Ukraine Breaking News Today Live on 10-03-2024

Could Russia be forced out of Ukraine, not due to a military victory, but due to the Russian economy's collapse? Increasingly there are signs in Moscow that Russia's war may soon run out of money.

More than 30,000 people came to Uman to celebrate Rosh Hashanah. Kyiv Post interviewed some of them to get their views on the war and what they know about Ukraine.

An estimated 33,000 Hasidic pilgrims recently arrived in the Ukrainian city of Uman to celebrate Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year celebration which began Oct. 2 and will last until Oct. 4. Every year, thousands of ultra-Orthodox Hasidic Jews flock to this city, where the grave of Breslow Hasidic movement founder, Rebbe Nachman is located.

Kyiv Post visited Uman to find out if pilgrims were afraid to come to Ukraine and what the celebration means to them.

While Washington insists that Ukraine needs to respect Putin’s red lines to avoid escalation, Israel stomped all over them by blowing up the Kremlin’s largest overseas air base.

In an impressive military operation on Thursday that thumbed a nose at US and Russian nuclear arsenals, Israel’s armed forces hit the Kremlin’s main air base in the Middle East with a devastating missile strike, almost certainly without asking permission from anyone inside the Beltway first.

At least 30 Israeli naval missiles smashed into the Russian air base at Khmeimim near the Syrian port city Latakia during the early hours, probably targeting cargo storage facilities there, according to a report by the military analytical group defence.arabic.com.

The most cost-effective way to ensure peace in Europe and the world for decades to come is to spend more money now to allow Ukraine to win against Russia.

On the tail end of his ten-year tenure as NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, offered the following pearls of wisdom during his Sept. 19, 2024 speech at a German Marshall Fund event titled “Reflections on a Challenging Decade”:

“We all want this war to end. The quickest way to end the war is to lose it. But that will not bring peace. It will bring Russian occupation…

Russia remains determined to silence critics of its murderous war against Ukraine.

Russia on Thursday sentenced a 59-year-old nurse to eight years in a penal colony for denouncing Moscow’s Ukraine offensive on social media.

Moscow has banned criticism of its military campaign, punishing thousands with either jail terms or fines for speaking out against it.

Moldovan governments accused Russia of large scale interference in forthcoming national elections.

Moldovan police carried out dozens of raids Thursday after discovering that at least $15 million was transferred from Russia to Moldovan citizens in an “unprecedented” effort to tamper with presidential elections this month.

Moldova’s pro-European President Maia Sandu, who is seeking a second term, has repeatedly accused Russia of political interference in the former Soviet republic that lies between war-torn Ukraine and EU member Romania.

A potential Ukrainian land-for-NATO membership deal – mentioned in a Financial Times article – has been dismissed by the head of the Kyiv School of Economics.

Suggestions that Ukraine trade territory for a truce – reportedly based on background briefings from Ukrainian officials – have been slammed by a leading analyst and former Minister in the Ukrainian government.

Tymofiy Mylovanov, the current President of the Kyiv School of Economics and a former Minister of Economy, took to X to dissect and demolish an alleged plan featured in the UK’s Financial Times (FT) whereby Ukraine would be given NATO membership for essentially ceding territory to the Russian Federation.

Ukrainian forces report that the tank was destroyed during a failed Russian assault, allegedly in the Bakhmut sector.

For the first time, Ukrainian troops used the thermite-spewing “Dragon Drone” to destroy a Russian tank, according to a report by the 30th Separate Mechanized Brigade named after Prince Konstantin Ostrozky, posted on Facebook.

On taking over as NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte voiced strong support for Ukraine underlining that position by making his first foreign visit to the beleaguered nation’s capital two days later.

Former Dutch Prime Minister, Mark Rutte, took over as NATO’s 14th Secretary General on Tuesday during which he underlined continuing support from the Alliance for Kyiv in its war with Russia.

The sincerity of that pledge was amply reinforced when his first trip since taking office was to Kyiv, just two days into his new post. The need for that support to continue was underlined as, during his meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, air raid sirens sounded.

Ukraine’s General Staff announced that the destruction of the Nebo-M radar will create a critical “air corridor” for the enhanced use of Storm Shadow and SCALP-EG cruise missiles.

The Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) successfully targeted and destroyed a Russian “Nebo-M” radar station using ATACMS ballistic missiles, according to Thursday’s report from Ukraine’s General Staff.

“The destruction of this radar significantly reduces the Russian military’s ability to detect, track, and intercept both aerodynamic and ballistic targets,” the report said.

The attack, which involved drones, hit warehouses containing aerial glide bombs, aircraft parking areas for Su-35 and Su-34 aircraft, and aviation fuel storage areas.

Sources from Ukraine's Special Services have confirmed to Kyiv Post that Ukrainian defense forces, including members of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and Special Operations Forces (SSO), targeted the Borisoglebsk military airfield in Russia's Voronezh region in the early hours on Thursday, Oct. 3.

The attack, which involved kamikaze drones, reportedly hit warehouses holding aerial glide bombs, aircraft parking areas for Su-35 fighter jets and Su-34 fighter bombers, along with storage facilities for aviation fuel. This airfield has been the launch point for many Russian bombing raids on Ukrainian territory using guided bombs.

The world in focus, as seen by a Canadian leading global affairs analyst, writer and speaker, in his review of international media.

Overnight Israeli air strikes on central Beirut killed at least six people, Lebanese officials say. Reports say the target was a building where a Hezbollah member lived, which is also the headquarters of a medical centre believed to be affiliated to Hezbollah. Dahieh, Hezbollah’s stronghold in southern Beirut, was also attacked. In the south of the country, the Israeli military warned on Thursday morning that air strikes would continue. Israel began a ground invasion of the south this week and yesterday announced the death of eight soldiers inside Lebanon - BBC

President Joe Biden said Wednesday he will not support an Israeli strike on sites related to Tehran’s nuclear program in response to Iran’s missile attack on Israel. “The answer is no,” Biden told reporters when asked if he would support such retaliation after Iran fired about 180 missiles at Israel on Tuesday. Biden’s comments came after he and fellow Group of Seven leaders from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom spoke by telephone about coordinating new sanctions against Iran. The U.S. and allies are scrambling to keep the Mideast conflict — sparked by Iran-backed Hamas militants’ in Gaza’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel — from spreading further. They are urging Israel to show restraint as it weighs retaliation against Iran for Tuesday’s attack. - AP

Heavy industries, commerce, construction and the service sectors have been hit hard, whilst there has been significant state spending on de-mining, infrastructure recovery and social benefits.

Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, current and projected figures point to $1.2 trillion in lost revenue and $386 billion in lost added value for Ukraine.

The estimates, from Kyiv School of Economics (KSE), cover the period February 2022 to June 2024 (actual losses) and a forecast up to the end of 2025 (projected losses).

The legislation has been compared to repressive Russian laws and are the latest anti-liberal measures from the ruling Georgian Dream party ahead of crucial parliamentary elections later this month.

Georgia on Thursday signed into law measures that will curb LGBTQ rights, despite warnings from the EU that they undermine Tbilisi's membership ambitions.

The legislation has been compared to repressive Russian laws and are the latest anti-liberal measures from the ruling Georgian Dream party ahead of crucial parliamentary elections later this month.

The US Army’s Contracting Command awarded a $14.96 million contract for an unspecified number of M60 machine guns but would not declare for whom they were intended.

The Pentagon announced a call for interest earlier this year for the provision of M60E6 and M60E4 machine guns, announcing on Monday, Sept. 30, it had awarded a contract for the provision of the weapons to the Nevada based company U.S. Ordnance.

The contract is for an unspecified number of the 7.62x51mm (7.62 NATO) weapons worth nearly $15 million and includes both new builds or kits to convert older M60s into the newer E6/E4 configurations, as well as ancillary items and training.

For the first time a record number of long-range drones were used in September with attacks carried out every day by Russian and Ukrainian forces.

According to an analysis by “Agenstvo,” the Russian and Ukrainian armies utilized a record number of drones in one month since the beginning of the 2022 full-scale invasion. Military reports indicate that September was the first month of the war when long-range attacks on the rear areas of both countries continued without interruption.

According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, 886 drones were destroyed over Russian territory during the month, compared with 751 in the previous month.

More than 30,000 Hasidic pilgrims have arrived in the Ukrainian city of Uman to celebrate Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, which began Oct. 2 and runs until Oct. 4.

Discord over the 1943-1945 Volhynia massacres has led to diplomatic tensions between Kyiv and Warsaw, otherwise allies as Ukraine battles Russia's invasion.

Poland on Wednesday lauded Ukraine's decision to pave the way for exhumation of some World War II-era victims of massacres by Ukrainian nationalists after the dispute over the issue soured ties between the neighbors.

Discord over the 1943-1945 Volhynia massacres has led to diplomatic tensions between Kyiv and Warsaw, otherwise allies as Ukraine battles Russia's invasion.

The US AeroVironment and Europe’s KNDS defense companies are the two latest Western companies preparing to establish a presence in Ukraine.

The American company AeroVironment has signed an agreement with a Ukrainian company to undertake local production of its Switchblade 600, Ukraine’s defense issues website Militarnyy reports.

The deal was signed just a day after KNDS, the European manufacturer of the Сaesar wheeled artillery system and Leopard tanks, opened a subsidiary in Kyiv under the name KNDS Ukraine LLC.

War, migration, and depopulation are worsening Ukraine’s demographic crisis, with the once pessimistic outlook only like to deteriorate in the next quarter of a century.

According to the Institute of Demography and Social Research at the National Academy of Sciences, Ukraine’s population is continuing to shrink likely to reach 28.9 million by 2041 and 25.2 million by 2051.

As of Jan. 1, 2022, before the full-scale Russian invasion, Ukraine's population was 42 million, according to the Demographic Development Strategy of Ukraine for the period up to 2040.

Latest from the Institute for the Study of War.

Key Takeaways from ISW:

• Ukraine continues efforts to expand domestic production of significant military equipment and maintain its drone advantage over Russia.
• Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov condemned the Israel Defense Force's (IDF) ground operation in southern Lebanon during a meeting with the Lebanese ambassador to Russia on October 1.
• Latvian forces enhanced air defense near the Russian border following a recent Russian drone crash in the country.
• Russian and Ukrainian forces continued assaults in Kursk Oblast.
• Russian forces recently marginally advanced near Svatove, Siversk, and Vuhledar and east and southeast of Pokrovsk.
• Russian defense enterprises are recruiting tens of thousands of new workers due to acute personnel shortages amid increased production of weapons due to the war in Ukraine.