripen is a light 4.5-generation fighter jet that can be used for both defensive and offensive tasks. Kyiv and Stockholm have repeatedly discussed the possibility of supplying the aircraft to Ukraine’s Air Force, which already operates Western planes, including the Mirage 2000 and F-16.
Read the full story at the FT.
State order for Flamingo cruise-missile production to be fulfilled by end of 2025, Zelensky says
Last updated 2:34 p.m. Kyiv time.
A state order for domestic Flamingo cruise missiles will be fully fulfilled by the end of 2025, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Oct. 26 in an interview with TSN.
Zelensky said Ukraine faced technological challenges in missile production and delays in partner financing, adding that these issues are now being resolved.
Ukraine has secured its own funding to pay for production and will soon receive “a certain number of them,” according to the president.
Zelensky also highlighted the effectiveness of the missiles that have already been tested.
More than Tomahawks: What Ukraine’s soldiers say they actually need
While Ukraine also lacks Western-supplied weapons, soldiers and commanders say shortages of basics — cars, drones and people — make holding back Russia extremely difficult. Even as Kyiv seeks U.S. approval for Tomahawks, they say critical, rudimentary gear is the more pressing need.
Ukraine damages dam near Belgorod, cuts off Russian troops near Vovchansk, military reports
Last updated 12:25 p.m. Kyiv time.
A Ukrainian strike on a dam near Belgorod, Russia, has caused water to begin flowing uncontrollably, reportedly cutting off Russian units that had crossed the Siverskyi Donets River near the Ukrainian town of Vovchansk in Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine’s 16th Army Corps said on Oct. 26.
The strike damaged the dam at the Belgorod Reservoir, located north of the Ukrainian border. The flooding has disrupted Russian logistics and stranded several Russian units on the Ukrainian side of the river without secure supply lines or reinforcements, according to the report.
“The main thing is that the enemy’s logistics have become significantly more complicated. The leaves have fallen too. So the units that managed to cross the Siverskyi Donets have effectively been cut off from their main forces,” it said.
“So we’re expecting the (POW) exchange pool to be replenished,” it added, referring to the potential for capturing Russian troops.
Ukraine damages dam near Belgorod, cuts off Russian troops near Vovchansk, military reports
A Ukrainian strike on a dam near Belgorod, Russia, has caused water to begin flowing uncontrollably, reportedly cutting off Russian units that had crossed the Siverskyi Donets River near the Ukrainian town of Vovchansk in Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine’s 16th Army Corps said on Oct. 26.
Explosions reported in Moscow, Kursk Oblast amid mass drone strike
Last updated 1:04 a.m. Kyiv time.
A large-scale overnight drone attack on Oct. 27 targeted multiple regions of western Russia, including the Moscow metropolitan area, according to Russian officials.
In Moscow oblast, residents reported explosions in several districts, including the capital itself.
Photos published by eyewitnesses and geolocated by the Russian Telegram channel Astra show smoke rising in the Kommunarka area, part of Moscow’s Novomoskovsky Administrative Okrug. The images suggest the smoke originated from a forested area near a local road.
The Russian Defense Ministry later said that a total of 193 drones were intercepted overnight, including 40 over Moscow Oblast. The ministry said that 34 of those drones were bound for the capital.
In Kursk Oblast, a fire broke out near a power substation in the city of Rylsk after what local authorities claimed was a Ukrainian drone strike.
Dozens of drones targeted the city of Moscow, according to Mayor Sergey Sobyanin.
Massive Ukrainian drone attack targets multiple Russian oblasts, smoke reported near Moscow
Russian forces shot down 34 Ukrainian drones flying toward Moscow, Mayor Sergey Sobyanin claimed.
At least 6 killed, 66 injured in Russian attacks on Ukraine over past day
At least six people have been killed and 66 others injured in Russian attacks against Ukraine over the past day, local authorities reported on Oct. 27.
Ukrainian air defenses intercepted 66 out of the 100 Shahed-type attack drones and decoys launched by Russia overnight, according to the Air Force. Twenty-six drone strikes were recorded at nine locations.
In Kharkiv Oblast, Russia targeted 32 settlements, killing two people and injuring 44 others, including two boys, aged 13 and 15, Governor Oleh Syniehubov reported.
In Sumy Oblast, Russian forces carried out 99 attacks on the region, targeting 35 settlements, over the past day, the local military administration reported.
A Russian drone strike killed a 69-year-old man and injured 14 people, including an 8-year-old boy and a 15-year-old girl, in the Mykolaivka community. Other Russian drone attacks injured a 44-year-old woman in the Sumy community and a 36-year-old man in the Bilopillia community.
In Donetsk Oblast, one person was killed, and another was injured in the town of Druzhkivka. Russian strikes also killed a person in the city of Kostiantynivka and injured two people in the Lyman community, according to Governor Vadym Filashkin.
In Zaporizhzhia Oblast, Russia launched 701 strikes on 24 settlements in the region over the past day, the local military administration reported.
A Russian attack against the Huliaipole community killed a person, while another one suffered injuries.
In Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, a 24-year-old man was injured in an attack against the city of Kryvyi Rih, Governor Vladyslav Haivanenko reported.
In Kherson Oblast, Russian attacks injured one person over the past day, according to Governor Oleksandr Prokudin.
More than Tomahawks: What Ukraine’s soldiers say they actually need
While Ukraine also lacks Western-supplied weapons, soldiers and commanders say shortages of basics — cars, drones and people — make holding back Russia extremely difficult. Even as Kyiv seeks U.S. approval for Tomahawks, they say critical, rudimentary gear is the more pressing need.
General Staff: Russia has lost 1,136,890 troops in Ukraine since Feb. 24, 2022
Russia has lost around 1,136,890 troops in Ukraine since the beginning of its full-scale invasion on Feb. 24, 2022, the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces reported on Oct. 27.
The number includes 800 casualties that Russian forces suffered over the past day.
According to the report, Russia has also lost 11,293 tanks, 23,480 armored fighting vehicles, 65,655 vehicles and fuel tanks, 34,036 artillery systems, 1,527 multiple launch rocket systems, 1,230 air defense systems, 428 airplanes, 346 helicopters, 74,946 drones, 28 ships and boats, and one submarine.
Analysis: Pokrovsk on the brink as Russian troops, drones infiltrate deeper into Ukraine’s fortress city
At first, the pictures went viral for another reason. Two Ukrainian civilians were shot dead and another injured on the roadside, the victims of another Russian war crime that was as everyday as it was horrific. Ordinary, peaceful residents of the city of Pokrovsk — the very people Russia claims to be “liberating” in its war of destruction in the Donbas, who held on to life in their homes for a year after their city became a war zone — snuffed out in an instant. But beyond the shock and anger
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