Polina Moroziuk

Drones operated by the SBU's Alpha special operations unit hit a Su-35 multirole fighter and a Su-34 fighter-bomber at the airfield, located around 500 kilometers (310 miles) from Ukrainian territory.

The operation was the second large-scale drone delivery to the occupied city, where residents have faced severe shortages of food, water, and medicine.

The package was announced by President Volodymyr Zelensky and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz at a joint press conference in Kyiv.

Overnight, Russia launched 135 attack drones of various types, including 52 jet-powered drones, the Air Force said.

From Oct. 1 to Oct. 3, Kyiv's Southern and Northern bridges were targeted in multiple Russian drone strikes amid an intensifying campaign against infrastructure in the capital.

The number includes 1,750 casualties that Russian forces suffered over the past day.

Merz was accompanied by Economy Minister Katherina Reiche and 10 executives from Germany's defense and energy sectors.

In this report, the Kyiv Independent travels to Odesa and the surrounding region to document how intensified Russian attacks are threatening the city, its ports, and Ukraine’s vital Black Sea trade route.

On the night of Aug. 1, Olena Rozhniativska and her 18-year-old daughter Kateryna rushed to a bomb shelter as ballistic missiles tore into Kyiv during one of Russia's mass attacks. They were killed before they could hide in an underground shelter, along with five other people in Darnytskyi district that night. "I didn't even have time to get out of the bedroom before there was already this terrible explosion," recalls Raisa, a 70-year-old Darnytskyi resident who does not want to be identified.

Four people were attempting to leave the town when they stepped on a mine and were injured, while a man collecting nuts was killed by another mine, the local military administration said.

Russian attacks have caused an estimated $10 billion in damage to fixed assets in Ukraine this year alone, according to Kravchenko. Steel plants, warehouses, logistics hubs, and data centers have all been hit as Moscow increasingly targets infrastructure supporting the country's economy.

The Air Force said Russia attacked Ukraine overnight with Zircon and Onyx anti-ship missiles, Iskander-M and S-400 ballistic missiles, and 188 attack drones of various types.

Polish Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said the drone struck Ukrainian territory around 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) from the Dorohusk crossing and did not enter Polish airspace.

The shelters will initially be installed at stations in densely populated areas and near major roads and will be available to anyone nearby, Ukrnafta CEO Bohdan Kukura said.

Russian strikes have hit multiple data centers and internet providers in Kyiv over the past two days, disrupting service for around 100,000 households as Moscow expands its attacks on Ukraine's internet infrastructure. Ukraine's Digital Transformation Ministry said around 100,000 households in Kyiv and Kyiv Oblast experienced internet problems following the Sept. 23 drone attack, as specialists worked to assess the damage and restore stable service. "This is the beginning of a phase where, sin