Ukraine Breaking News Today Live on 10-14-2024

Several deadly strikes on the port infrastructure of southern Ukraine reveal Russia’s intention to cripple Ukraine’s agricultural industry and trade capacity in the run-up to winter.

Three detonations shook the windows of the houses in Odesa’s historic center on Monday morning – just minutes after the Telegram channels had announced an incoming Russian ballistic missile alert across the city.

Eight people were injured and one person died as a result of the strike which presumably targeted port infrastructure, according to the first official statement from the Odesa regional military authority. All of the injured and killed were port workers. There was also damage to the port infrastructure, including a warehouse with tons of grain stocks.

History has shown that Putin is not the "grand strategist" he was once believed to be. Instead, his decision to invade Ukraine has destabilized Russia. What drives Putin's reckless risk-taking?

It seems pretty clear the modern Russian jet crashed and the two-man crew died. But actual hard evidence that a Ukrainian pilot flying a US-made fighter made the shot, is pretty thin.

The Russian Air Force’s recent and not-a-little embarrassing loss of another $42 million jet and crew in air combat in Ukraine is almost certain, but solid proof backing up reports a Ukrainian pilot scored Kyiv’s first ever F-16 kill of a Russian aircraft is pretty difficult to find, a Kyiv Post fact check of the engagement found.

The first report of the engagement appears to have appeared in a Telegram channel written by a long-time milblogger called VDV Za Chesnost’ I Spravedlivost, at 12:23 PM on Saturday Oct. 12.

Ukraine’s Main Military Service Directorate said 46 Ukrainian soldiers have not returned from vacations abroad since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion.

Since the beginning of Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion, 46 Ukrainian military personnel have not returned to the country to resume their duty after vacationing abroad, officials said.

“From Feb. 24, 2022, to Sept. 30, 2024, 46 cases have been recorded where servicemen did not return to Ukraine after vacationing abroad. These servicemen have been accounted for as those who have deserted their units,” Ukraine’s Main Military Service Directorate told news outlet Slidstvo.Info.

A Ukrainian partisan group said on Sunday it had spotted North Korean personnel in military training areas in the occupied Donetsk region.

The Ukrainian partisan movement CPOK (Смерть Русским Оккупантам и Коллаборантам – Death to Russian Occupiers and Collaborators) wrote on its Telegram channel on Sunday, Oct. 13, that it had identified the presence of North Korean military personnel in training areas located in the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR).

The group claimed that three separate training grounds had been established in the region, with the most active being near the village of Sartana, about 14 kilometers (9 miles) northeast of Mariupol. It said the area was currently being used for intensive artillery live firing training, which it said refutes the information about Russian forces suffering a shortage of artillery ammunition.

Kursk Revisted Again, Another time

This week saw the Russians launch one big push on the left/western face of the Ukrainian salient in the Kursk Region, and possibly, a pair of secondary pushes. The battle is over whether the Ukrainians can sever Russian supply to territory even further to the west.

If the Ukrainians were able to advance about 5-8 km from the part of Russia they hold, the Russians to the west would be isolated because the Russian supplies must cross the bridges over the Seym River. The Ukrainians can and have hit the bridges.

Ukrainian intelligence sources say the military transport aircraft, which is frequently used for the movement of the Russian Ministry of Defense leadership was destroyed at the Orenburg-2 airfield.

During the night of October 12-13, a military transport aircraft Tu-134, belonging to the Russian Armed Forces’ 117th military transport aviation regiment was set on fire and destroyed. The aircraft was stationed at the Russian military Orenburg-2 airfield, located over 1000 kilometers (620 miles) from the Ukrainian border.

According to a report on X / Twitter by Ukraine’s HUR military intelligence directorate on Monday, Oct. 14, “A devastating fire broke out at the Russian military airfield Orenburg-2, where the Tu-134 was based.” The post shows the burning aircraft.

By examining the various political and economic systems introduced by European colonisers, the three have demonstrated a relationship between societal institutions and prosperity, the jury said.

The Nobel prize in economics was awarded on Monday to Turkish-American Daron Acemoglu and British-Americans Simon Johnson and James Robinson for research into wealth inequality between nations.

By examining the various political and economic systems introduced by European colonisers, the three have demonstrated a relationship between societal institutions and prosperity, the jury said.

Ukraine has been called the “test lab for the future of war” nowhere more so than in the development of the technology and military use of drones, with a million UAVs to be fielded this year.

In a recent article for the Henry Jackson Society, an extract of which was published by Kyiv Post on Sunday Oct. 13, David Kirichenko drew attention to the increasingly significant role Artificial Intelligence (AI) is playing on the battlefield in the war in Ukraine particularly in enhancing the ability of drones to target the enemy.

According to articles in TIME magazine and the UK’s Forces News military issues website the leap forward that AI has provided Ukrainian drones has increased their hit rate from below 50 percent in 2023 to nearer 80 percent this year. Much of this is put down to the impact of AI software provided by the US based company, Palantir – who TIME has dubbed the “AI arms dealer of the 21st century.”

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

The government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is not seeking to revive hostage talks and the political leadership is pushing for the gradual annexation of large parts of the Gaza Strip, senior defense officials tell Haaretz. This comes as the beleaguered prime minister calls for the withdrawal of UN peacekeepers from southern Lebanon and as Israeli forces breached the gates on one of the UN positions

Israel's military is investigating how a Hezbollah drone was able to kill four Israeli soldiers at the Binyamina camp, south of Haifa, on Sunday. Speaking at the base on Monday, Israel's military chief says "we are at war". The Lebanese health ministry says 51 people were killed across the country by Israeli air strikes on Sunday. In Gaza, the Hamas-run health ministry says 62 people were killed by Israeli strikes in the past 24 hours. The UN agency for Palestinian refugees says Gaza's Nuseirat camp, where 22 Palestinians were reportedly killed, was supposed to be used today to administer polio vaccines. Meanwhile, an Israeli strike on the al-Aqsa Hospital complex in central Gaza killed four people, according to local officials - Israel says it was targeting a "terorrist command and control centre" - BBC

The opposition Lithuanian Social Democratic Party (LSDP) won the first round of the country’s parliamentary election held on Sunday.

The opposition Lithuanian Social Democratic Party (LSDP) won the first round of the country’s parliamentary election held on Sunday.

The party, led by MEP Vilija Blinkevičiūtė, won more than 19% of the vote in the multi-seat constituencies and 18 seats in the 141-seat Seimas (Lithuanian parliament).

Some of the posts compared the incident to the treatment of surrendering German soldiers during World War II, whom the Red Army would not take prisoner.

Following the alleged shooting of nine Ukrainian POWs in the Kursk region, several major pro-war Russian Telegram channels have published posts praising Russian troops for executions.

Some of the posts compared the incident to the treatment of German soldiers during World War II, who the Red Army did not take prisoner.

In Kharkiv, a team of 20 Police psychologists provides immediate support to people hit by Russian drones and missiles. They told Kyiv Post about their work.

Kids’ toys, a thermos for tea, blankets, stress balls, mobile telephone power banks, and other objects come out of the “psychologist’s valise,” as Yulia Yu calls it.

Yu, a Police psychologist for 28 years with the rank of lieutenant colonel, explains to Kyiv Post how the objects are used by herself and other police psychologists at the scenes of Russian attacks on their city of Kharkiv.

The Central Asian suspect reportedly arrived in Ukraine using false documents and has previously helped transfer ISIS fighters to Syria while operating in the Middle East.

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has arrested a suspect from Central Asia in Kyiv believed to be affiliated with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and wanted by Interpol.

The SBU did not specify the nationality nor the date of the arrest.

Since Moscow invaded Moldova's neighbour Ukraine, Sandu has lobbied for the West to support her country and hear its concerns that it could be the Kremlin's next target.

For many Moldovans, President Maia Sandu has become a symbol of change as she seeks to chart a new pro-European path for the former Soviet Republic.

Since Moscow invaded Moldova's neighbour Ukraine, Sandu has lobbied for the West to support her country and hear its concerns that it could be the Kremlin's next target.

World Mental Health Day on Oct. 10 reminded us that Ukrainians face unprecedented challenges in maintaining their psychological well-being.

Since the end of last year, the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine’s parliament, has been awaiting discussion of a bill to regulate “esoteric services” which include mainstream activities, such as yoga classes, but also includes things like astrology, numerology, and tarot reading.

The bill provides for the creation of educational courses for such professions and the regulation of the selection and training of teachers who will undergo teaching practice as part of their professional accreditation.

Apart from November’s presidential elections in the US, upcoming elections in multiple Eastern European nations could also affect – or determine – Ukraine’s future.

Elections are slated to take place in four Eastern European nations at the end of 2024, potentially affecting the local geopolitical landscape and, with that, Ukraine’s future.

Traces of pro-Russian elements have been reported in all four nations. While only two of them – Moldova and Romania – lie on Ukraine’s doorsteps, elections in Bulgaria and Georgia can also have a direct impact on Ukraine.

Commentators discuss the context in which the elections are taking place and their implications for Europe.

Parliamentary elections are scheduled for 26 October in Georgia, while the Republic of Moldova will elect a new president on 20 October and hold a referendum on joining the EU. Commentators discuss the context in which the elections are taking place and their implications for Europe.

Too little clout in the West

Zelensky's comments came days after visiting several European capitals to press his case for more military and financial help in the war against invading Russian forces.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky accused North Korea on Sunday of sending troops to Russia's army and once again appealed for more support to prevent "a bigger war".

Zelensky's comments came days after visiting several European capitals to press his case for more military and financial help in the war against invading Russian forces.

Now is the time to choose between two the victory of the Russian Empire and the restoration of the Warsaw Bloc or Ukraine's victory and the final collapse of the evil empire.

In recent months, in the wake of the Kursk operation, a number of global media outlets have once again discussed possible negotiations on a ‘ceasefire’ based on an exchange of territories and a repeat of the West German precedent of Ukraine’s partial participation in NATO.

Commentators are not confused by the public statements from Moscow that there is no subject for negotiations, nor by the lack of willingness of some NATO leaders to seriously discuss the issue of Ukraine’s admission to the Alliance.

International partners view the reform of the State Customs Service of Ukraine as one of the key elements of the European integration process.

The reform of the State Customs Service of Ukraine is desirable for business, which wants to see a reformed institution and personnel working not for corrupt schemes, but for the benefit of the state, for civil society representatives to ensure the proper level of transparency, accountability and independence in the work of customs, and for customs officers themselves to improve their professional level. 

International partners view the reform of the State Customs Service of Ukraine as one of the key elements of the European integration process. 

Latest from the Institute for the Study of War.

Key Takeaways from ISW:

• Russian forces have recently resumed tactical offensive attacks in the Donetsk-Zaporizhia Oblast border area and have made tactical gains in localized assaults, but this activity so far does not appear to be a part of a larger operational offensive effort to support the wider Russian offensive operation in western Donetsk Oblast.
• Russian forces recently executed nine Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) in Kursk Oblast amid a theater-wide increase in Russian executions of Ukrainian POWs.
• Russian milbloggers largely glorified the Russian execution of the Ukrainian POWs, reinforcing a cultural norm to justify and celebrate war crimes within the broader Russian ultranationalist community.
• Ukrainian forces recently regained lost positions near Selydove, and Russian forces recently advanced near Toretsk, Donetsk City, and Velyka Novosilka.