A man walks past damage and fire from Russian strikes on Ukraine
EA-The Sun VideoCast: Is Putin A “Cornered Rat” Over Invasion of Ukraine?
EA-Frontline VideoCast: Ukraine Prepares for Russia’s Winter Assault
Thursday’s Coverage: 3+ Civilians Murdered, 6 Injured by Russian Attacks On and Near Kyiv
UPDATE 0632 GMT:
Ukraine’s air defenses downed 87 of 107 drones fired by Russia overnight. Strikes were recorded at 11 locations.
UPDATE 0623 GMT:
Russian exports to Turkey, Moscow’s 3rd-largest trade partner, have fallen by almost 41% amid Ukraine’s de facto blockade of ports in southwest Russia.
The exports declined from $3.23 billion to $1.93 billion, their lowest level since 2022. There were reductions or complete cutoffs of coal, ferrous metals, copper, motor fuel, and grain.
Some trade with Turkey has shifted to long and expensive overland routes through the Caucasus or to ports in northwest Russia.
Ukraine damaged or destroyed more than 200 Russian vessels in the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea this summer.
Russia has blockaded Ukraine’s Black Sea ports in the Odesa region with strikes on shipping, including foreign-flagged vessels.
ORIGINAL ENTRY: As expected, Russia has launched its winter campaign to break Ukraine’s civilian resistance and energy infrastructure, attacking Kyiv throughout Thursday.
Four civilians were murdered, including a child, and eight injured in and near the capital. Three others were slain across the country.
State power grid operator Ukrenergo said it imposed emergency power cuts, the first since the spring, in Kyiv and three surrounding regions. Ukraine’s biggest private energy firm, DTEK, said they restored energy to 8,000 customers on Kyiv’s left bank.
“Since the summer, there has been practically no day when the enemy has not attacked energy infrastructure. But such a massive and combined attack has occurred for the first time since the end of the last heating season,” Prime Minister Serhii Koretskyi said.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky again appealed to partners for help with air defenses:
Every interceptor missile truly saves lives. And the closer we get to winter, the more of this protection we need. We must do everything to ensure that Russia’s bet on ballistic missile and drone terror does not pay off.
