Kyiv is attacked again, apparently kamikaze drones sail towards the Ukrainian capital. According to Ukrainian sources, soldiers shot dead a musician because he did not want to conduct a concert for the Russian troops. The German weapon system Iris-T is already in use in Ukraine. The Ukraine war in the ticker.
8:36 a.m .: Russia has triggered air alerts across the country with new missile and drone attacks on Ukraine. The authorities in numerous regions – including Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk and Mykolaiv – reported on Tuesday that air defenses were active. Still, rockets fell in many places. There were also reports of explosions from the capital Kyiv. In Mykolaiv, a residential building was hit by rocket fire at night, and emergency services recovered the body of a man from the rubble, Governor Vitaly Kim said.
Mayor Ihor Terekhov also reported rocket fire in the city of Kharkiv. “There were two series of explosions in the city within five minutes,” he said. According to initial findings, an industrial company was hit. The subway ceased train service and resumed operations as a protective bunker.
In the Dnepropetrovsk region, explosions were reported in Krivy Riy and in the regional capital Dnipro. Rockets hit energy infrastructure in Zhytomyr, sources said. The Russian military had declared that it would target energy installations.
Russian military bloggers close to the Kremlin also reported shelling in numerous regions – and published a large number of photos and videos with clouds of smoke over cities on social networks, which are intended to document the new attacks. The authenticity of these recordings, which were also distributed in Ukrainian channels, could not initially be verified.
The Ukrainian armed forces said that several attacks had been repelled. The government in Kyiv is demanding even more air defense systems from the West for air defense against Russian attacks with drones and missiles. Russia had recently intensified the shelling in the war against Ukraine that had been going on for almost eight months.
Tuesday, October 18, 08:07: According to the Institute for the Study of War, the October 17 Russian drone strikes on residential areas in Kiev are a sign that Russian troops are prioritizing psychological terror and neglecting tangible results on the battlefield. This approach is evidence of a pattern that the Russian armed forces have been using for some time.
According to US military analyst Brett Friedman, the Shahed-136 drones used in Monday’s attacks, among other things, had a bomb load of around 40 kilograms each – around three times as much as the standard M795 155mm projectile. Friedman estimates that the five Iranian drones that shelled Kyiv did as much damage as 15 artillery shells.
Attacks of this kind cause major damage to civilian infrastructure and usually cause many injuries and deaths. The military effect is small. According to the US military analyst, Russia will continue to use Shahed-136 drones to shell civilian areas instead of military targets and cause psychological pressure.
8:47 p.m .: According to the authorities, the Russian capital Moscow has achieved the goals of the partial mobilization ordered by President Vladimir Putin and ended the convocations. This was announced by the city’s military commissar, Maxim Loktjew, on Monday, according to Russian agencies. He did not say how many men had been conscripted in Moscow since September 21. Volunteers could continue to report for service in the army.
Mayor Sergei Sobyanin also said that Moscow had fulfilled its task of mobilization. The notifications of conscription, which are now received at the place of residence or work, no longer have to be followed. The Moscow administrative region around the capital also reported the end of the mobilization measures.
4:39 p.m .: Roman Malyk was a Russian military commissar and responsible for mobilizing new recruits in eastern Russia in the city of Partizansk and in the Primorye region. He was found dead on Friday. The circumstances of his sudden death are unclear. The theories partially contradict each other. The Partizansk city administration had published the news of his death.
While local media reports Malyk’s body was found “on a fence,” other reports say he was found in his office. According to a Russian Telegram channel, the body was found “next to a fence”.
The investigation is still ongoing. The police consider both suicide and murder, the Malyks family does not believe in suicide. And there are also doubts about the suicide theory on social media, the British Times writes: “He (Malyk, editor’s note) was balanced and self-confident.”
The 49-year-old fought in the Chechen wars and was considered a deserving veteran in Russia.
12:00 p.m .: According to information from Kyiv, Russia attacked important infrastructure in three Ukrainian regions on Monday. As a result, hundreds of towns and villages are now without electricity, Prime Minister Denys Schmyhal said. There were five attacks on the capital Kyiv alone.
At least one person was killed in the attacks on Kyiv, according to Mayor Vitali Klitschko. Among other things, a residential building was attacked by drones. Three people were injured, Klitschko explained on Telegram.
The Russian army had already attacked Kyiv and numerous other cities in Ukraine on Monday last week. Here, too, infrastructure for energy supply was primarily targeted. At least 19 people were killed and 105 others injured in the attacks. According to the Russian account, the massive attacks were in response to the explosion on the Crimean bridge, for which Russia blames the Ukrainian secret service.
11:39 a.m .: The Russian-occupied Ukrainian nuclear power plant Zaporizhia has again been cut off from external power supply. This is extremely important for cooling the fuel rods. The Ukrainian power plant operator Enerhoatom announced on Monday that during the night the last connecting line had been disconnected again “as a result of the shelling by the Russian military”. Diesel generators had been put into operation as a replacement.
Russia has effectively controlled Europe’s largest nuclear power plant since the beginning of March, when Moscow’s troops occupied large parts of southern Ukraine as part of the war of aggression. The nuclear power plant has come under fire several times during heavy fighting in recent months. Ukraine and Russia blame each other.
Enerhoatom accused Russia on Monday of blackmailing “Ukraine and the whole world with rocket attacks”. “We once again appeal to the international community to take immediate measures to demilitarize the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant as soon as possible,” the power plant operator said. The Russian military must withdraw from the plant and the city of Enerhodar and give the nuclear power plant back under full control of Ukraine – “for reasons of security for the whole world”.
8:51 a.m .: According to British intelligence, the logistical problems of the Russian armed forces in southern Ukraine have become more acute after the explosion on the Crimean bridge on October 8th. Although the repair work on the overpass is ongoing, it is also partially open to traffic. However, the traffic jam of waiting cargo trucks in front of the bridge is as large as ever.
As a result, Russian troops in southern Ukraine are likely to increase supply flows via Mariupol to compensate for the reduced capacity of the Crimean bridge.
With supply routes through Crimea compromised and the situation of Russian forces in the Kherson region tense, ground communication lines in the Zaporizhia region are becoming increasingly important to the sustainability of the Russian occupation. The city of Melitopol plays an important role as a connection point for the supply routes and as an important location for Russian aviation.
8:28 a.m .: On Monday, Russia fired on other regions in the country in addition to the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, according to local authorities. Reports of explosions came from Sumy, Dnipropetrovsk and Odessa regions. Russian military bloggers close to the Kremlin reported that the country’s energy infrastructure in particular had been shelled. Such attacks had been announced by Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin. Videos were circulated on social networks showing clouds of smoke over the capital Kyiv.
A reporter from the German Press Agency in Kyiv reported that explosion noises could still be heard. There was an air alert. A week ago, the Ukrainian air defense repelled numerous Russian missile and drone attacks.
Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko called on people to stay in the shelters. He spoke of a drone attack on Kyiv – and also published a photo of the remains of a drone in his channel on the Telegram news service. The center of the capital was affected. It was initially unclear whether there were victims and the extent of the destruction. Several buildings were damaged.
The drone strikes showed Russia’s desperation in the war, but said they would not help the attacker, Presidential Office chief Andriy Yermak said. “We need more air defense systems and as soon as possible,” Yermak said. “We have no time for slow action.” Western weapons would be needed to destroy the enemy. In the south of the country, Ukraine is already using the Iris-T air defense system that Germany delivered a few days ago.
7:29 a.m .: More and more pictures and videos are appearing on social networks showing the kamikaze attack on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv. The videos show drones circling over Kyiv, targeting targets before striking. These are said to be Iranian drones. A cameraman from Germany is said to have filmed the process from his hotel. There is still no information about possible victims.
Kiev’s Mayor Vitali Klitschko also commented on the attacks via twitter. He posted a picture and wrote: “The wreckage of a kamikaze drone that attacked Kyiv this morning”.
Monday, October 17, 6:24 a.m .: The center of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv was again shaken by explosions on Monday morning. There is an air alarm, people should seek protection, said Mayor Vitali Klitschko. Andriy Yermak, head of President Zelenskyy’s office, said the attacks were carried out by so-called kamikaze drones, the bbc reports. A fireball could be seen in the sky, reported a reporter from the German Press Agency from the center. The Ukrainian air defense may have been active against new Russian missile attacks. This has not been confirmed. It was initially unclear whether there was destruction like a week ago. Details followed later, said Klitschko.
A week ago, Russia fired rockets at the center of Kyiv, also at the beginning of the week during morning rush hour. Previously there had been an explosion on the bridge to the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea annexed by Moscow. Kremlin boss Vladimir Putin had accused the Ukrainian secret service of a “terrorist attack” against the bridge – and then had the rockets fired in retaliation. More than a dozen people died and more than 100 were injured in Kyiv and other cities in Ukraine.
Putin said last Friday that not all targets had been hit in the attacks. At the same time, he emphasized that he did not consider new massive blows like a week ago to be necessary. Putin has been firing rockets at Kyiv and many other cities since the start of his war against Ukraine on February 24.
You can read more reports on the Ukraine conflict on the following pages.