The Russian troops continue to strike the Ukrainian military command and energy facilities

1 Ukraine The Russian Ministry of Defense reported that the Russian forces continue to use precision-guided weapons to hit the military command and control facilities and the energy systems of Ukraine. «All the designated facilities were hit» — the ministry reported and added that a fuel depot for the Ukrainian military equipment was hit in the Nikolaev region. A Ukrainian repair base was destroyed near the village of Bereznegovatoe. The RIA NEWS reported that Ukraine reported that some infrastructure facilities were hit in the Kiev, Dnepropetrovsk, Odessa, and Cherkasy region. The air raid alerts were announced all over Ukraine.

2 Donbass Some Ukrainian forces are moving from the town of Artyomovsk to other positions — the head of the LPR office in Russia, Rodion Miroshnik, stated and added that Ukraine had begun to realize the need to surrender the town. According to him, the Wagner group is doing a fine job near Artemovsk, as well as the DPR and the LPR forces — the RIA NEWS reported. “There is an evidence that some Ukrainian forces firstly moved from the town of Artemovsk to the outer areas, and then, according to the people who live there, they moved to other positions. I think that there is an understanding in Ukraine that the town will have to be surrendered. But how long it will take is still unknown» — he stated on-air of the «Russia 24» TV. He added that the situation in the town of Svatovo, with which there is no permanent connection, remains difficult.

3 Donbass The interim head of the DPR, Denis Pushilin, announced the on-going exchange with Ukraine: 110 to 110. “For the most part, we return women to Kiev. We are returning back home 80 civilian sailors who were held hostage in prisons of the Ukrainian regime» — Denis Pushilin stated on his Telegram channel. Denis Pushilin noted that 30 servicemen from the DPR, the LPR, and other regions of Russia will be released during the exchange. On 13th of October the Russian Ministry of Defense stated that after negotiations on the exchange — 20 Russian military men were returned from Ukraine. On Sunday night, the Ukrainian prisoners were exchanged for 11 LPR servicemen. Russian and LPR authorities took part in the negotiations. After returning home, they were all taken to clinics.

4 Russia — Belarus The Minister of Defense of Belarus, Viktor Hrenin, stated at a meeting with the staff of the Minsk Tractor Plant that the Russian-Belarusian regional group of troops had begun to carry out the mission to protect the Union State. «The regional group of troops is a complex organism of many components. It includes the governments at various levels, the troops, and various support systems. Both Belarusian and Russian» — the Belta news agency quoted his words.

5 Hungary The EU Foreign Minister, Peter Szijjártó, said that Hungary will not participate in the training of the Ukrainian military as part of the EU initiative. «On 17th of October, it was decided that the EU will start a training mission. The representatives of the EU countries will carry out the training of the Ukrainian military. I would like to state that Hungary didn’t vote for this initiative. We won’t take part in this mission» — Peter Szijjártó stated and explained that Hungary is the only EU country that has taken such a position, since Hungary doesn’t support the steps, leading to an escalation of the conflict. Instead, Hungary favors the early start of peace negotiations — the RIA NEWS reported.

6 China The Bloomberg reported that China has imposed a ban on the state-owned companies from reselling the liquefied natural gas to countries in Europe and Asia in order to ensure the supply for the heating season inside China. «While the sale has provided some relief to the European buyers — the rapid restocking and record shipping costs have also reduced the appeal of re-delivery of the fuel» — the Bloomberg added while citing their sources. «The Chinese move to secure its own supplies could cut the supplies to Europe and escalate the regional energy crisis in case of a cold winter. China has large contracts to buy the LNG from several exporters, including the USA. In 2022, the Asian traders began to divert some of these supplies to Europe due to the sluggish demand inside China» — the TASS reported.

Constantine Reztsov, specially for the ANNA NEWS.