The war in Ukraine is a deadly conflict that has been raging since 2014, when Russia annexed Crimea and supported separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine. The war has killed more than 14,000 people and displaced millions more. Recently, the situation has escalated as Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in June 2023, breaking a ceasefire agreement and violating Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. Here are some of the latest news and updates on the war in Ukraine:
- A Russian strike killed at least 51 civilians in a village in the Kharkiv region on Thursday, October 5, 2023, according to Ukrainian officials. The attack targeted a food shop where people were gathering for a religious holiday. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called it a “brutal Russian crime” and vowed to bring the perpetrators to justice123.
- The US said it will transfer thousands of seized Iranian weapons and ammunition rounds to Ukraine, which could help to alleviate some of the critical shortages that Ukraine is facing on the battlefield. The Biden administration has been weighing how to legally send the seized weapons, which are stored in US facilities across the Middle East3.
- Ukraine has been widening the breach in Russia’s defences in the southern Zaporizhzhia region as its counter-offensive continues to make slow progress against Moscow’s forces. Ukraine has brought heavy equipment beyond Russia’s first line of defences near the village of Robotyne for the first time, analysts say. This is an important sign of progress, but Ukraine still has a long way to go if it wants to cut off Russia’s supply lines that connect the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don to Crimea4.
- NATO is reaffirming its long-term support to Kyiv after a meeting of the new defence council between the military alliance and Ukraine. A statement said allies will continue to assist and that Ukraine is "closer to NATO than ever before"5.
