Russo-Ukrainian war, day 1714: Russia launches one of largest attacks on Ukraine’s power grid of war

Military

Four boats, two soldiers each, under cover of fog: Russia's first attempt to land troops in Kherson ended with one dead and three captured. Ukraine's Southern Defense Forces say Russia is preparing a bridgehead at Kherson's Korabel district to try to retake the city.

Russian drones watch the roads in Donetsk Oblast, but not the nearly 6 km route Ukraine has set up underground. Troops ride motorcycles and quad bikes through it, and wounded soldiers are evacuated through it too.

Russia kept troops at an aviation school beside Luhansk's dead airfield. A week after the last strike, Ukraine hit the area again. The first attack lasted for hours and hit the city's power, and this time Ukrainian monitors caught the fire on video from the edge of town.

Failing Ukrainian brigade cut unauthorized absences by 70%. How did they do it?. The 53rd Mechanized Brigade, once scattered and losing positions, now leads Ukraine's Ground Forces in soldiers returning to the ranks.

Intelligence and technology

A logistics general takes over Ukraine's state arms group, and the company is counting on him to make it build more. The new chief steps in after months with a stand-in at the top, while Ukraine's arms industry can build far more than the state budget buys from it.

Polish firms prepare to build Ukraine's Bohdana away from Russia's front—Kramatorsk's howitzer heads west. Ukraine's main self-propelled gun is getting a Polish truck integrator and a Polish-led maker for the next stage of the war.

Kill the archer, not the arrows: Ukraine asked Trump again and again to free Starshield against Russia's ballistic launchers. The Ukrainian president argues that hunting the launchers inside Russia would save more lives than waiting for Patriot interceptors that will never be enough.

International

$400 billion US tech giant helping Ukraine is now facing backlash on both sides of Atlantic. European governments are moving to cut their reliance on the US under Trump's administation.

Europe's future force for Ukraine from 11 countries will hold its first rehearsal in Poland—for a peace that doesn't exist yet. 2,800 troops will train about 100 km from the Ukrainian border.

Humanitarian and social impact

Kremlin sees "no similar plans" after Oleshky—Kyiv plans to set up a center to return civilians Russia holds. Families of detained Ukrainians will get one office to turn to, the ombudsman says. Russia will have no part in building it.

Russia ends free bottled gas for 13 groups of Crimeans before winter. In one village, a gas cylinder costs up to four times the official price—a local resident. Prices have risen for every fuel Crimeans use to heat homes during power outages, Crimean media report.

Hours before Americans vote, Russia fires 59 cruise missiles at Ukraine's grid and bombs a Kharkiv hospital. Missiles and drones went after power plants and substations, and a guided bomb landed between two hospital buildings in Kharkiv.

Political and legal developments

Fear of Ukraine's mobilization keeps some people under Russian occupation, and Moscow uses it as a psyop, MP says. His deferment bill has stalled. Kherson Oblast's former head says some who do return face a fine for not passing a draft medical board they had no way to attend.

New developments

Norway, Denmark and Sweden teams refuse to play with Russia at 2027 Ice Hockey World Cup. Russia returns to international ice hockey, and sponsors walk out. A Swedish firm ends a sponsorship it has held since 1989.

Read our earlier daily review here.