WAR IN UKRAINE: October 3, 2022
Tetiana cries as she prays during a Sunday afternoon service at the Pokrovsky cathedral on October 2, 2022 in Kharkiv, Ukraine. In recent weeks, Ukrainian forces have reclaimed villages east and south of Kharkiv, as Russian forces have withdrawn from areas they've occupied since early in the war. (Photo by Paula Bronstein/Getty Images)
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: Day 222
Governor: Russian forces strike Zaporizhzhia, damage infrastructure. Zaporizhzhia Oblast Governor Oleksandr Starukh reported that Russian forces used nearly a dozen S-300 missiles, targeting the city and two villages in the region early on Oct. 3. According to Starukh, some infrastructure was damaged in Zaporizhzhia, including a rehab center for children with special needs. One person is in the hospital following the attack - Kyiv Independent
Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov - who’s reportedly called for the Kremlin to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine- says his three sons, aged 14, 15 and 16, will soon travel to the Ukraine front line to fight with Russian forces. On social media, he wrote that a father should teach his sons how to protect their family, people and fatherland. Russia has signed a UN treaty aimed at preventing children under the age of 18 from taking direct part in hostilities. Using children under the age of 15 to participate in hostilities is considered a war crime by the International Criminal Court, however Russia does not recognise its jurisdiction - BBC
Pope Francis appeals to Putin to stop ‘spiral of violence and death.’ Pope Francis called for an immediate ceasefire and a diplomatic solution to Russia’s war in Ukraine “in the name of God and of the sense of humanity that dwells in every heart,” he said on Twitter on Oct. 2. Pope condemned the “grave situation” that has manifested recently, which is “contrary to the principles of international law,” and warned of the “uncontrollable and catastrophic (international) consequences” of nuclear escalation - Kyiv Independent
The military commissar of Russia’s Khabarovsk region was fired after half of the newly mobilized men from his district were deemed unfit for military service, the region’s governor said Monday. The embarrassing episode is the latest humiliation to hit Russia’s first military draft since World War II, which has seen thousands of fighting-age men taking drastic action to avoid being called up. “In 10 days, several thousand of our countrymen received summons and arrived at the military registration and enlistment offices," Mikhail Degtyarev, the governor of the Khabarovsk region in Russia's Far East, said in a video shared on Telegram. “About half of them we returned home as they did not meet the selection criteria for entering the military service.” Degtyarev added that the removal of Yuri Laiko, the commissar, would not affect the broader mobilization plan ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin - Reuters
Moscow authorities reportedly plan to build Europe's largest cemetery with a crematorium of 500 and a half hectares in the neighborhood of Podilsk city district. The site it will have a capacity of half a million people, reports Russian media
The Ukrainian government summed up the results of two months of the grain corridor’s work. During the period, 241 ships left Ukrainian ports, which facilitated the export of 5.5 million tons of agricultural products. Some 20 million tons of grain is said to be stuck in Ukraine due to the Russian blockade and it’s expected to take more than 500 vessels to clear the backlog
Keen to promote the Ukrainian fashion industry and generate export business, six Ukrainian fashion houses have joined forces to present a showroom at the ongoing Paris Fashion Week from October 1-6. The showroom has been sponsored by USAID.
Required reading…
Fear and loathing - what is daily life like in occupied Ukraine?
For all the coverage of the war in Ukraine, little has been heard about the daily lives of people in Russian-controlled areas. As Russia formally annexed four regions last week, the BBC has spoken to some of the millions about what life is like under occupation.
Read Paul Adams’ report here