The post Russian Army Expands Control West of Kupyansk appeared first on South Front.

Czech President Petr Pavel on Tuesday said President Trump’s diesel deal with Russia derailed peace talks between the Kremlin and Ukraine, saying both sides were “so close” to a ceasefire. “It will be much harder now,” Pavel told the Axel Springer Global Reporters Network, which includes Politico. “Russia uses this momentum to get out of…

Czech President Petr Pavel on Tuesday said President Trump’s diesel deal with Russia derailed peace talks between the Kremlin and Ukraine, saying both sides were “so close” to a ceasefire. “It will be much harder now,” Pavel told the Axel Springer Global Reporters Network, which includes Politico. “Russia uses this momentum to get out of…

Mr. Trump has been searching for his Yalta in the war in Ukraine ever since he returned to the Oval Office.

© Eugene Kotenko/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Moscow has formalized its high-tech medical development strategy for the 2027-2029 budget cycle, focusing on the expansion of generative AI assistants designed to support clinical diagnostics. Mayor Sergey Sobyanin announced that the city will scale its current suite of 20 AI services, positioning Moscow as a central hub for digital health infrastructure that exports its technical capabilities to other Russian regions. The primary engine for this distribution is the MosMedII platform. This system provides radiology interpretation tools to healthcare providers across 75 Russian federal subjects. Currently, 2,500 organizations, including federal centers, utilize the platform. To date, the AI has processed over 18 million images, with a monthly volume of 1.4 million procedures. The scale of this regional reliance is significant: approximately 80% of the load on Moscow's servers is generated by requests from outside the capital, effectively covering 25% of all such diagnostic studies nationwide. This centralized model allows regional health systems to bypass the high cost of developing proprietary AI software. For example, St. Petersburg is currently integrating the Unified Medical Information and Analysis System (EMIAS), with the goal of completing the rollout in hospitals by the end of this year and in clinics by 2028. The transition grants local patients access to telemedicine and AI-enhanced electronic health records without requiring local governments to build the underlying infrastructure from scratch.

Raggiungere un accordo sulla situazione in Ucraina è possibile. Almeno a sentire le ultime dichiarazioni del presidente russo Vladimir Putin: “Siamo concordi su questo”, ha detto il leader russo riferendosi alla fattibilità di un’intesa di lungo termine che chiuda l’invasione iniziata il 24 febbraio 2022. Al centro della disputa restano sempre le porzioni di territorio ucraino, attualmente occupate dalle forze di Mosca, che il capo del Cremlino ha definito “storicamente russe”, alzando la posta in gioco nei negoziati per risolvere il conflitto.

Putin ha definito “inappropriata” la dichiarazione del leader ucraino Vladimir Zelensky, secondo cui sarebbe disposto ad accettare la perdita di alcuni territori pur di raggiungere la pace, aggiungendo che i territori in questione sono storicamente russi: “Innanzitutto, la mia opinione su questa questione è che non si tratta di territorio russo, ma di territorio storicamente russo”, ha dichiarato Putin in un’intervista al conduttore Pavel Zarubin. “Le persone che vivono in questi territori hanno votato, in primo luogo, per l’indipendenza dello Stato e, in secondo luogo, per la riunificazione con la Federazione Russa”, ha affermato. “Pertanto, parlare di eventuali perdite territoriali mi sembra inappropriato”, ha concluso.

Un eventuale vertice tra Putin, Zelensky e Donald Trump potrebbe essere il formato con il quale finalizzare la possibile intesa? “La discussione è in corso”, ha rimarcato il vice ministro degli Esteri russo, Serghei Ryabkov, il giorno dopo il faccia a faccia tra Putin e l’inviato statunitense Steve Witkoff. “L’argomento è stato sollevato” mercoledì durante le tre ore di confronto tra i due a San Pietroburgo, ma “al momento non c’è ancora una chiara comprensione in merito”, poiché “non c’è un accordo completo, ma la discussione è in corso”. È ancora presto per parlare di una vera e propria apertura, anche se Trump – che ha intanto chiesto a Elon Musk di riattivare totalmente l’uso di Starlink in Ucraina – si è lasciato andare nelle ultime ore all’ottimismo affermando che “ci stiamo avvicinando alla risoluzione della guerra” e forse – ha aggiunto – “è il punto in cui siamo stati più vicini finora”.

L’unica novità ufficialmente resa nota dopo l’incontro di San Pietroburgo – oltre al rilascio dell’americano Stephen Hubbard dalle carceri russe – è stata la probabile ripresa il mese prossimo dei contatti trilaterali tra Mosca, Kiev e Washington, ma a livello di tecnici, non ancora certo di leader. Tuttavia, anche il consigliere di Putin per la cooperazione e gli investimenti stranieri, Kirill Dmitriev, che ha partecipato al colloquio, si è detto convinto che ci si stia muovendo “verso una pace a lungo termine che garantirà la sicurezza di Russia, Ucraina ed Europa”. Proprio l’Unione Europea, nelle scorse ore, ha rimarcato che in qualsiasi formato dovesse svolgersi dei nuovi colloqui ritiene di doversi sedere al tavolo.

Di tono opposto i commenti all’incontro di San Pietroburgo da parte di Zelensky, che il giorno prima aveva avuto un colloquio con Witkoff a Oslo insieme a rappresentanti di Paesi europei, compresa l’Italia. Il leader ucraino ha denunciato bombardamenti russi nella notte tra mercoledì e giovedì con l’impiego di 21 missili e oltre 200 droni e un bilancio di almeno due morti e 34 feriti. “Tre ondate di missili balistici sono state lanciate contro Kiev dai ‘compassionevoli’ russi“, ha rincarato Zelensky, ironizzando su quella definizione di ‘compassionevole’ usata da Witkoff per Putin quando l’ha ringraziato per il rilascio di Hubbard.

Zelensky ha affermato che nei raid è stato colpito “persino un monastero”. Il ministero della Difesa si Mosca ha invece rivendicato attacchi solo su obiettivi militari, tra cui uno stabilimento dell’industria aeronautica Antonov dove si assemblano droni e missili da crociera Flamingo, oltre che sul ponte ferroviario e stradale Sud. Mentre sull’altro fronte nel corso della notte 600 droni sono stati lanciati verso Mosca, con la maggior parte neutralizzata dalle forze di difesa aerea nelle zone periferiche, secondo il sindaco, Serghei Sobjanin. Nell’est dell’Ucraina, invece, a causa dei continui bombardamenti russi, è stata decisa l’evacuazione forzata delle famiglie con bambini da tutti gli insediamenti delle comunità di Kramatorsk e Slavyansk, le due cittadine che sono l’obiettivo più ambito delle truppe di Mosca per completare la conquista della regione di Donetsk.

L'articolo Guerra in Ucraina, Putin apre ai negoziati: “Accordo possibile”. Ma intanto i raid continuano proviene da Il Fatto Quotidiano.

Um ataque russo com mísseis balísticos voltou a atingir a cidade de Kiev durante a noite, provocando ferimentos em pelo menos seis pessoas, quatro das quais crianças.

A reunião focou-se nas perspetivas para o relançamento de conversações de paz sobre a Ucrânia e na eventual realização de encontros diplomáticos trilaterais no futuro.

Three years of the "Clean Air" federal program in the Krasnoyarsk Territory have resulted in a measurable shift in atmospheric pollutant concentrations. Monitoring data shows a decline in nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, benzo(a)pyrene, and particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10). This reduction is reflected in the IZA5 air pollution index: Krasnoyarsk dropped from 22 to 18, Kansk from 27 to 17, and Minusinsk from 19 to 11. These numerical shifts moved the air quality category from "very high" to "high" in Norilsk, Nazarovo, and Minusinsk. In Achinsk and Lesosibirsk, the category remains "very high," though concentrations of phenol, formaldehyde, dust, and benzo(a)pyrene have decreased. Kansk also retains a "very high" status despite its 10-point index drop. The technical drivers behind these changes include the modernization of industrial equipment, the installation of gas cleaning systems, and the reconstruction of boiler houses. These hardware upgrades were paired with the deployment of automated emission monitoring and stricter administrative oversight. In the residential sector, nearly 4,000 households were transitioned to cleaner fuel sources.

Residents of Yakutia face the highest risk of homelessness in Russia, according to a joint study by the Nochlezhka foundation and the If Be Precise project. The region leads a national rating based on a combination of systemic factors that force individuals out of their homes. In Yakutia, the path to homelessness often deviates from the typical loss of property rights. A person may legally remain the owner or tenant of a residence but find it physically uninhabitable. In a climate where winter temperatures average -39°C, the ability to stay indoors depends on the capacity to perform grueling physical labor: stockpiling coal, chopping firewood, and harvesting ice for drinking water. Those who cannot maintain these essential supplies lose the functional use of their homes despite their legal status. This vulnerability is compounded by the physical decay of the region's infrastructure. Yakutia records the highest proportion of urban residents living in dilapidated or condemned housing in the country.

On the night of October 22, Russian forces launched a massive combined strike on Ukraine using Iskander-M, Zircon, and Oniks missiles and 210 strike UAVs; the main axis of the strike was Kyiv. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the targets were military-industrial enterprises producing cruise missiles and medium- and long-range unmanned aerial vehicles, transport infrastructure in Kyiv, as well as port infrastructure in Odesa Region and maritime vessels used in the interests of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. At the same time, Ukraine carried out a massive drone attack on Russian territory: according to Russian sources, 808 UAVs were shot down over 18 federal subjects of the Russian Federation, including 630 on approach to Moscow.

Russian Strikes on Ukraine by Region

Kyiv and Kyiv Region

• Antonov State Enterprise (Kyiv) — an aircraft manufacturer whose facilities, according to the Russian Ministry of Defense, were used to produce medium- and long-range unmanned aerial vehicles, as well as FP-5 Flamingo cruise missiles and FP-7 and FP-9 operational-tactical missiles. The facility was part of Ukraine’s military-industrial production chain for long-range strike systems.

• Khladokombinat No. 3 warehouse complex (Kyiv) — according to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the warehouse premises were used to produce fixed-wing medium- and long-range unmanned aerial vehicles, as well as Hornet loitering munitions. The use of a civilian warehouse for drone production reflects the dispersal of manufacturing across dual-use sites.

• Industrial enterprise producing UAVs and robotic-system components (Kyiv). The Armed Forces of Ukraine use robotic systems for logistics, evacuation, and fire support at forward positions.

• Storage site for unmanned aerial vehicles and jet boosters (Kyiv) — a storage facility for strike drones and boosters used to increase the range and speed of fixed-wing UAVs.

• Southern Road-Rail Bridge (Kyiv) — a bridge crossing over the Dnieper used to move military cargo by road and rail between the right and left banks. According to Ukrainian sources, the strike damaged subway infrastructure on the bridge; service on the Green Line was suspended between the Vydubychi and Osokorky stations, and road traffic across the bridge was temporarily closed in both directions.

• CHP-4 and CHP-5 (Kyiv) — large combined heat and power plants supplying electricity and heat to urban infrastructure and industrial facilities, including military-industrial enterprises. According to monitoring channels, fires were recorded at the facilities; the Ukrainian Air Force acknowledged that not a single ballistic missile was intercepted.

• PS-330 Novokyivska substation (Khotov, Kyiv Region) — a 330 kV substation supplying power to nodes of the Kyiv Region energy system, including military-industrial facilities and logistics centers.

Odesa Region

• Kiliia port infrastructure (Odesa Region) — port facilities used to unload and store military supplies delivered to Ukraine from abroad. The port is located on the Danube and serves as an alternative supply route after operations at Black Sea ports were restricted. Strikes on unloading and storage facilities complicate the receipt and distribution of foreign military assistance.

• Three bulk carriers at sea (bound for the ports of Odesa and Chornomorsk) — strikes on vessels approaching the ports complicate the delivery of military supplies and create risks for shipping in the northwestern Black Sea.

Zhytomyr Region

• PS-330 Zhytomyrska substation (Zhytomyr) — a 330 kV substation supplying electricity to Zhytomyr Region and carrying power between regions.

Kharkiv Region

• Truck parking area (Kharkiv) — according to monitoring channels, a Geran drone strike destroyed about 10 trucks. The site is used to transport military and logistics cargo; the loss of vehicles reduces the road logistics capacity of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Kharkiv and Sumy directions.

• Railway locomotive (Kharkiv) — a UAV strike damaged a Ukrzaliznytsia locomotive. Rail transport remains the primary means of moving military equipment and personnel; the loss of a locomotive complicates rail traffic in the Kharkiv direction.

Kirovohrad Region

• Production and warehouse complex (Kirovohrad) — according to monitoring channels, the facility was attacked by Geran-4 drones on the evening of October 21.

Poltava Region

• Television and radio company building (Kremenchuk) — the facility provided broadcasting and communications, including for military needs.

Strikes on Russia

• Moscow and Moscow Region — according to Russian sources, 630 UAVs were shot down on approach to Moscow overnight; Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said most were intercepted at distant lines, with 163 downed closer to the city. Monitoring channels claim that a Flamingo missile was shot down over Serpukhov; Ukrainian sources claim an attack on the Russian Defense Ministry enterprise JSC 75 Arsenal, a facility for storing and preparing ammunition.

• Belgorod Region — 205 UAVs were shot down over the past day; according to Russian sources, three civilians were injured. Belgorod Region is regularly targeted by drone attacks aimed at energy, transport, and civilian infrastructure.

• Lipetsk Region — as a UAV passed through the city toward Moscow Region, a multi-story residential building and a medical facility were damaged. Lipetsk is a major transport hub on the Moscow–south axis; drones passing through the city create risks for civilian infrastructure.

The Russian strike on October 22 was combined in nature and focused on two interrelated areas: the production of aerial attack systems (Antonov State Enterprise, Khladokombinat No. 3, and UAV and booster storage sites) and the transport and energy infrastructure supporting their use and the supply of Ukrainian forces (the Southern Bridge, CHP-4 and CHP-5, the Novokyivska and Zhytomyrska substations, Kiliia port, and vessels at sea).

Ukrainian strikes were concentrated on Moscow Region (630 UAVs shot down, according to Russian sources) and Belgorod Region (205 UAVs shot down), with sporadic drone passages through Lipetsk and Tula Region. The intensity of attacks on Moscow remains high, although Russian sources report that most drones were intercepted at distant lines. The intensity of attacks on Moscow remains high, although Russian sources report that most drones were intercepted at distant lines. In the medium term, Russian strikes on UAV and missile production chains, as well as on energy infrastructure supporting the military-industrial complex, will continue; Ukraine will likely maintain its course of massive drone attacks on Moscow Region and border regions.

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MORE ON THE TOPIC:

• Military Situation In Ukraine And Ukrainian Attacks On Russian Territory On October 22, 2026 (Maps Update)
• Russia’s ‘Geran-4 Seeker’ Drones Strike Two Ukrainian NASAMS Systems (Videos)
• Russian Army Clears More Areas South of Dobropolye

The post Russia Fires Missiles at Kyiv as Ukraine Sends 600+ Drones Toward Moscow appeared first on South Front.

Along Russia’s remote Arctic coast last month, Igor Sechin stood beside a waiting tanker in the freezing cold with a message for Vladimir Putin: After years of construction, the country’s next great oil frontier was finally coming to life.

João Albuquerque considera que os EUA já não são um parceiro fiável. Sublinha o nervosismo de Trump com as eleições e os riscos de ataques híbridos russos aos europeus, apelando a uma defesa sem EUA.

The permafrost in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug has reached a record depth of thawing, according to 15 years of soil monitoring data presented by Viktor Valdaiskikh, director of the UrFU Botanical Garden. The findings indicate a steady degradation of the cryolithozone, a trend that persists despite seasonal temperature fluctuations. The primary driver is a consistent rise in average annual temperatures in Salekhard, which have increased by roughly one degree every decade. This long-term warming trend was compounded in 2024 by a record-breakingly hot summer that negated the insulating effects of an unusually cold winter. The rate at which the ground thaws depends heavily on surface composition. In areas where the peat layer-which acts as a natural thermal insulator-is absent, the thaw depth can increase by up to 10 centimeters per year. These combined temperature peaks have resulted in the highest volume of underground ice melt recorded since monitoring began.

In Sevastopol, a group of homeowners in the Baydarskaya Valley is unable to legally register properties they have occupied for three decades. These houses, many of which were built in the late 1980s, lack the status of capital construction objects because they now fall within the boundaries of the Baydarskiy State Natural Landscape Sanctuary, a specially protected natural area (SPNA). For residents on streets such as Tenistaya in the village of Orlinoye, this administrative gap creates a ceiling on their property rights. Because the homes are not officially commissioned or registered in the accounting system, owners cannot legally sell their real estate, perform renovations, or build new structures on their plots. They are also unable to fulfill tax obligations tied to the properties, as the buildings do not formally exist in the eyes of the state. The conflict stems from a 2016 boundary adjustment. While the homes preceded the sanctuary, the 2016 mapping placed the residents' land-still held under private ownership or lease-inside the protected zone. Under current SPNA regulations, commissioning such buildings is either prohibited or severely restricted. In areas near the Chernorechensk reservoir, designated for strictly limited use, all construction is banned. In other zones, construction is permitted only if it aligns with the sanctuary's conservation goals or village functionality, requiring a mandatory state ecological expertise report.

As restrições ao Starshield na Ucrânia continuam a gerar polémica: nem Musk, nem a Casa Branca nem o Pentágono assumiram claramente a responsabilidade pela ordem de desaceleração.

© JIM LO SCALZO/EPA

• Russian strikes destroyed targets in the Sumy, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk, Kherson, Kyiv, Volyn, Odesa, Khmelnytskyi, Lviv, Vinnytsia, Zhytomyr, Rivne, Cherkasy, Kirovohrad, Mykolaiv regions, and the DPR;
• According to the Ukrainian Air Force, Russian forces attacked Ukraine with Iskander-M/S-400/Zircon/Oniks missiles and 186 strike UAVs;
• Russian forces struck an aviation industry assembly enterprise (Antonov State Enterprise), a warehouse complex (Khladokombinat No. 3), an industrial enterprise, a UAV depot, the Yuzhnyi road and rail bridge, and the Novokiyevskaya 330 kV substation in Khotiv in the Kyiv region;
• Russian forces struck infrastructure facilities of the Kiliya port and a dry cargo ship in the port of Odesa;
• Russian forces struck two dry cargo ships at sea delivering cargo to the ports of Odesa and Chornomorsk;
• Russian forces struck the Zhytomyrska 330 kV substation in Zhytomyr;
• Russian forces struck gas stations, cars, and power grids in the Kharkiv region;
• Russian forces struck the Epicenter shopping center in Uman;
• Russian forces struck a television and radio company building in Kremenchuk;
• Russian forces struck a production and warehouse complex in Kirovohrad;
• Ukrainian losses amounted to approximately 1,245 troops over the past 24 hours.

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• Russian forces took control of Mirovka in the Zaporizhzhia region.

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• Russian forces advanced in the eastern part of Dibrova and near Yampol.

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• During the past night, Russian air defenses destroyed 808 Ukrainian drones in the rear regions;
• Russian air defenses intercepted UAVs in the Belgorod, Bryansk, Vladimir, Voronezh, Kaluga, Kursk, Lipetsk, Leningrad, Oryol, Rostov, Ryazan, Smolensk, Tambov, Tver, Tula, and Yaroslavl regions, the Moscow region, the Republic of Crimea, and over the Black Sea;
• Russian air defenses shot down 630 drones over the Moscow region. A Russian Ministry of Defense facility, the JSC 75 Arsenal, was reportedly targeted;
• As a result of Ukrainian drone attacks, a multi-story building and a medical facility were damaged in Lipetsk
  An 82-year-old woman was injured in the Kursk region.

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MORE ON THE TOPIC:

• Russia’s ‘Geran-4 Seeker’ Drones Strike Two Ukrainian NASAMS Systems (Videos)
• Military Situation In Ukraine And Ukrainian Attacks On Russian Territory On October 21, 2026 (Maps Update)
• Russian Army Clears More Areas South of Dobropolye

The post Military Situation In Ukraine And Ukrainian Attacks On Russian Territory On October 22, 2026 (Maps Update) appeared first on South Front.

Got an opinion on anything you've read in the Kyiv Independent? Send it to letters@kyivindependent.com — your letter may appear in our Letters section.

Mark Cary, United States member

I vividly remember when the Soviet Union collapsed. I was in my second year in college studying

The operation, code-named "Veles," was carried out by the 2nd Khartiia Corps together with other Ukrainian units, according to the corps.

For years, Father Joseph Coleman had little ability to influence what happened to his father, Stephen Hubbard, an American retiree imprisoned in Russia after being captured in Izium, a city in Ukraine’s Kharkiv Oblast occupied by Russian forces in 2022.

Hubbard, 74, was sentenced to nearly seven years