Ukraine pushes Russia back in Donetsk as military, civilian casualties soar

Russia is fighting for settlements it once firmly held in Donetsk, and has retreated from many others, as Operation Vivaldi unfolds.

Rescuers work at a site of a building of a sewing factory damaged by a Russian air strike in Kharkiv, Ukraine, October 5, 2026 [Sofiia Gatilova/Reuters]

Russian forces continue to retreat in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region.

The Kremlin-aligned channel Rybar, on Telegram, said on October 7 that Moscow’s forces were losing villages south of Lyman, a town they have tried to capture as a springboard to mount a full-scale offensive on the “fortress belt” cities of Sloviansk and Kramatorsk.

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A Ukrainian counteroffensive named “Operation Vivaldi” this year has reclaimed 175 square kilometres (67 square miles) of previously occupied land around Lyman.

British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha visit a makeshift memorial at the site of an apartment building where 22 residents were killed the day before by a Russian missile strike in the town of Pryluky in the Chernihiv region, Ukraine, October 8, 2026 [Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters]

“The enemy is using successes in the Lyman direction to develop attacks [east of Sloviansk], where Russian troops are forced to defend previously occupied positions and expend resources on restoring control, instead of launching their own offensive,” wrote Rybar.

“It is becoming increasingly clear that the possibility of storming the urban area [of Sloviansk] is receding into the more distant future.”

A key battle seems to be building for the village of Kryva Luka east of Sloviansk, which sits on high ground on the Russian-held right bank of the Siversky-Donets River, and which could serve as a base to launch counterattacks further east.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the Reuters news agency that Operation Vivaldi was successful but incomplete.

To get as far as Kryva Luka, Russian sources acknowledged that Ukraine has recaptured settlements west of it. They blamed the Russian communications strategy of claiming settlements that have not been captured, giving away the plan of attack.

“Premature statements” aided Ukraine, said Rybar. “Some villages were declared liberated even before Russian units arrived, which allowed the enemy to accumulate forces there and launch counterattacks.”

A dog looks on while women hold posters as they participate in a rally demanding the establishment of a humanitarian corridor to evacuate Ukrainian civilians from the town of Oleshky in Kherson region, Kyiv, Ukraine, October 6, 2026 [Alina Smutko/Reuters]

Ukraine built up reserves in the Lyman area before unfolding its counteroffensive. That preparation seems to be yielding results.

Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence said its campaign to disrupt the flow of Russian ammunition and fuel to the front struck a record number of air defence assets and targets more than 50km (30 miles) away in September.

Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed Russia had captured 1,300sq km (500sq miles) of Ukraine in September, echoing claims by his generals.

People carry a casualty as emergency services work to rescue residents from the debris at the site of an apartment building which was hit by a Russian missile in the town of Pryluky in the Chernihiv region, Ukraine, October 7, 2026 [Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters]

The Institute for the Study of War, which monitors territorial advances using geolocated, open-source data, said Russia actually lost 80sq km (30sq miles) during that month.

The Russian casualty rate rose to a record for 2026 of 46,230 in September , according to Ukraine’s military.

Of these, 33,087 – more than 70 percent – were confirmed kills, said Ukraine.

The commander of Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces, Robert Brovdi, said enemy casualties were up by 40 percent in the first five days of October, compared with the same period in September.

The Ukrainian military on October 7 counted 1,545,950 Russian dead and wounded for the entire full-scale invasion since 2022.

A Russian jet-powered drone hits one of Kyiv’s bridges in Kyiv, Ukraine, October 2, 2026 [Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters]

Putin’s response has been to intensify bombing, causing civilian suffering.

Twenty-two people, five of them children, were killed in the city of Pryluky, in the northern Chernihiv region, when a Russian cruise missile demolished a five-storey apartment building on October 7, Putin’s birthday.

“Today, for Putin’s birthday, the Russian army ‘gifted’ the destruction of a residential building in Pryluky,” said Zelenskyy.

Ukraine’s Air Force said Russia unleashed 130 drones and 48 cruise missiles across 12 regions that day, as well as ballistics. At least two more people died in Kyiv and two in Oleksandria.

At least 30 people died in Kramatorsk on October 8, when a Russian bomb struck two city buses. Video of the emergency response showed bodies strewn across an avenue and in a park.

Ihor Malchevsky, 69, a deputy department head at Ukraine’s National Academy of Sciences, uses a ladder as flames rise from an administrative building hit by a Russian jet-powered drone attack, in Kyiv, Ukraine, September 28, 2026 [Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters]

Recent analysis of the Geran-4 and Geran-5 jet-powered drones Russia increasingly uses for many of its attacks makes it unlikely that these attacks on nonmilitary targets are accidental.

Ukraine’s military intelligence said the attacks use satellite and sophisticated inertial navigation systems, as well as a camera that reads landmark features and checks them against an on-board database – all three systems working in concert to ensure accurate navigation.

Ukraine has responded to the jet-powered drones by speeding up delivery of F-16 fighters from its allies, which are proving an effective first line of defence.

“Currently, F-16s are destroying between 50 percent and 60 percent of the drone attacks,” said Zelenskyy.

Ukraine is also testing five new types of interceptor drones, the most successful of which is 30 percent effective, and experimenting with small-scale missiles, Zelenskyy said.

A dozen AI-driven heavy machine-gun turrets have been placed around Kyiv as a last line of defence, with dozens more planned around the country.

These are a “facility-level” defence, said Serhiy Beskrestnov, a senior Defence Ministry adviser. “It can protect a warehouse, factory, bridge, or power substation.”

Russia has begun hitting bridges across the Dnipro River, striking Kyiv’s southern and northern bridges seven times in the first four days of October. It has previously struck the building where Ukraine’s cabinet met, as well as energy facilities feeding the city, in an effort to cause a blackout.

Russia’s jet-powered drones travel at more than 500km (310 miles) per hour and are more difficult to intercept than its propeller-driven Shahed drones.

Despite this, during the October 7 strike, Ukraine’s Air Force said it intercepted 80 percent of the jet-powered drones, 95 percent of the propeller-driven drones and 80 percent of cruise missiles.

On October 7, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz visited Kyiv to announce a 1.3-billion-euro ($1.46bn) military aid package, and to sign agreements worth 8.5 billion euros ($9.5bn) to jointly develop drone defences and other weapons with Ukraine.

Merz’s visit was an important political gesture following recent elections in two German states where the pro-Russian AfD trounced his governing CDU party.

Ukraine continued long-range strikes inside Russia.

These struck refineries in Volgograd on October 2 and Bashkortostan on October 8, as part of a strategy to starve the Russian economy and military of fuel.

“Over 51 percent of the enemy’s oil refining capacity has been disabled,” said Ukraine’s military.

Ukraine also hit the Samara linear production and dispatch station, which its General Staff described as “a major hub for receiving, storing, and blending oil”.

The staff said eleven 20,000-tonne storage tanks and three 50,000-tonne storage tanks had been destroyed.

“The facility blends high- and low-sulfur oil from various fields to produce the export grade of oil known as Urals, which accounts for up to 50 percent of the total volume of Russian oil exports,” the military said.

Smoke rises in the city during a Russian missile attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, October 7, 2026 [Gleb Garanich/Reuters]

Ukraine also struck military targets. On October 7, it struck the Astrakhan Gas Processing Plant, which extracts gaseous sulphur for use in explosives.

On October 4, it destroyed a Sukhoi Su-35 multi-role fighter and a Sukhoi Su-34 fighter-bomber on the Adygea airfield, and also hit the Seshcha airfield in Bryansk.

Its campaign of mid-range strikes to destroy Russian power supply in occupied areas had reached 456 between July 6 and October 3.

随着“维瓦尔第行动”的展开，俄罗斯正在为曾经牢牢控制的顿涅茨克定居点而战，并从许多其他定居点撤退。

2026年10月5日，救援人员在乌克兰哈尔科夫一家缝纫厂被俄罗斯空袭损毁的建筑物现场进行救援工作。[Sofiia Gatilova/路透社]

俄军继续在乌克兰东部顿涅茨克地区撤退。

与克里姆林宫结盟的 Telegram 频道 Rybar 于 10 月 7 日表示，莫斯科军队正在失去莱曼以南的村庄，他们曾试图占领莱曼镇，以此为跳板对“堡垒带”上的斯拉维扬斯克和克拉马托尔斯克城市发动全面进攻。

列表 1/4：欧洲是否正在为与俄罗斯爆发更大规模的战争做准备？

列表 2/4：俄罗斯对乌克兰发动大规模袭击，至少 24 人死亡

列表 3/4 “新策略”：俄罗斯扩大对乌克兰交通系统的致命袭击

普京承诺俄罗斯将支持结束美国领导的对伊朗战争（共4条，此为第4条）

今年，乌克兰发起了一场名为“维瓦尔第行动”的反攻，收复了莱曼周围 175 平方公里（67 平方英里）先前被占领的土地。

2026年10月8日，英国外交大臣埃德·米利班德、乌克兰总统弗拉基米尔·泽连斯基和外交部长安德烈·西比哈在乌克兰切尔尼戈夫州普里卢基镇一栋公寓楼的遗址上参观了一个临时纪念碑，该公寓楼前一天遭到俄罗斯导弹袭击，造成22名居民死亡。[瓦伦丁·奥吉连科/路透社]

雷巴尔写道：“敌人利用在莱曼方向取得的成功，在斯拉维扬斯克以东发动进攻，迫使俄军守卫先前占领的阵地，并将资源用于恢复控制，而不是发动自己的进攻。”

“越来越明显的是，强攻斯拉维扬斯克市区的可能性正在逐渐远去。”

一场关键战役似乎正在斯拉维扬斯克以东的克里瓦卢卡村酝酿之中。该村位于俄罗斯控制的西维尔斯基-顿涅茨河右岸的高地上，可能成为向更东边发起反击的基地。

乌克兰总统泽连斯基告诉路透社，“维瓦尔第行动”取得了成功，但尚未完成。

俄罗斯方面承认，乌克兰已经收复了克里瓦卢卡以西的一些定居点。他们指责俄罗斯的宣传策略是声称占领了尚未占领的定居点，从而泄露了进攻计划。

雷巴尔说，“过早的声明”对乌克兰有利。“一些村庄甚至在俄军抵达之前就被宣布解放，这使得敌人得以在那里集结兵力并发动反击。”

2026年10月6日，乌克兰基辅，赫尔松州奥列什基镇，妇女们举着标语参加集会，要求建立人道主义走廊，将乌克兰平民从该镇撤离。一只狗在一旁看着。[Alina Smutko/路透社]

乌克兰在莱曼地区集结兵力后，才发起反攻。这种准备似乎正在取得成效。

乌克兰国防部表示，其为扰乱俄罗斯向前线输送弹药和燃料而发起的行动，在9月份打击了创纪录数量的防空设施和50公里（30英里）以外的目标。

俄罗斯总统弗拉基米尔·普京声称，俄罗斯在9月份占领了乌克兰1300平方公里（500平方英里）的领土，这与他的将军们的说法相呼应。

2026年10月7日，在乌克兰切尔尼戈夫州普里卢基镇，一枚俄罗斯导弹击中了一栋公寓楼，人们抬着一名伤员，紧急救援人员正在废墟中营救居民。[Valentyn Ogirenko/路透社]

战争研究所利用地理定位的开源数据监测领土扩张情况，该研究所表示，俄罗斯当月实际上失去了 80 平方公里（30 平方英里）的领土。

据乌克兰军方称，俄罗斯9月份的伤亡人数达到2026年的最高纪录46230人。

乌克兰方面表示，其中 33087 人（超过 70%）被确认死亡。

乌克兰无人系统部队指挥官罗伯特·布罗夫迪表示，10 月前五天敌方伤亡人数比 9 月同期增加了 40%。

10月7日，乌克兰军方统计，自2022年以来，俄罗斯全面入侵以来，已有1545950名俄罗斯士兵伤亡。

2026年10月2日，一架俄罗斯喷气式无人机撞击乌克兰基辅的一座桥梁。[Valentyn Ogirenko/路透社]

普京的回应是加大轰炸力度，给平民造成苦难。

10 月 7 日是普京的生日，一枚俄罗斯巡航导弹在俄罗斯北部切尔尼戈夫州普里卢基市摧毁了一栋五层公寓楼，造成 22 人死亡，其中包括 5 名儿童。

泽连斯基说：“今天，为了庆祝普京的生日，俄罗斯军队‘赠送’了普里卢基一栋居民楼被毁的礼物。”

乌克兰空军称，俄罗斯当天在12个地区投放了130架无人机和48枚巡航导弹，以及弹道导弹。基辅和亚历山德里亚至少各有两人死亡。

10月8日，一枚俄罗斯炸弹袭击了克拉马托尔斯克市的两辆公交车，造成至少30人死亡。紧急救援视频显示，尸体散落在街道和公园里。

2026年9月28日，在乌克兰基辅，乌克兰国家科学院副主任伊戈尔·马尔切夫斯基（69岁）正在使用梯子，躲避从被俄罗斯喷气式无人机袭击的行政大楼中升起的火焰。[Valentyn Ogirenko/路透社]

最近对俄罗斯越来越多地用于其许多攻击的 Geran-4 和 Geran-5 喷气动力无人机的分析表明，这些对非军事目标的攻击不太可能是意外。

乌克兰军事情报部门表示，这些袭击使用了卫星和先进的惯性导航系统，以及一台可以读取地标特征并将其与机载数据库进行比对的摄像头——这三个系统协同工作，以确保精确导航。

乌克兰对喷气式无人机的回应是加快从盟友那里交付 F-16 战斗机，事实证明，F-16 战斗机是有效的第一道防线。

泽连斯基说：“目前，F-16 战机摧毁了 50% 到 60% 的无人机袭击。”

泽连斯基表示，乌克兰还在测试五种新型拦截无人机，其中最成功的无人机拦截效率为 30%，并且还在试验小型导弹。

基辅周围已部署了十几座人工智能驱动的重机枪炮塔作为最后一道防线，全国各地还计划部署数十座。

国防部高级顾问谢尔盖·别斯克列斯特诺夫表示，这些是“设施级”防御措施。“它可以保护仓库、工厂、桥梁或变电站。”

俄罗斯已开始袭击第聂伯河上的桥梁，10月的前四天里，基辅南桥和北桥共遭到七次袭击。此前，俄罗斯还袭击了乌克兰内阁大楼以及为该市供电的能源设施，企图造成停电。

俄罗斯的喷气式无人机飞行速度超过每小时 500 公里（310 英里），比其螺旋桨驱动的“沙赫德”无人机更难拦截。

尽管如此，在 10 月 7 日的空袭中，乌克兰空军表示，他们拦截了 80% 的喷气式无人机、95% 的螺旋桨式无人机和 80% 的巡航导弹。

10 月 7 日，德国总理弗里德里希·默茨访问基辅，宣布了一项价值 13 亿欧元（14.6 亿美元）的军事援助计划，并签署了价值 85 亿欧元（95 亿美元）的协议，与乌克兰共同开发无人机防御系统和其他武器。

在德国两个州最近举行的选举中，亲俄的德国选择党(AfD)击败了默茨所在的执政党基民盟(CDU)，默茨的此次访问是一项重要的政治姿态。

乌克兰继续对俄罗斯境内进行远程打击。

这些袭击分别发生在10月2日和10月8日，地点分别是伏尔加格勒和巴什科尔托斯坦的炼油厂，这是旨在切断俄罗斯经济和军队燃料供应的战略的一部分。

乌克兰军方表示：“敌方超过51%的炼油能力已被瘫痪。”

乌克兰还袭击了萨马拉线性生产和输送站，乌克兰总参谋部称该站是“接收、储存和混合石油的主要枢纽”。

工作人员表示，11 个 2 万吨级储罐和 3 个 5 万吨级储罐已被摧毁。

军方表示：“该设施将来自不同油田的高硫和低硫原油混合，生产出被称为乌拉尔原油的出口级原油，这种原油占俄罗斯石油出口总量的50%之多。”

2026年10月7日，俄罗斯导弹袭击乌克兰基辅，城市上空升起浓烟。[格列布·加拉尼奇/路透社]

乌克兰还袭击了军事目标。10月7日，乌克兰袭击了阿斯特拉罕天然气处理厂，该厂提取气态硫用于制造炸药。

10 月 4 日，它摧毁了阿迪格共和国机场的一架苏霍伊 Su-35 多用途战斗机和一架苏霍伊 Su-34 战斗轰炸机，并袭击了布良斯克的谢什恰机场。

从 7 月 6 日至 10 月 3 日，俄罗斯对占领区俄罗斯电力供应发动的中程打击行动已达 456 次。