‘All of Us in Europe Need Ukraine in the Alliance’ – Ukraine at War Update for Oct. 4

President Volodymyr Zelensky reiterated Ukraine’s need to join NATO with the Alliance’s new Secretary General Mark Rutte, who is visiting Kyiv only two days after taking the role formerly held by staunch Ukrainian ally Jens Stoltenberg.

In his nightly address Thursday, Zelensky said: “Today, Mark and I talked about the details of this. It is equally necessary for all of us in Europe – Ukraine in the Alliance – not just for the sake of greater collective strength, and not just because it’s fair and deserved for Ukrainians, but also because only with Ukraine’s full integration and our clear place in the Euro-Atlantic space can we effectively eliminate Russia’s old, criminal temptation to disrupt the European way of life.

“This is the solid foundation of peace – when there is no insufficiently secure place in Europe’s security architecture,” Zelensky added.

The president also said Ukraine could implement air defense solutions Israel has used against Iranian drones and other aerial threats.

“We see that one of the key reasons for the lack of security in the skies of Ukraine, and in particular near the borders of NATO, our neighbors, is the lack of decisions on joint work, on joint defense,” Zelensky said. “What works in the skies of the Middle East and helps defend Israel, can also work in the skies of our part of Europe, in Ukraine, also helping to save lives. There are special technical solutions, there are quite effective tactics.”

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The estimated cost of the environmental damage caused by Russia’s invasion currently totals over $71 billion.

“Joint destruction of Iranian missiles is no different from shooting down Russian missiles, from shooting down Iranian Shaheds that unite the Russian and Iranian regimes.”

He noted the importance of air defense in the upcoming months: “As we head into winter, Ukraine’s air defense is no less important, along with real progress in the joint interception of Russian missiles and drones.”

Zelensky said he hopes NATO members will change their approach to helping Ukraine protect its sky.

“More determination from partners in our region is what is needed to put an end to Russian terror. We will continue to convince our partners,” he said.

PACE recognizes Holodomor of 1932-1933 in Ukraine as genocide of the Ukrainian people

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) recognized the Holodomor of 1932-1933 in Ukraine as genocide of the Ukrainian people, said Yevhenia Kravchuk, a member of the permanent delegation of the Verkhovna Rada to PACE, as reported by the Ukrainian state Interfax-Ukraine news agency.

PACE’s website said: “Ninety years on from the Holodomor, Stalin’s genocide by artificial famine which resulted in the deaths of millions of Ukrainians in 1932-33, Ukraine again faces the threat of genocide, PACE has declared, urging all governments to help the people of Ukraine ‘fight off the ongoing genocidal assault against their nation’.”

After unanimously approving a report acknowledging Holodomor as genocide the Assembly said, “The methods used and statements made at the highest level in the context of Russia’s ongoing full-scale war of aggression again show a desire to ‘deny the Ukrainian people’s very right to exist as an independent nation.’

“The parliamentarians pointed to the massacres of Bucha and Irpin, the use of powerful weapons in heavily populated areas, the targeting of civilian infrastructure by Russia, the ‘filtering out’ and torture of Ukrainian political and cultural elites, the systematic destruction of the spiritual legacy and cultural heritage of the Ukrainian people, the use of food as a weapon, and the forcible deportation of tens of thousands of Ukrainian children as evidence of this new genocidal threat.

The Assembly invited the ICC Prosecutor to “consider examining the reported allegations of genocide against the Ukrainian people” and called on all Council of Europe members “to prevent any further acts of genocide against the Ukrainian people as a national group.”

Russian Geran-2 Drones Wound 8 in Sumy as Region is attacked 82 times after ordering children to be evacuated

A Russian Geran-2 drone attacked a settlement in the Sumy region injuring 8 people on Oct. 3, only two days after an evacuation order for children and their families, according to the Sumy regional military administration, Ukrainska Pravda reported.

Russian forces carried out 82 attacks on border areas and settlements in Sumy Oblast, with 160 explosions recorded, the report noted

On Oct.1, Sumy had ordered evacuations of children

Tuesday, the Sumy district council ordered the mandatory evacuation of children with their parents, guardians, or other legal representatives was announced in 90 cities, towns, and villages of the district, according to its council website.