A test satellite for a future communications network under Ukrainian control is working in orbit, Ukraine’s Himera and Denmark’s GomSpace said on 27 October. The companies say it will work for Ukraine’s strategic security, and that the long-term aim is to rely less on foreign communications providers. Public launch records for the mission do not list a satellite by that name, though some of its objects are still unidentified.

Ukraine fights Russia on satellite links it doesn’t control, and the announcement comes two weeks after it saw what depending on an outside provider can cost. The satellite, the companies say, went up on 1 October, before that trouble began. Overnight on 14 October, Starlink and its military version, Starshield, began dropping links on fast-moving terminals, and Ukrainian officials said the cap disrupted drone missions. On 24 October, 10 days after the cap began, Ukraine’s Defense Ministry reported speeds restored. Who ordered the cap remains contested. That same day, Elon Musk wrote that Ukraine’s military had violated Starlink’s terms of service and that “that loophole was closed last week,” a claim a Ukrainian presidential adviser disputed.

What the companies say, and what launch records show

Obria Nano flew on SpaceX’s Transporter-18 rideshare mission, the release said. Aalborg-based GomSpace built it on Himera’s order, Himera co-founder and CEO Misha Rudominski wrote on Facebook. He added that the team received the first signals the next day and that the satellite is now working. Its tests are meant to inform the design of the full Obria system, the release said.

No satellite called Obria Nano appears on SpaceX’s published list for the mission, The Insider found. Public tracking catalogs show one Ukrainian satellite from that launch, named UASAT-Nano. Another 26 objects from the mission are still listed with placeholder names and no confirmed owner. The outlet said it is unclear whether the two names refer to one satellite.

UASAT-Nano is the satellite network Stetman, another Ukrainian company, is building, and its founder said the network’s first test satellite would launch in October. In April, Stetman and GomSpace agreed to set up a joint venture called UASAT and planned a first launch for fall 2026. The Obria release does not mention Stetman or UASAT.

Production in Ukraine is the stated next step

Rudominski wrote that Himera’s next stage is to produce satellites and ground terminals in Ukraine. He called it important not only to use the technology but also to gradually build domestic expertise and manufacturing.

“For us, this project is about more than launching a satellite. It is an opportunity to lay the foundation for an independent communications network for Ukraine,” Rudominski said in the release.

In the long run, the network would cover all of Ukraine and complement European satellite networks, the release said. The network does not exist yet, and Himera has given no timeline.

Replacing Starlink will not be quick. Lance Hunter, a political scientist at Augusta University, told Time that Ukraine cannot quickly swap out such technology, since diversifying it “takes a lot of time. It takes a lot of resources.” Meanwhile, one Ukrainian interceptor-drone maker has begun rethinking its air-launched designs after the slowdown.

On the evening of October 27, Russian troops carried out an airstrike on the center of Sloviansk; a woman was injured, and a school building was destroyed.

Russia has fired more than 100 ballistic missiles at Kyiv and Kyiv Oblast since 14 October, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his evening address on 27 October. He said partners’ air defense packages are being delayed.

Ukraine’s front-line positions are stronger than they have been in a long time, Zelenskyy said. If partners’ support for Patriots and other air defense remained just as strong, he argued, Ukraine would be in a much better position diplomatically as well. He expects trilateral talks with US and Russian representatives in November. The US, on which, he said, “almost everything concerning Patriots depends,” will be one of the three sides.

Delays and the war on logistics

Overnight on 27 October, Russia launched 16 ballistic missiles and more than 280 drones, in what Zelenskyy called a serious escalation of Russia’s campaign against Ukraine’s logistics. The strikes hit the State University of Trade and Economics campus and the Southern Bridge in Kyiv.

A 46-year-old woman was killed and 15 people were injured, among them dormitory residents and two medics, the Kyiv prosecutor’s office said on the morning of 27 October.

Zelenskyy wrote that artificial and lengthy delays in interceptor packages for Patriots and NASAMS directly help Russia achieve the goals of its terror campaign. In his evening address, he added:

“And everyone hears, everyone sees that right now, it is difficult for us to defend against Russian ballistic missiles. And above all, we do not have enough missiles for Patriots.”

A month waiting on Hegseth

Earlier, on 26 October, Zelenskyy wrote that Ukraine had waited almost a month for US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s signature on missiles for Patriots and NASAMS. Kyiv is also working with Europe and other partners, he added.

Separately, The Washington Post reported on 19 October that some transfers come from allies and need Hegseth’s approval, because the US must sign off on re-transfers. Zelenskyy’s post does not say whether his wait concerns those transfers.

Before Zelenskyy’s latest statements, US officials rejected claims of a deliberate hold. A US government official called Ukraine’s claims “not true,” the Kyiv Independent reported. On 20 October, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said there was “nothing being deliberately denied to Ukraine.” Hegseth said the US had not changed its posture toward Ukraine but wants “our guys” to have as many interceptors as possible.

President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that this year, Ukraine is receiving an average of only 12 missiles per month for its Patriot systems.

A total of 191 combat engagements between Ukraine's Defense Forces and Russian invaders were recorded along the front line on October 27.

Ukraine's air defense forces have neutralized 71 Russian drones since the evening of October 27.

The total combat losses of Russian forces in the war against Ukraine from February 24, 2022, to October 28, 2026, have reached approximately 1,583,350 personnel, including 1,510 troops killed or wounded over the past 24 hours.

Russian troops launched 846 attacks on 41 settlements in the Zaporizhzhia region over the past 24 hours. Two people were injured in enemy attacks on the Zaporizhzhia district.

The number of people injured in a Russian attack on Kharkiv's Osnovianskyi district has risen to five, including a child.

Ukrainian president says his country’s battlefield position is the strongest it has been in some time

© AFP/Getty

The strategy behind modern disinformation operations has undergone significant changes. With the development of artificial intelligence technologies, hostile actors are increasingly abandoning attempts to persuade audiences of anything in favor of what is known as "cognitive erosion."

A former bank employee from Ukraine's Ternopil region, suspected of misappropriating customers' funds and wanted internationally, has been extradited from Norway to Ukraine.

The Russian city of Lipetsk was targeted by jet-powered projectiles, and a fire reportedly broke out near the Novolipetsk steel mill (NLMK), according to preliminary information.

Additional technical solutions are being developed to preserve the structural integrity of bridges across the Dnipro River amid attacks on critical infrastructure in the capital.

The Norwegian government announced on Tuesday, October 27, that it would provide 500 million kroner (nearly $54 million) in energy support for Ukraine ahead of winter.

Dmytro Lubinets, the Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights, announced a reduction in the Ukrposhta network from 10,000 to 7,211 branches and provided the company with recommendations on tracking mobile branches and ensuring citizens’ access to postal services.

The Cabinet of Ministers has instructed the Ministry for Recovery, Infrastructure and Transport to speed up repairs to Kyiv’s Southern Bridge, which was damaged in a Russian missile attack overnight on October 27.

The Verkhovna Rada supported an appeal to the President to award the title of Hero of Ukraine to serviceman Kostiantyn Vlasenko, who held a combat position in the Kupiansk sector for 491 days and was evacuated after suffering severe injuries during a unique aerial evacuation operation.

Exclusives

Military

Ukraine intercepts nearly 60% of Russia’s Geran-4 jet drones, General Staff says, as Kyiv races to counter evolving threat. Ukraine’s interception rate reaches 80% during some attacks, as F-16s, Mirage jets, mobile fire groups, and interceptor drones help counter Russia’s jet-powered attacks.

He drove a taxi in Jakarta and once worked in the US. Russia trained him as a machine gunner for a week and a half, then sent him into his first and last battle. Ukraine’s military intelligence says Russian recruiters reached the Indonesian through his job search and moved him from a contract signing near Moscow to the front in a matter of weeks.

Russia tries to drag a village north of Kupiansk into no-man’s-land after its losses in Ukraine’s underground operation. Ukraine’s military describes Russian troops trying to keep a path open toward the city through Radkivka, a village on its northern edge, while fighting for neighboring Holubivka goes on.

Ukraine says it hit drone hangars at Crimea’s Hvardiiske. Now an OSINT channel spots 20+ bermed shelters there. Dnipro Osint says the base fires Shahed-type drones from vehicles on its runway, and the airfield kept turning up on Ukraine’s launch lists in October.

Two weeks after a Russian supply base burned in Luhansk’s Khrustalnyi, Ukrainian drones came back for an ammo depot. The city in occupied eastern Ukraine has served Russia’s army as a rear logistics hub since early in the full-scale war.

Ukraine plans to rebuild its air force on NATO’s model by 2035. Its Air Force already knows which fighter it wants next, and why. Ukraine’s F-16s face thousands of Russian targets a month, many of them worn jets bought secondhand.

For the third time this year, Ukrainian drones hit Russia’s rocket-fuel rubber plant in Samara Oblast. This time they reach the raw-material shop feeding it. OSINT channels recorded fires at the same butyl-rubber shops in April and September.

Intelligence and technology

Germany’s Helsing promises jet-drone-hunting missiles at under $100,000 a shot—its CEO doesn’t expect them on the market before 2027. One contract is signed. Ukraine’s own jet-drone interceptors, meanwhile, aren’t due in needed numbers before late November.

Ukraine says it has finished its part of FREYJA, Europe’s joint anti-ballistic project. Partners’ work is still underway. Zelenskyy told ABC News on 23 October that Ukraine got only 24 US Patriot interceptors from the US in three months.

Postal service Nova Post says it has already shot down Russian Shahed drones, as Ukrainian businesses take air defense into their own hands. The company says its air defense project is operational as Russia increasingly targets Ukrainian infrastructure, while other businesses weigh the costs and benefits of protecting their facilities themselves.

Ukrainian intelligence says Russia’s missile makers use gear from seven countries—and the Chinese machines run on European, Japanese, and Taiwanese parts. Ukrainian intelligence listed 30 foreign-made items at Russian arms plants on 26 October, 17 of them made outside China.

A 4-watt video link passed Ukraine’s state tests, its maker says, and could stretch STING interceptors’ radius from 20 km to 30 km. The 30 km figure is Wild Hornets’ own estimate, first given in August, and assumes good line of sight. Testers checked three drone types.

Captured Russians say there is one place on Kupiansk front they will not go: “Orion” safety corridor. Ukrainian robot unit says it built that corridor, and runs supply and evacuation through it with almost no losses.

Ukrainian intelligence: Russia can probably add 10–15 Su-34 bombers a year, but no new Tu-95s or Tu-22M3s. Ukraine’s military intelligence also listed Russian jets destroyed or critically damaged in 2026, including two Tu-95MS bombers hit at Engels.

International

Finland and Norway leaders make rare direct call to Putin, breaking with the West’s diplomatic isolation of the Russian leader to influence Ukraine peace talks. The Nordic leaders called for de-escalation ahead of November peace talks, with Zelenskyy saying they pressed Putin over attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. The Kremlin reiterated that any settlement must account for Russia’s demands.

Ukraine’s last two EU negotiation blocks stay shut as Hungary’s new government keeps Orbán’s veto. Budapest unblocked half of the remaining negotiations after Ukraine changed its minority-language rules, then said no to the rest.

The Trump administration is backing Orbán, who blocked a €90 billion EU loan to Ukraine, for UN secretary-general and is counting on support from Moscow and Beijing, WSJ says. Orbán indicated that he was willing to consider the nomination but did not want to enter the race without being confident he could win, according to the WSJ’s editorial board.

Ukraine’s Zelenskyy welcomes Student List’s win in Serbia and says Kyiv is “ready to keep increasing cooperation”. The party itself plan to end the trade that brought Ukraine €800 million in ammunition.

17 public broadcasters mapped Russia’s hybrid war on Europe. Germany: four dots. One point on the map may stand for several incidents of the same type nearby or in quick succession.

Humanitarian and social impact

Russia replaces Ukrainians with Russian settlers in occupied Kherson Oblast; only 10–20% of pre-war population remains, Ukraine says. Russia is forcing Ukrainians from their homes while offering Russian teachers and medical workers financial incentives to settle in occupied Kherson Oblast, Ukraine’s military intelligence says.

Oleshky ceasefire expands beyond occupied town as truce holds without reported violations. The expanded ceasefire zone aims to secure humanitarian convoys to Russian-occupied Oleshky, where residents face shortages of food and medicine.

Russia strikes publishing house warehouse in Kharkiv on Ukrainian Language Day, adding to a campaign against Ukrainian literature and culture. The publisher is assessing losses after the attack disrupted its planned 5 November releases, as repeated Russian strikes destroy books and damage Ukraine’s publishing industry.

Guns fall silent around Russian-occupied Oleshky so its starving residents can get aid, but Russia’s guarantees remain secret. Ukraine’s ombudsman says both sides are keeping to the deal, while the US first lady’s adviser says Newsmax will send reporters to watch whether residents can leave freely.

Russian ballistic missiles hit a Kyiv university campus, then return before dawn for the Southern Bridge again. Two waves hit the capital hours apart, reaching students in their dormitory in the evening and the bridge carrying its green metro line before sunrise.

Sixteen Ukrainian doctors who work near fighting went through three Western trauma programs in one week. American surgeons led drills. On the front line, drones and shrapnel often tear through several parts of a soldier’s body at once.

Political and legal developments

Russian court jails IT company director for 13 years over crypto donations after Binance shared his data, rights group says. The man had lived in Bulgaria for about 10 years before flying to Moscow on business last year, where he was detained at the airport for allegedly using obscene language.

UN commission finds Russia’s grid strikes are crimes against humanity, citing last winter at minus 21°C. Now they’re intensifying. The commission concluded the strikes followed a state policy to deprive civilians of power and cause suffering, and noted that Russian authorities had openly announced further attacks and referred to a plan to carry them out.

Read our previous daily review here.

Ukraine’s military intelligence estimates that only 10–20% of the prewar population may remain in the Russian-occupied left bank of Kherson Oblast, accusing Moscow of forcing Ukrainians from their homes while relocating Russian citizens to the area.

Russia’s efforts to displace Ukrainians and bring Russian citizens into occupied Kherson Oblast are part of Moscow’s broader campaign to consolidate control over occupied territory, impose Russian institutions, and erode Ukrainian national identity. Similar practices have been documented in other occupied Ukrainian territories, including the resettlement of Russians into homes in Mariupol and efforts to replace Ukrainian education with Russian curricula.

The Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine’s Defense Ministry (HUR) said Russia was creating intolerable living conditions for Ukrainian residents and unlawfully seizing private property to displace them. The agency said Moscow was simultaneously using financial incentives to recruit Russian teachers, doctors, and other professionals to work in occupied areas.

Russia brings in Russian workers as Ukrainians are pushed out

Before Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, around 500,000 people lived on the left bank of Kherson Oblast, according to HUR. The agency estimates that only 10–20% of that population may remain.

Moscow is using state-backed recruitment programs, including “Zemsky Teacher,” “Zemsky Doctor,” “Zemsky Feldsher,” “Zemsky Cultural Worker,” and “Zemsky Coach,” to attract Russian citizens to occupied Ukrainian territory, HUR said.

Under these programs, Russian teachers and doctors who agree to work in occupied areas are offered one-time payments of 2 million rubles, while junior medical staff can receive 1 million rubles. The incentives also include higher salaries and other benefits, with contracts lasting at least five years.

HUR said hundreds of Russian teachers and doctors had already been brought to occupied Ukrainian territories from regions across Russia, including Krasnodar, Khabarovsk, Stavropol, and Perm Krais, as well as Rostov, Kursk, and Leningrad oblasts.

According to Ukrainian intelligence, Russian medical personnel are needed primarily to serve occupying forces, while Russian teachers are being brought in to undermine Ukrainian children’s national identity.

Ukraine accuses Russia of war crimes and genocidal practices

HUR said Russia’s efforts to displace Ukrainian residents and bring in Russian citizens bore signs of war crimes and genocidal practices against the Ukrainian population.

The agency’s allegations concern both the coercive removal of Ukrainians from occupied territory and the replacement of local residents with people brought from Russia. Ukrainian authorities say these policies are part of Moscow’s broader effort to consolidate control over occupied Ukrainian land and impose Russian identity and institutions.

Kherson Oblast faces displacement, attacks, and a humanitarian crisis

Russian forces occupied much of Kherson Oblast in the early months of the full-scale invasion in 2022. Ukrainian forces liberated the oblast’s right-bank areas, including the regional capital, in November that year, but Russia continues to occupy the left bank of the Dnipro River.

Russian forces regularly attack Ukrainian-controlled areas of Kherson Oblast with artillery and drones, killing and injuring civilians. Ukrainians have described repeated drone attacks on civilians as a “human safari.” In May 2025, a UN commission of inquiry concluded that Russian forces’ repeated drone attacks on civilians along the Dnipro’s right bank amounted to crimes against humanity of murder.

The occupied town of Oleshky, on the left bank, has also faced severe shortages of food, medicine, and medical care amid restrictions on movement and continued fighting.

Russia’s occupation has also exposed residents of Kherson Oblast to major humanitarian disasters. The destruction of the Kakhovka Dam in June 2023 flooded settlements along the Dnipro, including Russian-occupied communities on the left bank, damaging homes and forcing residents to flee. Russian forces’ restrictions on access and evacuation further endangered civilians in the affected areas.

While Russia occupies the left bank of Kherson Oblast, its forces continue to target civilians on the Ukrainian-controlled right bank. Across the oblast, residents face the consequences of Russia’s invasion, from forced displacement and property seizures under occupation to deadly drone and artillery attacks.

As a result of the prisoner exchange on October 23, Azov soldier Taras Zvarychuk returned from Russian captivity; the occupiers had sentenced him to 29 years in prison “for terrorism.”

Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre spoke by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin on 27 October, urging him to de-escalate Russia’s war against Ukraine and resume negotiations. The roughly 90-minute call was coordinated with Kyiv and came ahead of planned trilateral talks between Ukrainian, US, and Russian officials in Abu Dhabi in November.

The initiative marks a rare direct contact between Western European leaders and Putin since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022. The Nordic leaders are reportedly seeking to influence peace efforts increasingly shaped by US President Donald Trump, amid concerns in Europe that Washington is shifting toward Moscow’s position and sidelining Ukraine’s European partners.

Stubb and Støre said they discussed Russia’s war against Ukraine, upcoming negotiations, and security in Europe. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the two leaders had urged Putin to take concrete steps toward de-escalation, particularly regarding attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.

Zelenskyy says leaders urged energy de-escalation

After the call, Zelenskyy said he had spoken with Stubb and Støre to receive a detailed briefing. He thanked them for supporting Ukraine’s diplomatic efforts and said they had clearly told the Russian leader that real de-escalation steps were needed regarding Ukraine’s energy sector and infrastructure.

Zelenskyy also said the leaders discussed preparations for a trilateral meeting planned for November involving Ukrainian, US, and Russian negotiating teams.

In a joint statement, Stubb and Støre said the call followed their 20 October meeting in Oslo and was held in consultation with Ukraine. They emphasized that Finland and Norway, which both share borders with Russia, would continue their longstanding support for Ukraine.

“The discussion was frank and substantive,” Stubb said, adding that the war’s outcome would directly affect Nordic and broader European security. Støre stressed the war’s enormous human and material costs and said the leaders had emphasized the importance of de-escalation.

Moscow gives no sign of changing its position

The Kremlin’s account of the call offered no indication that Putin was prepared to soften his demands, according to Reuters. It said a just and lasting peace was possible only if Russia’s “legitimate interests” were fully taken into account, while blaming EU and NATO policies for prolonging the fighting.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov dismissed the call as offering nothing new on the conflict and accused European countries of seeking a role in negotiations.

A source close to the Kremlin told Reuters that Putin had said the war must end while taking “the realities on the ground” into account. The source interpreted this as meaning Moscow would not compromise on its goal of capturing the entire Donbas region.

Russia has continued its attacks on Ukraine while demanding territorial concessions. Kyiv, meanwhile, has called for meaningful de-escalation and a settlement that preserves Ukraine’s sovereignty and security.

Nordic initiative draws criticism from European partners

The call comes as European governments seek a greater role in peace efforts led by Trump. Western European leaders have largely avoided direct contact with Putin since the invasion, hoping to isolate Moscow, but concerns have grown that Europe is being sidelined in negotiations.

Stubb said Ukraine had sought to open a new channel of communication and that Europe could no longer remain a bystander to peace efforts. He said the initiative had been discussed with Western allies.

However, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen criticized the move, saying she saw no signs that Russia wanted peace and arguing that Europe should act together rather than pursue separate initiatives, according to Reuters. 

Reuters added that Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said other European leaders had not been informed of the talks and expressed low expectations for the conversation. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk also urged caution.

Stubb and Støre stressed that they had acted as leaders of Finland and Norway, not on behalf of Europe as a whole. They said their countries would continue supporting Ukraine while pursuing diplomatic efforts to end the war.

Russian forces struck an apartment building in Kharkiv’s Osnovianskyi district. Casualties have been reported preliminarily.

The ceasefire around Russian-occupied Oleshky in Kherson Oblast has expanded beyond the town to provide safe passage for humanitarian convoys, US First Lady Melania Trump said on 27 October. The expansion is intended to facilitate aid deliveries to civilians trapped under Russian occupation.

Ukraine and Russia are observing a localized ceasefire to enable a humanitarian mission to reach Oleshky, where residents have faced months of shortages of food, medicine, and medical care under Russian occupation. 

Trump said the ceasefire took effect at 04:00 Moscow time on 27 October, two days ahead of the original schedule, to protect civilians and facilitate the delivery of critical humanitarian aid. Russia’s chief of General Staff, Valery Gerasimov, had confirmed the arrangement, she said.

Ukraine’s human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said no ceasefire violations had been recorded by 19:49 Kyiv time on 27 October, and Russian forces had made no attempts to advance. He added that he remained in constant contact with his Russian counterpart, Yana Lantratova.

THE CEASEFIRE HAS COMMENCED
The ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia took effect at 4:00am Moscow time on October 27, 2026. 
 
Timing was accelerated two days ahead of schedule to protect the safety of civilians and to facilitate the delivery of critical humanitarian aid. The…

— First Lady Melania Trump (@FLOTUS) October 27, 2026

Road to Oleshky must be cleared before aid can arrive

Lubinets said the ceasefire began at 03:00 Kyiv time and would remain in effect until 22:59 Kyiv time on 1 November. He reported no violations since it began and said Russian forces had made no attempts to advance.

The next steps are to clear mines from the road to Oleshky and deliver humanitarian supplies. Representatives of Ukraine, Russia, and the United States will be present once the route is cleared and the aid arrives, Lubinets said in an interview with Ukrainian broadcaster 1+1.

He added that everyone who wants to leave for Ukrainian-controlled territory would be able to do so and that assistance would be provided to everyone who needs it.

The Financial Times earlier reported, citing sources familiar with the negotiations, that residents who agree to leave Russian-occupied Oleshky during the ceasefire would first be transported to occupied Crimea or Russia before being allowed to return to Ukrainian-controlled territory.

Humanitarian mission follows months of efforts

Oleshky has been under Russian occupation since 2022. The town has been cut off for months, with shortages of food, medicine, and medical care worsening. 

The White House announced on 23 October that Melania Trump had secured a localized ceasefire originally scheduled to begin on 29 October. Russia subsequently announced a ceasefire on the Kherson axis from 27 October, with preparations to secure a route for a humanitarian convoy.

Lubinets said efforts to address the humanitarian crisis in Oleshky began in late February 2026, but progress accelerated in September following Melania Trump’s involvement.

The expanded ceasefire area is intended to facilitate the humanitarian operation, but the route must still be cleared and supplies delivered before the mission can reach residents. The new boundaries of the ceasefire area have not been specified publicly.

A total of 178 combat clashes between the Ukrainian Defense Forces and Russian troops were recorded on October 26, with Russian forces launching 24 attacks in the Pokrovsk sector.

© Reuters

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky accepted the letters of credence from the newly appointed ambassadors of Canada, Spain, Switzerland, Egypt and Türkiye to Ukraine.

Ukraine’s air defenses have been intercepting nearly 60% of Russian Geran-4 jet-powered attack drones over the past three months, with the interception rate reaching 80% during some attacks, Ukraine’s General Staff said.

Russia has increasingly used jet-powered drones in its attacks on Ukraine, adding a faster-moving threat to the Shahed-type drones Moscow deploys against Ukrainian cities and infrastructure. Ukraine is working to improve interception rates while reducing the cost of countering these aerial threats amid shortages of surface-to-air missiles.

The General Staff’s update did not mention interception rates for Russia’s more advanced Geran-5 jet-powered drone.

F-16s, Mirage jets help intercept Russian drones

According to the General Staff, tactical aviation plays a significant role in destroying Russian jet-powered drones. Ukraine uses F-16s, French Mirage aircraft, and MiG-29 fighters to intercept them.

The military is also strengthening what it calls “short-range air defense” as Ukraine faces a shortage of guided anti-aircraft missiles. These systems include Gepard and Shilka anti-aircraft guns, newer Skynex, Skyranger, and Terrahawk Paladin systems, interceptor drones, and mobile fire groups deployed by different branches of Ukraine’s Defense Forces.

Mobile fire groups are equipped not only with machine guns and supporting equipment but also with man-portable air-defense systems (MANPADS). Ukrainian troops have been successfully using these missiles to shoot down Russian jet-powered drones, the General Staff said.

Ukraine tests cheaper drone interceptors

Ukraine is also seeking to lower the cost of countering Russian aerial attacks by testing new interceptor drones.

According to the General Staff, some models have already downed dozens of Russian Geran jet-powered drones. The military did not provide further details about the interceptor models or the number of drones destroyed.

The rising interception rate reflects Ukraine’s efforts to adapt its air defenses to Russia’s evolving drone campaign while preserving scarce and expensive air-defense missiles for threats that require them.

Prime Minister of Ukraine Sergii Koretskyi discussed support for Ukraine’s European integration, additional contributions to the Energy Support Fund and strengthening transport infrastructure during a meeting with Lithuanian Seimas Speaker Juozas Olekas.

Ukraine expects trilateral talks involving Ukrainian, U.S. and Russian representatives in November. Europe must be involved in the diplomatic process and take part in decisions on ending the war.

German defense AI firm Helsing has unveiled Contra, an AI-run air defense system and two interceptor missiles designed to chase Russia’s jet-powered Geran drones, the company announced on 26 October. Officials pitch it as cheap, but it won’t reach the market this winter.

That leaves Ukraine on its own defenses as Russia shifts to jet drones. By early October, jet models made up about 40% of Russian drone launches, and Ukraine’s own interceptors for them won’t arrive in needed numbers before late November, Air Force Deputy Commander Yurii Cherevashenko said.

Two missiles, one AI brain

Contra is the command layer of air defense: it links radars and other sensors, tracks incoming drones and missiles, and assigns a weapon to each target, while people keep control over decisions, Helsing said. Besides the company’s own missiles, it can also use other firms’ interceptors, lasers, guns, or nets. AD-1 Inferno is jet-powered and designed to loiter, swarm, and re-engage targets, while AD-2 Ambush, a solid-fuel rocket, is designed to reach Mach 2.5, over twice the speed of sound, and a range of more than 20 km, the company said.

Inferno, with a 700 km/h speed and a 20-km range, would be the everyday shooter. Ambush would handle “leakers,” drones about to hit the ground, said Maxwell Adams, Helsing’s senior product director. Each shot should cost under $100,000, company officials said.

Built for the faster Gerans

Ukraine once downed 90% of Russia’s slower, propeller-driven Gerans, copies of Iran’s Shahed, Defense News reported. Russia has since fielded thousands of jet Geran-4s and Geran-5s flying at 400–700 km/h, and almost half now get through, Helsing co-founder and co-CEO Gundbert Scherf said.

Ukraine’s own nightly rates swing widely. On 28 September, President Zelenskyy put the shoot-down rate for jet drones at 57%. Overnight on 7 October, it exceeded 82%, National Security and Defense Council Secretary Ihor Klymenko said. Russian output of the two models has reached 4,000 a month, Helsing said, citing unspecified intelligence reports.

Helsing has signed one Contra contract, Scherf said, but the system is still in testing, and he expects it on the market in the second half of 2027. Ukraine already uses Helsing’s HX-2 strike drones. Scherf said they should be integrated into a system like Contra.

Ukraine has finished its share of FREYJA, a joint European project to build a system against ballistic missiles, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told journalists on 17 October, Ukrinform reported. He added that Kyiv wants to test the first system as soon as possible.

Ukraine still relies on US-made Patriot interceptors to stop Russian ballistic missiles. Zelenskyy told ABC News on 23 October that Ukraine had received only 24 of them from the US in three months, while it needs 350 a month on average. FREYJA can not close that gap soon, because the system is still in development.

Ukraine’s missile and launcher, partners’ radars and sensors

Zelenskyy said the partners’ share of the work, with 10 countries taking part, is still underway. He also said he had discussed the project with French President Emmanuel Macron, and he named Norway as a key partner.

Zelenskyy did not say what the partners still have to deliver. In August, he said Ukraine is capable of making the missile and launcher, while partners would supply critical components such as radars and sensors.

One part not made in Ukraine

In May, Fire Point co-founder and chief designer Denys Shtilerman said all components of the FP-7.x interceptor are made in Ukraine except one. “As for that one part we don’t manufacture in Ukraine, we’ve contracted a certain quantity of it. We already have it,” he said, but did not name the part.

In June, however, Shtilerman told the Financial Times that mass production depended on an infrared seeker Fire Point hoped to get from Germany’s Diehl Defence. Neither statement says whether the seeker is that one part.

Fire Point co-founder Iryna Terekh said in September that FREYJA was going through testing and technical integration in combat conditions in Ukraine. The company plans its first intercept of a ballistic target by mid-2027.

The official timeline has since moved closer. On 21 October, Zelenskyy wrote that officials had identified where to speed up so FREYJA reaches testing by the end of this year. A test is still a step short of an intercept.

Over the past two weeks, Russia has used more than 100 ballistic missiles to strike Kyiv and the Kyiv region. Ukraine currently lacks missiles for its Patriot air defense systems, while deliveries of aid are being delayed.

The Vivaldi operation by the Ukrainian Defense Forces pushed Russian troops back and liberated significant areas north of Lyman, but the threat to the Sloviansk-Kramatorsk agglomeration still remains.

The move attracted criticism from the Danish prime minister, who urged Europe to ‘stick together’ on Ukraine

© AP

The ceasefire arrangements in the temporarily Russian-occupied town of Oleshky in the Kherson region are being fully implemented, Ukrainian Parliamentary Human Rights Commissioner Dmytro Lubinets says.

Pro-Ukraine demonstrations took place in more than 10 cities across Europe, North America, and Australia over the past week, with protesters opposing US President Donald Trump’s agreement to resume Russian diesel shipments, the easing of sanctions on Moscow, and restrictions affecting Ukraine’s military support.

The protests were organized by Ukrainian diaspora groups and international supporters of Ukraine, who called on Washington to maintain pressure on the Kremlin, restore Ukraine’s access to Starlink, and stop using military aid and intelligence sharing as leverage against Kyiv. 

The International Center for Ukrainian Victory (ICUV) said the actions reflected growing concern over US decisions that could benefit Russia while its war against Ukraine continues.

The demonstrations followed Trump’s announcement on 9 October that Russia would supply diesel to US and global markets. The US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control subsequently issued a temporary license authorizing transactions involving Russian-origin diesel, including imports into the United States, through 7 April 2027. 

The decision reversed part of Washington’s restrictions on Russian fuel imposed after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

“We are witnessing a dangerous situation today: Russia, which attacks Ukrainian cities every day, is being offered economic agreements and sanctions relief, while Ukraine is being asked to make concessions. But Ukrainians cannot simply stop fighting. For us, this is a matter of our state’s existence. Our future cannot be the subject of agreements between Trump and Putin. It belongs to Ukrainians,” said Olena Ivashchenko, founder of Campaign for Ukraine.

Protests target Russian fuel deal and pressure on Kyiv

In London, hundreds of protesters gathered outside the US Embassy on 16 October, according to organizers from Campaign for Ukraine and partner groups. Participants included Ukrainians, Britons, Americans, and members of other national communities. British lawmakers also raised the issue in Parliament.

Demonstrators carried signs reading “How Many Ukrainians per Barrel?” and “Occupation Is Not Peace,” calling on Washington to preserve sanctions and reject pressure on Ukraine to make territorial concessions.

Protests also took place in Edinburgh, Chicago, Houston, Boston, San Diego, Prague, Rome, Stockholm, and Sydney. In Prague, two Ukrainian activists staged a protest outside the US Embassy on 21 October, pouring a red liquid resembling blood onto the road to symbolize the human cost of the policy.

Participants in several cities also condemned restrictions on Starlink, delays in ammunition supplies, and disruptions to intelligence sharing with Ukraine.

The diesel agreement has drawn criticism in Ukraine because Russian fuel exports generate revenue for Moscow while its forces continue attacking Ukrainian cities and infrastructure. A Russian diesel tanker carrying 40,000 metric tons of fuel departed Russia’s Baltic port of Primorsk on 22 October bound for New York, according to shipping data reported by Reuters. It was expected to arrive on 7 November.

Organizers warn against easing pressure on Moscow

Protest organizers argued that restoring Russian fuel sales and relaxing sanctions risk helping Moscow finance its war. They also opposed any US effort to secure concessions from Kyiv without requiring Russia to end its aggression.

The demonstrations reflect concerns among Ukraine’s international supporters that Washington’s pursuit of economic agreements with Moscow could undermine efforts to isolate Russia and strengthen Kyiv’s position.

Trump has defended the diesel arrangement as a way to increase fuel supplies and lower prices. His administration has also presented engagement with Moscow as part of its broader effort to end the war, while critics question whether easing economic pressure will produce meaningful concessions from the Kremlin.

The humanitarian mission in Oleshky could be extended to other populated areas.

A meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin is necessary to discuss the most sensitive issues of a peace settlement.

Israel, like the rest of the world, is studying Ukraine’s experience in using drones and countering them, while investing in technologies to address the threat posed by Iran.

Military leaders from the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the National Guard briefed President Volodymyr Zelensky on the initial results and progress of Operation Veles on the Kupiansk axis.

The leaders ‘stressed the importance of de-escalation’ to Putin as they expressed their unwavering support for Ukraine

© AFP/Getty

Russia is masking propaganda with fight against disinformation

The average interception rate for Russian Geran-4 jet-powered attack drones stands at nearly 60%, according to an analysis of the past three months.

The outcome of the humanitarian operation in Oleshky could help advance the peace process and build trust. Ukraine welcomes the initiative, which is aimed at saving lives.

© Reuters

The five Nordic countries — Finland, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, and Sweden — have provided Ukraine with about $50 billion in aid since February 2022.

Russian forces struck a warehouse belonging to Ukrainian publishing house KSD in Kharkiv on 27 October, disrupting the publisher’s planned November releases. No employees were injured, but the company is still assessing the damage and losses.

The attack came on the Day of Ukrainian Writing and Language, a national holiday celebrating Ukraine’s language and literary heritage. It adds to a series of Russian strikes on Ukrainian publishing houses, printing facilities, and book warehouses that have destroyed millions of books and disrupted the country’s publishing industry.

KSD announced the strike on social media, saying it had planned to greet readers on the holiday and reveal its November releases but instead had to deal with the attack. The publisher said strikes in the area were continuing, preventing it from determining the full extent of the damage.

The company had planned to begin releasing its new books on 5 November. It has now postponed the announcements while it assesses the situation and determines how to proceed.

“We really want to show you the new releases we had prepared for November,” KSD said. “But for now, as we clarify the details, we cannot yet assess the scale of the destruction and understand how we will work going forward.”

The publisher said it would share updates as more information became available.

Russian forces struck a warehouse building in Kharkiv’s Slobidskyi District with a drone, as Moscow continues targeting civilian and industrial infrastructure across Ukraine.

Ukraine’s State Emergency Service pic.twitter.com/F6Ee7VybbI

— Euromaidan Press (@EuromaidanPress) October 27, 2026

Russia’s attacks devastate Ukraine’s book industry

KSD’s warehouse is the latest publishing facility affected by Russia’s campaign against Ukraine’s book industry. In July and August alone, Russian attacks destroyed around 13 million books, nearly a third of the number Ukrainian publishers printed in all of 2025, according to the Ukrainian publishing industry.

On 1 August, a Russian strike on a warehouse used by the Ranok publishing group in Kharkiv destroyed around 8 million books, including hundreds of thousands of school textbooks. A separate attack on a printing facility in July destroyed print runs and book materials belonging to numerous Ukrainian publishers.

In October, Russian strikes also damaged a Kyiv warehouse belonging to publisher Knyholav, destroying tens of thousands of books, including titles and reprints that had replaced stock lost in an earlier attack.

These strikes threaten more than publishers’ finances. Destroyed print runs and damaged warehouses delay new releases, deprive readers of Ukrainian-language books, and force publishers to spend scarce resources replacing titles instead of developing new ones.

KSD has not yet disclosed its losses or announced a revised release schedule for its November books.

Pope Leo XIV has denounced the religious justification for wars raging around the world, saying “there is no such thing as a holy war.”

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Germany will sign a deal in the coming weeks to purchase an initial batch of Ukrainian Bars missile-drones for testing by the Bundeswehr.