Wars 2022 02/24 Monitoring Russian and Ukraine War.

[Saif]

https://www.newagebd.net/post/europe/316065/russia-targets-kyiv-power-supply

Russia targets Kyiv power supply
Agence France-Presse . Kyiv, Ukraine 01 October, 2026, 00:00

Russia hit Ukrainian energy infrastructure in a wave of deadly drone and missile strikes on Wednesday, prompting an urgent call for civil contingencies as freezing winter approaches.

Kyiv said it was Moscow’s opening salvo in an expected campaign to try to knock out heating and power as the temperature plunges — a tactic it has deployed throughout the grinding conflict.

At least four people were killed in and around Kyiv, including a young child found under the rubble of a demolished residential building, after another night of continuous air raid red alerts and repeated blasts.

Sirens screamed across the city warning people to take cover in basement shelters and metro stations from ballistic and cruise missiles, as well as high-speed attack drones in the skies above.

In Moscow, Russia’s defence ministry said it had conducted ‘a massive missile and drone strike’ on Kyiv and the surrounding region that targeted the power infrastructure.

Ukraine’s main energy provider DTEK confirmed that the grid was damaged and supplies to 8,000 households were affected. Engineers got the power back on, it said, but called it ‘another difficult night for the capital’.

Generating equipment was also damaged at the Trypillia thermal power plant near Kyiv in a deliberate strike, said Sergiy Isachenko, the chief executive of the plant’s operator PJSC Centrenergo.

Ukraine’s weather service announced that the first overnight frosts were due in many parts of the country from Thursday.

Ensuring winter energy supply in Ukraine is critical. Russian strikes last year cut light and heating when temperatures fell to as low as -20C.

The prospect of a repeat has left many in Kyiv to consider whether to stay, alongside calls for the vulnerable and disabled people to relocate.

Prime minister Sergiy Koretsky said Russia had been hitting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure almost daily since the summer.

‘However, such a large-scale combined attack has taken place for the first time since the end of the last heating season,’ he wrote on Telegram.

‘It was predictable,’ Ivan Danylevych, a 22-year-old student, told AFP on the streets of Kyiv.

‘Why are they doing it? To frighten people. Pure terror. To make people exhausted and willing to make concessions on military issues.’

The increase in attacks has left many people in Kyiv glued to their mobile phones, scouring Telegram channels and apps that track the skies for signs of approaching drones or missiles.

But Tetiana Ivashchuk, a university worker, said only one thing helps her — coffee.

‘The main thing is to stay calm,’ she added. ‘We can’t change what’s happening now... God willing, everything will be fine.’

Ukraine’s energy system was already battered by previous attacks since the war began in February 2022 and the latest damage was being assessed, said Koretsky.

‘Local authorities must check the readiness of back-up power systems for critical facilities in communities and complete all work on their installation and connection as quickly as possible,’ he added.

The International Criminal Court in 2024 issued arrest warrants for Russia’s then military leaders over attacks on Ukraine’s energy grid, saying they constituted a war crime that was causing ‘excessive harm’ to civilians.

Wednesday’s strikes hit residential buildings and businesses, sparking fires and widespread damage to property and cars, the authorities said.

Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said a driver at a local utility firm was killed when a warehouse was hit, while two others were killed elsewhere.

The emergency services said a child was found dead under the rubble of a residential building that was destroyed in the wider Kyiv region.

Russia has been deploying newer jet-powered drones that move faster and are harder to intercept than the traditional models, which are based on Iranian Shaheds.

Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky, who announced on Wednesday that he had visited frontline troops in the east, has repeatedly appealed to Ukraine’s allies for more military support, including US-made interceptors against ballistic missiles.

But there is widespread concern about mounting civilian casualties on both sides, with an increase in long-range strikes and no progress on faltering peace talks.​

 

[Saif]

https://www.newagebd.net/post/europe/316183/ukraine-regains-ground-in-donetsk-counteroffensive

Ukraine regains ground in Donetsk counteroffensive
Agence France-Presse . Paris, France 02 October, 2026, 00:00

Ukrainian troops have regained ground in a counteroffensive in the Donetsk region, according to an AFP analysis of data from the Institute for the Study of War.

Operation ‘Vivaldi’ was launched in September with the aim of pushing Russian forces back from the cities of Sloviansk and Kramatorsk.

The Ukrainian military has retaken small patches of territory from Russia, for total gains in the Donetsk region of 172 square kilometers, an area more than 1.5 times the size of Paris.

President Volodymyr Zelensky this week visited troops fighting near the Donetsk city of Lyman, 10 kilometres north of Sloviansk.

ISW data shows that Ukrainian forces advanced north and south of Lyman.

Elsewhere, Ukraine retake small areas in the regions of Kharkiv in the north and the eastern regions of Dnipropetrovsk and Lugansk.

By contrast, Russian offensives in Zaporizhzhia south and Sumy north enabled Kremlin forces to seize 104.5 square km and 20 square km respectively.

Overall, Ukraine made a net territorial gain of 80 square km in September, according to the data.

It had been three months since Ukraine last recorded a net territorial gain.

September was only the sixth month in which Ukraine gained more ground than it lost against Russia since early 2023.

The armies remain largely deadlocked along the vast frontline, characterised by a ‘kill zone’ either side where explosive-laden drones complicate any movement.

Moscow controls more than 19 per cent of Ukrainian territory. Of the occupied areas, around seven per cent corresponds to Crimea and parts of the Donbas that were already under Russian or pro-Russian separatist control before Russia’s February 2022 invasion.

Most of Russia’s gains occurred during the first weeks of the conflict.

According to ISW data, since January, Russia has advanced by an average of only 15.5 square km per month — after its gains averaged around 405 square km per month in 2025.

The ISW estimates exclude territorial gains claimed by Russia that the institute has not been able to confirm or refute.

The ISW works with the Critical Threats Project, part of the American Enterprise Institute, another US think tank specialising in conflict analysis.

Diplomatic efforts to end the Europe’s deadliest armed conflict since World War II remain at a standstill.

Moscow demands that Ukraine cede territory it still controls in areas that Russia claims to have annexed.

Kyiv has called those demands a capitulation that would leave the country vulnerable to a future Russian attack.

According to the United Nations, the number of civilian casualties has in recent weeks reached its highest level since the early months of the war, mainly due to Russian missile and drone attacks on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities.​

 

[Saif]

https://www.newagebd.net/post/europe/316419/russia-warns-diplomats-to-leave-kyiv

Russia warns diplomats to leave Kyiv
Agence France-Presse . Kyiv, Ukraine 04 October, 2026, 00:00

Firefighters extinguish a fire at a house following air strikes in Kharkiv on October 2, 2026, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. | AFP photo.

Russia on Saturday issued a new call for diplomats and foreigners to leave Kyiv, warning the Ukrainian capital of new ‘massive’ air attacks hours after striking another major bridge in the city.

Moscow has ramped up its pummelling of Kyiv, launching waves of drones at the city, targeting key infrastructure and putting the capital on a near-constant state of alert against attacks.

The strike on the Northern Bridge on Saturday morning wounded two people and damaged road surface and trolleybus overhead wires restricting traffic, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.

AFP reporters saw traces of an explosion on a pedestrian walkway and technicians repairing power lines on the bridge.

Hours after the attack, the Russian authorities warned of more strikes, issuing a fresh call for diplomats and foreigners to leave the city and refrain from visiting Ukraine.

‘We note with concern that not everyone has heeded these warnings, and that individuals are knowingly exposing themselves to mortal danger,’ the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement.

The Russian ministry also stated that ‘responsibility for any potential negative consequences rests entirely with those who ignore this warning.’

Moscow issued a similar warning in May but heads of state and governments from countries backing Ukraine have defied it by travelling to the war-torn country and the capital in show of support.

On Friday, Klitschko said the city was in a ‘very dramatic situation’ and should now be on a war footing as the enemy was ‘tearing Kyiv apart’ with strikes on bridges and energy infrastructure.

President Volodymyr Zelensky accused his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, of ripping up the rulebook of armed conflict by sanctioning massive attacks on civilian areas, an accusation the Kremlin has rejected.

Kyiv has been increasingly under aerial bombardment in recent months, with the attacks and alerts disrupting daily life and sowing traffic chaos.

Long lines of stationary cars and buses clogged major roads on Friday as commuters sought alternate routes, with some forced to continue their journeys on foot.

Air raid sirens warning of approaching threats sound almost round the clock, urging the city’s estimated three million people to seek shelter.

Strikes across the country in recent days have also caused power outages in several regions in the east, north and centre, with grid operator Ukrenergo urging consumers to limit usage even as demand increases with colder weather.

Ukraine braces for another difficult winter. Last year, heating and power were cut for days on end as temperatures plunged to -20C.

The grinding war, which began with Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, has turned into Europe’s bloodiest conflict since World War II.

Ukraine has appeared to stabilise the front in recent months, but depleted air-defence stocks since the start of the US-Israeli war in Iran have left its cities exposed to Russian barrages.

The US-brokered peace efforts are effectively frozen as Moscow has shown no signs of dropping its maximalist conditions to end the war, including a demand that Ukraine cede territory in the east that Russia’s troops have not captured.​

 

[Saif]

https://www.newagebd.net/post/europe/316604/russian-strikes-hit-kyiv-while-german-chancellor-merz-visits

Russian strikes hit Kyiv while German chancellor Merz visits
Agence France-Presse . Kyiv, Ukraine 04 October, 2026, 23:45

Ukraine and Germany have signed a $1.5-billion weapons deal to help fight an upsurge in Russian drone attacks, while fresh strikes and air raid sirens greeted chancellor Friedrich Merz on a solidarity visit on Sunday.

The agreement includes combat drone weapons and support for Ukraine’s battered energy sector, which Russia is targeting to cut off heating and power during the freezing winter months, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on X.

Merz was on a surprise visit to show European support as attacks increase — and discovered the new reality of daily life in the Ukrainian capital.

Air raid sirens wailed repeatedly, including as Zelensky showed him the damage to the National Academy of Sciences, which was hit by a Russian attack drone on Monday, killing two.

‘We can see the entire pointlessness of this war at this place,’ noted Merz.

‘These barbarous attacks on the civilian population of Ukraine must stop. These are war crimes that are being committed daily here.’

One blast that was heard across the city damaged the road surface of the Northern Bridge — one of several connecting the eastern and western parts of Kyiv over the Dnipro river which have been struck repeatedly in the last four days.

Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko has said the capital — largely spared from the devastation wrought near the front line in more than four years of conflict — should now be on a war footing.

Round-the-clock attacks have hit residential areas, petrol stations, schools, rail and communications infrastructure, while the near-constant air raid sirens disrupt daily life and put people on edge.

Merz warned as he arrived that support for Ukraine was vital for European security.

‘If Russia is not stopped, its war machine will sooner or later turn against us,’ he claimed.

Ukraine has repeatedly called for advanced interceptors to shoot down Russia’s new fast-moving, jet-powered drones and powerful ballistic missiles.

The latest deal provides for the joint production of anti-jet drones, Merz told a joint news conference with Zelensky.

‘Significant technical breakthroughs have already been achieved in this area in recent weeks,’ he added.

‘Production is now being ramped up. This strengthens Ukrainian air defence quickly and significantly.

‘We are supplying standoff weapons, combat drones and satellite technology so that Ukraine can also target Russian launch sites.’

Russia’s defence ministry vowed on Sunday to ramp up its strikes on military and related targets in Kyiv and elsewhere after Zelensky said this week that Ukraine would intensify its own attacks against oil facilities that it says supply Moscow’s troops.

Merz called this week for NATO and European unity against Russia, as well as in his own country, where the far-right, Moscow-friendly AfD opposition is on the rise.

There have been increasing fears in Europe that it could find itself in Russia’s crosshairs.

Security was a top concern for voters in this weekend’s election in NATO member Latvia, which borders Russia.

On Saturday, Moscow warned foreigners and diplomats to leave Kyiv, saying ‘massive’ new airstrikes would hit the city.

Leaders from countries allied to Ukraine have continued to make visits despite a similar threat made in May.

‘The EU Delegation is staying. Threatening us will not stop Europe’s support for Ukraine. It only reminds us why that support matters!’ European Union ambassador Katarina Mathernova wrote on X on Sunday.

Merz told reporters he was unfazed by the threat but did not know if it had been made to coincide with his visit.

Russia has admitted deliberately targeting Ukraine’s energy sector as winter approaches. Last year, similar attacks knocked out power and heating for days on end as temperatures plummeted to minus 20C.

In Kyiv, home to some three million people, residents are mulling what to do if that happens again, and there have been calls for the vulnerable and disabled to consider leaving.

Merz said Berlin’s winter support programme was worth some 350 million euros to help provide generators, transformer stations and for grid repairs.​