October 10, 2026
Prepared by Diana Bozhyk
Five Russian guided bombs struck residential buildings in Zaporizhzhia before dawn today, killing at least 20 people, including three children, as a daytime ballistic attack on Kyiv followed drone strikes that again halted the capital’s metro and cut its water supply. A day after his diesel deal with Putin, Donald Trump demanded that Zelensky stop striking Russian refineries and said “it’s time for Ukraine to get a new president.” A Ukrainian official told the Financial Times that Ukraine “will burn” Russian refineries anyway, as Russia partially lifted its diesel export ban and Ukrainian drones hit an oil terminal and rail bridges in Rostov Oblast.
THE DAY’S RECKONING
The bombs fell on Zaporizhzhia at 4:48 a.m., and for the rest of the day the city counted: four dead, then seven, then 11, 15, 17, and by evening 20, three of them children. One woman lay under the rubble of a five-story building for eight hours before rescuers reached her. In Kyiv, drones cut power to the metro in the morning, and in the afternoon ballistic missiles hit a boating station in Obolon. Zelensky said what it means to let Russia sell petroleum products “was heard best in Kyiv today.”
The aftermath of Russian attack on Zaporizhzhia. (Zaporizhzhia DSNS/ Ivan Vyhivskyi via Telegram).
In Washington, Trump answered questions about the diesel deal by blaming Zelensky. He said the Ukrainian leader could have ended the war many times and should be replaced. Axios reported that U.S. envoys had warned Kyiv about intelligence sharing in Miami, where the talks ended after a single session. Lawmakers from both parties attacked the deal, and Moscow moved at once to sell 500,000 tons of diesel abroad.
ZAPORIZHZHIA: FIVE GUIDED BOMBS, 20 DEAD
Russian aircraft dropped five guided aerial bombs on Zaporizhzhia at around 4:48 a.m., hitting residential areas in the Shevchenkivskyi and Voznesenivskyi districts. One bomb directly hit a five-story apartment building, partially destroying an entrance and causing sections to collapse down to the second floor, said Mykhailo Semikin, acting head of the regional military administration.
The toll climbed through the day as rescuers cleared collapsed masonry. Semikin first reported four dead, then seven, including three children; Ivan Fedorov, co-chair of the regional Defense Council, reported eight dead and 16 wounded at 10:16 a.m.; Semikin reported 11 at 11:53 a.m. By the afternoon, the State Emergency Service and regional authorities put the toll at 17, and by evening the service reported at least 20 killed, including three children. Figures for the injured varied: the State Emergency Service reported 18, including three children, while the regional administration reported 32. Kyiv Post reported in the morning that 12 residents remained unaccounted for.
A fire at an apartment that was hit in a Russian guided bomb attack in Zaporizhzhia. (Zaporizhzhia Regional Military Administration/Telegram)
One woman was pulled from the collapsed building after eight hours under the rubble, Interior Minister Ivan Vyhivskyi said, while several people remained unreachable. Despite the threat of a follow-up strike, first responders worked to clear the rubble as quickly as possible, he said, calling the attack one “against ordinary homes, against families with children.” As of 6:15 p.m., three people had been rescued.
The bombs damaged at least 26 residential buildings, 23 of them apartment blocks and three private houses; three suffered heavy damage. It was the third consecutive day of deadly attacks on the city: Russian strikes killed one person on Thursday, and on Friday six guided bombs killed one man and injured 23. Zelensky said Russia had “thanked” the world for lifting sanctions on diesel exports by dropping bombs directly on apartment buildings.
KYIV: METRO HALTED AGAIN, THEN BALLISTIC MISSILES ON OBOLON
Russian drone strikes in the morning damaged a power facility in Kyiv Oblast, and the capital’s supply deteriorated. “Due to damage to a power facility in the Kyiv region, the capital’s power supply situation has deteriorated. The city is also experiencing water supply disruptions,” Mayor Vitali Klitschko said. Sudden voltage drops stopped trains and escalators on all three metro lines, and trolleybus and tram routes were suspended in parts of the city. Energy operators introduced emergency blackouts in Pivdenna Borshchahivka. DTEK said Bucha district in Kyiv Oblast also lost power. Drone debris struck an eight-story office building and a 25-story residential tower in the Solomianskyi district, and fragments fell in Podilskyi. By about 2:30 p.m., the metro had resumed with longer intervals.
Around 2 p.m., loud explosions shook the city as Russia launched ballistic missiles at Kyiv. In Obolon, a strike hit a boating station near Natalka park, causing a fire of more than 200 square meters, State Emergency Service spokesperson Pavlo Petrov said; a single-story building and the courtyards of residential high-rises were also damaged, and missile debris fell in another courtyard. “Our boatman was covered in an explosion wave. He was taken in the ambulance,” station manager Valery Hudnik told Novyny. By 5 p.m., Klitschko said at least seven people had been injured, five hospitalized, three of them in serious condition.
Zelensky said only “some of the missiles were intercepted.” “The consequences of allowing Russia to sell oil products were most clearly felt in Kyiv today,” he said. “Every additional billion dollars Russia manages to earn from exports will be spent precisely on this: finding and importing critical components, equipment for weapons production, upgrading Shahed drones, manufacturing missiles, and recruiting additional mercenaries for the front.”
Smoke rises above residential buildings amid daytime Russian attack on Kyiv, Ukraine. (The Kyiv Independent)
160 DRONES OVERNIGHT AND THE FIRST JET DRONE OVER LVIV
Russia launched 160 drones overnight, including 110 jet-powered Shahed-type models, alongside Gerbera strike drones and Parodiya decoys, the Air Force said. Air defenses downed 117, including 82 jet-powered drones. Drones struck 14 locations, and debris fell at 10. Zelensky said 13 regions came under heavy attack overnight, damaging residential buildings, energy infrastructure, and railway lines.
Ukrainian forces shot down a Russian jet-powered drone near Lviv in the morning. Russian and Ukrainian sources described it as the first time a Russian jet-powered drone had entered the airspace of the western city, ISW reported.
“This night was yet another confirmation that Russia perceives any easing of pressure as a signal that continuing the war is supposedly permissible, that dropping bombs on cities is supposedly permissible. Different signals are needed,” Zelensky said. “Russia must realize that the war must be stopped, and for this, it must feel its own losses. Right now, it is precisely our long-range capabilities that ensure this. And our responses to Russian strikes will follow.”
In Kharkiv Oblast, Russia attacked nine settlements overnight with 107 drones, four missiles, nine guided bombs, and two FPV drones, Governor Oleh Syniehubov said. A 65-year-old man was killed and at least six people were injured. In the village of Martove, a farm and five outbuildings were damaged and seven cows were killed. During a daytime attack on Kharkiv, a medical facility was hit, injuring four women and setting the building on fire.
ISW said Russia’s strike campaign is trying in part to damage Ukraine’s ability to transmit electricity between regions. According to Ukrenergo, Russia is systematically destroying generation in some oblasts, forcing authorities to move electricity hundreds of kilometers, while continuous strikes and air raid alerts complicate repairs.
AN 11-YEAR-OLD KILLED IN NIKOPOL DISTRICT; 24 DEAD NATIONWIDE
An 11-year-old boy was killed when Russian forces dropped a munition from a drone in the Pokrovske community of Nikopol district, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Governor Oleksandr Hanzha said. “An 11-year-old boy was killed as a result of an enemy attack in the Nikopol district,” he wrote. “Two more children were wounded – a 12-year-old boy and a 10-year-old girl.” Both were taken to hospital. A 47-year-old man and two women aged 49 and 61 were also injured in the oblast. Russian forces attacked the region more than 30 times with drones and artillery, damaging homes, a gas station, and an ambulance in Nikopol district, private homes in the Zelenodolsk community, and vehicles and farm machinery in Dnipro district’s Mykolaiv community.
At least 24 people were killed and 47 injured across Ukraine over the past day, the Kyiv Independent reported in its regional roundup. In Kherson and the surrounding oblast, Russian attacks killed two people and injured nine, and six private homes were damaged. In Donetsk Oblast, one person was killed and 11 injured, Governor Vadym Filashkin said, including four in Kramatorsk and five in Sloviansk. Russian forces attacked the oblast 26 times.
In Sumy Oblast, the regional administration reported injuries without giving a number, after up to 30 attacks on 19 settlements. In Chernihiv Oblast, two Gerbera-type drones struck Semenivka around 5:25 a.m., causing a fire in a utility building. Ivano-Frankivsk was attacked five times, Governor Svitlana Onyshchuk said.
Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said 16 civilians were evacuated from occupied territories through the Novi Yarylovychi checkpoint on the border with Belarus, among them an elderly Chornobyl liquidator from occupied Luhansk Oblast whose wife died before she could be brought out. “The daughter was waiting for both parents, but met only one,” he said.
TRUMP: “HE BETTER DAMN WELL STOP” AND “A NEW PRESIDENT”
Trump defended his diesel deal with Putin and lashed out at Zelensky when reporters asked whether the deal would prolong the war. “Zelensky could have settled this war many times, many many times, and he chooses not to,” he said. “We said you could do whatever you want to Russia, don’t hit the refineries, because that’s a world problem that’s caused.”
“And he wants to make problems for the world, he wants to make problems for our farmers, our ranchers, with diesel fuel,” Trump said. “We have a world problem, and the problem is caused by the lack of refineries for diesel fuel. So what does he do? He goes and hits the refineries.” He added: “So he better damn well stop.”
Asked about Ukrainians’ daily suffering under Russian attacks, Trump said: “You know what I suggest? I suggest they get a new leader who can make a deal. Because he could have made many deals and for some reason he never does. I think it’s time for Ukraine to get a new president.” The Kyiv Independent noted that Trump made no mention of the war with Iran, the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, or Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy system and cities, and that he has previously called for elections in Ukraine.
The comments came about a month before the U.S. midterm elections on Nov. 3, with diesel above $6 a gallon, Kyiv Post reported. Ukrainian officials involved in the Miami talks told the Kyiv Independent they had believed they would discuss an energy ceasefire placing equal demands on both sides, and described the invitation as “a trap.” Instead, they said, Washington struck an economic deal with Moscow while pressing Kyiv to halt refinery strikes without any reciprocal demand on Russia.
AXIOS: U.S. ENVOYS WARNED OF AN INTELLIGENCE CUTOFF
U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner warned Ukrainian negotiators in Miami that Washington could cut off intelligence sharing if Kyiv does not stop drone strikes on Russian oil refineries, Axios reported. A U.S. official disputed that the envoys issued an explicit threat but said they conveyed that Washington expected reciprocity given U.S. deliveries of ammunition and intelligence. “The attacks on the refineries cause pain in Russia, but it causes pain for the US, too,” the official said. “Zelensky is misreading the room. By continuing to hit refineries, he is eroding the goodwill that he has built with Trump over the last six months.”
“President Trump decided to strike the diesel deal with Russia after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky ignored half a dozen US requests to stop attacking Russian refineries,” the official told Axios. Ukrainian officials had proposed suspending refinery strikes if Moscow stopped hitting Ukraine’s grid and heating plants, but Trump wanted a unilateral halt and did not see the strikes as equivalent, the official said. In an interview with Axios, Zelensky called the deal “unfair.”
According to Axios, the talks focused on post-war security guarantees from the United States, Europe, and NATO and on territorial proposals; the envoys also presented a reconstruction and security package covering Ukraine’s EU path and relations with NATO. The session lasted six hours. RFE/RL journalist Alex Raufoglou reported, citing sources, that there would be no second day of talks, and presidential communications adviser Dmytro Lytvyn confirmed that the delegation was heading home. Three people told the Financial Times that Trump’s diesel announcement had “blindsided” the Ukrainian team.
USHAKOV: PUTIN TOLD TRUMP THE WAR WILL GO ON
Putin told Trump during their phone call on Friday that Moscow will continue the war until it achieves all its goals, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told Russian state media. “Putin made it clear that Moscow will continue hostilities until it achieves all stated goals,” Ushakov said. He said Trump initiated the call to wish Putin a happy birthday and passed along regards from First Lady Melania Trump.
According to Ushakov, Putin accused Ukraine of trying to disrupt Russia’s elections and said Ukrainian strikes on election infrastructure during the September State Duma elections “thwarted the possibility” of immediately resuming peace talks. Putin also claimed Russian forces hold the initiative along the front and that Ukrainian resistance is futile. Ushakov said that after the call, Trump instructed U.S. officials to relay the Kremlin’s “signals” to Kyiv.
ISW said there is no evidence that Ukraine targeted Russian election infrastructure and called the claim unfounded. It assessed that Putin was trying to blame Ukraine for the lack of progress even though Russia has offered no concessions and rejected numerous compromise proposals from Washington and Kyiv, and that his reiteration of unchanged war aims shows Moscow is unwilling to accept any settlement short of its maximalist demands.
On Friday, Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said easing sanctions on Russian petroleum products would neither bring peace closer nor help global markets. “The only thing that could really bring prices down is an energy ceasefire,” he wrote on X. “Ukraine is ready for one now. With enough strength, Moscow could be forced to agree too. Instead, Putin sees weakness. And weak strategies never deliver strong results, just as appeasement never brings peace.”
“WE WILL BURN REFINERIES”; MOSCOW REOPENS DIESEL EXPORTS
Ukraine intends to keep striking Russian oil refineries despite the Trump-Putin deal, the Financial Times reported. “We will burn [Russian] refineries,” a senior Ukrainian official told the newspaper. According to data cited by the FT and energy intelligence firm Kpler, Russian refineries are operating at about 60 percent of installed capacity because of Ukrainian strikes and repairs. “The biggest question for me is: where are they going to get the diesel from?” said Michelle Brouhard, Kpler’s head of policy and geopolitical risk. “Russia does not have an export problem. It has a refining problem.”
Before 2025, Russia exported an average of 2.6 million tons of diesel a month by sea, according to Kpler, but shipments fell sharply in 2026 as Ukrainian strikes damaged distillation and cracking units, and the Kremlin banned diesel exports in July. Kyiv Post reported that the United States has not imported Russian diesel since July 2022, while the Kyiv Independent said U.S. imports of Russian fuel products stopped in March 2022. According to Ukraine’s Defense Ministry, Ukrainian strikes have disabled more than 51 percent of Russia’s refining capacity.
The Russian government partially lifted its diesel export ban, allowing the sale of 500,000 tons abroad with immediate effect, TASS reported. Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said the easing would not affect Russian consumers and that output is “sufficient” for domestic and foreign demand. In July, after Ukrainian strikes crippled fuel supply, Moscow restricted fuel sales, imported supplies from India for the first time, and allowed lower-grade gasoline production.
The Trump administration has eased sanctions on Russian oil before: in March 2026, after the U.S. and Israel launched their war against Iran, Washington issued a temporary waiver allowing the sale of Russian oil stranded at sea, which was renewed twice.
LAWMAKERS FROM BOTH PARTIES ATTACK THE DIESEL DEAL
Democrats and Republicans in Congress criticized the deal, warning it could fund Russia’s war, undermine the new sanctions law, and fail to lower fuel prices. Some said it may be illegal, as a 2022 law banned U.S. imports of Russian energy, with conditions for lifting the ban tied to a Russian troop withdrawal from Ukraine. “Congress banned Russian energy imports in 2022. (The president) cannot simply ignore that law to buy diesel from Putin,” said Senator Jeanne Shaheen.
“A few weeks ago, Congress overwhelmingly passed legislation to increase sanctions and tariffs on Russia,” Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski wrote. “The president should be using those authorities instead of allowing Russia to export diesel, rake in revenues and continue its catastrophic war in Ukraine.” Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal called the agreement “a stain on our nation’s character, an insult to Lindsey Graham’s memory, and directly contrary to Congress’s intent,” warning it “will lead to the slaughter of more innocents in Ukraine.” Democrat Gluesenkamp Perez said, “It won’t actually bring down prices,” adding, “we’re now funding the war against Ukraine.”
Republican Representative Brian Fitzpatrick said bipartisan legislation to block all purchases of Russian oil would be introduced in the coming days. Republican Congressman Don Bacon wrote that Americans want lower diesel prices but “buying Russian fuel is the wrong answer.”
On Friday, House Democrats Jamie Raskin and Jim Himes urged FBI Director Kash Patel to cancel a reported trip to Russia, tentatively scheduled for Oct. 14, where he would be hosted by the FSB, citing “urgent national security concerns.” The FBI has not replied. Senator Roger Wicker, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said at a press conference in Kyiv on Friday that he cannot see an end to the war in which Ukraine gives up territory seized by Russia.
ZELENSKY CALLS MACRON DURING THE ATTACK; F-16 AMMUNITION FROM FINLAND
“It was precisely during today’s Russian ballistic attack against Kyiv that we spoke with the President of France,” Zelensky said after a call with Emmanuel Macron. “The need for additional air defense packages for Ukraine is obvious, and we are working with all partners for corresponding decisions. Unfortunately, a distinct threat of further missile strikes persists these days. It is vital to increase pressure on Russia in response, and joint bold steps must follow.” The two discussed “the challenges stemming from the easing of sanctions against petroleum products,” he said. “The Russians must feel that their potential to prolong the war will no longer exist. We are coordinating substantively and preparing upcoming meetings.”
Zelensky also spoke with Finnish President Alexander Stubb and said Ukraine will receive ammunition for its F-16s from Finland in the coming days. “I am particularly grateful for the support package for our sky defense,” he wrote. “In the coming days, we will receive ammunition for F-16s. This is what currently ensures the downing of jet-powered Shaheds.” They also discussed “a new challenge: additional Russian revenues from the export of petroleum products, which could go toward financing further Russian aggression.”
On Friday, Stubb approved Finland’s 35th defense package for Ukraine, worth about €1 million and consisting of a single defense product taken from Finnish stockpiles, bringing Finland’s total to €3.6 billion. “Finland speeded up this decision to deliver on an urgent request from Ukraine. We will not close our eyes to Ukrainians’ hour of need,” Defense Minister Antti Häkkänen said. The ministry did not disclose details, citing security, and said work on a larger package has begun. At the Helsinki Security Forum, Stubb said: “The more you intimidate, the more you threaten, the more we’re going to end up supporting Ukraine.”
DRONES HIT A ROSTOV OIL TERMINAL AND RAIL BRIDGES
A large fire broke out overnight at an oil-loading terminal in Rostov-on-Don during a reported drone attack, according to footage published by the Exilenova+ channel. An ASTRA analyst identified the site as the Yug Rusi terminal in the Zheleznodorozhny district, which handles petroleum products for export, including from the Novoshakhtinsk refinery, and has a capacity of 3.5 million tons a year; ISW identified it as the NZNP terminal, about 210 kilometers from the front line. Regional authorities acknowledged a fire but did not confirm damage to the terminal, and Ukraine’s military did not claim the attack. ASTRA also reported damage to a residential building in the city’s Donskaya Sloboda complex. The footage could not be independently verified.
Rostov Oblast Governor Yuri Slyusar said drones damaged a railway bridge in Rostov-on-Don and two vessels in Azov. The local branch of Russian Railways confirmed damage to the bridge and suspended traffic, and the private carrier Grand Service Express said all trains from occupied Crimea to southern Russia were delayed because of damage to the bridge between Rostov-on-Don and Bataysk. Bryansk Oblast Governor Yegor Kovalchuk said a strike hit a railway bridge in Vygonichsky district, disrupting traffic.
The General Staff reported striking an electronic warfare system near Trukhanovo in Bryansk Oblast and a Russian training center for non-commissioned officers near Khorly in occupied Kherson Oblast. In Kaluga, AGR Automotive Group said it had suspended production of Tenet cars after drone debris fell on its plant on Friday; the plant sits in the same industrial park as the Yandex data center struck that day. Yandex updated its user agreement to list drone and missile attacks as force majeure.
BELARUS SUMMONS UKRAINE’S ENVOY OVER A TRUCK IN BRYANSK
Belarus summoned Ukraine’s chargé d’affaires in Minsk on Friday, accusing Ukrainian forces of deliberately targeting a Belarusian-registered civilian truck in Russia’s Bryansk Oblast, Belarusian state media reported. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Ruslan Varankov said a drone struck the vehicle on Thursday. According to state news agency BelTA, the driver, a Belarusian citizen, was severely injured and underwent emergency surgery resulting in amputations. Varankov said the truck’s national markings were clearly identifiable, called the incident intentional, and said Belarus reserved the right to take “adequate response measures.”
Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry rejected the allegations and lodged a protest over the summons. “We consider it groundless to assign responsibility to Ukraine without the presentation of convincing evidence of involvement,” spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi said. “We reject such absurd accusations from a country that is an accomplice to the crime of aggression against Ukraine and provides extensive assistance to Russia in its criminal war of conquest against our state.”
Tykhyi said Minsk’s claims came with rhetoric alleging deliberate attempts to draw Belarus into the war, along with threats of retaliation. “We condemn attempts to shift responsibility for the consequences of Russian aggression, to project Ukraine as a source of threats to Belarus, and to intentionally stoke tension in the region,” he said. “We call on the Belarusian side to refrain from baseless accusations, threats, and information manipulation. We consider it unacceptable to use this incident to justify further Belarusian support for Russian aggression or to create additional threats against Ukraine.”
The dispute follows remarks by Alexander Lukashenko on Oct. 2, when he called himself and Putin “co-aggressors” in the war against Ukraine. “If you, the leadership of Russia, make a decision, we will always be with you, despite our particular understanding of what is happening there,” he said, according to BelTA.
THE EU BUDGET KEEPS €88.87 BILLION FOR UKRAINE; A UN VOTE AGAINST SANCTIONS
A new compromise proposal for the EU’s 2028-2034 budget, published by the Irish Council Presidency, includes €88.87 billion in dedicated support for Ukraine, unchanged from the June draft but below the €100 billion the European Commission originally proposed. “Our commitment to Ukraine is central to our overall ambitions,” the proposal says. Under pressure from the so-called frugal member states, it cuts the “Global Europe” pot by just over €20 billion, to €149 billion, and reduces support for candidate countries by almost €4 billion, to €32.6 billion. The proposal states that “additional funding for Ukraine may be prioritized” from those pillars.
The budget requires unanimity, and countries hope to finalize it by the end of 2026, before elections in France, Poland, Italy, and elsewhere in 2027. Ukraine still anticipates a $42 billion gap in its 2027 budget even after the EU’s €90 billion loan, and a senior EU official said of long-term funding: “There is a massive uncertainty, no one is pussyfooting about that.”
At the UN Human Rights Council, a resolution sponsored by Uganda on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement, together with Russia, was adopted by 27 votes to 16, with four abstentions. Its preamble declares unilateral coercive measures contrary to international law, and it extends for three years the mandate of the special rapporteur on their human rights effects. Neither sponsor is a council member, and the text does not overturn sanctions against Russia, Kyiv Post noted. In the same session, the council voted to renew the mandate of the special rapporteur on human rights in Russia.
MEANWHILE, AT THE FRONT
Ukrainian forces recently advanced in the Borova direction, ISW reported, citing footage of Russian strikes on a Ukrainian position northwest of Borova Andriivka. A Kremlin-affiliated milblogger acknowledged that Russian forces are trying to recapture Rai-Oleksandrivka, indicating that Ukrainian forces liberated it, and linked the gain to Operation Vivaldi. Russian milbloggers said Ukrainian forces continued counterattacks east of Kramatorsk near Yurkivka, Minkivka, and Vasyutynske and near Zarichne and Yampil by Lyman; one assessed that losing those two villages would make a new Russian offensive on Lyman “impossible.”
The Russian Defense Ministry claimed the capture of Lukashove and Lobanivka in northern Kharkiv Oblast as part of an alleged encirclement between the Vovchansk and Velykyi Burluk directions. ISW called the encirclement claims baseless, and even a Kremlin-affiliated milblogger said the claimed seizures required confirmation. ISW also noted that the Defense Ministry published a weekly summary of claimed gains, including 414 square kilometers and 20 settlements in Kharkiv Oblast, only on the state-controlled messenger Max, which requires a Russian or Belarusian phone number, assessing that it targets a domestic audience.
Russian forces conducted infiltration missions northeast of Dobropillya, in Tyshchenkivka northwest of Kupyansk, on the northern outskirts of Kupyansk-Vuzlovyi, and in northern Kharkiv Oblast near Volokhivka and Komisarove, where Ukrainian forces struck them, according to geolocated footage. Some Russian sources said fighting continues in Kupyansk-Vuzlovyi. A milblogger denied claims that Russian forces control forests near Kyianytsia in Sumy Oblast. Russian attacks in the Kostyantynivka, Novopavlivka, and Oleksandrivka directions made no advances, and milbloggers gave conflicting accounts of Russian gains northwest of Hulyaipole. Near Orikhiv, Ukrainian forces were attempting to infiltrate the central and eastern parts of the town.
A CITY UNDER RUBBLE, A CAPITAL WITHOUT TRAINS
By nightfall, rescuers in Zaporizhzhia were still searching a collapsed apartment building, and the toll stood at 20. In Kyiv, the metro was running again at longer intervals, and the boatman from Obolon was in hospital.
In Washington, the president said Ukraine needed a new leader. In Moscow, the government opened the diesel taps. In Kyiv, an official said the refineries would keep burning, and the president warned that the threat of further missile strikes “persists these days.”
A PRAYER FOR UKRAINE
1. For the Twenty Lost in Zaporizhzhia
Lord, five bombs fell on Zaporizhzhia before the sun rose, and twenty people did not wake to the day, three of them children. Receive every soul taken from the five-story building and the streets around it. Comfort the families still waiting for word of those under the rubble, and heal the wounded, among them three children. Strengthen the rescuers who dug through the day despite the threat of another strike.
2. For the Woman Under the Rubble
Father, for eight hours a woman lay beneath a fallen building in Zaporizhzhia, and You kept her alive until rescuers reached her. We thank You for her life, and we pray for her healing in body and spirit. Be with all who are trapped, waiting, and afraid, and give the rescuers patience, strength, and courage to reach every person still unreachable.
3. For the Children of Nikopol District
God of mercy, an eleven-year-old boy was killed by a munition dropped from a drone in the Pokrovske community, and a twelve-year-old boy and a ten-year-old girl were wounded beside him. Hold the boy in Your peace, comfort his parents, and heal the children in hospital. Protect every child who lives within reach of the drones, and let them grow up without fear.
4. For Kyiv and Kharkiv
Lord, we pray for the seven wounded in Obolon, three of them in serious condition, and for the boatman taken away by ambulance. We pray for the four women hurt when a medical facility in Kharkiv was struck, for the man killed in Kharkiv region, and for every family left without power, water, or trains. Grant them healing, warmth, and light.
5. For Those Who Stand Firm
God of justice, we pray for Ukraine’s leaders, negotiators, and defenders on a day of hard words and broken promises. Give them wisdom, steadiness, and courage. Protect the air defenders and pilots who face missiles and drones, and move the hearts of partners to stand with those who are attacked rather than with those who attack them, until peace returns.
In Your mercy, in Your justice, in Your time — bring this war to its end, and let the ending be worthy of what Ukraine has endured.