As the war enters its 963rd day, these are the main developments.
Here is the situation on Tuesday, October 15, 2024.
Fighting
- At least one person was killed and 11 injured, some of them seriously, in a Russian air attack on Ukraine’s southern region of Mykolaiv, said Mykolaiv Governor Vitaliy Kim.
- At least one person was killed and eight injured in the latest Russian missile attack on Ukraine’s Black Sea port of Odesa. Two civilian vessels and a grain storage facility were also damaged.
- Russia’s Ministry of Defense said its forces had taken control of the tiny hamlet of Levadne in southeastern Ukraine’s Zaporizhia region, the Interfax news agency reported. There was no comment from Ukraine.
- President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine’s forces had held firm and were counterattacking as Russian troops tried to break through their lines in the Kursk region for a fifth straight day.
Politics and diplomacy
- Andriy Yermak, Zelenskyy’s chief of staff, called for a new international security system to prevent future instances of armed aggression, as he spoke at an online conference on securing peace following Russia’s invasion. Yermak said 66 countries and international organisations had taken part in the conference.
- NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said the alliance would not be cowed by Russian threats and would maintain its strong support for Kyiv. Rutte was speaking on his first visit as NATO chief to the NATO Security Assistance and Training for Ukraine (NSATU), which will gradually assume the coordination of Western military aid to Kyiv, in Germany.
- France called for the immediate release of French researcher Laurent Vinatier after he was found guilty by a Moscow court of breaking Russia’s “foreign agent” laws and sentenced to three years in prison. Vinatier was detained soon after French President Emmanuel Macron signalled the need for a tougher line on the war in Ukraine.
Weapons
- The European Union imposed sanctions on Iran’s deputy defence minister, senior members of the Revolutionary Guard and three airlines over allegations that they supplied drones, missiles and other equipment to Russia for use in its war against Ukraine. Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha welcomed the move.
- Zelenskyy said that Ukraine had already procured and supplied 1 million drones to the front line.