French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot with Ukrainian counterpart Andrii Sybiha in Kyiv, Ukraine, October 19, 2024 (Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters)

Saturday’s Coverage: Kyiv and Russia Exchange 190 POWs

Map: Institute for the Study of War

UPDATE 1218 GMT:

Ukraine has confirmed overnight drone strikes on Russia’s “largest explosives plant” and an airfield.

An official in the State security service SBU says said UAVs targeted the Sverdlov Plant in the city of Dzerzhinsk in the Nizhny Novgorod region, about 900 km (559 miles) deep inside Russia.

The plant produces explosives, industrial chemicals, detonators, and ammunition. It was sanctioned by the US and the European Union since 2023 over its role in “acquiring goods in support of Russia’s war effort.”

The official said the plant’s poduction also includes aviation and artillery shells, aviation bombs, and warheads.

The General Staff later reported the strike on the Lipetsk-2 airfield in the Lipetsk region, more than 400 km (249 miles) from the Ukrainian border. Ammunition depots, fuel storage facilities, and warplanes were targeted.

UPDATE 0743 GMT:

At least 17 civilians have been injured, five seriously, in overnight Russian missile strikes on Kryvyi Rih in south-central Ukraine.

A hotel, a store, an administrative building, an educational institution, and seven apartment buildings were damaged.

One civilian was killed and 11 injured in a Russian attack on the Sumy region in northern Ukraine on Saturday.

The Russians struck the town of Shostka with guided bombs and drones. Two schools, a kindergarten, multiple medical institutions, and 28 apartment buildings were damaged. Most residents lost electricity and water.

At least 10 people, including two girls aged 9 and 13, were wounded by three Russian strikes with guided bombs on Zaporizhzhia city in southern Ukraine.

The bombing partially destroyed a residential building and caused damage to nearby shops, a car wash, a shopping center warehouse, and several vehicles.

One person was killed and seven injured in Russian attacks on 11 settlements in the Kherson region in southern Ukraine.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: France has backed Ukraine’s Victory Plan to defeat Russia’s 32-month invasion.

Visting Kyiv on Saturday, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot pledged support, telling reporters that he will work with Ukrainian officials to secure the backing of other countries. He said alongside Ukrainian counterpart Andrii Sybiha:

A Russian victory would be a consecration for the law of the strongest and would push the international order toward chaos.

That is why our exchanges should allow us to make progress on President Zelenskiy’s victory plan and rally the greatest number possible of countries around it.

Other NATO members have been more cautious about the Plan, particularly Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s call for an “immediate invitation” to join the 32-nation bloc.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said he could not commit to a timetable for Ukraine’s accession. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said coolly, “You know Germany’s position on the issues involved. This will not change.”

Citing “very different opinions”, Dutch Defense Minister Ruben Brekelmans said NATO members need to agree clear criteria that Ukraine would need to meet for an invitation, as well as others required later to join the pact.

“If you don’t have that clarity upfront, I don’t see 32 allies agree to granting an invitation,” he said.

Defense ministers of the G7 members — US, France, Italy, Germany, UK, Canada, and Japan — issued a holding statement after their ministerial meeting on Saturday.

Pleading “unwavering support” for Ukraine, the group backed Kyiv’s “irreversible path to full Euro-Atlantic integration, including NATO membership”: “We underscore our intent to continue to provide assistance to Ukraine, including military assistance in the short and long term.”

French Jets and Training of New Ukrainian Brigade

Barrot announced that France would deliver the first Mirage 2000 combat jets to Ukraine by March 2025, with Ukrainian pilots and mechanics trained to fly and maintain them.

“By resisting against the invader with exceptional courage, you are not only fighting for Ukraine’s territorial integrity, but you are also holding a frontline that separates Europe from Vladimir Putin’s Russia, that separates freedom from oppression,” the Foreign Minister said.

Zelenskiy welcomed France’s commitment to train and equip a brigade of Ukrainian soldiers for frontline deployment. He said, “Brigade training is going ahead of schedule,” expecting it to be in Ukraine by the end of November.

Barrot summarized:

By resisting against the invader with exceptional courage, you are not only fighting for Ukraine’s territorial integrity, but you are also holding a frontline that separates Europe from Vladimir Putin’s Russia, that separates freedom from oppression.

Barrot also commented on reports of North Korean troops supporting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, “Sending DPRK soldiers to Ukraine will bring the war to a new level and a new scale of escalation. It carries the risk of this war spilling over into Asia.

South Korea’s National Intelligence Service said on Friday that Russian warships transferred 1,500 North Korean special operation forces to the port city of Vladivostok between October 8 and 13. Citing anonymous sources, South Korean media said Pyongyang has decided to dispatch to Russia a total of 12,000 troops, formed into four brigades.

Ukraine’s head of military intelligence Kyrill Budanov said on Thursday that almost 11,000 North Korean troops are in Russia and will be “ready to fight” in Ukraine by November 1.