Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, 10 Downing Street, London, October 10, 2024

Thursday’s Coverage: Zelenskiy on European Tour After Summit in Germany Postponed

UPDATE 1456 GMT:

Viktoria Roshchyna, the 27-year-old Ukrainian journalist who died in Russian captivity, was held in detention centers where torture is used, says the Media Initiative for Human Rights.

Ukrainian officials confirmed Roshchyna’s death on Thursday but said the circumstances are still under investigation. The journalist disappeared in August 2023 while reporting in Russian-occupied territory, with Moscow admitting her detention the following year.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy commented:

UPDATE 1418 GMT:

In Berlin, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has received confirmation of more military aid from German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

During a joint press conference, Scholz said Germany had delivered a €600 million ($660 million) package with a fifth IRIS-T air defense system, armored vehicles, tanks, howitzers, ammunition, and drones.

“By the end of the year, with the support of partners — Belgium, Denmark, Norway — we will deliver another package worth €1.4 billion ($1.5 billion) to Ukraine,” Scholz said. It will include IRIS-T, Skynex, and Gepard anti-aircraft weaponry, as well as artillery, armored vehicles, drones, radars, and ammunition.”

“I am grateful to Germany, and personally to you, Olaf, for your powerful assistance to Ukraine,” Zelensky said, noting that Berlin has been Ukraine’s most important supporter for air defenses.

UPDATE 0920 GMT:

Ukraine says Russia is routing its attacking missiles over nuclear power plants “every day”.

Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galushchenko said Russian attacks forced a plant into shutdown on August 26 after a substation was hit. Since then, Russian missiles have increasingly flown over Ukraine’s three nuclear facilities, which generate almost 60% of the country’s electricity.

The plant that went into “emergency blackout” is in central Ukraine, while the other are much further west near the border with European Union countries.

UPDATE 0849 GMT:

Anaesthetist nurse Olga Menshikh, 59, has been sentenced to 8 years in a penal colony by a Moscow district court for two anti-war posts on the VK social media platform.

Menshikh, whose page was followed by 15 people, was condemned for “fake news” about the Russian military.

The nurse was detained on April 8 after her apartment was raided and she was handcuffed to a chair. She was charged for posts criticizing Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova and commenting on Russia’s mass killing of civilians in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha in March 2022.

UPDATE 0832 GMT:

At least six people have been killed and at least 27 injured by Russian attacks across Ukraine over the past day.

At least four people, including a 16-year-old girl, were slain and 10 injured in the Odesa region in southern Ukraine (see 0728 GMT).

One person was killed and four injured in the Donetsk region in the east. In the neighboring Kharkiv region, a 64-year-old woman was killed and a 77-year-old man injured.

Injuries were also reported in the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions in southern Ukraine.

UPDATE 0736 GMT:

A “senior US defense official” says Russia has suffered more than 600,000 casualties during Vladimir Putin’s 31 1/2-month invasion.

The figure is a significant increase from the previous US inteligence estimate in December 2023 of 315,000 casualties, almost 90% of Russia’s military personnel at the start of the invasion. The UK Ministry of Defense assessed in May 2024 that the Russians had suffered over 465,000 casualties.

The US official said Russian forces sustained more casualties in September 2024 than in any other month.

The Ukraine General Staff reported on Friday that Russia has lost 666,340 troops, including 1,140 casualties over the past day.

UPDATE 0728 GMT:

At least four people, including a 16-year-old girl, have been killed in Russia’s latest missile attack on the Odesa region in southern Ukraine.

Ten people were injured, nine of whom are hospitalized. Four are in serious condition.

The girl was among three civilians slain in a destroyed two-story residential building.

On Wednesday, a Russian attack on port infrastructure and a Panama-flagged civilian ship killed eight people.

UPDATE 0628 GMT:

Norway is allocating up to 967 million kroner (around $87.5 million) to enhance its defense industry, with a focus on support of Ukraine against Russia’s invasion.

The funds will support four new projects to boost production of crucial components, including rocket engines and explosives for the manufacture of air defense missiles and munitions.

UPDATE 0620 GMT:

The World Bank’s Executive Board has approved the creation of a financial intermediary fund to support Ukraine, with contributions expected from the US, Canada and Japan.

The only vote against the plan came from Russia.

The fund will help fulfil a pledge by G7 countries to provide Ukraine with up to $50 billion by the end of 2024, with the funds backed by interest from frozen Russian sovereign assets.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy presented his Victory Plan to national leaders in a tour of three European capitals on Thursday.

In Paris, Zelenskiy told reporters, “The next peace summit has to be in November. The Plan will be on the table…in early November with all the details.”

He assured that a ceasefire with Russia as he sought more international support amid Moscow’s offensive in eastern Ukraine, ongoing Russian missile and drone attacks, and Ukraine’s incursion into the Kursk region in western Russia.

The European tour was quickly arranged after Saturday’s international summit in Germany was postponed. The gathering was pushed back to mid-October because of US officials, including President Joe Biden, dealing with the landfall of Hurricane Milton in Florida.

Zelenskiy began the day in London with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and NATO head Mark Rutte. He said topics including Euro-Atlantic integration, the military reinforcement of Ukraine, and the swift implementation of decisions at the NATO Washington Summit in July.

The UK continued to refrain from any public endorsement of Ukraine’s strikes with long-range missiles inside Russia. A Downing Street spokesperson said there was “no change” in the British position.

The Biden Administration, which has banned the strikes for months, has reportedly vetoed any deployment of UK-provided Storm Shadow missiles.

In Paris, President Emmanuel Macron assured that France is “fully behind” Ukraine’s resistance of the 31 1/2-month Russian invasion. He reassured that maintenance of commitments including €3 billion ($3.28bn) in support this year; training and equipping a brigade of 3,000 Ukrainian troops; and the delivery of Mirage fighter jets to Ukraine at the beginning of 2025.

Zelenskiy posted about discussion of “the battlefield situation and things that can strengthen our positions and enhance the protection of Europe”. He cited the joint production of weapons and “implementation of the Peace Formula”.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni announced that Rome will host the next recovery conference for Ukrainian reconstruction, scheduled for July 2025.

“Ukraine is not alone and we will stand with it for as long as needed,” Meloni declared.

Zelenskiy posted:

We had a very productive discussion today, covering all aspects of the Plan. The key is to strengthen Ukraine’s positions and relations with our closest partners, ensuring we create the necessary conditions and a fair atmosphere for honest diplomacy.