Kiev carries out combined drone and missile attack on Crimea

11.25 a.m.: The Ukrainian military says it hit a Russian anti-aircraft base on the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea in an attack using water drones and missiles. A strategically important air defense object on the west coast of Crimea, which was annexed by Russia in 2014, was successfully attacked, according to a statement from the armed forces on Monday. According to media, a position near the town of Olenivka was hit by US ATACMS rockets, injuring 17 soldiers and damaging five vehicles. Moscow has not officially confirmed this.

Instead, Russian authorities reported repelling an attack by water drones during the night. Black Sea Fleet forces stopped a drone attack off the coast that night, the Moscow-appointed governor of the port city of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvoshayev, said on Telegram on Monday.

Russia is using Crimea as a supply base for its war of aggression against Ukraine, which has been ongoing for more than 20 months. In recent weeks, Kiev has increasingly attacked military targets in Crimea. Among other things, an important war yard, naval ships and the base of the Russian Black Sea Fleet were severely damaged.

Anti-Semitic wave is rolling through Russia’s south – Putin stands by and does nothing

Monday, October 30th, 7:32 a.m.: There are anti-Jewish protests in several Russian regions. They were triggered by rumors that the government wanted to settle Israeli refugees there. While the rumors continue to fester, President Putin remains silent. Here you can read more about it.

Zelenskyj sees international solidarity with the Ukraine

9:37 p.m.: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj has described the talks with more than 60 states about a peace solution for his country as an important signal. “No matter what happens in the world, the main thing is agreement on the real power of international law,” Zelensky said in his evening video message in Kiev on Sunday. “Because this is unity for the sake of justice for Ukraine and all countries and peoples that could be subject to aggression.”

Over the weekend, senior representatives from 66 states and international organizations discussed the proposals in Malta, which Zelenskyj calls his peace formula. In addition to the core demand for a withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine, this also includes the release of all prisoners of war, a tribunal for war criminals and security guarantees for the country.

Before Malta, such meetings took place in Copenhagen and Jeddah in Saudi Arabia. Ukraine is trying to find understanding among important emerging and developing countries beyond its Western supporters. Therefore, according to the Ukrainian presidential office, nuclear safety and the secure supply of food and energy were discussed.

Russia, which derides Zelensky’s proposals as unrealistic, was not invited. Ukraine has been resisting the Russian invasion for more than 20 months now.

Fire in Russian oil refinery – drone attack suspected

5:48 p.m.: A fire broke out on the site of an oil refinery in southern Russia on Sunday night. The authorities in the Krasnodar region announced this morning that there were no casualties or damage. The fire has now been extinguished. No official cause of the fire was given. However, it was suspected on social networks that a drone attacked the area. A video purportedly showing the incident was also shared. Russian fighter jets repeatedly launch their attacks against Ukraine from Krasnodar.

Ukraine no longer wants to send Russian gas to Europe

2:36 p.m.: Ukraine will no longer forward Russian gas to Europe from 2025 – an existing contract will no longer be extended. “This agreement will expire at the end of 2024 and we have no intention of extending it,” said Oleksiy Chernyshov, the head of the Ukrainian energy company Naftogaz in an interview with “Radio Liberty Ukraine.” “As soon as the contract expires, the onward transfer will stop .”

So far, Ukraine has continued gas transit in support of its “European colleagues, European partners,” said the company boss. Chernyshov emphasizes that the EU itself has announced that it wants to stop using Russian gas by 2027. “We want this to happen as quickly and as soon as possible.”

Russia reports shooting down of 36 Ukrainian drones

Sunday, October 29th, 4:45 a.m.: Russian forces say they have intercepted 36 Ukrainian drones over the Black Sea and Crimea. On Sunday night, an attempt by Kiev to “attack facilities on the territory of the Russian Federation with drones was stopped,” the Russian Defense Ministry said in the Telegram online service. The air defense systems destroyed “36 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles over the Black Sea and the northwestern part of the Crimean peninsula,” it said.

London: Heavy Russian losses in fighting for Ukrainian Avdiivka

4:22 p.m.: According to British intelligence services, the fighting over the heavily contested eastern Ukrainian city of Avdiivka resulted in heavy losses for Russia. Russia is believed to have sent elements of up to eight brigades to the area – and these forces are likely to have suffered some of Russia’s highest casualties so far this year, the British Ministry of Defense said on Saturday in its daily intelligence update on the Ukraine war. The British wrote that the heavy but inconclusive fighting around Avdiivka continued last week.

Ukraine has been resisting the Russian invasion for more than 20 months now. The front line against the separatists supported by Moscow has been running near the heavily destroyed industrial city of Avdiivka since 2014. The Russian-controlled regional capital, Donetsk, is just a few kilometers south. The Russian army began new attacks north and south of Avdiivka a good two weeks ago.

The British Ministry of Defense has been publishing daily information on the course of the war based on intelligence findings since the beginning of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. Moscow accuses London of disinformation.

Ukraine-Talks started in Malta – Russia not there

Saturday, October 28th, 10:44 a.m.: A third major international Ukraine meeting began in Malta on Saturday for a possible later peace summit to end the Russian war of aggression. “International support for the Ukrainian peace formula is growing,” said the head of the presidential office in Kiev, Andriy Yermak, at the start. Top diplomats and national security advisors from numerous countries will gather at the conference this weekend. Jermak spoke of 65 states represented, significantly more than in the summer in Saudi Arabia.

“This is truly a demonstration that the world is interested in justice and in a victory for Ukraine,” Yermak said. “Russia’s misrepresentations about a waning interest in Ukraine have not come true.” The focus of the Malta meeting is Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj’s ten-point “peace formula,” which essentially provides for the withdrawal of Russian troops from the country.

Russia is not invited and criticized the talks as an “obviously anti-Russian event”. China, which launched its own peace initiative as an ally of Russia, is reportedly staying away this time, unlike in the summer. The USA, Germany and Great Britain as well as the European Union are considered Ukraine’s most important supporters.

Nevertheless, Ukraine is concerned about the crumbling support in the West. There are also discussions about billions in aid in the USA. Before the meeting, Yermak said in an interview on the US television channel Fox that Kiev continues to count on Washington’s help. “Our victory will be a common victory, because a defeat of Russia is in the strategic and political interests of the United States.” At the same time, he said: “And winning this war will be very difficult – or even impossible without the help of the United States and other partner.”

Ukraine is expected to use the two days of negotiations until Sunday as an opportunity to drum up support for Zelensky’s peace plan. Similar to the previous conferences in Copenhagen and Jeddah, the topics of energy, food and nuclear safety as well as humanitarian issues and the restoration of Ukraine’s borders will be discussed.

Several injured after shelling of Kherson in southern Ukraine

7:50 p.m.: According to official reports, several people were injured in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson as a result of heavy Russian shelling. More than ten residential buildings in the city center were damaged, the head of the city administration, Roman Mrotschko, said on Telegram on Friday. There were several injured, the exact number has yet to be determined. One person was therefore taken to hospital.

It is currently unclear whether it was artillery fire or an attack with rockets and drones. At least it was known that two Russian-made combat drones were said to have been intercepted over the area.

Meanwhile, the neighboring Mykolaiv region also reported shelling. According to its own information, the Ukrainian air defense intercepted three Ch-59 air-launched guided missiles there.

Moscow: Drone attacks on Kursk nuclear power plant repelled

12.25 p.m.: According to official information from Moscow, Russia’s air defense repelled three drone attacks against a nuclear power plant in the Kursk region, which borders Ukraine. The Moscow Defense Ministry accused Kiev of attempted “terrorist attacks” against objects in the Russian Federation. Russia’s nuclear power plant operator Rosenergoatom confirmed on Friday that there had been three “enemy drone attacks” against the Kursk nuclear power plant the evening before.

“The event did not affect the work of the station. The Kursk nuclear power plant is working according to plan,” it said in a statement. There were no injuries or destruction. “The legal protection authorities are on site,” Rosenergoatom said. No increased radiation was detected either. According to information from the independent Russian portal Baza, an explosive device on board a drone exploded at a depot with nuclear waste. The facade of the storage facility was damaged.

The authorities in the Kursk region repeatedly complain about shelling from the neighboring country, where Russia is waging a war of aggression. Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin has repeatedly accused Ukraine of attacking energy infrastructure, including nuclear facilities. Since last fall, Putin has repeatedly had energy infrastructure in Ukraine destroyed by Russian shelling. The comparatively low damage in Russia caused by Ukrainian counterattacks is disproportionate to the severe destruction and high damage in the country attacked by Moscow.