Dispatches from Ukraine. Day 957.
Regional. Kherson region. On October 7, Russian forces launched an airstrike on the city of Kherson, dropping four glide bombs on the area. The attack struck an already previously destroyed school, and a residential district in the city’s central neighborhood, wounding 23 people, including two children.
Donetsk region. Three Russian guided bombs struck Kostyantynivka on October 6, killing one person and wounding two others. Other recent Russian attacks killed four and wounded 19 civilians in Kostyantynivka and elsewhere in the region.
Sumy region. Russian forces launched a drone strike on a residential area in Sumy, wounding four people, including a child, on October 7. Later that day, Russian artillery fire targeted the Konotop district, resulting in the deaths of two people.
Kharkiv region. The same day, Russian forces launched multiple attacks across the region, killing one person and wounding seven others. Just two days earlier, the region marked the anniversary of a deadly Russian strike one year ago on the small village of Hroza, which killed 59 people, 20% of the population.
Khmelnytskyi region. A Russian Kinzhal aero-ballistic missile on October 7 struck one of Ukraine’s key military airfields in Starokostiantyniv, located in the western part of the country. Although the Kremlin claims that the Kinzhal is “impossible to shoot down,” Ukrainian air defenses first intercepted the missile in May, 2023, and shot down two others in the attack on the airfields. Nonetheless, since August 2024, Russia has launched 119 Kinzhal missiles against Ukraine, most of which have evaded interceptors and struck civilian targets. So far, only the U.S. Patriot air defense system has been capable of destroying them.
Ukrainian forces on October 7 struck an important maritime oil terminal in the city of Feodosia in Russian-occupied Crimea. The attack ignited a fire at the facility, which serves as the largest oil product transshipment point in Crimea and has been instrumental in supplying fuel to Russian forces.
National. Dutch Defense Minister Ruben Brekelmans has announced the delivery of the first F-16 fighter jets from the Netherlands to Ukraine, with 24 jets to arrive in the next several months. He also unveiled an almost $450 million joint drone development plan aimed at boosting Ukraine’s reconnaissance and defense capabilities. Brekelmans stressed the urgency of testing and expanding production of drones, which play a pivotal role in modern warfare.
For the first time during the war, a Russian S-70 Okhotnik-B drone was shot down on October 5. Eyewitness accounts of the incident, which occurred in the Donetsk region, suggest, however, that the drone was struck by a missile launched from a Russian jet, which then retreated towards occupied territories. Russian sources claim that operators lost control of the drone and deliberately brought it down in an attempt to prevent Ukrainian forces from recovering it.
The Okhotnik is a cutting-edge combat drone designed for both reconnaissance and strike missions. It has a length of more than 60 feet with a payload capacity of up to seven tons and a top speed of some 550 miles per hour. Given the drone’s advanced technology and capabilities, it is likely that Ukrainian military experts, partnering with Western allies, will carefully dismantle the downed drone for analysis. The Ukrainian Air Force has not commented on the incident.
The Norwegian Government is significantly increasing its support for Ukraine, proposing to raise the Nansen Support Programme’s funding framework to $12.4 billion while extending the program for an additional three years. Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store highlighted the urgent need for military and civilian assistance, with the 2024 allocation totaling $2.5 billion. Since February 2022, Norway has contributed approximately $5 billion to Ukraine. The latest funding aims to strengthen Ukraine’s defense capabilities and sustain critical public services amid ongoing attacks, particularly as the nation faces winter with limited energy supplies.
Russian forces reportedly executed four captured Ukrainian soldiers at the Aggregate Plant in Vovchansk this summer. Supported by information from Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate, which recently captured the site, the incident has led to an investigation into an alleged war crime. Because a potential suspect is currently in Ukrainian custody, any resulting judicial proceedings at least partly could be in person rather than in absentia. Approximately 80% of the documented execution-style murders of Ukrainian soldiers have occurred this year. Resulting investigations so far have identified 93 Ukrainian POWs murdered in this manner.
In September 2024, Russia suffered “record losses” in its war against Ukraine, with daily casualties, killed and wounded, reaching an average of 1,271 soldiers, according to the UK Ministry of Defence. This figure surpasses the previous high of 1,262 daily losses recorded in May, 2024. The Ministry’s experts estimate that Russian losses since the start of the invasion in February, 2022, have exceeded 648,000 personnel and likely will continue at about 1,000 per day as Russia continues her attempts to stretch Ukrainian defenses by leveraging numerical superiority for tactical breakthroughs.
A cyberattack by Ukrainian hackers against Russia’s national television and radio company on October 7 shut down all of its digital media transmissions. Ukraine described the disruption as a “gift” from the hackers to Russian President Vladimir Putin on his 72nd birthday. The attack reportedly wiped servers clean and even destroyed backup data at the company, which provides around-the-clock news reports to Russians.
By Danylo Nosov, Marko Syrovoi, Alan Sacks