Day 596 of the Invasion of Ukraine: Head of Ukrainian Intelligence believes We are Approaching a World War

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Day 596 of the invasion of Ukraine. Summary of key events in the last 24 hours:

• Budanov: We are fast approaching a world war
• Putin arrived in Bishkek, no one arrested him
• Romania discovered a crater from a drone near the Danube
• Kyiv reported downed Russian drones and foiled sabotage
• Moscow hits Danube warehouses, downed drone kills three in Russia
• The Biden administration is working to get Ukraine frozen Russian assets in Western financial institutions
• Kyiv is giving its domestic drone industry a boost

Budanov: We are fast approaching a world war

"The world is rapidly approaching global war. Now there are several conflicts (for example, in Israel and Nagorno-Karabakh), which at first glance seem to be regional, but they are all connected with the same countries that are involved in these processes".

This was stated by the head of the Main Directorate of Intelligence at the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, General Kyrylo Budanov, in an interview with "Ukrainska Pravda".

"This is my subjective assessment: from the point of view of geography, we see several conflicts that at first glance seem regional, with the exception of Ukraine, but they are all related to the same countries that are involved in these processes," said Budanov, answering on the question of whether we are on the verge of World War III.

According to the head of GUR, "we are approaching a global war rather quickly".

He was commenting on an attack by Hamas fighters in Israel on October 7, in which they took hostages, killed several hundred civilians and took control of some military facilities. Already in the evening, the Israeli army regained control over the majority of the territories.

Budanov stresses that Israel's Mossad secret service should not be criticized for failing to prepare for the large-scale operation, as there are still many unclear moments in the facts of how the attack was carried out.

When asked if there is a Russian trace in the attack of Hamas against Israel, Budanov categorically answers - "Yes, there is".

"First of all, we know for sure that trophy weapons from Ukraine were handed over by the Russians to the Hamas group. Most of it is infantry weapons. There is information that something also went to Hezbollah, but we don't know with certainty. Anyone can see the videos on social networks. The attack used a tactic that is absolutely, shall we say, natural for our region and at the same time completely unnatural for the Middle East, when FPV drones were used against armored vehicles. However, this is the know-how of our war. No one but people who have been through our theater of operations could have done this. Since we were not there, it must have been the Russians," says the general.

He also notes two other interesting facts.

"First, a little more than a week before the start of these actions, the Russian station Sputnik officially began broadcasting in Arabic in Lebanon. This broadcast is in a completely propaganda style with obvious Russian narratives. Second, on September 24, a Russian spacecraft capable of conducting electronic intelligence and intercept satellite signals, was moved to Israel's geostationary orbit. Between September 22 and 24, a Russian military delegation made an official visit to Iran. We know that there were several, let's say, requests from the Iranian side. One of them was to expand their intelligence capabilities", the head of the GUR also points out.

Putin arrived in Bishkek, no one arrested him

Russian President Vladimir Putin held talks in the capital of close ally Kyrgyzstan, Bishkek, on Thursday, his first overseas visit since the International Criminal Court issued a warrant for his arrest in March, Reuters reported.

Putin has rarely traveled abroad since sending troops to Ukraine in early 2022 and has not been known to leave Russia since a Hague-based court issued a warrant against him accusing him of illegally deporting children from Ukraine.

Russia does not recognize the court's jurisdiction and has rejected its criticism of Putin. Kyrgyzstan also does not recognize the international court and has no legal obligation to detain him and bring him to justice.

His two-day trip to Kyrgyzstan will conclude with his participation in a summit of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), a group of 10 former Soviet republics, in Bishkek on Friday amid signs that Russia's influence in parts of the Soviet Union, like Armenia, is shaken, writes Reuters.

Moscow's relations with other countries in an area it has traditionally considered its backyard have been tested by the implementation of Western sanctions imposed on Russia over Ukraine.

In a meeting with Kyrgyz President Sadir Japarov on Thursday, Putin emphasized Russia's importance as a key trading partner and largest investor in the Kyrgyz economy and said the two countries would continue to develop cooperation.

He said he would also attend a celebration of the 20th anniversary of Russia's Kant military air base outside Bishkek, a strategically important outpost that allows Moscow to maintain a military presence in Central Asia.

Putin has cited double-digit growth in Russian-Kyrgyz trade, which some in the West suspect is partly due to Kyrgyz middlemen facilitating sanctions-busting by Russian businesses.

The United States imposed sanctions on four Kyrgyz companies in July for re-exporting electronic components and other technology to Russia. Last week, Kyrgyzstan's central bank encouraged local banks to tighten controls on compliance with Western sanctions against Moscow.

Romania discovered a crater from a drone near the Danube

Romania said it discovered a crater from a drone near its border with Ukraine following Russian attacks on Ukrainian port infrastructure in Odesa region on Wednesday evening.

The Ministry of Defense reported a "possible explosion on impact" and measures were taken to secure the area, and that monitoring of Romania's airspace continued.

"The Ministry of National Defense categorically condemns the attacks carried out by the Russian Federation against some targets and elements of the civil infrastructure in the Ukrainian ports on the Danube River. These attacks are unjustified and in serious violation of the rules of international humanitarian law," the message said.

Earlier, the Ukrainian Southern Command reported on 10 drones launched at night by Russia against objects in the Odesa region, which damaged warehouses and private homes. One person is injured.

Soon after pulling out of the Black Sea grain deal on July 17, Moscow began targeting Ukrainian ports and warehouses along the Danube between Ukraine and Romania in an apparent attempt to choke off the main alternative route for Ukrainian agricultural exports, Reuters reported.

The government has since reported isolated incidents of drone parts falling in Romania, although the government believes Romanian territory was not the target of the attack. The wreckage of a drone was reported several times in September.

Kyiv reported downed Russian drones and foiled sabotage

Ukraine shot down 28 Russian drones overnight, the Ukrainian Air Force announced today. However, during a Russian strike, port warehouses in Odesa region were damaged, AFP reported.

Enemy drones were in action last night in at least 6 Ukrainian regions. The downed drones were "Shahed-131/136", it is explained in the message of the Ukrainian forces on "Telegram".

In total, Moscow has sent 33 drones to Ukraine from the Belgorod region, bordering Ukraine, and from Cape Chauda, in the eastern part of the Crimean peninsula, BTA said.

In one of the drone strikes, port warehouse infrastructure and residential buildings in the Izmail region were damaged, Oleg Kiper, the regional governor of Odesa region, said. An 80-year-old man was injured in the fire that occurred after the impact and was admitted to hospital with burns.

This morning, Ukrainian forces announced that they had thwarted an attempt by Russian saboteurs to infiltrate across the border into Ukraine's Sumy region, Reuters reported. The news was announced by Serhiy Naev, head of the joint operational staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

The saboteurs tried to cross the state border in order to go to critically important civil infrastructure, Naev wrote on "Telegram". They were eight in total, but were repulsed by Ukrainian forces. No Ukrainian soldiers were injured or killed in the operation.

Moscow hits Danube warehouses, downed drone kills three in Russia

Russia and Ukraine exchanged drone attacks overnight Thursday, damaging port infrastructure and private homes in Ukraine's Odesa region and houses in the bordering Belgorod region.

The governor of the Belgorod region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, announced on his Telegram channel that three people, including a child, died as a result of debris from a downed drone falling on their home.

Gladkov did not mention Ukraine in his post. Ukraine has launched increasingly frequent drone and missile attacks against targets in southern Russia and in Russian-annexed Crimea, Reuters writes.

In its morning military briefing, the Southern Command of the Ukrainian Army reported Russian strikes in the Odesa region, where warehouses in the port area and private houses were hit. One person was injured, writes the Ukrainian news agency "Ukrinform".

"The night attack of the enemy with another batch of strike drones in our area of responsibility was again aimed at the port infrastructure of the Danube River. Trying to bypass the air defense systems, the kamikaze drones headed from different directions, using complex trajectories and characteristics of the landscape," notes the command.

Four Iranian drones "Shahed-131/136" were destroyed in Mykolaiv region and ten in Odesa region during the night.

Odesa region is under daily attacks from the Russian side, which is trying to block Ukrainian grain exports by destroying sea and Danube port infrastructure after it unilaterally withdrew from the UN-initiated Black Sea Safe Export Agreement in July.

At least two people were killed after a Russian missile hit a Ukrainian school in the city of Nikopol in central Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk region on Wednesday

According to the regional governor, over 40 houses and infrastructure facilities were damaged in the attack. Two men, aged 24 and 71, were injured.

It has been established that the victims are employees of the school, Ukrainian Minister of Internal Affairs Ihor Klymenko announced on Telegram, distributing video footage of rescuers crawling through the rubble of the school building.

Russian troops have improved their positions on the front line near the town of Avdiivka in eastern Ukraine, the Ministry of Defense in Moscow said.

Ukraine said Moscow was concentrating troops and equipment on the key eastern Ukrainian town of Avdiivka after a months-long siege.

Russian reports also indicated that fighting had intensified, saying that Moscow's forces had "improved their position in the immediate outskirts around Avdiivka".

"This is the largest offensive action in our sector since the beginning of the war," said Vitaly Barabash, head of the city administration, quoted by Reuters.

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that 10 enemy attacks on the town were repelled.

The Biden administration is working to get Ukraine frozen Russian assets in Western financial institutions

Representatives of the presidential administration of Joe Biden are working hard to transfer to Ukraine the frozen Russian assets in Western financial institutions, writes "Washington Post", citing its sources. According to CNN sources, the Pentagon is worried about a possible lack of resources for simultaneous assistance to Ukraine and Israel.

In his regular video message, however, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he had received assurances from Washington that military aid to his country would remain constant and uninterrupted. Zelensky met in Brussels with American Defense Minister Lloyd Austin.

The Ukrainian president was a surprise guest at the NATO headquarters in Brussels yesterday, where he participated in the meeting of the defense ministers of the Alliance.

At this meeting, Bulgarian and Ukrainian Defense Ministers Todor Tagarev and Rustem Umierov signed a Memorandum of Intent between the two ministries within the framework of talks on providing defense assistance to Ukraine.

Thus, Sofia and Kyiv confirm their readiness to strengthen their cooperation in defense and security policy, military-technical cooperation, development of military education and science and other areas of mutual interest, the press center of the Ministry of Defense reported.

Kyiv is giving its domestic drone industry a boost

The Ukrainian government plans to support the country's domestic military-industrial complex and drone production capacity, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal announced on October 10.

Shmyhal notes that the Ukrainian government has simplified the import of drones as much as possible and expanded the list of military and dual-use goods that can be imported without the permission of the State Export Control Service. In this way, the bureaucratic obstacles to the delivery of Ukrainian drones have been removed.

“The state is betting on the development of the Ukrainian military-industrial complex, on new engineering and technological developments, technology transfer, creation of joint production with allies and partners”, said Shmyhal.

The production of unmanned aerial vehicles has already grown a hundredfold and will continue to grow, adds the Prime Minister of Ukraine.

Low-cost drones have transformed the battlefield on land, in the air and at sea, and given Ukraine new capabilities to defend its territory.

Earlier this year, Ukraine launched the “Marichka”, an underwater naval drone that can carry a 200-kilogram warhead, and announced the creation of a special unit for such drones.

For 2024, the Ukrainian government has allocated 1.7 trillion Ukrainian hryvnias (1.5 billion US dollars) for security and defense, including domestic arms production, with the majority destined for drone production. Of that 1.7 trillion, about 56 billion is for defense production and more than 48 billion is for replenishing and expanding the drone army.

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