Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
Worth noting, korrespondent.net has compiled its Invasion of Ukraine series into separate months, beginning May 9th, 2023. Linked in the title.
[Korrespondent] 21:55 The meeting of the Ukraine-NATO Council will take place in Brussels on October 17 at the level of defense ministers, Secretary General Mark Rutte announced.
21:43 The Pentagon has released the contents of a new military aid package for Ukraine:
- anti-aircraft guided missiles for the NASAMS air defense system;
- RIM-7 missiles and air defense support;
- Stinger MANPADS;
- BC for HIMARS;
- air-to-ground munitions;
- 155mm and 105mm ammunition;
- missiles for TOW ATGM;
- Javelin and AT-4 ATGMs;
- HMMWV;
- small arms and ammunition;
- grenades, thermal weapons and training equipment;
- explosive equipment and explosives;
- spare parts, auxiliary equipment, services, training, transport.
The White House also said the United States would provide Ukraine with a range of additional capabilities in the coming months, including hundreds of air defense interceptors, dozens of tactical air defense systems, artillery systems, ammunition, hundreds of armored personnel carriers and infantry fighting vehicles, and thousands of additional armored vehicles. The two leaders also directed their teams to consult further on the next steps in implementing Ukraine's "victory plan."
20:40 The United States has provided Ukraine with a new defense package worth $425 million , which includes new air defense systems and long-range weapons, Zelensky said following a conversation with Biden. The president also proposed considering the possibility of developing joint weapons production and additional training for the Ukrainian military. Particular attention was paid to the upcoming Rammstein meeting, which will be held online. Zelensky also confirmed that tomorrow he will present his "victory plan" at a meeting of the Council of Europe.
20:01 The Ramstein summit, which was postponed due to the hurricane in the United States, will take place next month, White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said. She also said that Biden will soon hold a conversation with Zelensky and announce a new "substantial" package of military aid to Ukraine.
19:22 The Ministry of Defense reported that it has issued an official permit for the first time for a private school for UAV operators - the Kyiv-based Global Drone Academy received it under a simplified procedure. The school will not only train military and civilian personnel to operate drones, but also provide graduates with the appropriate military registration specialty, which will allow them to serve in the army in a specific direction.
18:37 NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said that Zelensky's "victory plan" will be discussed behind closed doors with allies, and "there are many points that need to be sorted out." Rutte also could not confirm information about the participation of DPRK soldiers in the war against Ukraine, noting only that these reports "obviously cause concern."
18:01 The EU's top diplomat Josep Borrell, commenting on the "victory plan", said that Ukraine needs stronger security guarantees. According to him, Europe has hesitated too much in providing military aid in the past, but now it is necessary to act decisively to prevent a protracted war. Borrell stressed that the only way to force Putin to negotiate is for Ukraine to win on the battlefield.
17:19 The Nordic-Baltic Eight will provide Ukraine with a winter aid package - this was announced by the heads of the Foreign Ministries of Sweden, Denmark, Estonia, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway and Finland. The package will include solar panels, generators and other equipment needed to get through the winter.
16:23 US Permanent Representative to NATO Julian Smith stated that "the situation at the moment does not favor inviting Ukraine to NATO." She also noted that Washington's position regarding restrictions on Kiev's use of long-range American weapons remains the same.
16:18 GUR reported that its active units Arta and Kraken, together with fighters from the International Legion and the Freedom of Russia Legion, cleared 400 hectares of forest north of the settlement of Liptsy in the Kharkiv region. As a result of the operation, the fighters captured the enemy's battalion defense area, destroyed three motorized rifle battalions, the Storm detachment, and the reconnaissance company of the 7th separate motorized rifle regiment of the 11th army corps of the Russian Armed Forces. Russian soldiers were also captured during the assault.
16:04 Australia is preparing a $245 million military aid package for Ukraine, ABC News reports. The package will include 49 M1A1 Abrams tanks.
15:34 Scholz declared his readiness to talk to Putin: "We had a conference in Bürgenstock in Switzerland, which ended with the conclusion: we need another one, in which Russia should also take part. And therefore it is right that when they ask whether we will talk to the Russian president, we say: yes, that is so."
15:26 Rocket debris has been found in northern Moldova. According to border police, the debris was found near the village of Lenkeuti, 4 km from the border with Ukraine.
15:19 Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico believes that the end of the war in Ukraine in the near future is "very likely": "The probability of ending the war in Ukraine in the short term is very high. I expect that tomorrow it will be possible to hint at something, because suddenly the topic of inviting Ukraine to NATO appears." At the same time, Fico emphasized that this invitation for Ukraine will not be "free" and called for "forgetting" that Russia will leave the occupied territories. The Prime Minister also repeated that the Slovak government will not support Ukraine's membership in NATO.
14:35 According to updated information, today the air defense shot down another 17 enemy drones, four more were lost in location. In total, on the night of October 16, 68 out of 136 attack UAVs were shot down, 64 were lost in location, two returned to Russia, and two more carried out strikes.
13:47 Western partners have taken a "practical and attentive" approach to the "victory plan," and the teams are now focused on the details of effective support, Zelensky said. At the same time, he acknowledged that in non-public communications, some partners are calling on Kyiv to negotiate: "We hear the word "negotiations" from our partners, and the word "justice" is heard much less often. Ukraine is open to diplomacy, but to honest diplomacy."
13:18 Zelensky said that Ukrainian intelligence is recording not only the transfer of weapons from North Korea to Russia, but also the transfer of people: "These are workers for Russian factories - instead of Russians killed in the war. And personnel for the Russian army. In fact, this is the participation of a second state in the war against Ukraine on the side of Russia."
12:46 The "Victory Plan" consists of five points and three secret annexes , Zelensky said. He also stressed that if we start moving according to the "Victory Plan" now, the war can be ended "no later than next year."
The first point is inviting Ukraine to NATO now. "We understand that NATO membership is a question of the future, not the present. But Putin must see that his geopolitical calculations are losing... That is why this is the starting point of the victory plan. Evidence of determination. An unconditional invitation now. This is certainty - how partners actually see Ukraine's place in the security architecture," the head of state emphasized.
The second point is defense , one of the sub-points of which is the continuation of operations on the territory of the Russian Federation, "in order to prevent buffer zones on our land." This point also includes military assistance from partners, strengthening air defense, domestic weapons production, lifting restrictions on the use of long-range weapons and providing Ukraine with such weapons. Zelensky noted that the defense point has a secret appendix, which is accessible to those partners who have the appropriate military assistance potential.
The third point - containment - also has a secret appendix, which has already been received by the leaders of the USA, Great Britain, France, Italy and Germany, and will be received by some other states in the future. Within the framework of this point, Ukraine proposes to place on its territory a comprehensive non-nuclear strategic containment package , which will be sufficient to protect the country from any military threat from the Russian Federation and will narrow Moscow's options for action: "Russia either goes into diplomacy or loses its war machine."
The fourth point is strategic economic potential. This point also has a secret appendix. Kiev, in particular, proposes that partners conclude a special agreement on the joint protection of critical resources available in Ukraine, such as uranium, titanium, lithium, graphite, etc.
The fifth point is designed for the post-war period , because after the war Ukraine will have one of the most experienced and largest military contingents. According to the president, this Ukrainian experience should be used to strengthen NATO's defense and ensure security in Europe.
12:11 Zelensky presents his "victory plan" in the Verkhovna Rada:
11:59 NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said the Alliance's strategy is to supply weapons to Ukraine so that it can negotiate an end to the war from a position of strength. "Prevent Putin from getting what he wants in Ukraine. That means providing massive aid to Ukraine so that they can resist. We must do everything to ensure that Ukraine has the ability to continue to act," Rutte said.
11:37 Kiev is asking Biden for an invitation to NATO before the US president leaves the White House, Ukraine's ambassador to the Alliance Natalia Galibarenko told Reuters. "We believe that inviting Ukraine at this moment is a political signal. We sincerely believe that this can become part of the legacy of the current US administration... If we say that there is an invitation, for the Russian Federation this will be like a final verdict: that's it, we can no longer raise the stakes using this topic," she explained.
At the same time, Reuters notes that most NATO members, including the United States, are not ready to accept Ukraine. A source in the American government told the publication that the position has not changed.
11:21 France will soon begin supplying Ukraine with its first development of kamikaze drones, the country's Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu said. According to him, the tests of the first French attack UAV were successful, so the first French units, as well as Ukraine, will receive them "in the coming weeks."
11:13 In Russia's Far East, 10,000 North Korean troops are currently undergoing training, RBC-Ukraine reports, citing a source in the Defense Forces. According to him, the DPRK troops are being prepared for redeployment to border areas near Ukraine. The Russian Federation is also preparing them for rotation of its troops in order to free up personnel.
10:52 Biden plans to meet with the leaders of Germany, France and the UK this week to discuss Ukraine, among other things, CNN reports, citing sources. The four leaders were scheduled to meet last week with Zelensky at Ramstein Air Base, but the meeting was canceled due to a hurricane in the US.
10:30 Deputy Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh said the US will not deploy the THAAD medium-range missile defense system near Ukraine to shoot down Russian missiles and drones. When asked why the US is deploying the THAAD system in Israel to protect against Iran, but not in NATO countries to protect Ukraine, Singh said these are different situations: "These are different wars, different regions, and the commitments to Israel and Ukraine are different."
Politico, in turn, writes, citing several American officials, that the United States is shooting down missiles over Israel because Iran, unlike Russia, does not have nuclear weapons. "The tough answer, which the Ukrainians may not like to hear but which is unfortunately true, is that we can take the risk of shooting down Iranian missiles over Israel without provoking a direct war with Tehran that could lead to a nuclear war... There is much more risk if you try to do this with Russia," one of the newspaper's interlocutors explained.
Two other Biden administration officials echoed his assessment that sending U.S. troops to shoot down Russian missiles over Ukraine could lead to a direct military clash between the world's two leading nuclear powers — "with potentially apocalyptic consequences."
09:44 Britain is working on its own proposals for strikes deep into Russia as part of the practical implementation of the Ukrainian "victory plan," Syrsky said following a telephone conversation with the Chief of the British Defence Staff, Tony Radakin.
09:39 In the Kherson region, over the past day, six people were injured as a result of Russian shelling, reported the head of the OVA, Oleksandr Prokudin.
09:28 In Donetsk region on October 15, as a result of Russian shelling, three people were wounded: in Konstantinovka, Selidovo and Svetloye, reported the head of the OVA Vadim Filashkin.
08:57 In the Kharkiv region, over the previous day, as a result of Russian shelling, one person was killed - in the village of Kruglyakovka in the Kupyansky district, reported the head of the OVA Oleg Sinegubov.
08:23 Air defense destroyed 51 attack UAVs out of 136 in Sumy, Cherkasy, Kirovograd, Ternopil, Kherson, Kharkiv, Zhytomyr, Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, Mykolaiv, Kyiv, Poltava, Chernihiv and Chernivtsi regions at night, the Air Force reported. Another 60 Russian drones were lost due to electronic warfare countermeasures, two returned in the direction of the Russian Federation. More than 20 UAVs remain in Ukrainian airspace, combat operations continue.
In addition, at night the enemy launched a strike on Donetsk Oblast with an S-300/400 anti-aircraft guided missile and on Chernihiv Oblast with an Kh-59 guided air missile.
08:15 The US Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reports, citing Ukrainian military officials, that Russia has upgraded Shahed attack drones, making them fly faster and at higher altitudes. At the same time, Ukrainian mobile fire teams have also improved their equipment and tactics and continue to shoot down enemy UAVs.
07:54 The General Staff announced the estimated losses of the Russian Federation as of the morning of October 16:
- personnel - about 672,850 (+1,450) people,
- tanks - 8997 (+9),
- combat armored vehicles - 17,969 (+30),
- artillery systems - 19,459 (+29),
- MLRS - 1231 (+0),
- air defense systems - 978 (+0),
- aircraft - 369 (+0),
- helicopters - 329 (+0),
- Operational-tactical level UAVs - 17,050 (+31),
- cruise missiles - 2620 (+0),
- ships/boats - 28 (+0),
- submarines - 1 (+0),
- automotive equipment and tank trucks - 26,732 (+78),
- special equipment - 3441 (+0).
07:18 At night, the enemy attacked one of the industrial facilities in the Ternopil region - a large-scale fire broke out, which has already been extinguished, reported the head of the OVA Vyacheslav Negoda. No one was hurt.
03:16 Ukrainian OSINT project DeepState reports that the Russian army has occupied the village of Ostrovskoe in the Kurakhovskaya community of the Pokrovsky district of the Donetsk region. The enemy has also advanced near Levadnoye in the Zaporizhzhya region, Tsukurino in the Selidovskaya community of the Pokrovsky district and in Toretsk in the Donetsk region.
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