Key developments on Oct. 10:
- Ukraine confirms strike on Russian airbase in North Caucasus housing Su-34, Su-27 jets
- Zelensky presents victory plan to Starmer, meets NATO Secretary General Rutte
- Kyiv confirms death of Ukrainian journalist Viktoria Roshchyna held in Russian captivity
- Oil depot in occupied Crimea's Feodosia burning for 4th day after Ukraine's strike
- Russian missile strike on Odesa Oblast hit ship with humanitarian aid for Palestine, Kyiv says
Ukrainian forces carried out a successful strike against Russia's Khanskaya military airfield in the Adygea Republic, Ukraine's General Staff confirmed on Oct. 10.
The confirmation comes shortly after Adygea Republic authorities reported a drone attack against the region early on Oct. 10. The Russian Telegram news channel Astra wrote about explosions near the airfield the same morning.
"During the attack, 57 warplanes, trainer aircraft, and helicopters were based at the airfield. This included Su-34 and Su-35 jets and Mi-8 helicopters," a source in the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) told the Kyiv Independent. The General Staff also reported that Su-27 fighter jets were based at the airfield.
The operation was carried out in cooperation between the SBU, Ukraine's military intelligence agency (HUR), and the Special Operations Forces, according to the SBU source and the General Staff.
Also on Oct. 10, drones operated by SBU, HUR, the military, and the Special Operations Forces hit a Shahed drone storage facility near the Russian city of Yeysk, the source added, resulting in explosions and a powerful fire.
The extent of damage inflicted on the aircraft in Adygea is being determined. According to the General Staff, the strike damaged an ammunition warehouse, resulting in a fire, which is also visible in footage shared on social media.
The airfield is located near the village of Khanskaya, close to the region's capital city of Maykop, and roughly 430 kilometers (270 miles) from the front line. The Khanskaya airfield is home to Russia's 272nd Training Aviation Regiment.
Citing satellite imagery, the Defense Express outlet gave a lower estimate on the number of aircraft based at the airfield. Satellite footage from Oct. 6 shows 12 aircraft of an unknown type stationed in the airbase, which is roughly the size of one tactical aviation squadron.
It is currently unclear whether the figure given by the SBU source was an overestimation or whether Russia moved additional aircraft to the airbase in the past few days.
According to the source, Russia uses the airbase for refueling and to support airstrikes against Ukrainian military positions and population centers.
Martin Fornusek
Zelensky presents victory plan to Starmer, meets NATO Secretary General Rutte
President Volodymyr Zelensky presented Ukraine's victory plan to U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer during the former's visit to London on Oct. 10.
Zelensky already presented his five-point plan to U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House during his trip to the U.S. in late September. He also discussed it with presidential candidates Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, as well as members of Congress.
The plan includes military and diplomatic elements, such as Ukraine's bid to join NATO, though the full details of the peace framework have not been made public. According to Kyiv, the goal is to bolster Ukraine's negotiating position and pressure Russia into agreeing to a just peace.
After arriving in the U.K. earlier on Oct. 10, Zelensky outlined the details of the plan to Starmer, focusing on points related to military support for Kyiv. "The leaders agreed to work on the plan together with the allies," the Presidential Office said.
"The victory plan aims to create the right conditions for a just end to the war. It is a bridge to the second peace summit. Ukraine can negotiate only from a strong position," Zelensky commented after the meeting.
Zelensky and Starmer also met with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte to discuss Ukraine's Euro-Atlantic integration and military support.
Rutte visited Kyiv last week on his first trip to Ukraine's capital as NATO's chief, a position he assumed on Oct. 1.
"During the meeting, the parties discussed the swift implementation of NATO Washington Summit decisions, in particular, on strengthening Ukraine with new air defense systems, enhancing aviation capabilities, and allied investments in Ukrainian production of shells, drones, and long-range weaponry," according to the Presidential Office.
Zelensky's tour will continue with visits to France, Italy, and Germany in an effort to ramp up support across the European continent ahead of the uncertain U.S. election.
Kateryna Denisova
Kyiv confirms death of Ukrainian journalist Viktoria Roshchyna held in Russian captivity
Viktoria Roshchyna, a Ukrainian journalist held captive by Russia, has died, said Petro Yatsenko, a spokesperson of Ukraine's Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, on national television on Oct. 10.
The circumstances of her death are still being confirmed, Yatsenko said.
Roshchyna disappeared in August 2023 while reporting in Russian-occupied territory. Her father received a letter from Russia's Defense Ministry in April of the following year confirming that she was being detained by Russian authorities.
Andrii Yusov, a spokesperson for Ukraine's military intelligence agency, told the Suspilne media outlet that Roshchyna was supposed to be included in an upcoming prisoner exchange.
Roshchyna had covered Russia's full-scale invasion for multiple Ukrainian news outlets, including Hromadske, Ukrainska Pravda, and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL).
In March 2022, Roshchyna was detained for 10 days by Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) officers while leaving Berdiansk in the direction of Mariupol. As a condition of her release, she was forced to record a video saying Russian forces had saved her life.
The Kyiv Independent
Oil depot in occupied Crimea's Feodosia burning for 4th day after Ukraine's strike
Russian emergency services were unable to extinguish a fire for the fourth day after it erupted at an oil depot in Russia-occupied Feodosia after a strike, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's (RFE/RL) Crimean service reported on Oct. 10.
Ukrainian missile forces targeted the largest oil depot in occupied Crimea in the early hours of Oct. 7, resulting in a large-scale fire.
The Marine Oil Terminal is the largest facility for oil product handling in Crimea; the only other terminal of its kind on the peninsula is located in Sevastopol.
As of Oct. 10, 1,137 people had been evacuated from the area, said Igor Tkachenko, the Russian-installed proxy head of Feodosia.
The authorities warned that the amount of water needed to extinguish the fire may also affect the quality and quantity of water supplies for the residents.
In recent months, Ukrainian forces have launched a series of drone strikes aimed at damaging Russia's oil industry, whose profits fuel Moscow's war efforts.
Recently, a fire following a Ukrainian strike in the Kavkaz oil and petroleum storage facility just outside Proletarsk, a town in Russia's Rostov Oblast, was extinguished after 11 days and injured 49 Russian firefighters.
Francis Farrell
Russian missile strike on Odesa Oblast hit ship with humanitarian aid for Palestine, Kyiv says
A Russian missile strike on Odesa Oblast on Oct. 9 hit a civilian cargo ship containing 45 containers of packaged sunflower oil to be sent as humanitarian aid to Palestine, Ukraine's Agriculture Ministry said on Oct. 10.
The strike, which killed eight people and injured another 11, hit a Panama-flagged civilian vessel and damaged its cargo of aid. It was the third Russian attack against a civilian vessel in four days.
The U.N. had delivered an order for the aid to be sent to Palestine.
"Ukraine, despite the war, supplies products for 400 million people around the world," said Agriculture Minister Vitalii Koval.
Koval emphasized that Ukraine needs more air defenses to protect itself from Russian attacks, adding that "today the food security of Ukraine is also the food security of the world."
Odesa Oblast Governor Oleh Kiper accused Russia of attempting to disrupt Ukraine's maritime food corridor, which Kyiv established in August 2023 after Moscow withdrew from the Black Sea grain deal in July.
Ukraine has previously sent humanitarian aid to Palestine amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas.
Martin Fornusek
