Ramstein meeting, more military assistance to Ukraine: highlights of the day

Ramstein-6

NATO headquarters in Brussels hosted a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group (the so-called "Ramstein"). Minister of Defense of Ukraine Oleksii Reznikov also arrived at the headquarters to brief Allied ministers on the latest developments in Ukraine and urgent needs for the winter.

Pentagon Chief Lloyd Austin said after the meeting that partners are ready to support Ukraine in the long term. They will continue to train the Ukrainian military and strengthen the work of their defense enterprises.

What do they promise to give?

After the meeting, Austin stressed that the United States will transfer air defense systems to Ukraine as soon as possible. He also promised that Washington will try to provide additional ammunition to the systems that Ukrainian forces are already using.

The Netherlands will provide Ukraine with missiles worth over 15 million euros to further strengthen its air and missile defenses. Canada announced a new military aid package worth $47 million. It will include winter clothing and equipment, artillery rounds and communications technology.

Germany, on the other hand, announced that over the next few weeks Ukraine will receive additional MARS II multiple launch rocket systems and PzH 2000 artillery systems.

Reaction to nuclear blackmail

A senior NATO official said that if Russia launched a tactical nuclear strike against Ukraine, it "would almost certainly receive a physical response from many allies and possibly NATO itself." The use of nuclear weapons would change the course of the war and "have unprecedented consequences," the official said.

The official did not specify what kind of response Ukraine's Western allies might use. "There will be a response, and it will be very serious," the official assured.

De-occupation of Kherson Oblast

In Kherson Oblast, according to the regional authorities, the Armed Forces of Ukraine have already liberated 75 settlements from the Russian occupation troops. In October alone, Ukrainian servicemen returned 29 settlements of the region under the yellow-blue flag.

Regional governor Yaroslav Yanushevych says that the situation in the de-occupied territories is terrible. There are many destroyed houses, schools, kindergartens and hospitals, etc. The occupying troops also destroyed power lines, transformer substations, gas pipelines, water pipelines, boiler houses. People were left without water and electricity.

Successful work of air defense

Anti-aircraft units of the Air Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine shot down at least four helicopters of the Russian occupiers within 18 minutes in the morning. They shot down attack helicopters, probably Ka-52, which provided fire support to the ground occupation troops on the southern axis.

Iranian-made Shahed-136 kamikaze drones also continue to attack Ukraine. On October 12 alone, as of 6 p.m, the Armed Forces of Ukraine shot down 10 such vehicles. In particular, two of these drones unsuccessfully tried to attack Vinnytsia Oblast.

And in the evening it became known that in Rivne, Cherkasy and, probably, Zhytomyr oblasts in the evening of October 12, air defense was again successfully triggered. However, the regional administrations have not yet specified what exactly attacked these regions.

Shelling of Avdiyivka

In the morning, Russians attacked the central market in Avdiyivka, Donetsk Oblast, where there were many people at that time. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that as a result of the attack, at least 7 people were killed and 12 wounded.

Other important news

• Russians also fired at a substation in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast in the morning. As a result, Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant was completely de-energized: diesel generators were automatically switched on. By the evening, the plant was reconnected to the Ukrainian grid.
• More than 120 bodies have already been exhumed in the liberated territories of Donetsk Oblast, almost half of them in Lyman. Some bodies have signs of violent death.
• Volunteer and politician Serhiy Prytula sent a book on the history of Ukraine to American entrepreneur Elon Musk. "I hope it will help you understand why surrendering to the Russian evil empire is not an option for Ukrainians," Prytula said.