Shahed drone strikes on Kyiv, return of captured Ukrainian women: highlights of the day

Strikes on Ukraine

Since the morning of October 17, Russian occupation forces have attacked a number of regions of Ukraine, as well as Kyiv. At least four people were killed in the capital as a result of Russian strikes, including a young couple expecting a child.

A missile strike on Sumy Oblast killed at least three people and wounded nine others.

According to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, during the day Russian troops conducted 9 missile and 39 air strikes on Ukraine. Cruise, air and anti-aircraft guided missiles were used for the strikes. In addition, Russia continues to use Iranian Shahed-136 drones.

During this attack, the occupiers again targeted energy infrastructure facilities. Ukrenergo does not rule out the possibility of introducing emergency shutdown schedules, so they urge Ukrainians to adhere to the regime of economical electricity consumption throughout the country, especially in the evening.

In addition, Russian shelling once again cut off Zaporizhzhya NPP's connection with the power grid. During the transition process, due to a short-term voltage drop, the auxiliary transformer of Zaporizhzhya NPP was disconnected and diesel generators were started.

Iran's responsibility

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba took part in a meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council right during the Russian attack on Kyiv with Iranian drones.

"I was probably the first minister to address the Council from a bomb shelter — there were sirens in Kyiv," Kuleba said. He called on the EU to provide more air defense and ammunition, as well as to impose sanctions against Iran for supplying drones to Russia.

In the evening, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine in an official statement called on Iran to immediately stop supplying any weapons to Russia. Otherwise, Iran and its leadership "will bear the strictest responsibility", in particular in international courts.

A protest against the transfer of weapons, including kamikaze drones, to Russia was organized near the Iranian Embassy in Kyiv.

EU chief diplomat Josep Borrell said that the EU is collecting evidence of the use of Iranian drones and will be ready to respond "using the tools at our disposal".

In addition, the EU Council decided to allocate another 500 million euros of military aid to Ukraine and launch a training mission for the Ukrainian military.

Ukraine returns prisoners

Ukraine conducted another large-scale exchange of prisoners and returned home 108 women, most of them military. Among those released are those who were captured before February 24.

Among the released: 37 evacuees from Azovstal, 11 female officers, 85 privates and sergeants. They represent different forces: Armed Forces, Navy, Territorial Defense, National Guard, State Special Transport Service and State Border Guard Service. 12 of the released women are civilians.

Women released from captivity as part of the exchange
Photo: Andriy Yermak

Red Cross fails to fulfill Kyiv's ultimatum

Representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross did not arrive on October 17 at the demarcation line with the occupied territory, where the Ukrainian delegation was waiting for them. The Ukrainians wanted to urge the ICRC to get Russia to grant access to the colony in Olenivka and visit Ukrainian prisoners of war.

Earlier, the head of the President's Office Andriy Yermak gave an "ultimatum" for the organization to send its mission there within three days. Yermak's adviser Mykhailo Podolyak explained that the Presidential Office is ready to raise the issue of disbanding the ICRC and creating an alternative structure at the international level if the ICRC does not continue to perform its direct functions.

Another plane crashes in Russia

In the city of Yeysk, Krasnodar region of Russia, a military aircraft Su-34 crashed right in the yard of a residential high-rise building. The ship fell into the yard on Kommunisticheskaya Street, after which the fire spread to a nine-story residential building. At least 17 apartments were damaged, four people died.

The Russian Defense Ministry said that the Su-34 plane crashed in the city of Yeysk while gaining altitude for a training flight from the military airfield of the Southern Military District. The pilots ejected. They reported that the cause of the crash was the fire of one of the engines during takeoff.

Russian media estimated that the crash in Yeysk was at least the tenth non-combat loss in Russian military aviation during the active war of Russia against Ukraine.