A woman stands amid the destruction of her home by Russian drones in the Kherson region in southern Ukraine (Getty)
Monday’s Coverage: Zelensky Hails Military Commitments from Europe
UPDATE 1618 GMT:
Three staff from German newspaper Die Welt were injured by a Russian drone strike on October 13.
The paper’s chief reporter Ibrahim Naber revealed the incident in eastern Ukraine on Instagram today.
The team had just finished interviewing a Ukrainian soldier with an air defense unit around 25-30 km from the front line when the drone struck, killing the man with whom Naber had just spoken. Another soldier suffered a serious leg injury that led to amputation.
Naber said of the Ukrainian air defense team, “They saved many lives — before the attack hit them.”
UPDATE 1607 GMT:
Ukraine has used domestically-produced Flamingo and Ruta long-range missiles in combat for the first time, President Volodymyr Zelensky has told reporters.
“We are doing everything we can to ensure that this year we try not just one, two, or three, but to make a serious attempt [to do more],” Zelensky said in Monday’s closed-door briefing.
He did not elaborate say where or when the missiles were used.
Zelensky admitted in the briefing that Ukraine’s remaining supplies of European long-range missiles are running low. Kyiv has the British Storm Shadows in “normal quantities” and “a smaller number” of French long-range SCALPs.
UPDATE 1532 GMT:
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky says Ukrainian and European officials will meet on Friday or Saturday to discuss halting the Russian invasion.
“It is not a plan to end the war. First of all, a ceasefire is needed,” Zelensky told reporters. “This is a plan to begin diplomacy.”
UPDATE 1527 GMT:
European Commission spokesperson Paula Pinho says discussions are ongoing about a €140 billion “reparations loans”, based on frozen Russian assets, to Ukraine.
Thee EU “listened to what are the concerns expressed at the leaders’ level,” and is “looking into these questions, concerns, and making sure that we can come forward with something which is reassuring”, declared Pinho.
There are a number of principles that have been reiterated, also by the President [Ursula von der Leyen herself, in terms of…respecting international law, this is absolutely critical….
We are looking into it and making sure that we address the concerns that were raised and the questions that were raised, notably by the Belgian Prime Minister last week.
UPDATE 0857 GMT:
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky says Kyiv needs European financial support to continue resistance of the Russian invasion for another two or three years.
“I emphasized this again to all European leaders. I told them that we are not going to fight for decades, but you must show that for some time you will be able to provide stable financial support to Ukraine,” Zelensky said.
A European Commission proposal for a €140 billion “reparations loan”, drawn from frozen Russian assets, was held up at the European Union summit last week, because of Belgian opposition.
Belgium’s Euroclear holds the Russian assets, and Brussels fears the consequences of a legal challenge to the loan. Prime Minister Bart de Wever meets NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte later today.
At the Nordic Council meeting today, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the measure is “an important step forward” which is “legally sound”.
We’re in for the long haul. We are ready to cover the financing needs of Ukraine, so that we are standing by Ukraine for as long as it takes.
Sweden’s Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, Denmark’s Mette Frederiksen, and Finland’s Petteri Orpo said they “strongly agree” with the Commission’s proposal.
Orpo said, “We have to continue to support Ukraine, we have to find a solution so we can finance their fight…and I see that only reasonable solution is to use Russian frozen assets.”
Zelensky urged Donald Trump to press Chinese leader Xi Jinping to cut his support for Russia during their meeting in South Korea this week: “I think this may be one of [Trump’s] strong moves, especially if, following this decisive sanctions step, China is ready to reduce [Russian] imports.”
The President said Ukraine is ready for peace talks anywhere besides Russia and Belarus. He emphasized that Ukrainian forces will “take no steps back” or cede territory.
UPDATE 0649 GMT:
At least one civilian was murdered and six wounded in the Kherson region in southern Ukraine by Russian attacks on Monday.
Russian forces used drones, artillery, and warplanes in assaults on 25 settlements. Damage was reported to a multi-story building, six private houses, outbuildings, a private garage, and vehicles.
UPDATE 0639 GMT:
Finland Defense Minister Antti Häkkänen says the defeat of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is critical to restraining China in the Indo-Pacific.
Häkkänen told Guardian Australia:
China is watching. Does the West have a muscle and resilience, when the autocrats and dictators think they can wage war for another year, and the democratic countries will become fed up?
No. We have to show that we are even more putting stronger support against violence. It’s not only on Ukraine. It’s against violence, against war, and that’s a signal also for China and the Indo-Pacific area.
The Defense Minister said the defeat of the Russian invasion in Ukraine requires tougher sanctions on Moscow’s economy and energy exports; more military assistance to Kyiv; and the use of long-range weapons to destroy Russian factories for drones and missiles.
UPDATE 0554 GMT:
Russia’s Lukoil is selling its foreign assets after the imposition of US sanctions last week.
The American measures, announced after the Kremlin maintained its demands for more Ukrainian territory and its deadly attacks on civilians, targeted Russia’s State firm Gazprom, the privately-owned Lukoil, and 34 of their foreign subsidiaries.
“PJSC Lukoil informs that owing to introduction of restrictive measures against the company and its subsidiaries by some states, the company announces its intention to sell its international assets,” the company said in a statement on its website.
Lukoil said it is currently reviewing bids from potential buyers. Among its six subsidiaries is Lukoil-Western Siberia, which accounts for around 40% of Russia’s hydrocarbon production.
ORIGINAL ENTRY: A UN investigation has concluded that Russia, in a “crime against humanity”, is using drones to chase and drop bombs on civilians who live near the frontline in Ukraine.
The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine documents how civilians, seeking shelter, are pursued for long distances by drones with cameras and then attacked.
The 17-page report is based on interviews with 226 people, including victims, witnesses, aid workers and local authorities, and around 500 verified videos. The attacks have occurred in the Kherson, Dnipropetrovsk, and Mykolaiv regions in southern Ukraine over more than a year.
Between July and October 2024, at least 24 civilians were murdered and more than 400 injured in the Kherson region alone.
The investigators emphasized that the attacks are systematic, targeting individuals, first responders including ambulances and fire brigades, houses and buildings, humanitarian distribution points, and critical energy infrastructure.
Many of the attacks struck the same vehicles and infrastructure repeatedly, deliberately setting them on fire, spreading terror among the civilian population and violating their fundamental human rights….
These attacks were committed as part of a coordinated policy to drive out civilians from those territories and amount to the crime against humanity of forcible transfer of population.
