Worth noting, korrespondent.net has compiled its Invasion of Ukraine series into separate months, beginning May 9th, 2023. Linked in the title.
[Korrespondent] 22:29 Zelensky in an evening video message addressed all Ukrainians in Crimea and other “for now” occupied areas of the south and east: “Dear Ukrainians! You all feel that the Russian presence on our land is not forever. I know this. Ukraine will return its territory, our people. We will not leave anyone to the occupiers. And we are working by all means to ensure that this war ends in the defeat of the occupiers."
20:00 The Russians fired artillery at the village. Podol of the Kupyansky district of the Kharkov region, two people died, said the head of the OVA Oleg Sinegubov.
19:08 During the day, the enemy attacked Nikopol in the Dnepropetrovsk region twice, first with a kamikaze drone, then with heavy artillery. One person was injured, a hotel, a veterinary clinic, and a power line were damaged, said the head of the OVA, Sergei Lysak.
19:03 Stoltenberg again called on NATO member countries to immediately increase the production of weapons and ammunition, since active military assistance to Ukraine has significantly depleted the Alliance's reserves: “Our security depends on technological advantages and our defense industry. Therefore, it is important that large companies like within the Alliance and beyond. Increasing production is necessary both to meet Ukraine's needs and for our own defense. However, as Russia once again prepares to use winter as a weapon in war, speed and volume of production will matter ".
18:50 Zelensky said that he met with Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen and thanked him for the already 12 packages of military assistance.
18:36 Participants in the Second Parliamentary Summit of the International Crimean Platform adopted a joint declaration in which they expressed their intention to tighten sanctions against the Russian Federation, condemned the fake “elections” in the occupied Ukrainian territories, and also emphasized that “the restoration of the territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders, including "de-occupation of Crimea and Sevastopol, as well as ensuring the state sovereignty of Ukraine is a fundamental prerequisite for ending the war and establishing lasting peace in the region."
16:55 Germany is preparing a winter aid package for Ukraine worth 1.4 billion euros, the main task of which is to create a “protective shield” for energy and other infrastructure, Scholz said. He clarified that the package, among other things, will include Patriot, Iris-T6, Gepard air defense systems, etc. In total, since the beginning of a full-scale war, Germany has provided almost 24 billion euros in assistance to Ukraine. The Chancellor also noted that last week a support package for the energy system in the amount of 80 million euros was approved.
16:52 Russian troops are trying to capture the village of Kupyansk-Uzlovoy in the Kharkov region, where an important railway junction is located, said Denis Yaroslavsky, commander of the intelligence unit of the Ground Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. “The enemy is trying to attack us around the clock. He is trying to recapture Kupyansk-Uzlovoy. This is truly a strategic railway junction, which he is trying to grab hold of, and defeats the crossings, all objects that can cut us off from Kupyansk-Uzlovoy,” he said.
According to Yaroslavsky, Russia is suffering heavy losses, but continues to actively storm with the aim of encircling Kupyansk: “We do not feel that the enemy is getting smaller. We know that he is trying to carry out repeated assault operations in the near future. The situation is very difficult.”
16:07 Bild writes that it has familiarized itself with the recordings of conversations between the former head of Roscosmos Dmitry Rogozin and the general director of the Progress Rocket and Space Center Dmitry Baranov. They discussed the possibility of hitting a major city in Ukraine with a space rocket filled with explosives. According to the German publication, the plan was brought to Putin on January 16, but how he reacted to it is unknown.
Rogozin and Baranov discussed the technical details of a possible strike on Ukraine with a launch vehicle, which is used to fly into space, but with explosives on board. Baranov told Rogozin that he would need about six months to prepare such an operation. At the same time, the interlocutors discussed the risk that the rocket could explode when heated or fall into the territory of the Russian Federation itself. And the error during impact can range from 50 to 100 km.
15:46 Ukraine has converted American AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles for Western fighters into surface-to-air missiles, writes the Financial Times. "These missiles didn't work. We fixed them. We found a way to launch them from the ground. This is a kind of homemade air defense," the publication quotes a senior Ukrainian official. According to him, this is one of a number of similar initiatives in which old materials that the US military considers redundant are being turned into actual weapons.
15:02 Scholz promised that Israeli support will not interfere with assistance to Ukraine: “We support Ukraine economically, with humanitarian aid, as well as with weapons. This support will in no way be affected by the fact that since the terrible morning hours of October 7 we have been turned aside Israel and the Middle East with the greatest compassion and concern."
14:23 A report on preparations for Ukraine’s accession to the European Union is expected on November 8, reports Reuters. The document will outline an assessment of Ukraine's progress in meeting accession conditions. Its publication should be a key step in deciding whether to begin accession negotiations with Kiev.
14:07 The EU is preparing the 12th package of sanctions, which will allow the use of frozen Russian assets to restore the infrastructure of Ukraine, Ursula von der Leyen said.
13:38 The Ukrainian Defense Industry company and the German defense concern Rheinmetall have created a joint venture, Shmygal said. The joint venture will service and repair equipment supplied to Ukraine by its partners. The company will also localize the production of leading equipment from Rheinmetall AG.
12:44 The Russians hit Zaporozhye with two missiles (previously ballistic) from the south. One of the missiles hit the territory of the enterprise, the location of the second hit is being determined. As a result of the strike, buildings on the territory of the enterprise were damaged, there was no information about casualties, said the head of the OVA, Yuri Malashko.
12:17 The Crimean bridge will be destroyed when the situation requires it, Navy spokesman Dmitry Pletenchuk said in an interview with Ukrinform: “There is no point in destroying the bridge to raise the mood. When it is necessary to cut off the logistical tails of Crimea and make it an island, this will definitely be done ... Of course, we very often measure a counteroffensive in square kilometers, but this is not entirely correct, because any such operations are multi-component, multi-layered, there are many elements that must be carried out in the appropriate sequence."
12:06 As of now, Ukraine has not yet established full fire control over Crimea, but this is only a matter of time, Zelensky said in a video message at the second parliamentary summit of the Crimean Platform, which is taking place in Prague. According to the president, Ukrainian troops have already made some progress - in particular, the Russian Black Sea Fleet is no longer able to operate in the western part of the Black Sea and is “gradually fleeing Crimea.” Zelensky called it a “historic achievement.”
Another success of Ukraine is that for Russians there is now not a single safe base and not a single reliable logistics route in Crimea and on the occupied parts of the Black Sea and Azov coasts, the head of state noted. The third result, he said, is that pro-Ukrainian sentiment in Crimea is becoming more open, and the fourth is that Ukraine has been able to return the Black Sea to the role of an artery on which global food stability depends.
11:54 Elon Musk said that military conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine could escalate into World War III, so it is better for the United States to improve relations with Russia and persuade Ukraine to a ceasefire. He also believes that “US policy is forcing the Russian Federation to enter into an alliance with Iran and China,” and an alliance of Russia, China and Iran can defeat the West in a global conflict.
10:51 The Russian Army struck Kazatsky, Kherson region, wounding two people, the OVA reported. In addition, as a result of night shelling, the hospital building in Belozerka was damaged.
10:45 In the morning, the Russians attacked the Dnepropetrovsk region with a missile - it was destroyed over the Kamensky district, said the head of the OVA Sergei Lysak. The air force clarified that it was an X-59 missile. In addition, the enemy shelled the Sinelnikovsky district - an infrastructure facility and several private houses were damaged, but no people were injured.
10:16 Ermak said that the production of FPV kamikaze drones has “significantly increased” in Ukraine. “When the numbers are announced, many will be pleasantly surprised,” noted the head of the OP.
09:13 On the evening of October 23, the enemy fired at the village of Borovaya, Izyum district, Kharkov region. A two-story residential building was damaged and four people were injured, said Oleg Sinegubov, head of the OVA. Over the past 24 hours, the enemy also shelled settlements in the Kharkov, Chuguevsky, Kupyansky and Izyumsky districts.
08:59 At night, Russian troops fired at the Belozersk community of the Kherson region. One of the shells hit a private house, injuring three people, including a small child, the prosecutor's office said. According to the OVA, over the past 24 hours, as a result of Russian shelling in the region, two people were killed and 14 were injured, including one child.
08:56 The Black Sea Fleet stated that at night in the northern part of the Black Sea, three unmanned boats of the Ukrainian Navy were discovered by technical surveillance equipment, and they were allegedly destroyed. “Governor” of Sevastopol Mikhail Razvozhaev said that the Black Sea Fleet is carrying out “measures to combat underwater sabotage forces and means using rocket bombing and grenade launching.”
08:47 At night, Russia attacked Ukraine with six Shahed-type attack UAVs from the southern direction (Chauda, Crimea). All of them were shot down within the Khmelnitsky, Vinnitsa and Nikolaev regions, the Air Force command reported.
08:21 The General Staff announced the estimated losses of the Russian Federation as of the morning of October 24:
- personnel - about 295,510 (+810) people,
- tanks - 5105 (+12),
- armored combat vehicles - 9669 (+16),
- artillery systems - 7081 (+24),
- MLRS - 828 (+3),
- air defense systems - 552 (+1),
- aircraft - 320 (+0),
- helicopters - 324 (+0),
- UAV of operational-tactical level - 5363 (+18),
- cruise missiles - 1537 (+1),
- ships/boats - 20 (+0),
- submarines - 1 (+0),
- automotive equipment and tank trucks - 9447 (+28),
- special equipment - 1006 (+8).
07:36 In the Avdeevka direction, the enemy is not abandoning attempts to encircle Avdeevka, but the Ukrainian Armed Forces are holding the line, the General Staff said in its morning report . Over the past 24 hours, the Defense Forces have repelled more than ten enemy attacks in this direction in the Keramik, Stepnoy, Avdeevka, and Tonenky districts of the Donetsk region.
In total, 55 military clashes took place at the front over the past 24 hours. In the Kupyansky direction, the Defense Forces repelled enemy attacks in the Ivanovka area of the Kharkov region; on Limansky - near Nadezhda, Lugansk region; on Bakhmutsky - in the Bogdanovka, Khromovo, Kleshcheevka, Andreevka districts of the Donetsk region; on Maryinsky - in the Marinka and Pobeda districts of the Donetsk region; on Shakhtarsky and Zaporozhye - near Novomikhailovka, Donetsk region and southeast of Malaya Tokmachka, Zaporozhye region.
At the same time, the Defense Forces continue their offensive in the Melitopol direction, had partial success south of Rabotino, and are also conducting assault operations south of Bakhmut, Donetsk region.
00:43 Ukraine and Israel have different defense needs, so the United States is able to simultaneously provide weapons to both countries, said Pentagon spokesman Patrick Ryder. According to him, in reality there are not many positions in needs that coincide. At the same time, Ryder added that both countries need 155 mm shells. “Yes, 155 mm shells are a sphere common to both. But speaking in general, this is only one small sphere. And we don’t yet think that any problems will arise,” the general noted.
Ryder emphasized that the United States, as well as allied countries, are increasing production of 155 mm shells, “so we are confident that we can meet all needs.”