Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 1,338

Here is however things basal connected Friday, October 24, 2025:

Fighting

• Ukrainian authorities person opened a warfare transgression probe into an incidental successful which a witnesser said Russian forces changeable dormant 5 civilians successful a colony successful eastbound Ukraine. The Donetsk region’s prosecutor’s bureau said a man, his 2 sons and 2 neighbours were killed connected October 20 successful Zvanivka, adjacent the beforehand enactment successful Donetsk.
• A Russian drone has killed Olena Hubanova and Yevhen Karmazin, journalists with Ukraine’s state-funded Freedom tv channel, successful the eastbound metropolis of Kramatorsk.
• Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the sidesplitting of the journalists, which was branded a warfare transgression by Ukraine’s quality rights ombudsman.
• Kyiv’s forces struck Russia’s Ryazan lipid refinery overnight, Ukraine’s wide unit said, causing a monolithic occurrence astatine the plant, which is captious for Russian subject supplies. Ukrainian drones besides deed an ammunition depot successful Russia’s Belgorod region.
• Engineers person repaired a damaged high-voltage enactment and restored outer powerfulness to the Zaporizhzhia atomic powerfulness presumption successful Ukraine, the facility’s Russian-installed absorption said. The works – Europe’s largest atomic powerfulness station, consisting of six reactors – was seized by Russian troops successful 2022. It presently produces nary electricity, but needs outer powerfulness to chill the atomic substance and debar the hazard of a meltdown.
• With Russia sharply expanding its attacks connected Ukraine’s vigor system, Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said Kyiv has allocated $200 cardinal successful exigency assistance to the state-owned vigor steadfast Naftogaz for state imports successful beforehand of winter.
• Russia and Ukraine exchanged much bodies of their warfare dead, the Russian RBC quality outlet reported, saying Moscow handed implicit 1,000 Ukrainian soldiers and received 31 bodies of its ain successful return.
• North Korean person Kim Jong Un said subject brotherhood with Russia would “advance nonstop”, authorities media KCNA reported, during a code astatine the groundbreaking ceremonial for a memorial for soldiers who fought successful Russia’s Kursk portion against Ukrainian forces.

North Korean person Kim Jong Un, centre, greets attendees astatine the groundbreaking ceremonial for a memorial successful Pyongyang dedicated to North Korean soldiers who fought alongside Russia [KCNA via Reuters]

Sanctions

• Russian President Vladimir Putin remained defiant aft United States President Donald Trump deed Russia’s two biggest lipid companies, Rosneft and Lukoil, with sanctions to unit him to extremity the warfare successful Ukraine.
• Putin derided the sanctions arsenic an unfriendly act, saying they would not importantly impact the Russian system and talked up Russia’s value to the planetary market. “No self-respecting state and nary self-respecting radical ever decides thing nether pressure,” Putin said.
• Asked astir Putin’s remark that the caller sanctions would not person a important impact, President Trump said: “I’m gladsome helium feels that way. That’s good. I’ll fto you cognize astir it successful six months from now.”
• German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said helium assumes Rosneft’s German concern subsidiaries volition beryllium granted an exemption from the sanctions. Rosneft’s German concern is controlled by German authorities but is Russian-owned.
• OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) is acceptable to offset immoderate shortage successful the lipid marketplace owed to sanctions connected Russia by rolling backmost its output cuts, Kuwait’s lipid curate Tareq al-Roumi said.
• Deputy president of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, Dmitry Medvedev, said Trump’s determination to cancel a acme successful Budapest and enforce sanctions connected Russia showed Washington was “on the warpath” with Moscow.

Financial and subject aid

• At a gathering successful Brussels connected Thursday, European Union leaders agreed to conscionable Ukraine’s “pressing fiscal needs” for the adjacent 2 years but stopped abbreviated of endorsing a program to usage frozen Russian assets to money a elephantine indebtedness to Kyiv owed to concerns raised by Belgium.
• Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever said his state needs factual and coagulated guarantees earlier supporting the plan, which helium described arsenic entering “uncharted territory”. Belgium has cautioned against seizing the assets, which are held by Belgian fiscal instauration Euroclear, arguing it could exposure the steadfast to litigation and trigger a fiscal crisis.
• At the meeting, President Zelenskyy urged European allies to proviso Ukraine with long-range weapons aft failing to unafraid a committedness from Trump to supply Kyiv with almighty Tomahawk missiles.
• Zelenskyy besides said Ukraine should beryllium capable to usage Russia’s frozen assets for home weapons accumulation and to bargain European and US weapons.
• Finland volition bargain US weapons for Ukraine worthy 100 cardinal euros ($116.62m), Finnish regular Helsingin Sanomat reported, citing Prime Minister Petteri Orpo.

Peace talks

• A gathering betwixt Trump and Putin is not wholly disconnected the table, White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said. “I deliberation the president and the full medication hopes that 1 time that tin hap again, but we privation to marque definite that there’s a tangible affirmative result retired of that meeting,” she said.
• Britain called for respective measures against Russia to fortify Ukraine’s manus successful beforehand of immoderate aboriginal bid talks, arsenic Zelenskyy heads to London for discussions with cardinal allies connected Friday.
• British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s bureau said helium would clasp a gathering of the “coalition of the willing” countries that person pledged to fortify enactment for Ukraine, instrumentality Russian lipid and state disconnected the planetary market, usage frozen Russian assets to enactment Ukraine, and springiness Kyiv much long-range missiles.
• The talks successful London volition beryllium a substance of in-person and virtual, with NATO main Mark Rutte, Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen expected to join.

Regional security

• NATO subordinate Lithuania said 2 Russian subject craft entered its airspace connected Thursday for astir 18 seconds, prompting a ceremonial protestation and a absorption from NATO forces, portion Russia denied the incident. The 2 aircraft, an Su-30 combatant and an Il-78 refuelling tanker, were perchance connected a refuelling grooming ngo erstwhile they flew 700 metres (0.43 miles) into Lithuania from the Kaliningrad region.
• British constabulary said they arrested 3 men suspected of assisting a overseas quality service, and that the offences related to Russia.