Ukraine retakes 100 sq km in Donetsk as Trump eases Russia oil curbs

Ukraine's Third Army Corps has concluded the fourth phase of Operation Vivaldi in the eastern Donetsk region, reclaiming an additional 100 square kilometres (40 square miles), commander Andrii Biletskyi said — gains announced in the same week that US support for Kyiv came under extraordinary strain.

The operation has now retaken 275 square kilometres (100 square miles) and 16 settlements since August, bringing Russia's overall gains this year close to nil. It was launched to blunt a Russian push on Lyman, while a separate counteroffensive further south pushed back against an attempted Russian takeover of Dobropillya. Ukraine described the two Russian drives as a pincer movement aimed at surrounding the "fortress cities" of Sloviansk and Kramatorsk.

Russian attacks slow on key fronts

The Institute for the Study of War said Russian forces averaged about 14 attacks a day in the Sloviansk direction in August 2026, five in September and three a day in October so far. In the Kramatorsk direction the daily average fell from three in August to one in September and 0.3 in October.

"We are stopping all enemy attempts to advance or infiltrate," Zelenskyy said. "Ukraine's positions on the front remain strong, and this year they are the strongest they have been in a long time."

He said Russian forces outnumber Ukraine's by six to eight times in parts of the front, and appear to have recently received reinforcements. Robert Brovdi, commander of Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces, said the increase "translates into a significant increase" in Russian casualties — up 25 percent in the first two weeks of October on the same period in September, and almost 60 percent on early August.

Strains with Washington

President Donald Trump on October 9 invited Russia to sell 1.8 million tonnes of diesel by the end of the year to help bring down transport prices, effectively reversing the Lindsey Graham Act he signed days earlier, which allowed him to punish buyers of Russian oil. Zelenskyy told journalist Piers Morgan: "It is a pity we are losing ... a strong partner," adding: "It's painful when President Trump chooses one side, not our side."

Ukraine's partners did not share intelligence about five ballistic missiles heading for Kyiv on October 13, Zelenskyy said, without naming the US. The missiles struck Kyiv's Thermal Power Plant number 4, causing power outages. On October 14 Russia struck 30 energy targets across 19 regions, launching 850 drones and 39 missiles in 24 hours, despite Trump declaring an energy ceasefire on October 11.

Satellite limits

Kyiv also reported restricted use of SpaceX's satellite navigation services. Starshield, the military element of the Starlink network, capped Ukraine's use at 160 km/h (100mph), so Ukraine lost sight of interceptors above that speed and struggled to stop Russian jet-powered Geran-4 drones, which exceed 500 km/h (310mph). Zelenskyy said six in 10 Russian drones are now jet-powered. Elon Musk said Starshield is owned and controlled by the US government, with limits decided by the US military and ultimately the president. Ukraine's defence ministry said services began returning to normal on October 15.

Strike data from Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces showed strikes fell from a daily average of 2,300 to 1,678 on October 14 and 1,053 on October 15. The US had also stopped sharing intelligence with Ukraine in March, helping Russia reclaim its Kursk region.

Ukraine honoured Trump's energy ceasefire for three days before resuming strikes on Russian refineries on October 15. It hit an explosives and rocket fuel facility in Nizhny Novgorod and a plant making missile fuel additives in the Tver region, destroyed four Sukhoi fighters and damaged two at the Borisoglebsk airfield in Voronezh, and targeted Yandex data centres in Sasovo, Kaluga and Vladimir plus one owned by Sberbank.

Source: Al Jazeera.