News Feed

12:39 PM

Venice bus crash kills 21 people, including 5 Ukrainians.

A bus crash in Italy has killed 21 people, including five Ukrainians, local media reported on Oct. 4. The bus was carrying 39 passengers from the center of Venice to a nearby campsite outside the city when it crashed at around 7:45 p.m. on Oct. 3.

11:27 AM

Politico: EU to announce Ukraine membership talks in December.

According to Politico, the EU's executive arm will publish its "progress report" in November and will make it "very hard for member states not to say let's open negotiations" for Ukraine.

10:47 AM

Lithuania opens transit corridor for Ukrainian grain.

"Russia destroys food, Lithuania delivers it," Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis wrote on the social platform X. "A corridor for grain transit to Baltic ports has been accepted and agreed upon, relieving pressure at the Ukrainian border and increasing supply to Africa and beyond."

10:25 AM

Russian attacks kill 1, injure 24 over past day.

In Donetsk Oblast, seven people were injured in Russian attacks, the Donetsk Oblast Military Administration reported. Three residents were wounded in Illinivka, three more in Vyshneve, and one in Avdiivka, the officials clarified.

9:54 AM

Czech president: Europe must reduce defense reliance on US.

"The dominant role of NATO as a security provider must no longer mean that Europe neglects its defense obligations," Czech President Petr Pavel said at the College of Europe in Bruges.

9:31 AM

France agrees to provide military equipment to Armenia.

"France has agreed to sign a contract with Armenia on the provision of military aid," French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said during a press conference in Yerevan with her Armenian counterpart, Ararat Mirzoyan.

8:41 AM

NATO official: Ukraine's allies running out of ammunition, production must increase.

"The bottom of the barrel is now visible," Chairman of the NATO Military Committee Admiral Rob Bauer said. "We need the industry to ramp up production in a much higher tempo."

8:11 AM

General Staff: Russia has lost 279,890 troops in Ukraine.

The General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces reported on Oct. 4 that Russia had lost 279,890 troops in Ukraine since the beginning of its full-scale invasion on Feb. 24, 2022. This number includes 450 casualties Russian forces suffered just over the past day.

7:53 AM

Russia claims 31 drones downed overnight.

Russia's Defense Ministry said via its Telegram channel that its forces shot down 31 Ukrainian drones overnight on Oct. 4 over the Belgorod, Bryansk, and Kursk regions.

7:13 AM

Investigation: Baltic-registered crypto firms service payments for Russian private army, allow sanctions evasion.

5:49 AM

ISW: Russia's Defense Ministry signals support for Chechen units in Ukraine amid interethnic tensions.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu expressed gratitude to Chechen Head Ramzan Kadyrov for overseeing the creation of military units in Chechnya during an Oct. 3 conference with Russian military leadership, according to the Institute for the Study of War.

3:55 AM

Russia shells 8 communities in Sumy Oblast.

Explosions occurred in the communities of Khotin, Mykolaivka, Krasnopillia, Velyka Pysarivka, Bilopillia, Yunakivka, Shalyhyne, and Esman.

3:20 AM

Bloomberg: Hungary wants to cut EU funding to Ukraine in half.

The proposal adds weight to fears that international support for Ukraine could be waning following U.S. lawmakers' decision to remove aid for Ukraine from a government spending bill passed on Sept. 30.

1:46 AM

Charles Michel: Ukraine could join EU by 2030.

“Ukraine may indeed become a member of the EU in 2030 if both sides do their homework," European Council President Charles Michel said.

1:14 AM

US Congress ousts McCarthy as speaker.

The move follows a tense battle over funding legislation that nearly resulted in a government shutdown. Funding for Ukrainian military aid became a focal point of the legislative fight.

12:38 AM

Biden, world leaders coordinate military support for Ukraine.

The participants discussed strategies for supplying the Ukrainian military with ammunition and weapons, bolstering Ukraine's air defenses, and fortifying energy infrastracture ahead of the winter months.

12:18 AM

War update

Ukraine war latest: Zelensky meets soldiers fighting on Kupiansk-Lyman axis

11:59 PM

Russia claims Ukrainian Neptune missile destroyed over occupied Crimea.

The Russian Defense Ministry claimed its forces shot down a Ukrainian Neptune anti-ship missile near the Crimean coast late on Oct. 3. Kyiv hasn’t commented on the allegation.

11:07 PM

Prosecutors: Russian attacks in Donetsk Oblast injure 4.

Russian attacks against Avdiivka and Illinivka in Donetsk Oblast wounded four civilians on Oct. 3, the regional prosecutor's office reported.

10:43 PM

Media: Azerbaijan detains 4 ex-leaders of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Azerbaijan's security services arrested three former presidents of the self-declared Nagorno-Karabakh Republic — Arkadi Ghukasyan, Bako Sahakyan, and Arayik Harutyunyan — Azerbaijani media reported on Oct. 3.

10:39 PM

Ukrainian farmers sow 3 million hectares of winter crops but exports drop.

By the start of October, farmers had sown 2.992 million hectares, including 1.7 million hectares of winter wheat, the Agriculture Ministry said in a statement on its website.

9:47 PM

Opinion

Opinion: Weakness is lethal. Why Putin invaded Ukraine and how the war must end

9:09 PM

Bloomberg: All Odesa ports receive cargo ships through temporary corridor.

In the past few weeks, 10 ships have used the temporary corridor set up by Ukraine's Navy following Russia's withdrawal from the Black Sea Grain Initiative, the media outlet wrote, citing unnamed individuals familiar with the matter and ship-tracking data.

7:42 PM

The Telegraph: UK military aid stocks ‘running out'.

The U.K. is running out of military equipment to send to Ukraine, the Telegraph reported on Oct. 2, citing information from a senior military chief.

7:28 PM

Ukraine to procure 100 high-voltage transformers to prepare for Russian attacks on energy infrastructure.

Ukraine will either manufacture or purchase 100 new high-voltage transformers as the country prepares for a repeat of last winter's Russian attacks on energy infrastructure, according to a report by The Economist on Oct. 2.

MORE NEWS

Military intelligence: Sudan strike on Wagner signals Russia's decreasing influence in Africa

CNN: Military source says Ukraine 'likely' behind strike on Wagner forces in Sudan

UK Defense Ministry: Thousands of Russian airborne troops redeployed to Robotyne as infantry

General: Ukraine had only 1,500 soldiers in south when Russia launched full-scale invasion

watch us on facebook

News Feed

Edit post

UK Defense Ministry: Russia 'highly unlikely' to call up 400,000 volunteers, may force men to join army

by The Kyiv Independent news desk March 30, 2023 11:52 AM 2 min read

This audio is created with AI assistance

Russia will "highly unlikely" manage to attract 400,000 volunteer professional soldiers, which it claimed to be the goal of its new recruitment campaign, the U.K. Defense Ministry reported on March 30.

The ministry called it "realistic" that the distinction between a call for volunteer, professional personnel as it's presented by Moscow and a new mandatory mobilization will be blurred with regional authorities trying to fulfill their recruitment tasks "by coercing men to join up."

Russia's Defense Ministry will start a new recruitment campaign on April 1, aiming to conclude contracts with 400,000 professional soldiers, the Russian service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported on March 15.

According to the RFE/RL, residents of Russia's Voronezh Oblast started to receive summonses to military enlistment offices as it was in September last year following the so-called partial mobilization announced by Russian dictator Vladimir Putin. This may indicate that a second wave of conscription for the war against Ukraine could begin.

"Russian authorities have likely selected a supposedly 'volunteer model' to meet their personnel shortfall in order to minimize domestic dissent," the U.K. Defense Ministry wrote in its latest intelligence update.

However, restoring Russia's combat power in Ukraine will require not only personnel, according to the update. "Russia needs more munitions and military equipment supplies than it currently has available."

On March 29, Bloomberg also reported Russia's intentions to increase its army by 400,000 troops, citing people familiar with the plan. According to the publication, Moscow managed to conscript more than half a million people in 2022.

In late October 2022, Putin and Russia's Defense Minister Shoigu claimed that the mobilization for the war against Ukraine had finished, but the decree on "partial mobilization" remained in force.

According to reports by Ukraine's General Staff and the Institute for the Study of War, the Kremlin had continued mobilization covertly. Estonia's intelligence chief Margo Grosberg said that mobilization in Russia had never actually stopped.

The Kyiv Independent news desk

We are the news team of the Kyiv Independent. We are here to make sure our readers get quick, essential updates about the events in Ukraine. Feel free to contact us via email with feedback and news alerts.

Support independent journalism in Ukraine. Join us in this fight.

Freedom can be costly. Both Ukraine and its journalists are paying a high price for their independence. Support independent journalism in its darkest hour. Support us for as little as $1, and it only takes a minute.