10 October 2026

October 2026 in brief

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said at least 85 civilians had reportedly been killed in Russian strikes across Ukraine since 5 October, among them at least 30 when a strike hit two public buses in Kramatorsk on 8 October, according to local authorities. ^[1] A Russian missile hit an apartment block in Pryluky as residents slept, killing 20 people including five children, Ukrainian authorities said, and a strike on an apartment building in Zaporizhzhia on 10 October killed 20, including three children, according to the State Emergency Service. ^[1][2] Russian strikes on 13 and 14 October hit Kyiv's three main power stations, leaving about 600,000 people in the capital temporarily without power, and HRMMU said the first two weeks of October were among the deadliest periods for civilians in years. ^[1][2] A run of drone attacks on merchant ships off Romania and Bulgaria began on 5 October, when a grain ship sank and Romanian authorities said two people died, and on 23 October the cargo ship Khoryv sank off Constanta with one seafarer dead, an attack Romania's president blamed on Russia. ^[1][2] Donald Trump announced an energy ceasefire on 11 October that neither side confirmed, Zelensky said on 15 October that Ukraine's pause in refinery strikes was over, and on 16 October Trump waived most Russia provisions of the new sanctions law. ^[1][3] Ukraine's 3rd Army Corps said it had retaken 277 square kilometres near Lyman since September, and Russia and Ukraine exchanged 270 prisoners of war each on 23 October. ^[1][2] The White House said Russia and Ukraine had agreed a local ceasefire in occupied Oleshky from 29 October to let aid in and civilians out, and the UN Commission of Inquiry told the General Assembly on 26 October that Russian attacks on Ukraine's energy system amounted to crimes against humanity. ^[1][2]

Written from the records it cites; every figure appears in a cited record.