Hi, this is Kollen Post, reporting from Kyiv on day 1,335 of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Today's top story:
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Ukraine is preparing long-term contracts for 25 Patriot systems following a recent whirlwind trip to Washington, D.C.
"We arranged discussions with defense companies regarding air defense systems, and we are preparing a contract for 25 Patriot systems," Zelensky told journalists in Kyiv on October 20.
Patriot missiles are currently the best defense available to Ukraine against Russian ballistic missiles such as Kinzhals and Iskanders.
The total number of functional Patriot systems in Ukraine is difficult to nail down, but best estimates are around eight, meaning the new claimed contracts could potentially quadruple Ukraine's Patriot arsenal. Ukraine, meanwhile, is currently facing shortages of PAC-3 interceptors – the variety best suited for ballistic missile defense – for the Patriot systems it already has.
Kremlin claims demand for whole of Donbas "doesn't change"
Last updated 3:28 pm Kyiv time.
Moscow's position regarding the possibility of pausing hostilities along the current front lines in Ukraine has not changed, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Oct. 20 when asked about proposals put forward by the U.S.
Russia has previously rejected freezing the war along the current front lines while reportedly demanding that Ukraine cede the entire Donetsk Oblast.
Two dead, eight injured in Russia’s overnight attacks on Ukrainian civilians
Russian air attacks using ballistic missiles, drones and glide bombs hit residential buildings and civilian infrastructure in Kherson, Kharkiv, and Chernihiv Oblasts last night, according to local authorities. Artillery strikes also hit villages in Kherson Oblast, killing one person and injuring three others.
Ihor Terekhov, the mayor of Kharkiv, reported one dead and five injured, including one child, following attacks involving four Russian drones and four glide bombs on six municipalities in Kharkiv Oblast.
Additional strikes hit energy infrastructure in Chernihiv Oblast, per Viacheslav Chaus, the head of the oblast’s military administration.
Ukraine’s Air Force reported that the attacks included three Iskander ballistic missiles and a total of 60 drones, including Shaheds and Gerberas. Thirty-eight drones were shot down, and two went missing. Twenty drones hit targets, as did all three ballistic missiles, at 12 different locations, they explained.
192 evacuated from coal mine after Russian strike
On the night of October 19, Ukrainian energy giant DTEK managed to evacuate all 192 coal miners who'd been stuck underground after a Russian strike.
The strike targeted the Western Donbas Mine located in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. It was the fourth of its kind on a DTEK coal facility in the past two months, as winter sets in and Russia targets Ukraine's energy infrastructure.
Footage published this morning shows a drone striking a substation nearby.
General Staff: Russia has lost 1,127,300 troops in Ukraine since Feb. 24, 2022
Russia has lost around 1,131,070 troops in Ukraine since the beginning of its full-scale invasion on Feb. 24, 2022, the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces reported on Oct. 20.
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