Here is how things stand on Thursday, October 16, 2025:
Fighting
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Russia has launched a barrage of more than 300 drones and 37 missiles to target infrastructure, including energy-related infrastructure, sparking outages in eight regions, according to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the head of the gas company Naftogaz. Russia’s defence ministry has confirmed the attack, according to IFAX news agency.
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The Russian Ministry of Defence has announced that its troops had pushed Ukrainian forces out of two settlements of Oleksiivka in Dnipropetrovsk region and Novopavlivka in Donetsk region.
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The Ukrainian energy ministry has said the country’s power infrastructure has been hit with drones, knocking out electricity supplies in several areas including in the central Dnipropetrovsk region.
Weapons and military
- Kyiv will need up to $20bn in military aid next year from NATO countries, Ukrainian Defence Minister Denys Shmyhal said. The aid will help Ukraine build 10 billion drones in 2026, according to the Reuters news agency.
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German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius has announced that Berlin will finance a US weapons package for Ukraine amounting to $500m, as Western allies seek to fortify Kyiv’s defences in the ongoing war with Russia. Speaking at a meeting in Brussels, Pistorius said the package includes air defence systems as well as Patriot missiles, among others.
- Russia’s Federal Security Service chief said that Moscow has no doubt about NATO’s security services’ involvement in incidents with alleged Russian drones over EU territory, RIA cited him as saying. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen proposed a “drone wall” after about 20 Russian drones allegedly entered the airspace of EU and NATO member Poland last month.
Politics and diplomacy
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The US and its allies would “impose costs on Russia for its continued aggression” if the war in Ukraine does not come to an end soon, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth declared during a meeting at the NATO headquarters.
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Ukraine’s Zelenskyy has appointed Serhiy Lysak as the mayor of the Black Sea port city Odesa, a day after revoking the citizenship of the former mayor, Gennadiy Trukhanov, prompting his automatic dismissal. Trulkhanov allegedly holds a Russian passport, a claim that he denies.
Energy and economy
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Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has rejected US President Donald Trump’s warning of a collapse of the Russian economy, saying Moscow has a “sufficient and considerable margin of safety” and was strong enough to allow President Vladimir Putin to achieve his goals.
- EU Economy Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis told the AFP news agency that the bloc will urge G7 partners to consider tapping immobilised Russian assets in aiding Ukraine, as finance ministers of the group meet in Washington this week.
- Repairs are set to begin “soon” to restore the power supply to Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, according to Rafael Grossi, head of the UN’s nuclear watchdog IAEA. The site has been under the control of Russia since shortly after its invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and it has been cut off from the Ukraine grid since September 23.
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The price of crude oil has risen 1 percent following US President Donald Trump’s announcement that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised that his country would stop its purchase of oil from Russia. According to Brent crude futures, the price rose 54 cents, or 0.87 percent, to $62.45 a barrel as of 04:30 GMT on Thursday, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures climbed 57 cents, or 0.98 percent, to $58.84.
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As part of the US effort to put more pressure on Russia, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also told Japanese Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato that the Trump administration expects Japan to stop importing Russian energy.
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The International Monetary Fund has announced that the head of the global lending institution, Kristalina Georgieva, will be visiting Ukraine, although the exact timing is still unclear. Georgieva’s visit comes as Ukraine seeks a new loan package amid the ongoing war. Based on the current deal, Ukraine has already received $10.6bn of the $15.5bn loan from the IMF.
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address that he had discussed by phone with Greece’s Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis the possibility of the US supplying natural gas to Ukraine.
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Ukraine’s Energy Ministry has announced that it is introducing emergency power cuts in all but two regions following the recent Russian attacks on its energy infrastructure. Earlier, Defence Minister Denys Shmyhal warned that Ukraine is facing a “very tough, very difficult winter” due to the damage to its energy production.
