These demands come as russia intensifies attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure, with one senior Ukrainian defense official stating that moscow is trying to inflict as much damage as possible to gain leverage ahead of potential negotiations.

Kyiv is already facing daily power outages amid russian attacks. The russian attack on October 8 caused widespread power outages across the capital, a city with a population of more than three million.

“Publicly, moscow has shown little willingness to commit to an energy ceasefire. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters on October 8 that russia sees no point in negotiations on a sectoral ceasefire”, - the outlet writes.

The President of Ukraine reported this on social media on October 9.

“I am grateful to all repair crews, employees of energy companies, and regional authorities that are promptly restoring the energy system after russian strikes. Unfortunately, there is extensive damage to the power grid and electricity transmission facilities. Restoration work is being carried out around the clock. We have updated our needs for energy equipment and air defense packages. The Foreign Ministry and the Office of the President's team are preparing the relevant messages for our partners. I will speak with the leaders”, - the President noted.

“There was a report on the deadlines for implementing resilience plans, particularly in the Kyiv oblast and other regions. Delays in the work are absolutely unacceptable, and the responsibility of the Ministry of Infrastructure and regional administrations is personal. We separately identified tasks for Kyiv due to the city authorities' almost complete failure to take the necessary steps. There was a report on the situation in Pryluky, the Chernihiv oblast. I instructed them to prepare, by the end of the week, a comprehensive package of decisions that had been discussed with the residents of Pryluky”, - Zelensky emphasized.

“There was also a report from the Minister of Defense of Ukraine and the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the situation at the front, primarily in the Donetsk oblast, in the areas of Kostiantynivka, Dobropillia, Sloviansk, and Kramatorsk. Progress has been made in eliminating the occupiers' ‘infiltrations’ into Dobropillia. Decisions that should take effect in the coming weeks have been identified. I thank every unit that is fully carrying out its assigned tasks”, - the President noted.

1. Russian aircraft struck two scheduled buses carrying passengers in central Kramatorsk with guided aerial bombs. Thirty people were killed and 20 were injured. Two high-rise apartment buildings were also damaged. In the evening, a drone destroyed a civilian car with two people inside in the central part of the city; the total number of people killed in the city over the course of the day exceeded 35. That same evening, russia damaged a critical energy facility for the capital: the metro and public transport came to a halt.

The strike on the buses is a continuation of the strategy of forcing civilians out of the Kramatorsk-Sloviansk agglomeration: the enemy is paralyzing the rear area of our army near the front line, that is, attempting to accelerate the capture of Donbas. In addition, it is a continuation of pressure on the Ukrainian people to make them agree to peace on any terms. The simultaneous strike on Kyiv's energy infrastructure shows that moscow hopes to exchange a winter blackout for political concessions.

2. On the night of October 8, Ukraine carried out one of its largest long-range attacks in recent months. The targets were the Gazprom Neftekhim Salavat oil refining and petrochemical complex in Bashkortostan, the Omsk oil refinery, and the Sasta machine-tool plant in the Ryazan oblast, where a Yandex data center is located. Yandex confirmed the “temporary unavailability” of several services.

What is new here is the expansion of the list of targets from oil to digital infrastructure. This is Kyiv's response to russia's attacks on data centers in Kyiv. If the strike on Yandex proves painful, moscow will either stop terrorizing the Ukrainian internet or deliberately escalate. Given that runet is centralized and easier to disable than the decentralized Ukrainian internet, the kremlin is unlikely to provoke further strikes on its own data centers. But this does not mean Kyiv should stop, since data centers are also management systems, state registries, and infrastructure supporting the military economy. Once again: runet, due to its centralized nature, is more vulnerable than the Ukrainian internet. In addition, moscow will be forced to distribute air defense assets among an ever-growing number of facilities.

Next, strikes by Ukraine on bridges in russia should be expected.

3. Zelensky announced talks with the U.S. on October 9–10. According to a senior American official quoted by the media, Washington will bring a new proposal to the meeting that “covers all aspects of the war”. The White House did not rule out the participation of national security advisers from France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, as well as representatives of the EU and NATO. This comes against the backdrop of the statement made on October 7 by russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov that there are currently no plans for negotiations with Ukraine mediated by the U.S.

Washington is bringing a “plan covering all aspects of the war”, while moscow has refused negotiations with Ukraine mediated by the U.S. This means that the American “plan” has already been agreed upon with the kremlin and that the White House expects to implement it by applying pressure primarily on Ukraine, rather than on russia. This is also confirmed by reports of parallel talks between the Trump administration and the kremlin concerning Lukoil's business assets and the Nord Stream pipelines. In essence, Trump is negotiating not to end the war, but to create conditions for himself to do business with putin.

“On October 8, the enemy launched 1,538 strikes along the front line and on residential areas of the region. Eight populated areas came under fire”, - the Donetsk oblast police reported on Telegram on October 9.

Kramatorsk endured 11 attacks, four of them involving bombs. Russians killed 32 people, and another 21 were injured. Four apartment buildings and one private house, two buses, an enterprise, and five cars were damaged.

The enemy dropped at least three aerial bombs with a combined explosive power of 1,250 kilograms on Bilenke. Three civilians were killed, and 23 private houses and a utility building were damaged.

In Zoloti Prudy, an enemy FPV drone struck a car, injuring two civilians..

In Yarova, one person was injured as a result of an FPV drone strike.

Russian forces attacked Sloviansk nine times, mainly with drones, damaging an apartment building and a private house, a trade pavilion, a workshop, an ambulance, and four civilian cars.

In Oleksandrivka, an apartment building and two administrative buildings were damaged; in Krasnotorka, a private house; and in Yasnohirka, a truck. In addition, russia launched strikes on Kramatorsk, Bylbasivka, and Semenivka last night, damaging residential houses.

The Donetsk Oblast Military Administration reports that 379 people, including 29 children, were evacuated from the front line over the past 24 hours.

“Russians launched six strikes on Zaporizhzhia this morning. Unfortunately, one person was killed. It was a man”, - the Zaporizhzhia Oblast Military Administration Head Mykhailo Semikin reported on the morning of October 9.

As of 6:40 a.m., five people were known to have been injured, including a child.

It is noted that the enemy attacked residential areas. One of the strikes hit near an extracurricular education facility.

All necessary emergency services are working at the strike sites. Medical assistance is being provided to the injured.

Paramedics, together with rescuers, assisted an injured woman in a high-rise apartment building damaged by the enemy attack. Her condition is not serious. The injured woman was handed over to an ambulance crew.

The Zaporizhzhia Oblast Prosecutor's Office later reported that the number of injured had risen to 9: “Strikes on civilian infrastructure continued from 4:50 a.m. to 5:59 a.m. A 48-year-old man was killed in the attack. As of 7:45, 9 people are known to have been injured, including a 14-year-old girl. Information about the injured is being clarified”.

— One person was killed and a building caught fire as a result of shelling in Ivano-Frankivsk.

— In Chernihiv, the enemy struck an Epicentr store, causing a fire.

— The enemy attacked infrastructure in Odesa: the facade and windows of a high-rise apartment building were damaged.

— An oil depot is on fire in russia's Belgorod oblast following an attack.

— In russia, 17 airports were closed due to the threat of drones — those in Tambov, Sochi, Nizhny Novgorod, Penza, Saratov, Samara, Kaluga, Saransk, Ulyanovsk, Bugulma, Nizhnekamsk, Kazan, Cheboksary, as well as Sheremetyevo, Vnukovo, Domodedovo, and Zhukovsky near moscow.

33% of respondents believe that the situation at the front will improve this winter. Another 30% do not expect any changes, while 22% predict a deterioration. 15% were unable to answer.

The most pessimistic expectations concern the economy and energy. 71% of respondents expect the economic situation to worsen, while 63% expect the energy situation to deteriorate.

As for the situation in Ukraine as a whole, 55% of respondents predict that it will worsen. 12% expect an improvement, while 25% believe that the overall situation will not change.

The survey participants were also separately asked about their expectations regarding energy supplies this winter. 47% believe that the situation will be roughly the same as last winter. 39% expect a deterioration, while 9% expect an improvement.

Rating Group noted that a year ago, Ukrainians' expectations regarding the situation with energy supplies in winter were distributed in roughly the same way.

On October 3–5, Rating Group conducted a nationwide poll on current socio-political issues.

Zelensky said that Ukrainian negotiators would be in the US on October 9–10 for talks with the American side.

The President also commented on U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio's statements about a deadlock in the peace talks. Zelensky called on Washington to increase pressure on russia instead of offering it economic cooperation.

“You cannot, on the one hand, negotiate with russia on some economic projects for the future, and on the other hand, talk about a diplomatic deadlock. We are not in a diplomatic deadlock. Shut down its entire economy. Sew russia's mouth shut. Do not feed them with your sales, impose sanctions on their weapons”, - Zelensky said.

“As of now, the number of people killed as a result of the morning attack on scheduled buses has risen to 30. The number of injured is 18”, - the Donetsk Oblast Prosecutor's Office reported on October 8.

“On October 8, 2026, at 10:00, russian forces struck Kramatorsk. Two scheduled buses were at the epicenter of the strike, which the enemy probably attacked using UMPB D-30 SN”, - the Prosecutor's Office reported.

This information is also confirmed by the Donetsk Oblast Military Administration Head Vadym Filashkin as of 12:15.

“As of 11:10 a.m., 12 deaths and 14 injuries are known. At least 12 people were killed as a result of a russian strike on Kramatorsk. 12 lives that russia took in an instant. These are people who were killed by the russian army”, - the Donetsk Oblast Military Administration Head Vadym Filashkin said in a statement on October 8.

“Over the past 24 hours, the police recorded 1,729 russian attacks along the front line and on residential areas of the region. Eleven populated areas came under fire: the cities of Druzhkivka, Kramatorsk, Sloviansk, the settlements of Bilenke, Yasnohirka, the villages of Vesela Hora, Zelene, Zoloti Prudy, Novostepanivka, Petrivka Persha, and Stepanivka”, - the Donetsk oblast police reported on October 8.

Twenty civilian facilities were damaged, including six residential buildings.

In Sloviansk, one FPV drone struck near a car, while another hit a scheduled bus. One person was killed and three people were injured. In total, the attacks damaged three apartment buildings, a store, an administrative building, a service station, and a gas station.

In Zelene, the Pokrovsk district, russians killed two civilians with an FPV drone. One person was killed in Vesela Hora, and a private house was damaged.

In Kramatorsk, a civilian was injured and three civilian cars were damaged. One person was injured in each of Druzhkivka and Zoloti Prudy.

In Novostepanivka and Petrivka Persha, one private house was damaged in each, while in Stepanivka, an administrative building of an agricultural enterprise was damaged.

In addition, today at 00:05 and 04:15, russian forces attacked Sloviansk, damaging an apartment building and destroying a trade pavilion. No information about casualties had been reported preliminarily.

1. On the night of October 7 and during the day, russia launched one of the most massive combined strikes on Ukraine since the beginning of the full-scale war, timing it to coincide with putin's 74th birthday. According to aggregated data from the Ukrainian authorities, at least 28 people were killed and more than 138 were injured over the course of 24 hours. Zelensky said that energy infrastructure was one of the key targets. Restriction schedules were in effect around the clock.

The demonstrative strike precisely on putin's birthday shifts it from military logic into political logic. This is feeding the vanity of russians, who need to feel the power of their country against the backdrop of its economic and geopolitical degradation. And it is also a signal to the West and Ankara: no negotiating initiatives limit the kremlin in its choice of targets and achievement of objectives. On the contrary, negotiations encourage an escalation of aggression in order to secure more advantageous positions in them. The more talk there is about peace, the more deaths there will be in Ukraine. Because talk of peace shows the kremlin bastard the opponent's need for peace, that is, the weakness of the West and Ukraine. The strong do not ask for peace, they talk about victory!

2. According to the Ukrainian Air Force, during the nighttime attack, Ukrainian air defense destroyed 38 out of 46 jet-powered drones — more than 82%.

This is noticeably better than the figures of recent weeks, when the effectiveness against jet-powered Shaheds was approximately 50–60%. If such results become systematic, then the window of technological advantage over Ukraine in drones will have closed for the kremlin. However, Kyiv has not yet solved its most painful problem — ballistic missiles.

3. EU ambassadors approved the largest one-time expansion of sanctions against russia since 2022. The lists include 743 individuals and 826 companies linked to the military-industrial complex: military shipbuilding and the submarine fleet, the missile and space industry, aircraft instrumentation and engine manufacturing, artillery production, the military automotive industry, radio electronics, navigation and semiconductor systems, the chemical industry, and entities linked to ammunition.

This is a change in the philosophy of the EU's sanctions policy: instead of another “package” with sectoral bans, Brussels has moved to a mass personal crackdown on specific enterprises and their executives. Europe is trying to increase the costs specifically for the segment that kills civilians. The inclusion of 77 State Duma deputies from the occupied territories records the non-recognition of the annexation, which will be useful in future reparations and legal proceedings.

4. The Norwegian government has allocated $8.9 billion for support for Ukraine in its draft defense budget for 2027. Ukraine's budget deficit for 2027 is estimated at $40 billion.

The fundamental shift is that donors have begun incorporating Ukraine into their own budget cycles for 2027. That is, they are planning for the war at least a year ahead. This can also be called official recognition of the fact that support for Ukraine is not charity, but a matter of the West's national security.

5. The Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office sent the case of a member of parliament and her aide to court following an investigation by NABU. The MP organized a criminal group that offered a businessman, for $250,000, to ensure that the NSDC imposed sanctions on a rival company.

The subject of the trade turned out to be the NSDC sanctions mechanism — that is, an instrument with which the state fights russian capital and its fronts. Even if the deal turned out to be a sham and the decision was not made, the very fact that sanctions lists are perceived on the market as a purchasable resource undermines trust in sanctions, both within the country and in the West, which relies on Ukrainian sanctions when synchronizing its own restrictions.

— In Salavat (Bashkortostan), the Gazprom oil refinery is on fire following an attack.

— Social media reports an attack and explosion at the Sterlitamak Petrochemical Plant (Bashkortostan).

— In the russia's Ryazan oblast, a fire broke out on the premises of the Sasta plant, where the data center of Yandex Data Center LLC is located. Reports online say that Yandex is experiencing serious disruptions.

— The authorities of russia's Rostov oblast reported that more than 30 drones attacked Kamensk and five districts, while no hits have been reported.

— U.S. senators demanded that the Trump administration move faster to implement the sanctions law that has already been adopted and take concrete measures against russian revenues and technologies.

The Chernihiv Oblast Prosecutor's Office reported this on Telegram on the afternoon of October 7.

“As of 12:50, it has been established that 13 civilians, including 4 children, were killed and 50 people, including 7 children, were injured as a result of the russian attack on the city. Work continues to search for people under the rubble of the destroyed building”, - the statement says.

Ukraine's State Emergency Service later reported that the death toll had risen to 14.

At 15:14, the police of the Chernihiv oblast reported that as of 15:00, 16 people, including 4 children, had been killed, while another 55 people had been injured (7 children).

“15 apartment buildings and 16 private houses were damaged (the exact number is being established)”, - the police reported.

At 17:09, the State Emergency Service reported that the death toll had already reached 18.

“At this point, 18 deaths are known, and four of them are children: Oleksandr, Kyrylo and Serhii, who were just one year old each, and eight-year-old Maksym”, - President Zelensky said on social media.

It is specified that the damage from forest fires caused by russia's military aggression increased from UAH 587.9 billion to UAH 600.8 billion (USD 13.4 billion).

The total amount of calculated environmental damage is UAH 935 billion 730 million 156 thousand 188, including from:

* land pollution – UAH 330 billion 063 million 971 thousand 967;

* forest fires – UAH 600 billion 766 million 938 thousand 719;

* gas combustion – UAH 324 million 711 thousand 905;

* other fires – UAH 45 million 163 thousand 050;

* pollution of water resources – UAH 4 billion 529 million 370 thousand 547.

“Each documented fact and calculation carried out is an important component of the evidence base regarding the environmental consequences of the armed aggression of the russian federation against Ukraine”, - the statement says.

As a result of the massive russian attack overnight on October 7, at least nine people were killed and dozens more were injured. President Volodymyr Zelensky reported this.

Pryluky in the Chernihiv oblast suffered the most, where a russian missile hit an ordinary five-story residential building. Five people are currently known to have been killed and 26 injured, including five children. People may still be trapped under the rubble. Rescuers are working continuously at the site.

As a result of russian missile strikes, five apartment buildings in Dnipro and four high-rise buildings in Kremenchuk were also damaged. Two people were killed in Kremenchuk, and another eight were injured.

In Zaporizhzhia, a russian drone damaged a high-rise residential building. Two people were killed in Kyiv, and another two people were killed in Oleksandriia.

In total, during the overnight attack, russian forces struck infrastructure in Kyiv and 12 regions of Ukraine.

One of the main targets of the attack was Ukraine's energy sector. According to Zelensky, russia used 70 missiles, a significant portion of them ballistic missiles, as well as attack drones.

The president noted that Ukrainian air defense was able to destroy only some of the targets, while russian ballistic missiles remain one of the biggest challenges for Ukraine.

"Air defense packages are a vital necessity for us right now. That is why we are searching every day for missiles for the Patriots, which can and must truly protect people's lives here, in the Ukrainian skies", - Zelensky said.

1. Russian drones struck the grounds of a hospital in central Kryvyi Rih in the morning of October 6. In Zaporizhzhia, one of the bridges across the Dnipro River came under attack.

Zelensky's warning about putin lifting restrictions on strikes against Ukraine is being confirmed. Russia is targeting facilities that cannot be dispersed or sheltered. This indicates that russia is seeking not a military, but a social effect. And judging by the intensification of "peace-making" rhetoric in the Ukrainian political establishment, it is succeeding.

2. In Bulgaria's exclusive economic zone, approximately 70 nautical miles (130 km) from the coast, maritime and aerial drones struck two merchant vessels. The Togo-flagged bulk carrier Alfa Watan sank, while the Palau-flagged vessel Able, which was carrying grain, caught fire. On the same day, in the Black Sea, a drone struck another civilian vessel — one carrying rapeseed oil. A day earlier, on October 5, the Turkish bulk carrier Royad Mammadov, carrying corn, sank in Romania's exclusive economic zone after a drone attack. The russian ownership of the drones has not yet been proven.

In turn, russian authorities reported on October 6 that an unmanned maritime vehicle had attacked the Liberian-flagged Aframax Rio tanker near russia's Black Sea coast in the Krasnodar oblast.

The combination of incidents on October 5–6 shows an important trend: civilian shipping throughout the northern and western parts of the Black Sea is becoming a military risk zone. The war against Ukrainian exports has physically been moved by muscovy into the waters of a NATO and EU member state. For Ukraine, this is economically bad (exports are suffering), but politically advantageous — Bulgaria, Romania, and Turkey are now forced to discuss not the "Ukrainian" issue, but their own shipping security. This opens the way for joint patrols or an expansion of the mine-countermeasures mission by the three Black Sea NATO countries. In turn, strikes on vessels in russia are increasing insurance and logistical costs not only for Ukraine, but also for russia. The war is increasingly moving to the sea and drawing third countries into it more and more actively.

3. Drones attacked the largest oil depot in the moscow oblast — Volodarskaya, which supplies fuel to Vnukovo, Domodedovo, and Sheremetyevo airports. The mayor of moscow said that more than 650 drones had been launched and more than 80 had been shot down over the capital region. Operations at four moscow airports were temporarily suspended. Russia reported two people killed and nine injured in the Moscow oblast.

The strike on Volodarskaya, which supplies aviation fuel to the country's three largest airports, hits not oil production but fuel logistics in the region most sensitive to the kremlin. The combination of the strike on an oil depot in the moscow oblast and the damage to a "shadow fleet" tanker near Sochi shows that Kyiv is targeting both ends of the oil chain — domestic consumption and sanctions evasion for exports. A systemic fuel shortage in russia and logistical costs will hit the budget that finances recruitment payments to contract soldiers.

4. Polish Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz announced the deployment of Patriot batteries in the Lublin Voivodeship, which borders Ukraine. The goal is "to reassure the residents of the Lublin Region and protect Lublin Airport and its air traffic". Prime Minister Donald Tusk simultaneously presented a five-year civil defense program worth 102.4 billion zlotys (about $26.4 billion), of which 30 billion zlotys (approximately $7.7 billion) will be transferred to regional authorities for shelters, rescue service bases, stockpiles, water and energy security, and warning systems.

Warsaw's actions are an acknowledgment that the war has ceased to be "Ukrainian" even in a geographical sense. Patriots are now being deployed not against hypothetical aggression by russia, but against very real drone incursions and the consequences of strikes near the Polish-Ukrainian border.

For Kyiv, this has a dual effect: on the one hand, stronger protection for the logistics corridor through which the lion's share of Western aid passes; on the other hand, every Patriot battery remaining in Lublin is a battery not sent to Kyiv — competition for scarce air defense systems.

As of the morning of October 7, 2026, the losses of russian army personnel amount to approximately 1,545,950 servicemen. Over the past 24 hours, Ukrainian forces neutralized another 1,690 russian servicemen.

According to the General Staff, the total combat losses of russian forces are approximately:

personnel — about 1,545,950 (+1,690);

tanks — 12,396;

armored combat vehicles — 25,498 (+4);

artillery systems — 50,836 (+51);

MLRS — 2,192 (+8);

air defense systems — 1,690 (+2);

aircraft — 443;

helicopters — 356;

operational-tactical UAVs — 551,876 (+1,890);

cruise missiles — 5,126;

ships and boats — 35;

submarines — 2;

motor vehicles and fuel tanks — 159,128 (+577);

special equipment — 4,800 (+5);

ground robotic systems — 2,878 (+12).

The General Staff noted that russia continues to suffer significant losses after unleashing the largest war on the European continent since World War II.

"Having unleashed the largest war on the continent since World War II, the russian dictator is bringing his country closer to the abyss with each passing year, and himself closer to the dustbin of history", - the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine emphasized.

Ukrainian forces continue to resist russian aggression and fight for a just and lasting peace.

A tanker carrying petroleum products is on fire in the waters off Sochi, at a considerable distance from the shore, russian media outlets report, citing eyewitness posts on social media.

A large blaze and smoke are reported on the horizon. Eyewitnesses describe how the flames quickly engulfed the tanker and then, apparently, the fire "spread" across the surface of the water around the vessel. The scale of the fire is currently assessed as significant.

— The enemy advanced in the area of Bilytske in the Donetsk oblast.

— Masked armed men led migrants from Belarus to the Latvian border and stole surveillance cameras.

—The russians struck an industrial enterprise in Dnipro.