The Polish foreign minister has stated that Ukraine should utilize all available resources in its fight and called for the transfer of Russian assets. Meanwhile, oil depots are ablaze following Ukrainian strikes. Here’s what we know on day 918.
Several NATO countries have called for lifting restrictions on Ukraine’s use of weapons supplied by Western allies, particularly long-range missiles, according to a diplomatic source cited by Agence France-Presse. This discussion took place during the NATO-Ukraine council meeting in Brussels on Wednesday. In an official statement, NATO members condemned the recent "indiscriminate" heavy Russian strikes across Ukraine.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg emphasized the alliance's commitment to increasing military support for Ukraine, stating, "We must continue to provide Ukraine with the equipment and munitions it needs to defend itself against Russia’s invasion. This is vital for Ukraine’s ability to stay in the fight."
Poland’s Foreign Minister, Radosław Sikorski, argued that since Russia is using long-range weapons against Ukraine, the allies should allow Ukraine to use whatever weapons have been delivered to them, and to increase these supplies. Sikorski also reiterated his proposal to directly seize Russia’s $320 billion in assets held in the West, rather than merely using them as collateral. "Let us confiscate the assets from the aggressor and give them to the victim of aggression," he said.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister, Dmytro Kuleba, expressed in a broadcast conversation with Sikorski that Kyiv's biggest challenge is the fear of escalation among its allies. “The war is always about a lot of hardware—money, weapons, resources—but the real problems are always here, in the heads... Most of our partners are afraid of discussing the future of Russia... This is very upsetting because if we do not speak about the future of the source of threat, then we cannot build strategy,” he remarked.
On Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged for the removal of restrictions on Ukraine's long-range strikes, arguing that such a move would help end the war more swiftly and justly. He also reported a Russian glide bomb strike on the eastern town of Kupyansk, which resulted in fatalities. “There was a strike—right in the city center, people were under the rubble. Unfortunately, there are fatalities.” The strike injured 14 people and damaged the city hall, according to the regional prosecutor’s office.
Two days after a Russian missile strike on a hotel in Kryvyi Rih killed four people and injured five, another Russian attack targeted the central Ukrainian city during official mourning, injuring nine civilians and destroying 230 cars, said Dnipropetrovsk oblast governor, Serhii Lysak. “When Kryvyi Rih is in mourning, the enemy attacks again,” Lysak said. “And once again, they aim at civilians.”
Zelensky described the situation around Pokrovsk in the Donetsk region as "extremely difficult." He noted that Russian forces were concentrating their efforts and resources there. Ukraine’s general staff reported "fierce fighting" in several villages near the city. On Wednesday, Russia’s defense ministry announced that Russian forces had captured another settlement 20 km (12 miles) from Pokrovsk, where Ukrainian authorities have ordered mandatory evacuations.
In the Donetsk region, Russian bombardments killed six people on Wednesday, according to the regional governor. “In the morning, the Russians killed four people and destroyed a house in Izmailivka,” said Vadym Filashkin, adding that two more people were killed in separate attacks near Chasiv Yar that damaged more than a dozen homes.
Fishkin mentioned that about 30,000 people remained in Pokrovsk and surrounding villages as evacuations continued and that banks would close in the town by Sunday. Pokrovsk was once home to around 60,000 people.
Ukrainian military intelligence claimed responsibility for an attack that set an oil depot ablaze in Russia’s Rostov region, stating that the facility "is directly involved in the supply of the Russian occupation forces."
In the first known Ukrainian attack on Russia’s Kirov region, three Ukrainian drones hit an oil depot, setting it on fire. The region is located about 950 km (600 miles) northeast of the Ukrainian border. Ukraine also reported that its anti-aircraft defenses had shot down a Russian Su-25 jet in the Donetsk region.
Ukrainian authorities are racing to evaluate and repair the extensive damage to energy infrastructure following one of the largest Russian bombing campaigns of the war, reports Shaun Walker from Kyiv. Although Ukraine is currently experiencing the remnants of a hot summer, the recent strikes have heightened fears about the upcoming colder months. "This winter is going to be tough, that's for sure," said Nataliia Shapoval, head of the Kyiv School of Economics Institute.
In Russia, a court has ruled to keep two Colombians, Jose Aron Medina and Alexander Ante, in custody on suspicion of being mercenaries, a crime under Russian law, after they allegedly fought in Ukraine. They have been placed in preliminary detention until October 22. According to Colombia’s El Tiempo newspaper, the two men may have been detained while attempting to return home via Venezuela, which maintains close ties with Moscow.
Russia’s foreign ministry announced on Wednesday that it is banning 92 US citizens, including journalists, lawyers, and executives of key military-industrial companies, from entering the country due to what it described as Washington’s Russophobic stance. The Wall Street Journal, whose journalist Evan Gershkovich was recently freed in a prisoner exchange after 16 months in Russian detention, dismissed the bans as "laughable" and part of broader attacks on the free press.
Ukraine’s First Lady emphasized that the country’s children need to see themselves not as victims of war, but as a "generation of winners" during her visit to a respite camp in Uzhhorod, a city in western Ukraine far from the frontlines. The camp, created by the charity Voices of the Children, offers a temporary escape from the ongoing trauma.
Many children will eventually return to frontline cities after spending a few weeks at the camp. "We need the war to end, infrastructure for education to be in place, and for parents to feel secure," she said. "We would very much like these children to be able to physically attend school, see their teachers and peers, and interact together. But for now, it’s impossible."
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