Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, Kyiv, October 3, 2024

Thursday’s Coverage: Ukrainian Forces Withdraw from Vuhledar in the East

Map: Institute for the Study of War

UPDATE 1557 GMT:

Russian forces are less than 7 km (4.3 miles) from the town of Pokrovsk, a logistics hub in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, according to Serhii Dobriak, the head of Pokrovsk’s military administration.

Appearing on national television, Dobriak said Russia attacked civilian infrastructure in Pokrovsk with guided aerial bombs on Thursday, causing casualties.

Critical infrastructure “is damaged or destroyed by almost 80%. The enemy leaves us without electricity, water, and gas,” he added.

Pokrovsk had a population of around 60,000 in January 2022. Around 13,000 people, including 94 children, remain amid an ongoing evacuation.

Estonian intelligence assesses that Ukrainian troops may be forced to withdraw from Pokrovsk by the end of the year.

Janek Kesselmann, the deputy commander of the Estonian Military Intelligence Center, said:

In the direction of the town of Pokrovsk…Russia has advanced somewhere between 1 and 2 km in the last week, and the distance to the outskirts of Pokrovsk, as far as we know, is about 5 to 7 km.

At that rate of advance and intensity of attacks, Ukrainian troops will be forced to take up positions “a little deeper”.

UPDATE 0843 GMT:

At least 177 Ukrainian prisoners of war have died in Russian captivity during Vladimir Putin’s 31-month invasion, according to Victoria Tsymbaliuk, a representative of the Ukrainian Coordination Center for the Treatment of Prisoners of War.

Tsymbaliuk said the actual number of deaths in Russian prisons could be much higher because of the lack of international oversight. Most Ukrainian soldiers in captivity have never been visited by Red Cross staff.

Russia refuses to confirm the captivity or whereabouts of thousands of Ukrainian POWs, Tsymbaliuk noted.

UPDATE 0832 GMT:

Ukraine’s strikes have started fires at two oil depots inside Russia.

One attack was the Annanefteprodukt fuel and lubricants storage base near the village of Anna in the Voronezh region. “It was confirmed that at least one of the vertical tanks was hit,” said the Ukrainian military.

Goverenor Aleksandr Gusev claimed the tank was empty and the fire was later extinguished.

Russia’s Emergency Situations Ministry reported a large fire at an oil depot in the village of Osentsy in the Perm Krai, around 1,800 kilometers (1,120 miles) northeast of Ukraine.

The fire engulfed fuel tanks and spread over more than 10,000 square meters, said the Ministry.

No casualties were reported at either depot.

The Russian Defense Ministry claimed air defenses downed 14 drones, six over Voronezh. As usual, it did not acknowledge any damage.

A large-scale fire also broke out at an oil depot in the village of Osentsy in Perm Krai. Russia’s Perm Krai lies around 1,800 kilometers northeast of Ukraine.

UPDATE 0547 GMT:

Moldova’s authorities have described a plot, financed with more than $15 million in Russian funds, to spread disinformation in upcoming national elections.

The officials said the scheme is led by pro-Kremlin oligarch and party leader Ilan Shor, who is living in Russia. The aim is to pay Moldovan citizens to vote against closer ties with the West and the current government of President Maia Sandu and Prime Minister Dorin Recean.

Russia has occupied the Transnistria region of Moldova, which lies south of Ukraine, since 1992. Throughout Putin’s invasion of its neighbor, Moldova has accused the Kremlin of trying to stir unrest and topple the government.

Shor was sanctioned by the US in October 2022 for his collaboration with “corrupt oligarchs and Moscow-based entities to create political unrest in Moldova”.

The Moldovan officials said yesterday that Shor’s network laundered Russian funds to pay more than 130,000 Moldovans in the past month.

“Moldova is facing a phenomenon of voter bribery, combined with hybrid warfare and disinformation, the likes of which our country has never seen before,” said Moldova’s chief of police Viorel Cernăuțeanu.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Frustrated by a US ban on missile strikes on military targets inside Russia, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy says allies are delaying the supply of long-range weapons.

At a joint press conference in Kyiv alongside new NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, Zelenskiy said, “We need sufficient quantity and quality of weapons, including long-range weapons, that, in my opinion, our partners are already dragging out.”

The Biden Administration has barred the use of long-range ATACMS missiles, supplied to Ukraine in April, on Russian territory. It is also blocking any deployment of UK-made Storm Shadows and France’s SCALPs.

Last month US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and British Foreign Secretary David Lammy indicated the ban might be relaxed, but the Biden Administration reaffirmed it, citing a limited supply of the missiles and the Russians moving targets out of reach.

Rutte, who succeeded Jens Stoltenberg on Tuesday, said his goal is to ensure that “Ukraine prevails” against the 31-month Russian invasion: “[I will] make crystal clear to you, to the people of Ukraine and to everyone watching, that Nato stands with Ukraine.”

However, he offered no comment on the long-range missiles. In Washington, Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said defensively, “We have a limited supply of long-range missiles….We’re not dragging it out.”

Zelenskiy also called on NATO members to be more active role in assistance with air defense, striking Russian munitions over or near their countries: “We will continue to convince our partners of the need to shoot down Russian missiles and drones. What works in the skies of the Middle East and helps Israel defend itself can also work in the skies of our part of Europe.”

In his nightly address to the nation, the President reiterated the message:

Zelenskiy also told the press conference about possible membership of the 32-nation alliance:

Now we are focused on getting Ukraine invited to NATO in the first place. That is a very important step. It is hard to achieve. We are focused on this result. We will do everything to get this.