The Russian army reports the capture of a town in eastern Ukraine. A well-known Putin critic is dead. All information in the news blog.

11:20 p.m.: The Ukrainian port city of Odessa on the Black Sea reports new attacks with Russian ballistic missiles. A rocket hit a civilian ship, killing a 60-year-old Ukrainian, the military governor of the southern Ukrainian region of Odessa, Oleh Kiper, said on the social network Telegram. Five foreigners were injured. The ship sailed under the flag of the Pacific island state of Palau. According to the authorities, the target of the Russian attacks was again the port infrastructure.

The Ukrainian who was killed took care of the ship’s cargo for a private company, Kiper said. There were initially no details about the cargo itself or the identity of the injured foreigners.

According to authorities, a civilian ship was damaged in Russian drone attacks on the night of October 6th. While Ukraine emphasizes that these are civilian ships, the Russian Defense Ministry speaks of shelling military targets. Russia claims that the civilian ships were covertly transporting weapons for the war in Ukraine. There is no evidence of this.

11:05 p.m.: A Russian court on Monday ordered the arrest of two Italian journalists for reporting from the Ukrainian-controlled part of Russia’s Kursk region. A court in Kursk demanded the extradition to Russia and the arrest of Simone Traini and Stefania Battistini, who are currently outside Russia. The journalists from the Italian public broadcaster RAI are accused of illegally crossing the border from Ukraine to film a report in Kursk.

After crossing the border with Russia, Traini and Battistini traveled to the city of Sudja in a Ukrainian Armed Forces vehicle, the court told Telegram. The small Russian town is about ten kilometers from the border and is under Ukrainian control. Extradition is unlikely given current relations between Moscow and Rome.

The two journalists would be remanded in custody ahead of possible trial if extradited, the court added. The two Italians face up to five years in prison under criminal law.

5.30 p.m.: He is said to have joined the Ukrainian army – and was taken prisoner by Russia: Now a Moscow court has found an American guilty. Read more about this here.

4:38 p.m.: Ukrainian military intelligence says it has damaged a Russian mine-clearing ship. The ship is stationed in the Baltic Sea, the secret service announced on Telegram. He does not give a date for the deployment. The engine is damaged and the ship will remain under repair for a long time.

12:03 p.m.: According to information from Moscow, the Russian army has taken over another town in eastern Ukraine. The village of Hrodiwka near the logistically important city of Pokrovsk has been “liberated,” according to the Defense Ministry in Moscow. The place is about ten kilometers east of Pokrovsk – a rail and road transport hub through which supplies for Ukrainian troops pass.

Russia began its offensive against Ukraine in February 2022. After a series of setbacks in the first year, the Russian army gained ground in 2023 and continued to advance against the Ukrainian army in 2024, which is often short of personnel and armaments.

11:33 a.m.: According to the Russian Presidential Office, a hacker attack has been carried out on the state media group VGTRK. The attack is unprecedented, says Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. The group, which operates Russia’s main television channel as well as numerous regional TV and radio stations, is working hard to find out the circumstances and perpetrators of the attack. The media company itself also stated that its online service had been the target of a hacker attack. But the transmitters worked normally.

7.05 a.m.: According to the Defense Ministry, Russian air defense intercepted 21 Ukrainian drones during the night. Twelve were destroyed over Crimea and six over the Russian border region of Kursk, the ministry said on Telegram. The rest was started in the Russian oblasts of Belgorod, Bryansk and Voronezh.

6:52 a.m.: Russian opposition activist Ildar Dadin was killed in fighting in eastern Ukraine. The 42-year-old fought alongside the Ukrainian armed forces against Russian troops. A friend shared this on Sunday. Accordingly, Dadin died on Saturday. Several Russian media outlets are also reporting on this. There was initially no confirmation from Kyiv.