Malgré les "efforts" de paix récents et la trêve temporaire des combats dans la ville ukrainienne d'Olechky, Vladimir Poutine poursuit les menaces contre l'Europe. Lors d'un rare appel avec les dirigeants norvégiens...
The Sky Sentinel turret can autonomously acquire and lock onto air targets, even jet-powered drones.
Viacheslav Madiievskyi/ Ukrinform/Future Publishing via Getty Images
Once experimental tech, AI turrets are now becoming an "integral part of air defense" in Ukraine's war.
These are guns that can detect and lock onto targets by calculating speed and trajectory.
Ukraine has deployed over a dozen of these and is looking to surge their production and use.
Ukraine is using machine gun turrets controlled by artificial intelligence in battle, and they're working well enough that Kyiv wants to roll them out at a faster pace.
While Ukraine began revealing prototypes of these systems last year, Brave1, the country's defense innovation platform, said on Thursday that they've now become "an integral part of air defense" for its forces.
"In the last month alone, automated turrets have destroyed dozens of enemy drones over Kyiv," Brave1 said, adding that it started work on these weapons in 2024 as experimental technology.
Not much is publicly known about the core capabilities of these turrets, such as their range or how their software works, but they've primarily been described as an air defense tool against Russian drones.
The idea is that artificial intelligence helps the turret detect, acquire, and track a target, making it more accurate than human operators at engaging high-speed air targets such as jet-powered Gerans.
More than a dozen such systems are now deployed in the Kyiv area, with another eight planned for the region, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in early October.
In a sign that Ukraine plans to lean further into the technology, Zelenskyy later praised the systems further, saying on October 19 that AI-powered turrets have "proven highly effective against shaheds."
"We are increasing orders, and it is important to accelerate every process as much as possible — organizational, financial, and production-related," Zelenskyy said.
One such system, the Sky Sentinel, is a .50-cal M2 Browning turret developed and operated by private air defense firm Carmine Sky. It can spin 360 degrees and lock onto a target while firing by calculating speed and trajectory.
Each one costs about $150,000, a Ukrainian commander told Business Insider's Jake Epstein last summer, and can distinguish between birds and drones. The turret still requires a human operator to authorize when to fire, the commander said.
Ukraine said an AI-enabled turret shot down Russia's fastest attack drone.
Courtesy of United24
Brave1 released a montage on Thursday indicating that Ukraine is also fielding other types of automated turrets, showcasing clips of several designs.
It said turrets had shot down at least 60 targets under its Private Air Defense Project, a pilot that allows private Ukrainian firms to buy air defense equipment and train civilian staff to use them against drones threatening factories, warehouses, and other important sites.
Notably, Brave1 said these turrets took down Russian Geran-5s and Banderols — jet-powered drones and cruise missiles that can reach speeds of 375 to 400 mph.
A similar claim was made by Yuriy Ihnat, the Ukrainian air force's spokesperson, in early October, when he said that AI-powered turrets had shot down Russian jet-powered drones for the first time. Ihnat did not say which system was used.
Kyiv has eagerly integrated AI into much of its war effort, using machine learning models for other functions, such as predicting enemy drone strikes and autonomously conducting supply runs with robotic buggies.
The turrets do have limited range, making them more useful as a final defense against drones or against low-flying targets.
They'll likely be one of several tools Ukraine is developing to counter Russian jet-powered threats.
Over the last few months, the Kremlin has been ramping up production and deployment of cheap cruise missiles or drones equipped with turbojet engines. These weapons, flying at nearly half the speed of sound and launched by the thousands every month, have become a major challenge for Ukrainian air defenses.
A US-brokered mission, which would allow humanitarian aid to enter the Russian-occupied southern Ukrainian city of Oleshky and residents to leave safely, is in its final phase, Kyiv announced.
The reported attack is being called a ‘resumption of strikes’ on various monitoring channels, being the first after an unofficial pause on Ukraine’s campaign against oil refineries that began in mid-October.
Pentagon officials have in recent weeks asked several NATO countries to tone down their rhetoric regarding the threat posed by Russia, arguing that some statements by European leaders and officials have undermined continental security, four people familiar with the matter said.
Among the nations that have received messages urging them to keep public statements in check are Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, said the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity. It was not clear if the messages, which were delivered in bilateral meetings, were conveyed to other European governments.
The US requests come as the Trump administration restarts an effort to press for a negotiated end to the full-scale war in Ukraine, now well into its fifth year. The latest push has blended incentives for Russia – including sanctions relief – with pressure on Ukraine to halt its attacks on Russian energy infrastructure.
Asked for comment, a Pentagon official said: “Private conversations among allies are just that, so we will not comment on these allegations.”
Among the comments that have drawn US officials’ attention are suggestions by European leaders that Russia is cornered and resorting to increasingly desperate measures as its invasion of Ukraine slows to a crawl, one of the people said.
Pentagon policy chief Elbridge Colby, a key figure in an ongoing review of US troop levels in Europe, was one of the US officials delivering the message, the people said. Reuters could not determine what other officials were involved.
None of the people, who include three European officials and a US official, suggested the advice was communicated in a confrontational manner.
US urges allies not to provoke Moscow
The US messages reflect a debate within NATO regarding how to publicly address the threat of an increasingly assertive Russia.
Some Western officials have argued that emphasizing the threat posed by Moscow could play into the hands of the Kremlin, which they say seeks to sow fear and undermine support for Ukraine.
Others argue European governments must be transparent to show their electorates that sacrifice and resources are needed to keep Moscow at bay. That is especially true as Russia appears to accelerate a covert campaign of sabotage throughout the continent.
Russia has denied that it is pursuing such a campaign.
Baltic states face pressure over public warnings
One of the people familiar told Reuters that Colby told a Baltic official recently that there should be no “poking” directed at the Russians.
The person said Colby pointed to Europeans publicly suggesting that Russia was “cornered like a rat” as an example of unhelpful rhetoric.
It was not clear what specific statement Colby was referring to. However, Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal referred to Putin as a “rat in a corner” in late September, suggesting the Russian leader was resorting to sabotage efforts in Europe as Russia had become increasingly bogged down in Ukraine.
“We are helping you. The Americans are there,” said a separate European official, describing the Pentagon’s recent private messaging. “Just don’t be loud. Don’t make noise.”
In a separate recent meeting, the Pentagon urged an Estonian delegation to be “measured” in its communications, according to a person briefed on the encounter, though the person did not say Pentagon officials complained about any specific statement.
The defense ministries of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia did not respond to requests for comment, while NATO declined to comment.
Russian sabotage fears divide NATO allies
One of the European officials said that the Pentagon’s advice, while cordial, was baffling, given that intelligence services in the Baltic states have in recent months consistently played down the probability of Russia testing NATO’s mutual defense provisions.
Other NATO intelligence services, by contrast, have publicly warned that Russia could dramatically ramp up its sabotage campaign in the near future.
The Pentagon messages to NATO officials come at a fraught time for European security.
Moscow has recently intensified its campaign of deniable attacks on NATO countries, Western intelligence officials have said.
On Wednesday, German prosecutors said two Belarusians were arrested for allegedly planning to set fire to a building or critical infrastructure facility in the Nuremberg area. In September, the German government blamed Russia for an attempted drone attack at Leipzig/Halle Airport, allegations Moscow has denied.
At the same time, US officials have been discussing potential business deals with Russia as part of the Trump administration’s push for peace in Ukraine. Those efforts have drawn mixed reactions from European officials, many of whom are pushing for the Kremlin’s continued economic isolation.
US reviews military presence in Europe
Pentagon planners, meanwhile, are reviewing Washington’s force posture in Europe, a process that could see a sharp drawdown in America’s troop presence on the continent.
US officials have said European NATO members need to assume more responsibility for their own defense, particularly as the US focuses on threats in the Middle East, Latin America and East Asia.
The plant has repeatedly faced threats to nuclear safety, including drone attacks, disruptions to external power supplies, and incidents affecting plant workers.
EU council president calls deadly strike ‘cruel and devastating’; fragile ceasefire holds in Oleshky.What we know on day 1,710
European leaders have reacted with outrage to a deadly attack by a Russian drone that slammed into a busy railway platform in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro on Thursday, as Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned Ukraine had intelligence about more ballistic missile strikes to come. French President Emmanuel Macron stressed the need for “far more than a localised ceasefire”, referencing the current truce in the Russian-occupied city of Oleshky. The EU council president, António Costa, who described the Dnipro attacks as “cruel and devastating”, called for greater pressure on Russia after the latest strikes against civilians. “The EU will continue to increase the pressure on Russia and to support Ukraine until a just and lasting peace is achieved,” he added. “We call on all our international partners to do the same.”
Later on Thursday, Russian forces launched an attack on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv with ballistic missiles, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram, hitting warehouses and triggering a fire. Emergency services were headed to the scene on the east side of the Dnipro River, he said.
Describing the Dnipro train station attack – which killed at least 14 people and injured another 14 – as “horrific”, the president of Ukraine insisted “sanctions against Moscow and its war machine must not be eased for as long as this Russian war continues”. Zelenskyy warned also that Ukraine had intelligence about preparations by the Russians of new ballistic missile strikes. “We need the means to take out all this Russian evil. We are expecting relevant decisions,” he said. Another attack on Dnipro hit a student dormitory, setting it ablaze, regional governor Oleksandr Hanzha said, adding the assaults had cut power to 350,000 households.
The strikes came as Ukraine and Russia kept to a fragile local ceasefire in the ravaged city of Oleshky and prepared to send a humanitarian convoy to the southern Ukrainian city under Russian occupation since 2022 and where residents have faced months of food, water and medicine shortages. Russia’s human rights commissioner Yana Lantratova said on Friday that local residents had until 2 pm local time (1100 GMT) on 30 October to evacuate, Russian news agency Interfax reported. Two people, including one sapper, were killed while de-mining in Oleshky, she said.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s military has paused its strikes on Russian oil refineries after pressure from US President Donald Trump, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal on Thursday, citing people with knowledge of the operations. Ukrainian units carrying out long-range strikes were told in mid-October that the campaign against refineries was effectively on hold once missions already in motion were completed, the Journal reported. The unofficial pause is expected to last until after the US midterm elections and potentially deeper into November, the newspaper said.
After the Dnipro attack, Zelenskyy renewed his criticism of a deal struck between Trump and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin to ease some US sanctions on Russia allowing Moscow to release diesel on to global markets. “How many such terrorist strikes has Russia carried out against our people since sanctions were lifted on some Russian oligarchs and the energy sector, instead of de-escalating?” he asked.
Late on Thursday, Putin said he supported any steps aimed at restoring relations with European countries, saying the outbreak of any conflict would leave a situation with no winners. Commenting on his phone call this week with the leaders of Norway and Finland, Putin told reporters after hosting a summit with African leaders: “And if anyone wants it, let them prepare, but right now they have not achieved their goal – to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia. And if things go too far, there will be no winners at all. .”
Ukrainian company Robotic Complexes is developing CASEEVAK, an armored module that lets the Murakha unmanned ground vehicle carry wounded soldiers off the battlefield, the company told Militarnyi on 28 October. The casualty rides in a closed capsule with ventilation, heating, lighting, and a first-aid kit, and side and rear doors let medics load and reach the soldier from any side.
Drones that can fly long distances pose a threat to both wounded soldiers and the crews evacuating them, making transportation the main challenge, said Ukrainian military medic Daryna Boiko, The Independent reported. Developers are looking for new ways to counter this threat. The current Murakha model is being equipped with passive anti-drone protection elements, the developers say.
An armored capsule that keeps the wounded connected
After a wounded soldier is loaded onto an evacuation platform, it is important not only to transport them to a safe location but also to protect them and monitor their condition during transit.
The module is built around a closed armored capsule made of 3.5 mm-thick Armox 500T steel with an inner lining of HDPE 1000, the media outlet reports. Side and rear doors allow the wounded to be loaded from different directions and accessed during evacuation.
A military personnel member inside the CASEEVAK module of the Murakha UGV. Photo: Robotic Complexes company
To enable the operator to monitor the person inside and maintain contact with them, the capsule is equipped with a camera with day and night channels and two-way audio communication. The system can be controlled via ELRS, LTE, Starlink, or fiber-optic communications. Militarnyi reports that even if the capsule is detached from the main platform, it retains two independent communication channels.
The developers are also working to integrate vital-signs monitoring systems intended to provide medical personnel with information about the wounded person’s condition during transport.
An electric platform and protection against FPV drones
The evacuation module requires a platform capable of carrying it as it moves through dangerous areas. The Murakha is equipped with two electric motors, delivering a combined torque of 1,600 N·m, and a 35 kWh battery. The system’s stated range is up to 80 km, according to the media outlet.
Another area of development is protection against drones. Measures intended to protect the system include net launchers and electronic warfare (EW) equipment. However, work on a protective cage against FPV drones is still ongoing, according to the report.
The company has already conducted ballistic tests of the armor steel at a distance of 50 meters, using ammunition of various calibers, Militarnyi reports.
The Murakha-Mini logistics platform
The same company previously developed the Murakha-Mini logistics platform. Ukrainian military personnel began using it on the front line to deliver equipment, provisions and other supplies, Militarnyi reported on 24 October 2025.
Ukraine’s Murakha-Mini unmanned ground vehicle. 2025. Photo: Robotic Complexes company
The UGV can carry up to 250 kg and travel up to 40 km on a single charge, the media outlet reported. During one combat mission, it transported 150 kg of cargo and towed a six-metre platform carrying another drone and provisions, covering 16 km in one direction, Militarnyi reported.
A Russian drone struck a train platform in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro region on Thursday, killing at least 14 civilians, according to Ukrainian officials, as Ukrainian forces fired more than 1,200 drones toward Russia. Ukrzaliznytsia, Ukraine’s state railway company, said a jet-powered drone hit the platform as commuters waited to board a train. The […]
Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, Russian forces have damaged 165 schools in Sumy Oblast and destroyed 21 beyond repair, according to the head of the regional administration. The administration’s answer is to move classrooms underground. Design documentation for 14 new underground schools has already been prepared, Oleh Hryhorov, head of the Sumy Oblast Military Administration, said in an interview with Ukrinform published on 28 October 2026. In addition, 13 such schools are already operating in Sumy region, while nine more are under construction, the media outlet reported.
Sumy region is one of the areas regularly shelled by the Russian military, making it dangerous to hold classes in above-ground school buildings. Of the region’s 280 schools, 225 have shelters, mostly basic ones, while more than 70 have radiation-protective shelters, Hryhorov noted.
“The process is ongoing and is being scaled up as much as possible,” he said, adding that the region is bringing in partners.
Underground classrooms provide a safer learning environment in Sumy Oblast
The construction of new underground schools is primarily focused on the larger cities of Sumy Oblast, where most schoolchildren are concentrated, Hryhorov explained.
The learning process at such a school differs from the usual format. This was explained by Oleksandr Vaniushenko, the principal of one of the first underground schools in Sumy, Suspilne reported on 23 December 2025.
“We have the first shift—entirely younger children, and fifth- and sixth-graders also go out to the open locations. The second shift brings in just as many more children. The total number studying per day is 360–370,” Vaniushenko noted.
The shelter has backup power supplies, allowing children to continue their lessons during air raid alerts and power outages, according to the project, media reported.
Children study in a radiation-protective shelter in Sumy, December 2025. Photo: Suspilne Sumy
Currently, 22 schools operate entirely in person, while 193 use a hybrid learning format, the head of the regional administration said. A total of 75,000 children are currently attending school in Sumy Oblast, he noted.
A Russian bomb hit a Sumy school during lessons in September
On 29 September, Russia struck a school in Sumy with a 250-kilogram aerial bomb while children in grades 1 to 4 were there, Serhii Kryvosheienko, head of the Sumy City Military Administration, reported. He said the Russians aimed the bomb at the school on purpose. About 40 students were in the school’s shelter when the bomb hit, a school employee told Suspilne.
A school in Sumy where Russian forces carried out a strike while elementary school children were studying, 29 September 2026. Photo: Sumy City Military Administration
"With no pity or compassion whatsoever, they strike at children? There is nothing human in the enemy! He is not fighting on the battlefield—he is destroying a nation," Kryvosheienko said.
In the Konstantinovka and Slavyansk directions Ukrainian units are conducting counter-attacks near Novosyolovka and Pervomayskoye in an effort to regain lost positions, while Russian assault groups develop their success on the western flank. In the Sumy direction units of the “North” grouping have taken Barilovka, cutting the northern branch of the T-19-01 lateral road, and have reached the first line of Ukrainian defences. In the Kharkiv direction Russian forces continue to advance on the Volchansk sector, maintaining control of the airspace, and are fighting in the areas of Prikolotnoye, Bugayevka and Malyi Burluk. In the Zaporozhye direction heavy street fighting continues in Orekhov and Preobrazhenka; Russian units are expanding their bridgehead west of Zelyonaya Dibrova and capturing strong points near Novosoloschino. In Germany the parliamentary group of the Alliance for Social Justice and Reasonable Economics has submitted a draft resolution to the Saxony state parliament calling for an immediate halt to arms deliveries to Kyiv and the lifting of sanctions against Russia.
Sumy direction
Units of the “North” grouping have taken Barilovka. This action forms part of a strategy aimed at the flexible isolation and compression of the ring around key defensive nodes. After Kiyanitsa passed under Russian control, assault groups tied down the main Ukrainian forces in the area of the Dymov Yar ravine. Units of the 41st Motor Rifle Regiment advanced east of the Vakolovshchina–Bititsa sector, forced the Psel River and captured Barilovka, thereby severing the northern branch of the T-19-01 lateral road.
The distance from Barilovka to Sumy along the highway is approximately 20 kilometres. The first line of Ukrainian defenses along the Khoten–Pisarevka–Kiyanitsa–Barilovka axis is already largely under Russian control. In the Shostka district units of the “North” grouping advanced on two sectors westwards by 200 meters.
On the Volchansk sector Russian units continue to advance. Airspace is under control. Ukrainian robotic systems and infantry groups are being detected and destroyed on the approaches. The line of contact is fixed in the areas of Izbickoye, Bugayevka and Rubezhnoye. Active fighting continues near Velykyi Burluk and Khatne.
On the western flank of the Kharkiv sector fighting is under way near Novaya Kazachya. Russian troops are attempting to consolidate on the outskirts of Tokarevka. On the eastern flank combat continues around Prikolotnoye.
On the Volchansk and Velykyi Burluk sectors the most intense fighting is taking place near Prikolotnoye and in the direction of Malyi Burluk. Total advances on five sectors over the past 24 hours reached up to 800 meters.
Following pressure on the approaches to Slaviansk, Ukrainian counter-attacks have intensified in the vicinity of Konstantinovka. Ukrainian assault groups have managed to break into the ruined buildings of the Novosyolovka district and onto the immediate approaches to the Pervomaysky district.
Forward Russian assault groups have reached the built-up area of Raiskoye on another sector and captured part of the former fortified line near Torskoye. Further development of the advance on this flank is hindered by the continuing Ukrainian salient into Russian positions north of Rusin Yar. Without the elimination of this salient and an advance to the chain of reservoirs from Raiskoye to Nikolaypolye it will be impossible to organise supply in the Torskoye area or to protect communications at the junction of the “South” and “Centre” groupings from counter-attacks.
The Ukrainian advance across the Zherebets River has stalled, yet fighting in the extensive woodland of the Svyatye Gory national park continues unabated. Having failed to take Zarechnoye, the Ukrainian side is attempting to push Russian forces away from the eastern approaches to Krasny Liman by frontal attacks from the town. Ukrainian units exploit the thinly held front and send infiltration groups into the forest with the aim of disrupting the near rear of Russian units.
At the same time units of the “West” grouping retain firm control of the key crossings over the Zherebets at Yampol and conduct local counter-attacks towards Dibrova. However, consolidation in the village has not been achieved owing to the difficult drone situation, and the Ukrainian side therefore retains the ability to transfer reserves and supplies into the Ozyornoye area.
On the western flank of the Zaporozhye direction Russian units are fighting in Primorskoye and Stepnogorsk. Heavy street fighting continues in Orekhov and Preobrazhenka. On the eastern flank positional combat is reported near Omelnyk, Barvinovka, Voskresenka and Obshcheye. The situation remains complex in Ternovatoye.
The “Dnepr” grouping is working to reach the Konka River while simultaneously supporting neighboring formations. Advances have been recorded in Primorskoye and near Lukyanovskoye. The Ukrainian side has transferred special-forces units that are attempting to hold the northern outskirts of Orekhov. Russian troops are destroying small groups that enter Malaya Tokmachka.
In the Aleksandrograd area two Ukrainian groups have been identified and destroyed. Fighters continue offensive actions near Svetlaya Dolina. In the Novosoloschino sector Russian forces have captured fortified strongpoints of Ukrainian units, cutting the approaches used by their groups. Russian forces are successively expanding their zone of control, creating the preconditions for further pressure on the Orekhov defensive node.
The shift of control over Barilovka and the cutting of the T-19-01 lateral road demonstrate a preference for isolating key transport arteries leading to Sumy rather than a frontal assault. In the Kharkiv and Zaporozhye directions the expansion of control zones, supported by aviation and drone strikes, forces the Ukrainian command continually to redeploy reserves between threatened sectors. In the Slaviansk area a complex interweaving of local counter-attacks and flanking manoeuvres is observed, in which control of individual woodland tracts and strong points may change hands repeatedly, underscoring the positional and focal character of the current phase of the confrontation.
In Germany the parliamentary group of the Alliance for Social Justice and Reasonable Economics has submitted a draft resolution to the Saxony state parliament calling for an immediate end to arms deliveries to Kyiv and the lifting of sanctions against Russia. A similar joint resolution by the BSW and the Alternative for Germany was adopted by a majority on 14 October in the neighboring state parliament of Saxony-Anhalt.
“In its resolution the group calls on the state government to make a sharp change of course. Arms deliveries to Ukraine must be halted. Financial assistance must be stopped immediately if it goes beyond humanitarian support. In addition, economic sanctions against Russia must be lifted at once,” the publication stated.
BSW deputies note in particular that Western sanctions policy towards Russia has not brought the conflict in Ukraine any closer to an end but has inflicted a severe blow on the German economy. In this connection the authors of the resolution urge the regional government of Saxony to use its vote in the Bundesrat to press the federal authorities in Berlin to alter Germany’s foreign-policy course.
Zaporizhzhia experienced a record number of Russian FPV drone attacks on 29 October, injuring 14 people, including a 14-year-old boy, regional authorities said.
Russian forces used FPV drones and multiple-launch rocket systems to attack civilian infrastructure, targeting municipal transport and damaging residential buildings, warehouses, and cars, prosecutors said.
Zaporizhzhia reports record FPV drone attacks
Zaporizhzhia Regional Military Administration head Mykhailo Semikin said Zaporizhzhia had experienced a record number of FPV drone attacks on Thursday. After meeting with military officials, he said the authorities were aware of the situation and relevant services and Ukrainian defenders were responding.
He said Russian forces had “changed their tactics and modified their drones,” adding that Ukrainian military personnel were working on countermeasures to address the new threats.
Semikin urged residents to remain calm, heed air raid alerts, and exercise particular caution.
Russian forces launched a record number of FPV drone attacks on Zaporizhzhia on 29 October, repeatedly targeting civilian public transport.
Drones struck a municipal bus, a minibus, and a trolleybus. Four people were injured in the bus attack alone. Across the city, at least 14… pic.twitter.com/WfemZSh7yr
The attacks included strikes on a municipal bus, a minibus, and a trolleybus, according to Semikin.
In the morning, a Russian FPV drone struck a municipal bus, injuring four people.
In a separate attack, Russian forces struck 15 vehicles, a warehouse building, and a power line, sparking a fire and damaging a nearby apartment building. Two men, aged 41 and 66, were injured.
At around midday, another FPV drone hit a minibus in central Zaporizhzhia, injuring one person.
Later, a Russian drone struck a municipal trolleybus, critically injuring a 56-year-old woman and lightly injuring two other women, aged 71 and 66.
Russian attacks on Zaporizhzhia injured two men, aged 41 and 66.
The strikes set four cars and an open area on fire, damaged a warehouse, and damaged four cars and four buses.
Zaporizhzhia lies relatively close to the front line in southern Ukraine, leaving the city exposed to Russian attacks with weapons that can be used at shorter ranges, including FPV drones and multiple-launch rocket systems.
The proximity allows Russian forces to threaten civilian infrastructure more easily without relying solely on long-range missiles or drones.
Prosecutors investigate suspected war crime
The Zaporizhzhia Regional Prosecutor’s Office said it had opened a war crimes investigation. Investigators from the Security Service of Ukraine’s regional directorate are conducting the pretrial investigation.
The casualty count and damage reports were preliminary, and authorities said information was still being updated as the attacks continued.
Russian attacks kill civilians in several Ukrainian cities
Zaporizhzhia was not the only major city hit by Russian attacks on 29 October. In Dnipro, a Russian strike on the railway station killed at least 14 people.
In Chernihiv, two teenage girls were killed and 23 people injured, including four children. In Kremenchuk, Poltava Oblast, three people were killed and 15 injured, including three children.
The attacks damaged residential buildings and civilian infrastructure in all three cities.
Egg prices go up 2.1% on Sunday; flour is reportedly set to rise by as much as 14%, with bread, pasta and other staples likely to follow, in fresh blow to households stretched thin by cost-of-living crisis
A temporary ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine has held for a third day around the occupied town of Oleshky, allowing preparations for food deliveries and civilian evacuations. The agreement, mediated with the involvement of US First Lady Melania Trump, represents a limited diplomatic development in a war where attempts to establish broader ceasefires have repeatedly failed.
Russia and Ukraine have maintained a localised ceasefire around Oleshky in the southern Kherson region, creating an opportunity to deliver humanitarian assistance to civilians who have spent months effectively isolated from regular supplies of food, medicine and drinking water.
Ukrainian Human Rights Commissioner Dmytro Lubinets said on 29 October that neither side had reported violations of the agreement and that teams were continuing to clear mines from roads intended for humanitarian convoys.
According to Associated Press, the six-day arrangement began on 27 October and is expected to remain in force until 1 November.
The first substantial humanitarian delivery is scheduled for Friday, 30 October.
An estimated 1,700 to 2,000 civilians remain in Oleshky, many of them elderly residents whose health, mobility or personal circumstances have prevented them from leaving.
The town is situated on the Russian-occupied eastern bank of the Dnipro River, opposite Ukrainian-controlled Kherson.
Its geographical position has made it particularly vulnerable to the consequences of the fighting, while damaged infrastructure, mines and military restrictions have complicated access for humanitarian organisations.
Melania Trump’s Unusual Diplomatic Role
The agreement has attracted attention because of the involvement of US First Lady Melania Trump.
In a White House statement issued on 23 October, her office announced that she had worked with Russian and Ukrainian representatives to secure arrangements for a temporary cessation of military activity.
The statement described her as the intermediary in the negotiations, covering the timing of the ceasefire, humanitarian access, evacuation procedures and operational coordination.
Lubinets subsequently acknowledged her involvement and said communication with his Russian counterpart, Yana Lantratova, had helped maintain the arrangement.
The White House originally announced 29 October as the starting date, but Ukrainian officials later reported that the ceasefire had taken effect at 3am on 27 October.
By Thursday, both sides were describing the agreement as holding without recorded violations.
The participation of the American First Lady is an unusual feature of international humanitarian diplomacy, which is more commonly conducted through governments, international organisations or specialist humanitarian agencies.
However, the immediate significance of the agreement will be determined by whether assistance reaches residents and whether those wishing to leave can do so safely.
A Town Cut Off from Essential Supplies
Oleshky has experienced prolonged humanitarian difficulties under Russian occupation.
The town suffered extensive disruption following the destruction of the Kakhovka dam in June 2023, which caused severe flooding across communities along the Dnipro.
Subsequent fighting, damage to infrastructure and restrictions on movement further complicated access to essential goods.
According to Ukrainian officials, normal deliveries of food to the town have been effectively interrupted since late May 2026.
Residents have faced shortages of medicines and clean water, while the presence of mines has made movement beyond residential areas hazardous.
The remaining population is believed to consist largely of older people and residents requiring medical attention.
For these civilians, humanitarian access is not simply a matter of replenishing household supplies.
It may determine whether individuals can receive essential treatment, obtain prescription medicines or leave areas where normal medical and social services have ceased functioning.
The Evacuation Challenge
The ceasefire provides for humanitarian teams to assess residents’ needs and arrange transport for those who wish to leave.
The White House has indicated that residents should be able to choose their destination, including Ukrainian-controlled territory or Russia.
Ensuring that such decisions are genuinely voluntary is particularly important in occupied territory.
International humanitarian law provides protections for civilians under occupation, including restrictions concerning forcible transfers and deportations.
A credible evacuation process therefore requires clear information, freedom from coercion and practical arrangements allowing residents to travel safely.
The presence of journalists accompanying the mission may provide additional documentation, although media access does not replace independent humanitarian monitoring.
Russian and Ukrainian representatives have also been coordinating mine clearance along routes intended for humanitarian vehicles.
Until those routes are confirmed safe, the delivery of assistance and movement of civilians remain dependent on operational conditions.
A Ceasefire That Does Not Extend Beyond Oleshky
The agreement remains geographically limited.
Russian strikes continued elsewhere in Ukraine on 29 October, killing civilians in several cities, including Dnipro.
The continuing attacks demonstrate that the localised humanitarian arrangement does not represent a broader change in Russian military operations or the strategic direction of the war.
Nevertheless, the pause has also brought some relief to residents of nearby Ukrainian-controlled Kherson, where repeated attacks have disrupted daily life.
The absence of reported violations around Oleshky suggests that the two sides retain the ability to coordinate narrowly defined humanitarian measures when political and operational arrangements are in place.
That does not necessarily imply an increased willingness to compromise over territory or broader security questions.
What Happens After 1 November?
The agreement is scheduled to expire on 1 November, leaving only a limited period for delivering aid and facilitating departures.
Its effectiveness will depend on the quantities of assistance delivered, the number of residents reached and whether evacuation arrangements operate as intended.
It will also be necessary to establish what protection, if any, is available to civilians who remain after the ceasefire ends.
A successful operation could provide a model for similarly limited humanitarian arrangements elsewhere along the front.
However, extending such cooperation would require further political consent and practical security guarantees.
For Oleshky’s remaining residents, the immediate question is more urgent: whether several days without fighting can provide the assistance and safe passage that months of war have denied them.
For more than 300 years, since Peter I's 1708 script reform, Ukrainian lettering has been shaped by imperial Russian norms. Zakon, presented on 29 October 2026, aims to break that pattern and decolonize the letters of Ukraine's state acts and awards.
The national font for official state communication draws on the work of Ukrainian artists, including Heorhii Narbut, who designed a 1918 banknote for the Ukrainian People's Republic, the short-lived independent state that fell to the Bolsheviks. It is meant to replace Izhitsa, Petersburg, and other Russian-origin fonts still often used on honor certificates, letters of thanks, diplomas, battle flags, and signs, adding a visual touch to the country's push to boost its national culture amid the fifth year of Russia's full-blown invasion.
Verkhovna Rada Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk presented Zakon on 29 October, nine months after parliament adopted a resolution that called for a national font and said Russian-origin fonts had no place in official acts or on state awards. The Ministry of Culture developed it with money from the job site Work.ua and its co-owner Artur Mikhno, and the font is still in beta testing, the ministry says.
“The letters in which the word ‘Ukraine’ is written are also part of our state identity,” Stefanchuk wrote. “Decolonization should also concern how Ukraine presents itself.”
"Ukraine" written in Zakon font. Screenshot from mincult.gov.ua
“The creation of a national typeface is an important step toward ensuring that state institutions represent Ukraine through our artistic tradition and contemporary Ukrainian design. [...] We want Ukrainian design to shape the image of our country, and for our cultural heritage to become a source of new solutions,” said Tetiana Berezhna, Deputy Prime Minister for Humanitarian Policy and Minister of Culture.
Three typefaces, one of them free for anyone
Zakon comes in three versions. Zakon Text is designed for everyday official paperwork and is free for anyone to use; it's available for download here. Zakon Decor, for ceremonial inscriptions, and Zakon Letterpress, for printing the originals of legal acts, have closed licenses.
Zakon Text has four styles: regular, italic, bold, and bold italic. The ministry asks users to test it and send feedback before a wider rollout, which Stefanchuk said will be gradual.
The designers are Oleksii Chekal, Hennadii Zarechniuk, Dmytro Rastvortsev, and Andrii Shevchenko, with Taras Ishchyk leading the project.
Example of an Antiqua font
The ministry calls Zakon a “classic Ukrainian antiqua.” Antiqua, or roman, is the family of upright serif letters that grew out of a script Renaissance Italian humanists modeled on Carolingian handwriting, which they took for ancient Roman.
The name set it apart from blackletter, the Gothic script, and its forms became the basis of the roman typefaces Nicolas Jenson and Aldus Manutius cut in 15th-century Venice.
Built on the lettering of six Ukrainian artists
Zakon brings Ukrainian letter forms back to Cyrillic. The Ministry of Culture says that its developers “generalized most of the characteristic features” of six Ukrainian graphic artists’ lettering.
Heorhii Narbut (1886–1920) is credited with 13 of the 24 banknotes issued in 1917–1920, the first Ukrainian postage stamps, and an illustrated Ukrainian alphabet he never finished. His letters drew on Cossack baroque motifs and floral ornament.
Design of the 100 hryvnia note of the Ukrainian People's Republic. Typography, illustration, ornamentation. Heorhii Narbut, 1918.
Vasyl Krychevskyi (1873–1952) drew the trident that became the coat of arms of the Ukrainian People’s Republic in 1918, along with its seals and banknotes.
Vasyl Krychevskyi. Coat of Arms of the Ukrainian People's Republic. Poster, 1918.
Robert Lisovskyi (1893–1982), a follower of Narbut, made prints, book covers, and emblems, and later led the Association of Ukrainians in Great Britain.
Cover of the magazine *For the Unity of the Nation*. Lettering and coat of arms by Robert Lisovskyi, 1955.
Vasyl Khomenko (1912–1984) created New Ukrainian, a typeface he worked on from 1963 to 1970. Zakon co-designer Zarechniuk is one of the authors of Homenko, a typeface based on his work.
Homenko Font Family developed by Zarechniuk
Yakiv Hnizdovskyi (1915–1985) emigrated to the United States in 1949, later settling in New York, and made close to 250 woodcuts, along with book covers and bookplates.
Book cover. Calligraphy, ornamentation. Yakiv Hnizdovskyi, 1949, Regensburg.
Vasyl Chebanyk (1933–2025) began studying the Ukrainian alphabet in 1971 and in 2001 launched the Rutenia project to restore older Ukrainian forms in a modern shape. Rutenia later grew to more than 60 fonts and won him the Shevchenko National Prize. One of them is on the cover of the ceremonial copy of Ukraine’s Constitution.
The Rutenia decorative typeface designed by Vasyl Chebanyk. Illustrative image
How Ukraine's state started dropping Russian fonts
Russia's full-scale invasion turned fonts into a state matter. On 29 September 2022, days after Russia's sham "referendums" in four occupied Ukrainian oblasts, Anna Yakupova, CEO of ParaType, the Russian studio whose Cyrillic versions of Petersburg and other fonts Ukraine's state institutions still use, congratulated colleagues in a chat that "our country got bigger," prompting a campaign to shun the fonts.
In August 2023, MPs from three factions registered bill 9606 to ban the Russian font Izhitsa from Verkhovna Rada documents and move parliament's honor certificates to Volja, a Ukrainian font made in 2022 by Marchela Mozhyna from the lettering of artist Nil Khasevych. A month later, the culture ministry announced plans for a bank of Ukrainian fonts to replace Russian ones.
In July 2026, the fight reached Ukraine's money. The National Bank of Ukraine said it would redraw the lettering on its new 2,000-hryvnia note featuring poet Vasyl Stus, after type designer Bohdan Hdal said the denomination lettering resembled an unofficial Cyrillic adaptation of Bickham Script made by a Russian designer. “No Russian shadows on a banknote with a poet whom Russia killed,” NBU Governor Andrii Pyshnyi said.
The "Two thousand hryvnias" inscription on Ukraine's new banknote will be redrawn after critics said it resembled a Russian designer's unofficial adaptation of a font
Some readers balk at the Z
Not everyone liked the name. Among the top comments under Stefanchuk’s post, readers objected that the Latin spelling starts with Z, the letter Russia painted on its vehicles for the full-scale invasion. Others welcomed the font itself.
Engagé depuis des années dans le sauvetage d’animaux à travers le monde, Jesse Adams a perdu la vie en Ukraine, dimanche 25 octobre, lors d’une mission d’évacuation de chiens et de chats. Le bénévole canadien a été...
It’s been said that truth is the first casualty of war. What about the Ukraine war? I’ve followed the news closely, and have found ample evidence in headlines and storylines that the old adage holds true today. Too often the Ukraine news stories we see are misleading instead of informative.
For instance, in March 2014 CNN reported that Ukraine’s Maidan Revolution was “standing up on behalf of democracy.” A month earlier, The Week cited many pundits and policymakers also characterizing events as a victory for democracy. It was a clear and compelling news theme.
But what’s misleading about that? It creates an impression that is contrary to reality. The truth is that the immediate result of the revolution was an abrupt end to constitutional democracy, not a victory for democracy.
The uprising totally dismantled the constitutional democracy that Ukraine had operated under since its independence from the USSR in 1991. The sequence of events makes it clear. Out went the democratic constitution; in came rule by force under the unelected revolutionaries. That’s what Ukrainians were stuck with for months. The stories about a boost for democracy were completely misleading.
This is a good example of truth being a casualty of war. The news celebrated an advance of democracy while in reality democracy itself had been lost.
Media distortion like that is not unique to the Ukraine war. Here’s an example dating back to the Cold War.
The issue was Soviet missiles showing up in Cuba in 1962. Upon discovery, President Kennedy railed against their presence.
On national TV he demanded that en route Soviet ships presumed to be carrying still more missiles be turned around. And Khrushchev complied.
Still there was the issue of removing the missiles from Cuba. How did that turn out?
“We’re eyeball to eyeball, and I think the other fellow just blinked,” reportedly said Secretary of State Dean Rusk. News reports characterized JFK as staring down the menacing Soviet leader and winning this round with the communists. The imagery seemed to play upon the title of Kennedy’s book, Profiles in Courage. It all was emblematic of the American Way. The story was almost poetic.
Indeed, this story seems so perfect that it is hard to believe it was actually a hoax. True, there were missiles. But here is a factual account of how that crisis really unfolded:
In late 1961 President Kennedy began placing nuclear missiles in Turkey, strategically close to the Soviet border. Full deployment was completed in 1962. It would take less than 15 minutes for the missiles to hit Moscow.
Then in July of that year Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev sealed a secret agreement with Cuba to deploy Soviet nuclear missiles there, just 90 miles from Florida. It would take them less than 15 minutes to hit Washington DC.
What ended this standoff was something far less poetic than the Kennedyesque example I cited earlier. Khrushchev proposed a quid pro quo: He would remove his missiles from Cuba if Kennedy would remove his from Turkey. Kennedy privately agreed. But he insisted on a significant proviso: the quid pro quo must be kept secret. Khrushchev conceded and Kennedy’s fanciful story of standing tall in the face of a threatening adversary prevailed.
The Cuban missile story thus joins the Ukraine democracy story as another example of truth being a casualty of war.
Now consider this next example from back in Ukraine.
“Parliament votes 328-0 to impeach Yanukovych” reported the Kyiv Post on February 23, 2014. A day earlier the New York Times claimed, “Ukraine’s Parliament voted to remove President Viktor F. Yanukovych from office hours after he abandoned his office.”
Both reports further demonstrate how truth becomes a casualty of war. Neither accurately portrays what really happened.
Radio Liberty was quick to set things straight. In a report titled “Was Yanukovych’s Ouster Constitutional?” staffer Daisy Sindelar presented an in-depth analysis showing that parliamentarians tried to remove Yanukovych from the presidency but failed to achieve a sufficient vote.
She also pointed out that Yanukovych’s alleged abandonment of the presidency was not even a possible basis for declaring the office vacant. Radio Liberty’s corrections are backed up by Constitutional Coup in Ukraine in 2014, a thorough academic study published under the auspices of the Polish Parliament.
Clearly all the examples cited above represent fabricated stories masquerading as the truth. But the news stories are also examples of something much more insidious: the collective impact that a persistent manufactured narrative can have on a given public.
They paint a picture, a vivid narrative, that shapes the cultural schema through which people understand and interpret future events.
This can be seen in how the media have portrayed the fates of Crimea and Donbas. At issue is the question: Did the revolutionary government automatically inherit all the territorial authority of the constitutional democracy they had overthrown?
Crimea, for example, has been a significant stumbling block in discussions of a peaceful settlement of the war. In March 2014 Secretary of State John Kerry told CNN, “Crimea is part of Ukraine. Crimea is Ukraine.” But how is that true? What made Crimea part of revolutionary Ukraine?
Before the revolution, Crimea’s place within Ukraine was established by the democratic constitution. But the revolutionaries abandoned that constitution and claimed authority through force. Their rule by force never extended into Crimea. What, then, was the basis for their claim to Crimea? There was none that holds up to scrutiny. Even the eventual election of Poroshenko as president did not undo the constitutional destruction caused by the revolutionaries.
Why didn’t CNN challenge Kerry’s story? The assumption behind his statement illustrates how an ongoing series of fabricated stories can predispose us to interpret each new story in a particular way. If one can believe that a takeover by force is an advancement of democracy, why question an unsupported claim regarding Crimea? This shows that a lack of scrutiny can lead to creating or reinforcing a cultural schema that impedes our understanding of what is really happening.
The same principle applies to Donbas, but the words are different. Here Ukraine news stories portrayed the situation as “Russia invading Donbas.” But the facts show that notion to be a sensationalized misdirection from the truth.
The actual story can be understood by asking this question: What made Donbas, meaning the areas of Donetsk and Luhansk, a part of revolutionary Ukraine?
The logic that clarified the status of Crimea applies here too. Donetsk and Luhansk were not part of revolutionary Ukraine for the same reason. Additionally, their populations actively rejected revolutionary rule. They fought against it when the revolutionaries attacked them. If there were, as reports claimed, Russian volunteers, mercenaries, or regulars helping the population defend their territories, it does not alter the basic scenario.
Calling the territories breakaway regions is a misnomer, as is calling the people separatists. It is not possible to break away or separate from something to which one was not attached in the first place. The Russia invades Donbas story is just sensationalistic fabrication.
What’s worse is that this obscures what really happened there. February 2022 is often cited as the start of the Ukraine war. The facts tell a different story. The hostilities in Donbas beginning in 2014 marked the actual start of the Ukraine war, years before the massive escalation in 2022. Reports say that this Donbas phase of the conflict claimed over 14,000 lives and displaced roughly 1.5 million people.
“Truth is the first casualty of war?” Once again we see that axiom is borne out. The mainstream story about Donbas leaves out the critical parts of the truth. But who will notice that? The facts are obscured from view by the now well-established, yet fundamentally misleading cultural schema.
The false claim of a democratic revolution. The lie about how Yanukovych was dismissed. The false and misleading narratives about the status of Crimea and Donbas. These and other stories have given the American public and our leaders a politically contorted view of the entire Ukraine war dilemma.
These narratives — and the false cultural schema they help create — can also lead people to draw unwarranted conclusions about the reasons behind political leaders’ decisions. As peace-treaty talks approach, there is a danger that proposals and decisions about ending the war might be built on a house of cards — that is, the series of misleading Ukraine news stories and the dysfunctional cultural schema that they helped to create. Together they distort perceptions of how the war began and what is at stake. If negotiators fail to break free of that schema, any resulting peace could prove unsustainable for Ukrainians and their country. What a waste that would be. Haven’t the Ukrainian people suffered enough?
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