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

The president's comments come a week after he warned that Moscow is preparing to recruit another 10,000 North Korean military personnel to fight alongside Russian troops against Ukraine.

"I congratulate Andris Kulbergs on his convincing victory in the parliamentary elections in Latvia ... Ukraine deeply appreciates Latvia's unwavering friendship and support," President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Oct. 4.

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.

In this report, the Kyiv Independent’s Asami Terajima and Nick Allard join a Ukrainian volunteer air defense team defending Kyiv as Russia intensifies its drone attacks on the capital.

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.

For much of Russia's full-scale war, massive attacks on Kyiv came mainly at night. Residents learned, as much as possible, to organize their lives around them. They would sleep in hallways or bathrooms, check Telegram channels for updates in the dark, then emerge in the morning and go to work, cafes, concerts, or dinner. That fragile division between wartime nights and relatively normal days is now disappearing. In recent weeks, Russia has increasingly launched jet-powered attack drones toward

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.

The Trump administration’s peace negotiations with the Kremlin have come to include discussions of a multi-billion dollar deal involving assets owned by Russian oil company Lukoil, the New York Times (NYT) reported on Oct. 3.

The UN Human Rights Office found that an average of more than 400 civilians were killed or injured every week in Ukraine during the first eight months of 2026, a 55% increase from the same period in 2025, High Commissioner Volker Turk told the Human Rights Council in Geneva on Oct. 2.

Latvian Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs’ centrist United List party is projected to win the greatest number of seats in the Latvian parliament with 35% support, exit polling commissioned by public broadcaster LSM showed on Oct. 3.

The attack comes amid an international call for Russia to halt attacks on civilian ships in the Black Sea and allow the passage of grain exports.

Zelensky said that Ukrainian intelligence obtained documents revealing that Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a "new doctrine" allowing Russian forces to launch broader strikes against Ukrainian civilian targets this upcoming winter.

A Ukrainian official said that the construction of pontoon crossings could take up to three months and would help traffic move through the capital, which remains heavily restricted after multiple bridge attacks.

The strikes damaged transformers considered vital for maintaining the ZNPP’s off-site power supply.

Ukrainian forces intercepted 131 drones. Hits were recorded at 12 locations, while falling debris was reported at five other sites.

"Moscow is putting lives at risk across Europe and must be stopped," Moldovan President Maia Sandu said on Oct. 3.

Rozhanska attempted to collect her 8-year-old grandson and bring him back to his father in Odesa under an agreement reached in advance with the boy’s Russian relatives.

The number includes 1, 560 casualties that Russian forces suffered over the past day.

Mayor Vitali Klitschko said that the bridge's surface as well as trolleybus overhead power lines have been damaged in the attack. Movement over the bridge was halted following the strike.

Russia launched a drone attack on the city of Hostomel in Kyiv Oblast on the evening of Oct. 2, striking warehouses and reportedly injuring four people, including a child, officials reported.

The U.S.–Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund (URIF) jointly unveiled several investment projects on Oct. 2, including the first-ever critical minerals deal with Ukrainian company BGV Group Management.

While over 26,000 bodies and remains have been repatriated to Ukraine, "a significant portion" remain unidentified, Presidential Office Head Kyrylo Budanov said.

"As of now, the Foreign Ministry has not received any such requests or notifications from foreign diplomatic missions regarding plans to relocate," Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi said.

Wealthy Russians have already contributed a total of 471 billion rubles (over $5.6 billion) to the state budget in 2026, according to Reuters. The payments are listed as "voluntary receipts" in budget documents.

Imagine heavy drones flying 15 to 20 kilometers (approximately 9.3 to 12.4 miles) deep into enemy rear positions and then deploying unmanned ground vehicles, or UGVs (unmanned ground vehicles), essentially robots, that drive even deeper into the rear. There, in areas the enemy considers relatively safe and calm, these robots can destroy Russian logistics, strike dugouts, eliminate military personnel, and sometimes even take prisoners of war. Russian soldiers can surrender directly to the robots

Key developments on Oct. 2: * Key Kyiv bridge hit by Russian drones fourth time in 2 days * Ukraine aims to produce up to 400 interceptor drones as Russian jet-powered drone use grows, Zelensky says * UK sanctions 7 Russians over deportation, indoctrination of Ukrainian children * Russian Mi-8 helicopter reportedly shot down in friendly-fire incident over Voronezh Oblast * Russian glide bombs strike Kharkiv, kill women, injure children * Russia planning to increase "hybrid warfare" activi

The Russian special services are targeting military facilities, critical infrastructure, and communication systems, Ukraine's military intelligence service (HUR) warned.

Among those returned were people held under forced medical treatment and at risk of mobilization by Russia, according to Ukraine's human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets.