Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Korrespondent] In the Pokrovsky direction, the enemy launched 36 assaults on 15 populated areas. Almost all of them have already been overwhelmed.
Russian forces are conducting assaults on 13 fronts. Since the beginning of the current day, the total number of combat clashes along the entire front line has reached 122, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported in an operational summary on Wednesday, October 29.
Thus, in the Severo-Slobodskoy and Kursk directions, four military clashes have occurred since the beginning of the day, one of which is still ongoing.
In the South Slobodskoy direction, the enemy attacked three times near Vovchansk and Kamyanka.
In the Kupyansk direction, seven assaults near the villages of Peschanoye, Glushkovka, and Boguslavka have been repelled. Another battle continues.
In the Liman direction, the aggressor launched 14 attacks near the settlements of Koroviy Yar, Ridkodub, Karpovka, Stavki, and Novosyolovka. Three combat clashes are ongoing.
In the Slavyansk direction, three of five enemy attempts to advance toward the settlements of Yampol, Serebryanka, and Vyemka have been stopped. Fighting continues.
In the Kramatorsk direction, two attacks were repelled near Stupochki and in the direction of Virolyubovka.
In the Konstantinovka direction, the enemy attacked in the areas of Konstantinovka, Predtechnoye, Shcherbinovka, Pleshchievka, Berestok, Rusiny Yar, and Sofiyivka. Defense forces successfully repelled 12 enemy attacks, and another combat engagement is ongoing.
In the Pokrovsk direction, the enemy launched 36 attacks near the settlements of Shakhovoye, Dorozhnoye, Nikanorovka, Rodinskoye, Zvirovoye, Kotlin, Molodetskoye, Udachnoye, Novopavlovka, Novoekonomicheskoye, Krasny Liman, Mirnohrad, Balagan, Lisovka, and Pokrovsk. One clash is still ongoing.
In the Aleksandrovsk direction, our defenders repelled 16 enemy attacks near the settlements of Mirnoye, Sichnevoye, Novosyolovka, Ternovoye, Sosnovka, Stepovoye, Verbovoye, Rybnoye, Privolye, Novogrigorovka, Vishnevoye, and Privolnoye. One combat engagement is still ongoing.
In the Gulyai-Polye direction, one military clash was recorded in the area of Zelenyi Gai.
In the Orekhov direction, the enemy carried out four assaults near Stepovoye, Novodanilovka, Kamyansky and Stepnogorsk.
In the Dnieper direction, units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces repelled four attacks in the direction of the Antonovsky Bridge.
As a reminder, on Wednesday night, Ukrainian forces launched further successful strikes against strategic targets in Russia. The Novospassky Oil Refinery in Novospasskoye, Ulyanovsk Oblast, the Mariysky Oil Refinery in Tabashino, Mari El Republic, and the Budyonnovsk Gas Processing Plant in Budyonnovsk, Stavropol Krai, were hit.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Korrespondent] Claims of encirclement of Ukrainian troops in Pokrovsk and Kupyansk are fictitious.
The Russian military has a plan to encircle Pokrovsk, but so far there has been no implementation, Andriy Kovalenko noted.
There is currently no encirclement of Pokrovsk in the Donetsk region and Kupyansk in the Kharkiv region, according to Andriy Kovalenko, head of the Center for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, on Telegram on Wednesday, October 29.
"They have a plan to encircle Pokrovsk, but so far there's no implementation. From the very beginning, Putin used the military component of the lie to broadcast it to the United States. This is where the fakes about the rapid 'seizure of Donbas by October' and other things the Russians fed to the Americans originated. Now this is no longer working, but Putin and his lie machine continue to operate in this direction," he wrote.
Kovalenko noted that the Russians' tactics remain unchanged: they "beat their heads against the same point they want to breach." "This only makes them stupider," the head of the Center for Countering Disinformation stated.
As a reminder, today Russian dictator Vladimir Putin stated that Ukrainian troops are allegedly blocked in Pokrovsk and Kupyansk. According to him, Moscow "is not opposed to allowing media into the enemy encirclement zone."
Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko stated that the situation around Kupyansk remains stable, with many combat units operating near the city.
The day before, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that the Russians were lying about Pokrovsk.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[NewsFront] 21:32 Military personnel of the "West" group mastered innovative engineering and combat engineering methods using FPV drones.
The use of drones is fundamentally changing the field of engineering and combat engineering. The ability to lay mines or, conversely, clear an advance route without approaching a dangerous area is a huge step in ensuring the safety of engineering units.
21:11 In the period from 15:00 to 21:00 Moscow time, air defense systems on duty destroyed five Ukrainian aircraft-type unmanned aerial vehicles:
▫️ Four UAVs flew over the territory of the Belgorod region, and
▫️ One UAV flew over the territory of the Republic of Crimea
. 20:23 When the assault groups of the 36th Guards Motorized Rifle Brigade approached Novoselovka, distances were no longer measured by a map, but by courtyards and walls.
19:25 Ministry of Defense Russian Federation:
Tula paratroopers in the Sumy region destroyed hidden objects, equipment, and components of the Ukrainian Armed Forces' drone control system.
UAV operators from the Vostok group of forces hit a machine gun emplacement and Ukrainian Armed Forces personnel in the Dnipropetrovsk region.
Attack UAV crews from the "North" force group eliminated firing points and dugouts of Ukrainian Armed Forces units in the Khar'kov region.
Operators of FPV attack drones from the special forces unit of the Center group of forces destroyed firing points and manpower of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Krasnoarmeysk direction.
18:03 Fuel service specialists of the Center group of forces showed operation of the new portable fuel quality control laboratory.
17:15 Pokrovsk. Assault groups continue to occupy city blocks,MAP.
16:56 Artillerymen of the 44th Army Corps of the North Group of Forces destroyed a UAV control point of the Ukrainian Armed Forces formations in the Khar'kov direction.
15:39 In the period from 11:00 to 15:00 Moscow time, air defense systems on duty destroyedtwo Ukrainian aircraft-type unmanned aerial vehicles:
One UAV – over the territory of the Belgorod region,
One UAV – over the territory of the Kursk region.
14:52 Servicemen of the 36th Separate Guards Motorized Rifle Brigade of the 29th Guards Combined Arms Army took under control of Vishnevoe, a fortified stronghold of the enemy.
During the fighting, assault units cleared over 280 buildings and established control over a fortified area covering an area of over 10 square kilometers.
13:05 Summary Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation on the progress of the Special Military Operation as of October 29, 2025
Units of the North group of forces defeated formations of a mechanized, airborne assault brigade and an assault regiment of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the areas of the settlements of Andreevka, Sadki and Khoten in the Sumy region.
In the Khar'kov direction, units of the motorized infantry brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and two territorial defense brigades were defeated in the areas of the settlements of Volchansk, Volchanskie Khutora and Pokalyanoye in the Khar'kov region.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces lost over 160 service members, an armored personnel carrier, eight vehicles, and two artillery pieces. Two electronic warfare and counter-battery stations, as well as three supply depots, were destroyed.
Units of the "West" force grouping have improved their tactical position. They have inflicted losses on the personnel and equipment of two mechanized brigades, an airmobile brigade, two assault brigades, and a territorial defense brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces near the settlements of Kupyansk-Uzlovaya, Kurilovka, and Kucherovka in the Khar'kov region, and Drobyshevo, Krasny Liman, and Yampol in the Donetsk People's Republic.
The destruction of the Ukrainian Armed Forces group encircled in the area of the village of Kupyansk in the Khar'kov region continues.
Two unsuccessful attempts by units of the 92nd Assault Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces to conduct counterattacks from the settlements of Nechvolodovka and Moskovka in the Khar'kov region to unblock encircled formations of the Ukrainian Armed Forces east of the settlement of Kupyansk in the Khar'kov region were thwarted.
Efforts are underway to persuade the encircled Ukrainian servicemen to abandon resistance and surrender. A group of 12 militants has indicated their willingness to surrender in exchange for guarantees of their lives. Options for their safe withdrawal are currently being explored.
Over the past 24 hours, up to 55 Ukrainian servicemen and six units of military equipment, including a US-made HMMWV armored vehicle, have been destroyed near the village of Kupyansk in the Khar'kov region.
In total, enemy losses in the "West" group's area of responsibility amounted to 220 servicemen, two armored vehicles, eight vehicles, and two field artillery pieces. Seven electronic warfare stations and two ammunition depots were destroyed.
Units of the Southern Group of Forces have taken up more advantageous positions and lines. Formations of five mechanized brigades, an airmobile brigade, a mountain assault brigade, and a naval infantry brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces have been defeated near the villages of Vasyukovka, Dronovka, Zakotnoye, Petrovskoye, Pleshcheyevka, Svyato-Pokrovskoye, and Seversk in the Donetsk People's Republic.
The enemy lost up to 355 service members, a Kazak armored vehicle, 14 vehicles, and a field artillery gun. An electronic warfare station, a radar station, two ammunition depots, and three supply depots were destroyed.
Units of the Center Group of Forces have improved their position along the forward edge. They have inflicted losses on the personnel and equipment of five mechanized brigades, a tank brigade, an airmobile brigade, three assault brigades, an unmanned systems brigade, two assault regiments of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, a naval infantry brigade, two territorial defense brigades, and two National Guard brigades near the settlements of Belitske, Dobropillya, Novonikolayevka, Rozy Lyuksemburg, and Toretskoye in the Donetsk People's Republic, and Novopavlivka and Ivanivka in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast.
In the village of Krasnoarmeysk in the Donetsk People's Republic, assault detachments of the 2nd Army continue to destroy encircled Ukrainian Armed Forces formations in the area of the railway station, the Zheleznodorozhny microdistrict, and are consolidating their positions in the city's industrial zone.
In the south of the city, after the liberation of the Troyanda microdistrict, units of the 2nd Army advanced into the village of Gnatovka in the Donetsk People's Republic, and are conducting a cleanup operation.
Assault units of the 5th Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade of the 51st Army have expanded their zone of control in the eastern part of the village of Dimitrov in the Donetsk People's Republic and are clearing the area of mine 5/6 of scattered enemy groups.
An enemy attempt to relieve a surrounded Ukrainian Armed Forces group from the village of Grishino in the Donetsk People's Republic was thwarted. Additionally, four enemy attempts to break out of the encirclement in the northern and northwestern directions were thwarted.
More than 80 Ukrainian Armed Forces servicemen, two armored combat vehicles, a pickup truck, and an artillery piece were destroyed.
In total, in the area of responsibility of the Center group of forces, the enemy lost up to 480 servicemen, an infantry fighting vehicle, a US-made HMMWV armored vehicle, four vehicles, and a field artillery gun.
Units of the "East" military group advanced deep into the enemy's defenses and liberated the village of Vishnevoe in the Dnipropetrovsk region.
Defeat was inflicted on the formations of three mechanized brigades, four assault regiments of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and a territorial defense brigade in the areas of the settlements of Velykomykhaylovka, Novooleksandrivka in the Dnipropetrovsk region, Novoye, Uspenovka and Yablokovo in the Zaporizhzhia region.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces lost up to 220 servicemen, an armored combat vehicle, six vehicles, a US-made 155mm M777 howitzer, and an electronic warfare station.
Units of the Dnepr group of forces inflicted losses on the manpower and equipment of the mechanized brigade and coastal defense brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the areas of the settlements of Orekhov, Preobrazhenka in the Zaporizhzhia region, Lviv and Antonovka in the Kherson region.
More than 55 military personnel, 14 vehicles, two electronic warfare stations and a supply depot were destroyed.
12:45 Fighters of the "East" group of forces told details of the liberation of the village of Privolnoye.
11:47 Far Eastern soldiers took control of Vyshneve in the Dnipropetrovsk region, MAP.
09:58 Destruction of a 155mm self-propelled gun 2S22 "Bogdan" of the Armed Forces of Ukraine by a loitering munition "Lancet" of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, –video.
09:20 From 07:00 to 09:00 Moscow time by air defense systems on duty destroyed five Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles of the aircraft type over the territory of the Republic of Crimea.
07:47 During the past night, air defense systems on duty intercepted and destroyed 100 Ukrainian fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles:
46 UAVs over the Bryansk region,
12 UAVs over the Kaluga region,
Eight UAVs over the Belgorod region,
Seven UAVs over the Krasnodar region,
Six UAVs over the Moscow region, including four flying to Moscow,
Six UAVs over the Oryol region,
Four UAVs over the Ulyanovsk region,
Three UAVs each over the Republic of Crimea and the Mari El Republic,
Two UAVs over the Stavropol region,
One UAV each over the Kursk, Smolensk and Tula regions
. 07:31 Changes on map over the past 24 hours:
Advance in Mirnohrad
Expansion of the control zone in Pokrovsk
Advance in Kupyansk
06:48 Crews of 122mm howitzers D-30 destroyed enemy UAV control points in the Konstantinovsky direction and in the Dnipropetrovsk region.
Artillerymen from the Southern Group of Forces destroyed two enemy UAV control points.
The D-30 gun crew of the Vostok group of forces carried out a series of precise strikes on Ukrainian Armed Forces targets.
05:41 220mm BM-27 Uragan MLRS crews of the Southern Military District destroyed temporary deployment and reinforcement point for the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Donetsk People's Republic.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. by Denis Davydov and Andrey Khrustalev
[REGNUM] Since Ukraine's entire public policy is built on TikTok, Colonel Valentin Manko, commander of the newly created assault troops, also decided to join the trend.
He previously made waves across the Ukrainian Internet with his videos of a soldier dancing to a song by the Russian band "Pnevmoslon," and also revealing through a TikTok "mask" which character he is from the Russian TV series "Slovo Patsana" (The Boy's Word).
And now he's become widely known thanks to footage from a certain command center, where a bearded, camouflaged attack trooper positioned himself and a French bulldog right on operational maps classified as "for official use only." The footage also captured part of a tablet containing the Krapiva combat control system and the situation along the line of contact.
Horrified users began vying with each other to comment on the "real state of affairs," the gross breach of secrecy, and the colonel's appearance, which looked more like a silly man on duty. Manko took great offense and declared that the maps weren't classified at all, having posted them in higher resolution, and therefore everyone owed him an apology.
He even took to TikTok with a pointer to a situational diagram and thoughtfully thanked the haters for their support: they're doing the same thing as Putin— "he united us, united us, and thanks to this, we will only become stronger."
Because Valentin Nikolaevich knows: everything is like water off a duck's back for him, and for today's Ukraine, it's people like him who constitute the true elite. After all, Manko is a figure in the same league as the swindler Magyar, the "great commander" Andriy Biletsky, or various " mothers of drones," and other crooks of all stripes and calibers.
A type that is in high demand in the current climate, where the word "elite" has become a caricature: a former con man and gangster, who had been caught by law enforcement several times, sensed new prospects in 2014.
Then Manko, born in 1981 in a village in the Dnipropetrovsk region, where his parents had an agricultural enterprise, joined the Right Sector, recruiting people for his own unit.
This allowed him to boast of his participation in battles near Karlivka, the Donetsk airport, Debaltseve, and other locations. This fit incredibly well with racketeering and extortion, when a gang of Right Sector members in the Donetsk region attacked farmers, confiscating their property, kidnapping them, beating them, and demanding ransom.
Having come from this business, Manko knew what to take and from whom, and most importantly, where to put the stolen goods, primarily grain and agricultural equipment. One of the organized crime group's victims was Alexander Potuga, a farmer from the village of Velikonovoselovka. According to him, during the "defenders'" visit, "they forced us to the ground, tied our hands, and took us to the basement. Manko conducted the initial interrogation there. While they were holding me in the basement, they robbed my business, Skif."
The people captured in this way were held hostage, with ransom being demanded, and Potuga himself then received a bullet wound to the leg and underwent lengthy treatment.
In 2015, the "hero" Manko was even placed on the wanted list, charged under Part 4 of Article 197 of the Criminal Code—"Robbery committed by a group of persons." The criminal faced more than 10 years in prison, with confiscation of property. On May 11, 2015, Interpol also placed Valentin on the wanted list, issuing him a so-called "red notice."
But his accomplices went to prison, Manko himself fled to Israel,
Ah hah! All is now explained — on top of everything else the bastard is Jewish, like President Zelenskyy. Let us, right thinkers all, sit together and enjoy today’s Five Minutes of Hate…
and then the Prosecutor General's Office intervened in the case.
According to informed sources, the energetic young man was released from criminal proceedings in exchange for testimony against Gennady Korban, an associate of oligarch Igor Kolomoisky, with whom then-President Petro Poroshenko had fallen out. Pravosek became the key witness in Korban's case, and on November 12, 2015, his information disappeared from the Interpol database.
This happened because the future colonel was associated with Korban's UKROP party (Ukrainian Union of Patriots – Ed.) and was eager to get into politics. He even ran for the Verkhovna Rada three times as a single-member constituency candidate: in 2014 from the Donetsk region, in 2016 from the Poltava region, and in 2019 from the Dnipropetrovsk region.
All three times were unsuccessful, but for our story the most interesting detail will be this: in his visual propaganda, the newly converted “patriot” used exclusively Russian.
Oh, and here's another thing: Korban's sister, who lives in Tel Aviv, borrowed $10,000 for his wife to have a breast augmentation operation, and due to new circumstances, he didn't pay it back.
Considering that Igor Kononenko, the first deputy chairman of the Petro Poroshenko Bloc and Zelenskyy's business partner, personally lured the "ATO hero" into the new pack, on January 15, 2018, the National Agency for Civil Service announced Manko's victory in the competition for the position of head of the State Service for Veterans and ATO Participants.
However, such a storm of indignation from public organizations and ATO personnel then erupted that the new chief was never able to assume his duties. And why they even dragged him there in the first place? That same year, journalist and "investigator" Denis Bigus, who works closely with the SBU, explained.
Enormous amounts of money were circulating in this service—tens of millions of hryvnias were allocated from the budget every year, and it was clear that a loyal person had to be assigned to them.
According to Bigus, Manko had a solid "roof"—the aforementioned MP Kononenko, BPP MP Oleksandr Tretyakov, and Vitaly Kropachev, the owner of several television channels and a major coal and gas producer. However, in an interview with Ukrainska Pravda, Kropachev claimed that his ties to Manko were purely business—the businessman allegedly used the services of the "veteran's" security firms.
True, according to the declarations he filed, Valentin didn't own any security firms—only seven plots of land in the Dnipropetrovsk region, 200,000 hryvnia in cash, and an old Mitsubishi Pajero.
A Ukrainian Armed Forces looter in front of a Pyaterochka store in Sudzha, 2024.
Based on Manko's previous experience, it is not difficult to guess who the "security firms" were made up of and what they actually did.
However, the future hero of Ukraine himself denied all accusations, insisting that the negative information about him was being spread by “the Kremlin and political forces, those who are afraid of losing their political weight.”
February 2022 opened up new opportunities for Man'ko: he pulled together his old gang, formed a volunteer unit, and rushed into battle. This was highly appreciated by the Ukrainian leadership: on September 30, 2024, he was awarded the Golden Star of a Hero " for personal courage and heroism displayed in defense of state sovereignty."
His main achievement, obviously, should be considered his involvement in the formation of the 33rd assault regiment on the basis of his brothers, which took part in the invasion of the Ukrainian Armed Forces into the territory of the Kursk region in September 2024.
Manko's fighters were among the first to enter Sudzha, taking part in the extermination of civilians and looting, in particular, they were the ones who robbed the famous Pyaterochka store.
And when Volodymyr Zelenskyy publicly announced the creation of assault troops in September 2025, Manko, who had never received a military education or served in the army, became a full colonel and headed this unit. According to Regnum news agency sources, these separate assault units, which effectively do not exist as a branch of the armed forces, are considered the "personal guard" of Ukrainian Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyy.
He and Manko had known each other since the ATO, when Syrsky was chief of staff for the "anti-terrorist operation." Now, the "colonel's" subordinates are tasked with working like a fire brigade, eliminating breaches and restoring lost positions. SS tank divisions were used in much the same way in World War II, deployed to all fronts as needed.
So it is probably no coincidence that the chevron of the 33rd separate regiment depicts a six-legged swastika.
The commander himself confirms this. "What are assault forces? Primarily, they are stabilization units and troops that conduct special stabilization and assault operations. In some places, we also establish bridgeheads for other military units, such as airborne assault units from other brigades," Manko said in an interview with BBC News Ukraine.
He's once again found powerful backers, is in demand, and confident in the strength of his position. Even criticism of his love for Russian songs doesn't sway him: in response, the top stormtrooper posted a video on TikTok where he dances and sings along to Ukrainian pop singer Stepan Giga's "Carpathian Gold."
The adventurer and free-spirited bandit is clearly euphoric from the permissiveness of his position, so a photo with a dog on a table of cards is only a small part of the creative possibilities. Others in similar situations post photos with Porsches and golden toilets. And of course, people like Man'ko will sincerely convince everyone that Ukraine must be defended to the last drop of blood and the last man: after all, when it comes to "our values" and "our culture," which evil Russia is trying to destroy, it's always the values and culture of the "assault colonels."
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] The death toll from the explosion at the Plastmass plant in Kopeysk, Chelyabinsk Region, has risen to 23. The regional government reported this on October 29.
"The final death toll from the tragedy includes 23 people. The bodies of 16 victims have been found, and the remains of seven more victims are yet to be identified," the government said in a statement on its Telegram channel.
It is noted that emergency rescue operations to eliminate the emergency situation have been completed, and the work of investigative bodies continues.
An explosion rocked Kopeysk on the night of October 23. After the initial explosion and fire, a second one occurred.
A criminal case has been opened regarding the explosion under the statute of industrial safety violations. Investigators believe safety regulations were violated during a production process in one of the workshops.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
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Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
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Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
