As the Russia-Ukraine war continues into its 597th day, here are the main developments that took place on Friday, October 13, 2023.
Fighting:
– Ukraine’s Interior Minister, Ihor Klymenko, reported that the death toll from last week’s Russian missile attack on a cafe in the village of Hroza had risen to 59. Klymenko stated that all the victims were civilians, including pensioners, medics, farmers, teachers, and entrepreneurs. He emphasized that entire families of multiple generations had perished in the attack.
– Vyacheslav Gladkov, the regional governor of Russia’s Belgorod, announced that three people were killed and two were seriously injured when debris from a destroyed Ukrainian drone fell on their homes. Among the casualties was a four-year-old girl.
– Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy affirmed that Ukrainian troops were holding their ground in the eastern town of Avdiivka despite intense fighting with Russian forces.
– Ukraine’s air force declared that they had successfully destroyed 28 out of 33 Russian drones launched from the Belgorod region and the Russian-annexed Crimea peninsula. The Ukrainian air force stated that enemy unmanned aerial vehicles were flying in various directions, and as a result, their air defense systems were deployed in at least six regions of Ukraine.
– The commander of the Joint Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine revealed that Ukraine had foiled an attempt by a group of eight Russian saboteurs to cross the northeastern border in the Sumy region and attack critical civilian infrastructure.
Politics and Diplomacy:
– Russia’s parliament is set to vote next week on withdrawing Moscow’s ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), which bans nuclear tests. The bill’s first reading will take place on October 17, with final passage expected a couple of days later. Leonid Slutsky, head of the Duma’s international affairs committee, confirmed that all 450 members of the Duma would support the withdrawal.
– NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced that the defense alliance will conduct its annual nuclear exercises, known as Steadfast Noon, in the following week. The drills will involve fighter jets capable of carrying nuclear warheads but will not involve any live bombs. The training will take place over Italy, Croatia, and the Mediterranean Sea.
– Russian President Vladimir Putin made his first trip outside of Russia since the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued a warrant for his arrest over alleged war crimes in Ukraine. Putin attended a summit of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), an intergovernmental organization comprising former Soviet republics, in Kyrgyzstan.
– The International Olympic Committee (IOC) suspended the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) with immediate effect after the ROC recognized regional sport organizations in Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhia – four Ukrainian territories partly occupied by Moscow and declared annexed last year. Ukraine praised the IOC’s decision as an important one.
– The United Nations Human Rights Council extended the mandate of Special Rapporteur Mariana Katzarova, an independent expert documenting alleged human rights abuses in Russia, for another year. Katzarova recently stated that Russia’s human rights situation had significantly deteriorated since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February last year, describing a systematic crackdown on civil society. She highlighted Russia’s adoption of laws to suppress civil society and punish human rights activists for their anti-war stance.
– The Paris tribunal prosecutor’s office announced it had opened an investigation into the sudden illness of Marina Ovsyannikova, an exiled Russian journalist who staged a high-profile protest against the war in Ukraine. Christophe Deloire, the director general of Reporters Without Borders, acknowledged that while Ovsyannikova was feeling better, the possibility of poisoning could not be ruled out.
Weapons:
– The Czech Defense Ministry confirmed that the Czech Republic and Denmark would jointly supply heavy military equipment to Ukraine in the coming months. The initial shipment will include nearly 50 infantry fighting vehicles and main battle tanks, 2,500 handguns, 7,000 rifles, 500 light machine guns, 500 sniper rifles, as well as electronic warfare and intelligence equipment. The supplies will consist of new and upgraded equipment.
– Officials from the United States Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) presented member states of the United Nations with what they claimed to be pieces of Iranian drones recovered in Ukraine. Representatives from over 40 countries attended the event, where debris from Iranian drones, including Shahed 101, Shahed 131, and Shahed 136, were put on display.