Worth noting, korrespondent.net has compiled its Invasion of Ukraine series into separate months, beginning May 9th, 2023. Linked in the title.
[Korrespondent] 22:29 Russia still retains offensive capabilities and could achieve “certain tactical successes” in the coming months, said John Kirby, coordinator of the White House National Security Council.
21:12 Zaluzhny said that he held a meeting in large format with the Supreme Allied Commander of NATO Armed Forces in Europe, the commander of the US Armed Forces in Europe, Christopher Cavoli, and the Chief of the British Defense Staff, Tony Radakin. We discussed the situation on the battlefield, offensive and defensive operations, and the current needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine for shells, drones and military equipment. We separately discussed the key issues of strengthening air defense and covering critical infrastructure facilities in the autumn-winter period.
20:00 The United States is providing Ukraine with a new aid package worth $150 million , Secretary of State Antony Blinken said. It will, in particular, include additional ammunition for NASAMS and HIMARS, AIM-9M air defense missiles and shells.
19:56 Denmark announced the provision of another aid package to Ukraine worth more than $500 million. It will include T-72EA tanks, BMP-2 tanks, engineering recovery vehicles, artillery ammunition and drones, the country’s Ministry of Defense reported.
19:25 The Ministry of Infrastructure claims that the ports of Greater Odessa continue to process ships that have passed through the temporary corridor, and information about the cancellation or stop of the temporary corridor is not true. All existing routes established by the Ukrainian Navy are valid and used by civilian vessels. Currently, 23 vessels are being loaded in the ports of Odessa, Chernomorsk and Yuzhny.
In total, 51 vessels used the entry corridor, 33 vessels exported more than 1.3 million tons of Ukrainian agricultural products and other cargo.
18:02 Ukraine should receive new missiles with a range of 300 km and a warhead weight of 100 kg already in January, Voice of America journalist Miroslava Gongadze reports, citing a representative of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Sources also said that following the meeting between the Ukrainian military command and the allied command, the pace of arms supplies to Ukraine will not decrease.
17:03 The grain corridor in the Black Sea is currently not working due to the activity of Russian aviation, said Natalya Gumenyuk, speaker of the Southern Defense Forces. According to her, two days ago Russian aviation dropped 35 unknown weapons along the route of the ships. "Today they dropped four more unknown devices in an apparent attempt to harm civilian shipping and discredit the Ukrainian Defense Forces," she added.
16:29 The Russian army launched an airstrike on the Berislavsky district of the Kherson region. One of the air bombs hit near the cafe, one person was killed, information about other victims is being clarified, the prosecutor's office said. In addition, according to OVA, the Russians attacked the Korabelny district of Kherson with a drone, and a policeman was injured.
16:22 Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said that North Korea transferred 350 thousand shells to Russia, while the EU supplied Ukraine with only 300 thousand out of the promised million.
16:03 Orban said that he wants to hold negotiations with Ukraine in Budapest to lift the veto on EU military aid worth 500 million euros: “We are waiting for the Ukrainian delegation to arrive in Budapest to negotiate on this. We are open and ready to negotiate.”
The Hungarian prime minister also emphasized that he does not plan to apologize for the meeting with Putin in Beijing and is proud of his strategy: “We have a very clear policy in this regard, which differs from the strategy of many others here. You have a war strategy, we have a peace strategy. And "We want to do everything to ensure there is peace. Therefore, we support all channels of communication with Russia, otherwise there will be no chance for peace. This is our strategy, and we are proud of it. We are the only ones who speak on behalf and for the sake of peace."
15:18 The Russians fired artillery at the village of Pozhnya, Sumy region, killing a 16-year-old teenager, the Ministry of Internal Affairs reported.
15:07 Zelensky said that he held a meeting of the military cabinet in a special format: “Personal presence of all commanders on the ground: Syrsky, Tarnovsky, Gnatov, Moskalev, Sodol. Their detailed reports on their areas, defensive and offensive actions, special tasks. Frank conversation on the most important topics. Reports by Commander-in-Chief Zaluzhny, Minister Umerov, Head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Moscow Region Budanov and Head of the SBU Malyuk. A plan of further actions with specific deadlines and calculations, supported by supplies from our partners and our own production. Increasing the capabilities of our defense industry."
14:36 Zelensky said that he had a telephone conversation with Danish Prime Minister Matte Frederiksen - thanked him for his help, and also “stated the importance of further long-term macroeconomic support for Ukraine.”
13:49 During two weeks of offensive operations in the area of Avdeevka and Maryinka, the Russian army lost up to 5,000 military personnel killed and wounded, and up to 400 armored vehicles were also destroyed, said Alexander Shtupun, spokesman for the Tauride Defense Forces.
12:54 Peskov called reports of arms supplies from the DPRK to Russia “groundless.” At the same time, he added that Moscow will continue to develop relations with Pyongyang “in all areas.”
12:08 The new Prime Minister of Slovakia Robert Fico confirmed that he will not support military assistance to Ukraine: “It’s better to negotiate peace for ten years than to kill each other for ten years without results.” He also said that Slovakia stands for peace in Ukraine, but “Russia and the United States must agree.” According to Fico, the EU “from a supplier of weapons to Ukraine must turn into a peacemaker.”
10:49 South Korea, Japan and the United States in a joint statement condemned the supply of weapons and military equipment from North Korea to Russia. They also said they had confirmation of "several" such shipments. The statement says that the DPRK requires military assistance from the Russian Federation to strengthen its own military capabilities in exchange for armed support.
10:12 In the Belgorod region of the Russian Federation, in the village of Tishanka, Volokonovsky district, ammunition was dropped from a UAV; as a result of the attack, an infrastructure communications facility was damaged, said Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov.
09:58 In Berdyansk, Zaporozhye region, on October 23, a car in which there were four representatives of the FSB of the Russian Federation was blown up. According to the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense, representatives of the Ukrainian resistance movement carried out an “action of retaliation” on Michurina Street, near the Jasmin Guest-House hotel, where FSB officers were located. Among those eliminated is a Russian war criminal who brutally tortured local residents.
After the car bombing, the Gauleiter of the temporarily occupied territories of the Zaporozhye region, Yevgeny Balitsky, ordered the extension of the curfew, which is now in effect from 21:00 to 05:00, and representatives of the Russian special services urgently left the hotel.
08:57 On the evening of October 25, the Russians shelled the village. Podol of the Kupyansky district of the Kharkov region, one person was injured, said the head of the OVA Oleg Sinegubov.
08:46 The European Union is disrupting its own plans to provide Ukraine with a million artillery shells by March 2024, Bloomberg writes. So, more than half of the planned period has already passed, but the plan has only been completed by 30%. Based on the volume of contracts signed to date, the EU risks not achieving its target.
08:22 The General Staff announced the estimated losses of the Russian Federation as of the morning of October 26:
- personnel - about 297,120 (+810) people,
- tanks - 5141 (+29),
- armored combat vehicles - 9715 (+18),
- artillery systems - 7155 (+30),
- MLRS - 834 (+1),
- air defense systems - 556 (+2),
- aircraft - 320 (+0),
- helicopters - 324 (+0),
- UAV of operational-tactical level - 5389 (+17),
- cruise missiles - 1538 (+0),
- ships/boats - 20 (+0),
- submarines - 1 (+0),
- automotive equipment and tank trucks - 9507 (+33),
- special equipment - 1010 (+3).
07:35 In the Avdeevka direction, the enemy is not abandoning attempts to encircle Avdeevka, the General Staff reported in its morning report . Defense forces repelled attacks in the areas of Stepnoy, Avdeevka, Tonenkoye, and Northern Donetsk region. In the Kupyansk direction, the Ukrainian Armed Forces repelled enemy attacks in the Sinkovka, Petropavlovka, and Ivanovka areas of the Kharkov region.
In total, 78 military clashes took place at the front over the past 24 hours. In the Liman direction, the Defense Forces repelled enemy attacks near Nadezhda and Makeevka, Lugansk region; on Bakhmutsky - in the districts of Bogdanovka, Ivanovsky, Kleshcheevka, Andreevka of the Donetsk region; on Maryinsky - in the Marinka and Novomikhailovka districts of the Donetsk region; in Shakhtarsky and Zaporozhye - in the districts of Vodyanoy, Novoukrainka, Staromayorsky, Donetsk region and Verbovoy, Zaporozhye region.
At the same time, the Defense Forces continue their offensive in the Melitopol direction and assault operations south of Bakhmut, Donetsk region.
06:12 The American Institute for the Study of War (ISW) has calculated that in the battles for Avdiivka from October 10 to October 20, the Russian military lost at least 109 pieces of equipment. Experts made such conclusions based on an analysis of satellite images provided by a Ukrainian reserve officer. The majority of Russian losses are armored combat vehicles, armored personnel carriers, and vehicles.
The Ukrainian officer who provided the images also stated that the losses of Russian equipment in the Avdeevka area exceeded the Russian losses during the unsuccessful crossing of the Seversky Donets in May 2022 and will likely exceed the losses in the Ugledar area between November 2022 and April 2023.
ISW also added that two other independent sources estimate the losses of Russian forces near Avdievka at approximately 200 military vehicles.
03:20 Australia will deploy a Royal Air Force E-7A Wedgetail aircraft in Germany, which will protect the international flow of aid to Ukraine. It begins work this week, the leaders of the United States and Australia said in a joint statement. The deployment of the Australian contingent is expected to strengthen the multi-layered defense of the international flow of aid to Ukraine and provide early warning of the threat.
02:54 Newly elected Speaker of the US House of Representatives Mike Johnson said he would agree to vote on a bill to increase aid to Ukraine “under certain conditions”: “We will have conditions on this, so we are working on it. We want accountability and we want so that the White House has clear goals. And we're going to have those discussions." At the same time, Johnson expressed confidence that “this will be very productive.”
00:06 The G7 countries will announce a mechanism for limiting the import of Russian diamonds until the end of October, after which the European Union will immediately finalize proposals for the 12th package of sanctions against Russia, Reuters reports, citing sources.