As the war enters its 950th day, these are the main developments.
Here is the situation on Wednesday, October 2, 2024.
Fighting
- At least six people were killed and three injured in the southern city of Kherson, which lies on the western bank of the Dnipro river, after Russian artillery fire struck a market. Six more people were injured after they were hit by Russian fire while waiting at a city bus stop.
- At least one person was killed and 32 injured in the southern Zaporizhia region after Russia hit residential buildings and infrastructure with aerial bombs, according to regional governor, Ivan Fedorov.
- Ukraine’s military said it shot down 29 out of 32 Iranian-made drones launched in a Russian attack on central, southern and northeastern Ukraine.
- Vadym Filashkin, the governor of the Donetsk region, said Russian troops had reached the centre of Vuhledar in eastern Ukraine’s industrial Donbas. It was not clear whether they had control of the entire town, which is in an elevated position and has been flattened by months of war. Filashkin said about 107 civilians remained in Vuhledar, About 14,000 people lived there before the war.
- Russia said it had captured two more front-line villages – Krutyi Yar in the Donetsk region and Vyshneve in the northeastern Kharkiv region – the state-run RIA news agency reported.
- Ukraine held a nationwide moment of silence remembering the country’s war dead on Defenders Day, the third since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022. Ukraine does not release official numbers on its war dead. Tens of thousands of soldiers are thought to have been killed.
Politics and diplomacy
- The United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine said that Russian torture and mistreatment against Ukrainian prisoners of war were “pervasive” in all stages of captivity. The mission also found some torture or ill-treatment of Russian POWs by Ukraine in the initial stages of captivity but that such actions stopped once prisoners arrived at official places of internment. The mistreatment of Russian and Ukrainian POWs “is different in scope and scale,” said Danielle Bell, the mission’s head.
- Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin said Kyiv was investigating the killing of 16 Ukrainian prisoners of war, who were taken captive by Russian forces on the eastern front line after surrendering. Kostin said the men appeared to have been shot dead in an incident that took place near Pokrovsk.
- Russia said it had detained 39 people, including nine teenagers, in several Russian regions, accusing them of backing “Ukrainian terrorist” groups.
- Russia released three journalists for independent news outlets it had detained as they interviewed people who attended a Red Square event to mark the annexation two years ago of four Ukrainian regions. The three were fined 500 roubles ($5) each for allegedly using “foul language” in a public space.
- NATO’s new Secretary-General Mark Rutte said Ukraine was his “top priority”. Rutte, a former prime minister of the Netherlands, was formally installed in the role on Tuesday.