Here is the situation on Tuesday, October 10, 2023.
Fighting
- Ilia Yevlash, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s eastern group of forces, said troops were making headway in their four-month-old counteroffensive. Yevlash said they had scored “partial success” near Andriivka, which they captured last month along with the nearby locality of Klishhiivka, and were “making headway” in the Bakhmut sector. “We are talking about hundreds of metres at a time that we are liberating from our enemies and strengthening our positions. It is, however, too early to talk about achieving concrete goals,” he said.
- Ukrainian prosecutors in the Donetsk region said Russian forces shelled areas east of the town of Donetsk, killing one person. Avdiivka, which has resisted Russian advances for months, was also shelled.
- Residents of the Ukrainian village of Hroza wept beside coffins as they buried relatives and neighbours who were among more than 50 people killed in a Russian missile attack on a cafe last week – one of the deadliest attacks of the war.
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy replaced General Ihor Tantsyura as the commander of Ukraine’s Territorial Defence Forces, whose roles include protection of critical facilities, combating sabotage and enemy intelligence forces, and maintaining security. Major General Anatoliy Barhylevych was appointed as the new commander. No reason was given for the decisions.
- Ukraine’s parliament registered a draft law that would allow a ban on activities of the Moscow-linked Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which Kyiv has accused of undermining the country’s unity and collaborating with Russia. The bill now requires the approval of a parliamentary committee before it can be submitted for consideration by parliament.
Politics and diplomacy
- The United Nations human rights office voiced “deep concern” over Moscow’s “mass conferral” of Russian passports in occupied Ukrainian territory it controls. UN deputy human rights chief Nada Al-Nashif told the Human Rights Council residents who did not take up Russian citizenship were being denied access to essential public services and were at greater risk of arbitrary detention.
- Top UN and Russian officials met in Moscow for talks aimed at enabling the “unimpeded access” to global markets for grain and fertiliser from Russia and Ukraine. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres “continues in his determination to facilitate the unimpeded access to global markets for food products and fertilisers from both Ukraine and the Russian Federation,” UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said. Russia pulled out of an earlier grain deal in July.
- Russian lawmakers have been given 10 days to study how best to revoke Moscow’s ratification of a landmark treaty banning nuclear tests. President Vladimir Putin hinted last week Russia could resume nuclear testing, while Russia’s envoy to the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) said Moscow could revoke its ratification of the agreement.
- Zelenskyy said it was in Russia’s interests to “inflame war in the Middle East” to weaken global unity. Speaking in his nightly video address, Zelenskyy said Russians propagandists were “gloating” at developments and that Iran, which he described as Moscow’s ally, was openly supporting those attacking Israel. “All of this poses a much greater threat than the world currently perceives,” he said.
Weapons
- US Army Secretary Christine Wormuth said the US military would need Congress to approve additional funding to ensure the Pentagon’s munitions production and acquisition plans can simultaneously meet the needs of Ukraine and Israel.
