Yuliia Taradiuk is a Ukrainian reporter at the Kyiv Independent. She has been working with Lutsk-based misto.media, telling stories of Ukrainian fighters for the "All are gone to the front" project. She has experience as a freelance culture reporter, and a background in urbanism and activism, working for multiple Ukrainian NGOs.
Yuliia holds B.A. degree in English language and literature from Lesya Ukrainka Volyn National University, she studied in Germany and Lithuania.
The two sides are discussing a local ceasefire to allow residents to be evacuated directly to Ukrainian-controlled territory, Lubinets said on Oct. 18.
The operation involved Ukraine's 92nd Separate Assault Brigade, 30th Separate Mechanized Brigade, and 10th Army Corps, along with Ukrainian drone manufacturer Gurzuf Defense.
In the Oct. 19 attack on Kyiv, at least one person was killed, and eight others were injured as Russian missiles struck Kyiv in multiple waves overnight.
This weekly update from the Kyiv Independent aims to shed light on the situation facing Ukrainians living under Russian occupation and the ever-tightening control of information imposed by the Kremlin.
Key news as of Oct. 17:
* Eleven Ukrainians, including 96-year-old woman, return from Russian-occupied territories, ombudsman says
* Russia sends terrorism case against 6 teenagers in occupied Luhansk Oblast to court
* Ukrainian troops struck Russian drone sites, ammunition depots in occupied
While the humanitarian crisis in the Russian-occupied front-line city of Oleshky recently garnered media attention, all regions of occupied Ukraine face worsening humanitarian issues at the hands of Russia's occupation authorities.
Across all occupied territories, civilians face failing water and electricity systems, shortages of qualified doctors, deteriorating municipal services, and mass depopulation, while specific problems differ from one occupied region to another.
Petro Andriushchenko,
The group included two women, a child, and several men who were being led toward the Shebelinka–Ostrogozhsk gas pipeline by Russian forces, according to Ukraine's 13th Khartia Corps.
The Iskander-M is one of Russia's principal ballistic weapons. Since the beginning of 2026, Moscow has launched more than 500 ballistic missiles against Ukraine.
Ukraine's Education and Science Minister Andrii Butenko said that a fire broke out in a building of Rivne State Humanitarian University as a result of the Russian drone strike.
Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev called the attacks "absolutely unacceptable" and said Bulgaria had informed its permanent representatives to NATO and the European Union.
The SBU said it had foiled a series of alleged terrorist plots prepared by Russian intelligence services in Rivne this year. Previous alleged plots targeted a park area and administrative buildings in the city center.
"I'm in shock... I don't know how to carry on. We're all exhausted," Kyiv resident Yuliia Sheremet told the Kyiv Independent as the Russian strike on Ukraine's capital injured her father and severely damaged her house.
The drills involve more than 1,500 military personnel, over 300 pieces of military equipment, and around 80 drones, according to the Collective Security Treaty Organization.
