Ukraine War Situation Update: 19

1,031 political violence events

>1% decrease compared to last week

64 incidents of violence targeted at civilians

21% increase compared to last week

At least 42 fatalities from civilian targeting

121% increase compared to last week

Key trends

In the Donetsk region, Russian forces prioritized capturing Selydove to the southeast of Pokrovsk. They occupied two settlements in the Pokrovsk direction, two others north of Soledar and Siversk, respectively, and a village northwest of Kreminna near the boundary with the Luhansk region.
Russian forces continued to advance towards Kupiansk, aiming to sever Ukrainian communications and logistics routes across the Oskil river.
ACLED records 19 Russian long-range missile and drone strikes, targeting the central Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhia, and Cherkasy regions, the southern Odesa region, the western Khmelnytskyi region, the northern Zhytomyr region, and the region and city of Kyiv. Ukrainian forces also intercepted strikes in at least 47 further instances.
Russian shelling, missiles, and drones killed at least 42 civilians across Ukraine. In addition, Ukrainian shelling killed one civilian near Russia-occupied Donetsk city.

Key events

21 Oct. | Zaporizhia – A Russian ballistic missile strike on Zaporizhia city kills three civilians and wounds 19 others
25 Oct. | Dnipropetrovsk – A Russian missile hits residential area and a key hospital in Dnipro, killing four civilians
25 Oct. | Kyiv – A Russian drone strike hits a residential building, killing one civilian and wounding six others

Spotlight: Russian strikes continue to target rescue workers

Last week, ACLED recorded three events where Russian forces targeted rescue workers in Ukraine. On 19 October, Russian guided aerial bombs destroyed a fire and rescue unit in Shostka, Sumy region, injuring five rescue workers and damaging six rescue vehicles.¹ On the same day, a double-tap ballistic missile strike injured 18 civilians, including a rescuer, in Kryvyi Rih. The strikes also damaged residential areas, administrative buildings, and 30 vehicles. Russian military bloggers claimed that the strike targeted a hotel housing electronic warfare specialists.² On 21 October, a Russian drone dropped an explosive on an ambulance crew that had arrived at a patient’s home in Kherson city, injuring two of its members.³ International humanitarian law prohibits double-tap strikes affecting civilians, rescuers, and medical personnel. In addition to Ukraine,⁴ Russian forces previously resorted to double-tap strikes in Syria.⁵

Explore the ACLED Conflict Exposure tool to assess the numbers of people affected by armed violence, disaggregated by locations, time period, and actors involved.