Dispatches from Ukraine. Day 951.
Ukraine regional news. Zaporizhia region.
On Tuesday, October 1, the Russian military attacked residential areas and infrastructure facilities in Zaporizhzhia. In the evening, the estimated number of victims raised to 32, including three children aged 9, 10, and 12, with one person confirmed dead.
Russian forces unleashed 10 glide bombs on residential areas in the city of Zaporizhia on September 29, wounding 16 civilians. The region continues to suffer frequent attacks. Two years ago, Russian forces killed 32 people in a strike on convoys of cars near a checkpoint to the occupied territories, the deadliest attack in the region’s recent history.
Sumy region. On the morning of September 28, Russia launched a brutal two-step strike on yet another medical facility, this time in Sumy, killing 10 and wounding 22. As rescue teams responded to the initial hit, Russia struck the site again, killing a police officer. In July, Russian forces attacked Okhmatdyt, one of Eastern Europe’s largest children’s hospitals specializing in cancer treatment.
Kharkiv region. A Russian FPV (first-person view) drone strike on September 28 killed 61-year-old Supreme Court judge Leonid Loboyko in the village of Kozacha Lopan, just two miles from the Russian border, as he was delivering humanitarian aid. Three women in the car were also wounded in the attack. In the past month, Kharkiv has suffered a record number of airstrikes since 2023, with 53 attacks recorded, marking the most intense period of bombardment by Russian forces this year.
Kherson region. On October 1, Russian forces launched a deadly strike on a bus station near an open-air market in the region, killing at least six civilians and wounding six others. The incident follows another strike just two days earlier that killed four civilians and left 10 wounded.
Donetsk region. Russian forces in the Donetsk region reportedly have captured two villages and are close to taking Vuhledar, a hilltop town considered a vital stronghold for Ukraine. Ukrainian troops in the town, which had a pre-war population of 14,000, are surrounded and have been attempting for days to slip away in the face of heavy Russian artillery and drone attacks that have prevented the arrival of reinforcements.
World.
Following recent meetings with U.S. leaders, President Zelenskyy asserts that Ukraine is making progress toward receiving Western approval for long-range strikes into Russian territory. In an interview with Fox News, Zelenskyy expressed optimism about the ongoing discussions, stating that Ukraine has presented a victory plan to U.S. President Joe Biden and also spoke with Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump. “We are closer to obtaining this permission,” he said, emphasizing that the decision now rests with Ukraine’s international partners.
Germany, which also has long-range weapons, currently refuses to provide Ukraine Taurus missiles, which have a range of 300 miles. Although German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock supports Ukraine’s request for these missiles, Chancellor Olaf Scholz remains opposed.
Ukraine has requested such weapons as an essential element in making a breakthrough in the war. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken recently acknowledged that the Biden administration is “closely evaluating” Zelenskyy’s proposed victory plan while considering “additional options” to bolster Ukraine’s efforts against Russian aggression.
Ukrainian president retains ambassador to the U.S. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has declined to discuss the immediate dismissal of Ukraine’s ambassador to the U.S., Oksana Markarova, following a request from U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson. In an interview with Fox News, Zelenskyy said that such discussions can be held only with the speaker of Ukraine’s parliament, not foreign politicians.
Ukraine’s constitution, cited by Zelenskyy in support of his stance, gives the President the authority to appoint or dismiss ambassadors upon the recommendation of the Minister of Foreign Affairs. Johnson called for Markarova’s removal last week for her alleged role in organizing Zelenskyy’s visit to a Pennsylvania munitions plant, where Democratic officials, but no Republican representatives, were present.
Denmark is set to invest nearly $650 million in Ukraine’s military industry, with more than two-thirds of the funding derived from profits from frozen Russian assets. Denmark in April was the first country to commit to allocating almost $30 million for purchasing weapons from Ukrainian manufacturers for Ukraine. Although the national state budget amounts to only $6 billion, the Ukrainian military industry is capable of producing weapons worth $20 billion per year. That is why Ukraine seeks to attract an additional $10 billion for domestic arms procurement through the ZBROYARI program, according to Forbes Ukraine. Several nations, including the Netherlands, Canada, the United Kingdom and Lithuania, as well as the European Union, have joined Denmark in supporting the initiative with contributions of $750 million to the program.
New Russian draft. Russian President Vladmir Putin has ordered the conscription this autumn of 133,000 servicemen. The new troops, aged 18 to 30 years, will serve a standard term of 12 months. According to the head of the national draft service, the latest conscripts will serve only in Russia, not in Ukraine.
National.
In September alone, Russia launched a record-breaking 1,339 long-range Iranian Shahed drones, of which Ukrainian defenses shot down nearly 1,100. Russian forces just last week launched 900 glide bombs, 300 Shahed drones and more than 40 missiles. Russia produces more than 500 Shaheds per month, according to Forbes Ukraine.
The cultural effects of the war have been devastating: Russia has destroyed or damaged nearly 1,000 libraries, leading to the loss of more than 200 million Ukrainian books. On May 23, a Russian missile struck Vivat’s Faktor-Druk printing house, which printed almost 40% of the books in Ukraine, resulting in the deaths of seven workers, injuries to 22 others and approximately 50,000 books burned. Despite the losses, the printing company resumed production in mid- September. During an official visit to the U.S. last week, Ukrainian First Lady Olena Zelenska presented books damaged in the attack, as a symbol of Ukraine’s cultural losses in the war, to the Harvard University library.
Ukrainian artist Petro Antyp has set a new national record with Cosmogony, the largest painting in Ukraine, displayed at the Korsak Museum of Contemporary Ukrainian Art in Lutsk. Spanning more than 215 square feet and consisting of more than 500 pieces, the artwork carries viewers into a universe of existential reflection, symbolizing the birth of stars and galaxies, while raising a question of humanity’s place within the boundless cosmos.
More than a masterpiece of artistic expression, Antyp’s work is a symbol of cultural resilience. Originally from the Donetsk region, the artist was forced to move both in 2014 and eight years later from the small town of Vasylkiv near Kyiv. Following Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, he co-founded SaveCultureUA to protect Ukraine’s cultural heritage, ensuring that the spirit of Ukrainian art will endure even in times of conflict.
By Danylo Nosov, Marko Syrovoi, Alan Sacks