Sunday, October 6

Russia’s war against Ukraine

A Ukrainian communal worker repairs cables on the site of shelling in a village in the eastern Donetsk Oblast on Oct. 5 amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Roman Pilipey / AFP via Getty Images)

Zelensky to present ‘victory plan’ at upcoming Ramstein meeting. On Oct. 2, U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said the U.S. had reviewed Ukraine’s victory plan and identified “a number of productive steps.”

Russia increasingly launching ’unspecified’ types of drones against Ukraine, Air Force says. Russia has stepped up drone attacks in recent weeks — for the first time since the full-scale invasion, they targeted cities and towns across Ukraine on a daily basis for an entire month in September.

Ukraine’s ‘dragon drones’ are now reportedly destroying Russian tanks. Thermite weapons disperse thousands of tiny pieces of molten metal burning at temperatures that exceed 2,000 degrees Celsius, which means that it can melt through some armored vehicles.

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Ukraine hit 3 Russian command posts with Storm Shadows and GMLRS, military claims. “The results of the strikes are being clarified,” the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces said on Oct. 5.

Stoltenberg suggests Ukraine could be granted NATO membership even with territories occupied by Russia. As of late August, Russia was in control of around 27% of Ukrainian territory, President Volodymyr Zelensky has said.

Half of Russia’s shells used in Ukraine supplied by North Korea, The Times reports. According to the newspaper, around 3 million a year are being shipped from Pyongyang to Moscow, though a large number are believed to be faulty.

Read our exclusives

Ukraine scrambles for resources before uncertain US elections, Russian stockpiles not unlimited

Kyiv’s efforts to secure as many resources as possible from Western allies to tip the scale of Russia’s war in its favor will face a critical moment next weekend as leaders of more than 50 countries meet for the final talks on arming Ukraine before the upcoming U.S. elections.

Image: Win McNamee/Getty Images

‘That’s not what Georgian people want’ – President Zourabichvili blasts ruling party’s pro-Russia stance

Georgia and Ukraine have long been close. Witnessing revolutions that brought democratic pro-Western governments, both countries later witnessed a Russian military attack, in the Kremlin’s attempt to pull both states back into Moscow’s orbit.

Photo: Foto Olimpik/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Human cost of war

Russia struck passenger bus in Sumy Oblast, injuring 3. In the Richky community of Ukraine’s northeastern Sumy district, Russian forces used a drone to drop an explosive device on a passenger bus. The explosion injured three civilians and damaged the bus, the Sumy Oblast Military Administration reported on Oct. 5.

Russian attack on Kherson injures 4. Russian forces carried out a drone attack in the Dripro district of Kherson on October 5, leaving four civilians injured, local authorities reported.

International response

US Republican delegation visits Hungary, questions Orban’s relations with Russia and China. After visiting Hungary from Oct. 3-5, five U.S. Republican senators voiced concerns about Hungary’s growing ties with Russia and increasing cooperation with China.

In other news

Defense in Zakarpattia teenage sexual assault case seeks dismissal. After over a year of court hearings, attorneys defending three Ukrainian teenagers convicted of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl in Zakarpattia Oblast have asked the court to close the case against them.

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Today’s Ukraine Daily was brought to you by Chris York, Daria Shulzhenko, Sonya Bandouil, and Olena Goncharova.

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