Ukrainska Pravda
Ukrainska Pravda is a Ukrainian online newspaper founded in 2000 by Georgiy Gongadze and Olena Prytula. It is one of Ukraine's leading independent media outlets, known for investigative journalism and breaking political news.
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Zelensky says US has resumed sharing intelligence with Ukraine after multi-day pause
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview on NBC's Meet the Press, broadcast on Sunday 18 October, that the United States has resumed sharing intelligence with Ukraine after it had been blocked for several days. Zelensky said ballistic missile launch data comes from the United States alone and expressed hope that negotiations with Washington could take place within the week.
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Zelensky speaks with Trump's envoys Witkoff and Kushner on air defence and diplomacy
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke by phone on Sunday, 18 October, with US President Donald Trump's representatives Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. The two sides discussed the results of a recent Ukrainian-US meeting in Florida, ongoing Russian shelling, air defence cooperation, and next steps in diplomacy. Zelensky announced the call via social media and said Ukraine remains ready to work constructively for a real result.
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Russian missile strikes on Kharkiv injure 15, including three children
On the evening of 16 October, Russian missile strikes hit Kharkiv, damaging a warehouse and nearby residential buildings in the Nemyshlianskyi district and striking the Slobidskyi district, according to the State Emergency Service (ДСНС). Fifteen people were injured, including three children. Kharkiv had already been hit in morning strikes earlier the same day, which killed two and injured 18.
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Russian forces executed captured Ukrainian soldiers on Hulyaipole direction, Ukraine opens war crime investigation
Russian servicemembers, believed to be from the 38th Separate Motor Rifle Brigade, executed captured Ukrainian service members on the Hulyaipole direction in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, Ukraine's military reported on October 17. Spokesperson Maksym Kravchuk of the "South" force grouping said intercepts captured orders to "finish off" and "zero out" the unarmed prisoners, and Ukrainian forces also obtained drone video of the scene. Ukraine's Office of the Prosecutor General opened a pretrial investigation under Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine for a war crime causing death.
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Russian drone strike on Uman hits residential building, injures five
Russian drones struck Cherkasy Oblast overnight on 15–16 October, hitting the city of Uman at three locations and causing fires in a multi-storey residential building, a destroyed guardhouse, and a commercial warehouse area. Five people were injured, three of whom were hospitalised. The same wave of drone attacks also hit Lutsk, Rivne, Ivano-Frankivsk, Chortkiv, and Kyiv.
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Russia hits Ukraine with 149 drones overnight, Ukrainian air defense downs 114
Russia launched a large-scale overnight drone attack on Ukraine on 16 October, firing 149 strike UAVs including 108 jet-powered Shaheds, according to the Ukrainian Air Force. Air defense shot down or suppressed 114 of them, but 27 drones hit 24 locations, with debris falling at 14 more, damaging energy and civilian infrastructure, triggering emergency blackouts and injuring at least seven people.
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Ukrainian Navy strikes Russian Borisoglebsk airfield with Neptune missiles, hitting six Su-34M bombers
On the night of October 15, Ukraine's Naval Forces struck the Borisoglebsk military airfield in Russia's Voronezh Oblast using the Neptune coastal missile system. According to the Ukrainian Navy, six Russian Su-34M fighter-bombers were hit, with President Volodymyr Zelensky and a Navy spokesperson specifying that four were destroyed and two damaged. Aviation support equipment was also destroyed, and fires and secondary detonations were reported on the airfield grounds. Russian authorities had not commented on the attack as of reporting.
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Day 1695: 260 combat clashes recorded, Pokrovsk direction sees heaviest fighting
The General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces reported 260 combat clashes along the front line over the past day. The Pokrovsk direction saw the highest concentration of attacks at 35. Russian forces launched one missile strike, 85 airstrikes dropping 278 guided aerial bombs, 8,224 kamikaze drones, and 2,625 shellings of Ukrainian positions and settlements, 15 of them using multiple launch rocket systems.
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SpaceX throttles military Starlink terminals in Ukraine without warning, disrupting drone operations
In the night of October 13–14, SpaceX unilaterally restricted the speed of Starshield — the military package of Starlink satellite terminals — used by Ukraine's Defense Forces, without prior notice. The cap of roughly 100 mph (160 km/h), later reported to have been tightened to 60–70 km/h in some units, disrupted drone operations on the Huliaipole direction, hampered the use of interceptor drones against Russian Shaheds, and forced the cancellation of several missions. President Zelensky called the move a "big mistake," presidential adviser Serhiy Beskrestnov said it was linked to the political situation, and Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski publicly accused Elon Musk of politicizing his products.
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Odesa court convicts nine military recruitment staff for illegal detentions and violence
The Prymorskyi District Court of Odesa found nine employees of a district territorial centre of recruitment (TCC and SP) guilty of illegally detaining men and using violence during mobilization. Seven received real prison sentences of up to seven years and one month, while the remaining two received suspended or alternative sentences. Two further TCC employees who denied guilt remain under judicial review.
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Le Pen tells FT she would cut EU budget and end French aid to Kyiv if elected
In an interview with the Financial Times, Marine Le Pen said that if she wins France's 2027 presidential election she would sharply reduce the EU budget and Brussels' powers, withhold French support for EU funding for Ukraine, and halt bilateral French aid to Kyiv outside limited military training and operational support. She also confirmed her opposition to Ukraine's EU membership and called for a "great peace conference" to reach a diplomatic settlement of the war. Le Pen currently leads French presidential polls by a significant margin.
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US and Europe draft four-part Ukraine peace plan as Trump–Putin diesel deal overshadows Miami talks
On 9 October, US special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner hosted a six-hour meeting at Witkoff's Shell Bay golf club near Miami with a Ukrainian delegation and representatives of the UK, France, Germany, the EU and NATO. The US envoys asked Ukraine to stop strikes on Russian oil refineries, relayed that Vladimir Putin is not yet ready to negotiate and is conditioning talks on receiving the remaining roughly 11% of the Donbas under Ukrainian control, and announced that Donald Trump had struck a separate deal with Putin on Russian diesel exports. President Volodymyr Zelensky rejected the strike demand and called the diesel decision "unfair and dishonest." The Washington Post subsequently reported that Washington and European capitals are shaping a four-part peace proposal covering reconstruction financing, NATO-Article-5-style security guarantees, economic and energy integration including a possible Russia–Europe pipeline, and a ceasefire along the current front line. Ukraine's presidential office dismissed the leak as "not bad PR" rather than a joint US–European document.
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Syrskyi in first major interview since dismissal: Ukraine's war outcome uncertain, Kursk operation a success
Former Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi, dismissed by President Zelenskyy in July, gave his first major interview to the BBC in which he said it is impossible to say with certainty whether Ukraine is winning or losing the war, defended the 2024 Kursk operation as a successful and necessary maneuver, and detailed his procurement-related disagreements with former Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov. He denied issuing any ultimatum to Fedorov and said the decision to remove him rested solely with the president. The interview was published on 13 October 2026.
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Russian forces strike civilian column during so-called evacuation from Kupiansk
On 13 October, Russian forces struck a column of civilians being led out of Kupiansk, Kharkiv Oblast, toward the Shebelinka–Ostrohozk gas pipeline during a Russian-organised so-called "evacuation," causing casualties. Ukraine's 2nd National Guard Corps "Khartiia" said the group, which included two women, a child and several men, came under mortar and artillery fire from the eastern bank of the Oskil River. The Joint Forces Command (UOS) said it recorded the strike and was clarifying the number of casualties; Joint Forces spokesperson Viktor Trehubov said preliminary information indicated a drone (UAV) was used.
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General Staff reports 203 combat clashes on 12 October, 206 since start of 13 October; Russian losses estimated at 1,555,700
Ukraine's General Staff reported 203 combat clashes over the past day (12 October) and 206 clashes since the start of 13 October, with the Pokrovsk direction remaining the most active. Russian personnel losses for the past day were reported at 1,390, bringing cumulative Russian losses since 24 February 2022 to about 1,555,700. Russian forces carried out 90 airstrikes, dropped 301 guided aerial bombs, used 9,516 kamikaze drones, and conducted 2,619 shellings of populated areas and Ukrainian positions. Ukrainian aviation, missile forces and artillery struck a Russian personnel concentration area and a UAV control point.
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NATO estimates Russian losses in September exceeded 50,000, roughly 10 times Ukraine's
A senior NATO military official told Bloomberg that Russian personnel losses in Ukraine in September exceeded 50,000, including up to 28,000 killed, compared with about 5,000 Ukrainian losses over the same period. The official attributed Russia's high attrition to offensive tactics that send troops into "kill zones" saturated with Ukrainian drones, mines and artillery. Bloomberg said it could not independently verify the figures.
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Russian strike on Kyiv energy facility causes outages in up to five districts, cuts water pressure
On 11 October, Russia struck an energy facility in Kyiv, triggering emergency power outages across multiple districts, damaging a high-voltage transmission line and reducing water pressure on both banks of the city. Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko and operators Ukrenergo and DTEK reported the damage and appealed to residents to limit appliance use. President Volodymyr Zelensky said a Russian 'Shahed' drone hit the facility on the same day US President Trump announced an energy ceasefire, and that TEC-5 in Kharkiv was also struck.
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Full 20 million hryvnias bail posted for ex-presidential aide Iryna Mudra in "Forest Gump" case
The full court-set bail of 20 million hryvnias has been posted for Iryna Mudra, a former deputy head of the Office of the President of Ukraine and a suspect in the "Forest Gump" money-laundering investigation led by NABU and SAP. The Higher Anti-Corruption Court (ВАКС) confirmed the payment on 8 October, allowing her release from pretrial detention. Mudra's defense had previously failed in an attempt to reduce the bail to 12.5 million hryvnias.
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EU ambassadors agree on largest Russia sanctions package to date, targeting 1,500 individuals and companies
EU member-state ambassadors agreed on October 7 to add 743 individuals and 826 companies linked to Russia's military-industrial complex to the EU sanctions list, along with 77 people 'elected' to the Russian State Duma from occupied Ukrainian territories. The package also extends the chemical-weapons sanctions regime covering 31 individuals and six organizations. Formal approval is scheduled at the EU Foreign Affairs Council on October 12 in Luxembourg.
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Ukraine's top commander submits first "war plan" to security council, transfers dozens of generals to reserve
Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Mykhailo Drapatyi has prepared a so-called "war plan" and submitted it for review to the National Security and Defense Council (RNBO), according to Ukrainska Pravda. The document, reportedly the first of its kind for Ukraine, has been under consideration by the RNBO for several weeks. Separately, Drapatyi has moved dozens of colonels, brigadier generals, and other senior officers into the reserve battalion over the past six weeks.