Prepared by Sofia Oliynyk, Maryana Zaviyska, Anna Dovha
Today’s update is published late in the evening as our team has been affected by the morning attack on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities. We spend our day in bomb shelters in Lviv, Poltava, and Kyiv hiding during 5-hour airstrike alert. During the day we experienced issues with electricity and disruptions of mobile and internet connection.
Monday attack.
Today during five and a half hours, Russia has launched over 80 missiles on Ukraine. 45 missiles were shot down with the air defense systems, however the rest hit both civilian and critical infrastructure. Explosions were recorded in fourteen regions. At least 10 people were killed and around 60 were injured across the country. Putin has already confirmed that it was a targeted attack of Russia on Ukraine. According to Putin, Russia has been targeting ‘strategic’ objects and ‘decision-making centers’, which nearby happened to be university premises, the Ministry of Education, a monument, a park in Kyiv downtown, a playground, and a museum. According to Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko, Russia’s missile strike damaged 71 buildings in Kyiv, including 45 residential ones, 5 critical infrastructure, housing and communal services buildings, 6 educational institutions including 3 schools and 1 kindergarten, 6 cultural institutions, 5 healthcare facilities, 2 buildings hosting social institutions, and 2 administrative buildings. In total in Ukraine during the day 11 killed and 87 people injured. National Police Chief Ihor Klymenko said that 41-year-old head of Cyber Police Department Yurii Zaskoka was among those killed in Kyiv.
Crimea.
On the morning of October 8, a huge explosion took place on the Crimean Bridge across the Kerch Strait, which connects the occupied Crimea with Russia. Two car spans of the bridge have been partially destroyed. Traffic on the bridge stopped. According to the report of the Institute for the Study of War, the destruction is likely to add delays to the movement of Russian military equipment, personnel, and supplies to Crimea.
In response, The President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin ordered the creation of a government commission in connection with the ‘extraordinary event’ on the Crimean bridge and transferred the Crimean bridge under the protection of the Federal Security Service. In addition, the Russian side claimed that the attack was made by the Ukrainian special services with help of the citizens of other states. The spokesman of the Security Service of Ukraine, Artem Dekhtyarenko refused to comment on Ukraine’s participation in the attack.
The explosion provoked a massive panic in the occupied Crimea. Soon after the partial destruction of the Crimean bridge, a long line of people who wanted to leave the peninsula lined up on the eastern outskirts of the city of Kerch. Also, people began to buy food and gasoline en masse.
Deoccupation.
Ukrainian law enforcement officers discovered torture chambers in almost every city and town liberated from the Russian occupiers. A mass grave in which 180 civilians were buried was found in the recently liberated Lyman, Donetsk region. Also, 530 bodies of civilians killed by the Russians occupiers have already been found in the de-occupied territories of the Kharkiv region. On October 7, The Parliament of Ukraine appealed to the international community regarding the creation of a special international tribunal regarding the crime of aggression against Ukraine.
Liberation.
The President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi reported that since the beginning of the counteroffensive operation, 2434 square kilometers of Ukrainian territories and 96 settlements have already been liberated.
Cities under attack.
Zaporizhzhia region. During October 7-10 the city of Zaporizhzhia was under heavy attacks by the Russian invaders. In the morning of October 7, the Russian invaders attacked Zaporizhzhia with unmanned aerial vehicles. As a result, one person was injured. During the day, the Russian military launched constant missile attacks. One of the missiles hit the courtyard of a high-rise building. The residential building was damaged, one person was injured. The next day, on October 8, the Russian military attacked the central part of the city. As a result, 18 people were killed. 21 people were pulled out from under the rubble. On October 9, the Russian invaders continued their attacks. The Russian invaders used tactical aviation for a missile attack on Zaporizhzhia. Planes fired 12 missiles at Zaporizhzhia. As a result of missile attacks, a 9-story building was partially destroyed, five private houses were destroyed, infrastructure objects were damaged, and 20 cars were damaged. 13 people were killed and 89 people were injured. Last night Russia attacked Zaporizhzhia once again, hitting a residential apartment block with missiles. Kharkiv region. At night on October 8, the Russian invaders attacked Kharkiv. As a result, the sports complex, non-residential buildings were damaged and one person was injured. During the day, Russian invaders shelled four districts of the region. Due to the shelling, 2 people were injured. Mykolaiv region. At night on October 7, the city of Mykolaiv was under attack. As a result, a fire broke out on the roof of a two-story building. No casualties were reported. During the day, the Russian invaders fired at four districts of the region. In Bashtansky district, an administrative building, a kindergarten, a school, and clinic premises were damaged. Three residential buildings were also destroyed, in which the windows, roof and ceiling were damaged. No casualties were reported. The next day on October 8, the Russian invaders attacked Bashtanka district. As a result, the agricultural enterprise, warehouses, and equipment were significantly damaged. Sumy region. On October 9, the border parts of the region were under attack. One person was killed as a result of a Russian drone attack in the Myropilsk community. In the Vorozhbiansk community, one person was injured, the roof of the railway station, private houses, and a gas pipe were damaged. In total on Sunday the region was shelled 70 times. Chernihiv region. The border parts of the region were attacked from Russian territory on October 7-9. As a result of the shelling, one person was killed.
Cities under occupation.
Enerhogar. For 3 days, the temporarily occupied city and nearby villages, as a result of shelling by the Russian occupiers, have been cut from centralized water supply and electricity. Ukraine has repeatedly tried to deliver humanitarian aid to the occupied Energodar, however, the Russian occupiers do not allow the cargo. Melitopol. The Russian military forced two women to walk from Melitopol to Zaporizhzhia from the occupied city, as a punishment for teaching according to an online Ukrainian education program and wearing clothes with a Ukrainian patriotic print. The distance between the cities is 132 kilometers. Kherson region. In the region, the Russian invaders are placing military equipment and personnel in schools where the educational process continues. Thus, the Russian militaries use children as “human shields”.
Evacuation.
According to the Ministry of Reintegration of Currently Occupied Territories of Ukraine, over the past 2 months, more than 115000 Ukrainians have left particularly dangerous regions, temporarily occupied and recently liberated territories, as well as within the mandatory evacuation from Donetsk region. In total, since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, millions of Ukrainians have left their homes.
Foreign policy.
Ukraine legally recognized Russia’s occupation of the Kuril Islands. The relevant decree confirming respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Japan was signed by the President of Ukraine on October 7.
A UN human rights body passed a motion to appoint a new independent expert on alleged human rights abuses in Russia, accusing Moscow of creating a ‘climate of fear’ through repression and violence, Reuters reported.
According to Reuters, the UK rejected Russia’s call for a secret ballot in the UN General Assembly on whether to condemn Moscow’s move to annex four partially occupied regions in Ukraine and requested that the 193-member body vote publicly.
Energy security.
At night on October 8, as a result of the shelling of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant by the Russian invaders, ZNPP was completely de-energized. After two days of operation of the emergency cooling pumps of the active zones of the NPP reactors, Ukrainian specialists who remained at the ZNPP repaired and put into operation the high-voltage communication line.
The European Union condemned the decree of the President of Russia Vladimir Putin on the illegal seizure of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant and the creation of the Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant federal unitary enterprise. Josep Borrell emphasized that Russia should completely withdraw its soldiers and equipment and return control of the nuclear power plant to its rightful owner, Ukraine.
The first rotation of the IAEA Support and Assistance Mission to the Zaporizhzhia NPP was completed and a new reinforced team of IAEA safety, security, and safeguards experts arrived at the plant.
The amount of underpayment by Russian Gazprom to Ukrainian Naftogaz for gas transit amounts to about $200 million, Yuriy Vitrenko, Chairman of the Board of Naftogaz, reported.
Russia’s mass missile strike on Ukraine that struck heat generation and electrical substations on October 10 forced the country to stop exporting its electricity to the European Union in order to stabilize its own grid starting from October 11, the Ministry of Energy said.
Environment.
The President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi signed the European Integration Law ‘On the National Register of Emissions and Transfer of Pollutants’. The register will become the only state online system of data on emissions and transport of pollutants. The digital map will display all polluting enterprises and information about them. In addition, the national register is integrated with the corresponding European register.
Culture.
Russia pillages Ukrainian historical sites and treasures on an industrial scale. Russian soldiers have stolen artifacts in almost 40 Ukrainian museums.
Sanctions.
Japan’s Cabinet has agreed to impose new sanctions on 81 people and nine organizations following Moscow’s move to unilaterally annex four regions in Ukraine, NHK World Japan reported.
The city authorities of Hong Kong refused to impose sanctions on the yacht Nord, which belongs to the Russian oligarch Oleksii Mordashov. In response, The US State Department has warned Hong Kong that it could damage its reputation as an international financial center if it shelters those who evade sanctions.
Economic security.
The International Monetary Fund will provide Ukraine with an additional $1.3 billion. The tranche will be directed to support defense capability, payment of pensions and social programs, as well as to strengthen the stability of the Ukrainian economy.
The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen announced that the EU will allocate an additional two billion euros of macro-financial assistance to Ukraine.
Awards.
The Ukrainian human rights organisation Center for Civil Liberties was awarded with the Nobel Peace Prize.
Reading corner.
- Russia Wants to Lock Ukraine Back in the Soviet Cellar | Time – ‘Civil society,’ that web of horizontal social interconnections whose loss is always being lamented in the U.S., actually exists here – citizens band together to build city defenses, clean up the debris after missile hits, nurse the wounded and orphaned. Ukraine reminds what ‘family values’ really mean: the whole country fights like one great family.
Statistics.
- General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine announced the total estimated losses of the Russian military as of 10 a.m., October 10, 2022: personnel – around 61680, tanks ‒ 2466, APV ‒ 5093, artillery systems – 1455, MLRS – 344, anti-aircraft warfare systems – 177, fixed-wing aircraft – 266, helicopters – 233, operational-tactical level UAV – 1067, cruise missiles –246, boats and light speed boats – 15, soft-skinned vehicles and fuel tankers – 3862, special equipment – 135.
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