Overview
- Ukraine’s General Staff confirmed overnight precision strikes in occupied Crimea, including an oil depot in Hvardiiske and targets at Karierne, Dzhankoi, and a Nebo‑U radar near Yevpatoria, with fires reported.
- Russia launched a large wave of Shahed and other UAVs along with guided-bomb attacks; Ukraine’s Air Force said it neutralized 136 of 164 drones, though some strikes caused outages, including power cuts affecting about 17,000 customers in Chernihiv.
- Heavy ground combat persisted, with the General Staff logging 116 clashes on Oct. 18 and 39 assaults in the Pokrovsk sector, where Ukraine reported holding positions and inflicting personnel and equipment losses.
- Moscow reported capturing Pryvillia, Pishchane, and Tykhe, and later claimed Pleshchiivka, statements not acknowledged by Kyiv and not independently verified by reporters.
- Civilian harm mounted, including deaths and injuries in Kharkiv Oblast, and prosecutors said a new rocket‑powered guided bomb, the UMPB‑5R, was used for the first time against Lozova; information‑war claims included Ukraine’s report of a Russian Su‑30 downed by friendly fire over Crimea and TASS reporting a Russian journalist killed in occupied Zaporizhzhia.