Ukraine’s military says Russian casualties reached 49,040 in October – a new monthly record. The General Staff’s estimate of dead and incapacitated Russian troops, as of October 28, comes close to fulfilling Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s goal set in January of at least 50,000 enemy casualties a month by the end of 2026. Zelenskyy had said that was “a level of destruction of the occupier at which Russian losses exceed the number of reinforcements they can send.” The previous monthly high of 46,230 was set in September, with both records marking a sharp increase in reported Russian dead and wounded since the summer.
Ukrainian Unmanned Systems Forces commander Robert Brovdi called it a “massive industrial slaughter”. Al Jazeera cannot independently verify casualty estimates by either side. Ukraine’s military says it has video documentation of each strike.
Aerial drones are responsible for most of the casualties Ukraine inflicts, and Ukrainian Defence Minister Yevhenii Khmara this week asked his European allies for funding to double drone production next year to about 16 million units. The goal, he said, was “to scale up joint production of Ukrainian drones in other countries”. Zelenskyy has said Ukraine could even triple drone production given enough money.
Ukraine has decided that mass is the key to winning the war against Russia in terms of firepower. The Netherlands said it would provide 500 million euros ($560m) in immediate additional military aid and 1.2 billion euros ($1.34bn) in additional financing. UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham upped Britain’s commitments by 10 billion pounds ($13.4bn) over three years, of which 3 billion pounds ($4bn) will be for weapons.
Ukraine announced its Starlink satellite navigation services were back to normal on October 24. On October 14, Ukraine had reported it was losing control of its drones above about 150km/h (100mph), making it difficult to mount defence against Russian jet-powered drones travelling above 500km/h. After initially denying involvement, Starlink owner Elon Musk said on October 24 that he had “closed a loophole” that had allowed Ukraine to use Starlink offensively.
But Ukraine appeared to be thinking beyond Starlink and its Pentagon-owned military-grade service, Starshield. On October 22, Ukraine and Finland announced they were jointly developing an independent sovereign military satellite system. Poland-based ICEYE and Finnish Nokia said they were partnering to realise the system, which would begin to launch satellites in 2028.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
