A drone operator of Brigade 28th of Ukrainian Army watches a drone landing as he scouts for enemy positions in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine, Oct. 3, 2023. (Narciso Contreras/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Russian forces intercepted and shot down 28 Ukrainian drones overnight over the Belgorod and Kursk oblasts, and Black Sea region, Russia's Defense Ministry claimed on Oct. 18.
Kursk and Belgorod oblasts border Ukraine’s Sumy, Kharkiv, and Luhansk oblasts.
Kursk Governor Roman Starovoyt said that 10 drones were downed over the region at around 5 a.m. local time.
In Belgorod Oblast, Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said that six drones were shot down at around 4 a.m. local time.
On Oct. 15, Ukrainian drone attacks on an energy facility in Russia’s Belgorod region caused blackouts in the area.
"They (Russian troops) are now regrouping for further attempts, but remain positioned in Donetsk Oblast," said Victor Tregubov, spokesperson of the Dnipro group of forces.
"Parents of some of them were killed by occupation authorities, others were simply issued Russian identification documents to legitimize their abduction," said Mykola Kuleba, head of the Save Ukraine organization.
At the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, foreigners flocked to Ukraine to join its defense against Russian forces. More than three years later, the foreign fighters who remain are a different breed — driven by a deep commitment to Ukraine.
The proposed deal is aimed at freezing the conflict and laying the groundwork for a ceasefire and technical negotiations toward a final peace settlement, the news agency reported.
Both Chinese President Xi Jinping and Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko are among Russian President Vladimir Putin's closest international allies.
According to the source, two explosions near the unit's checkpoint killed at least 12 Russian soldiers and injured dozens more. Russian military equipment was also destroyed, they added.
The deficit jumped by 1.2 trillion rubles ($15 billion) last month alone, "mainly due to a decline in the average price of oil," the Russian Finance Ministry said.
Journalist Viktoriia Roshchyna's death has become a stark symbol of Russia's systemic abuse of Ukrainian civilians and the brutal risks faced by journalists in occupied territories.
The crude mixed with organic chloride, which was transported through Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey, could have seriously corroded infrastructure at OMV Petrom’s Petrobrazi refinery, potentially triggering a national fuel crisis, G4Media reported.
At the same time, five Ukrainian clubs have not received similar payments due to restrictions by a Swiss bank, allegedly because they are located in a "zone of military operations," the Guardian reported.
U.S. President Donald Trump said the ceasefire deadline he set for Russia — scheduled for Aug. 8 — now depends on Vladimir Putin. "We’re going to see what he has to say. It's going to be up to him," Trump told reporters on Aug. 7.
Daria Shulzhenko
