State of the war, 8 October 2026

224 combat clashes were recorded on 7 October. Most attacks were in the Kostiantynivka direction (24, with two more battles ongoing at the time of the report), then Pokrovsk (16), Huliaipole (14), South Slobozhanskyi (12, all repelled) and Lyman (4); 2 more attempts in the Kupiansk direction and 1 each in the Oleksandrivka, Sloviansk and Orikhiv directions. russia carried out 74 airstrikes, dropped 223 KABs and used 8,997 kamikaze drones. The list of directions is incomplete: the named directions account for only about 75 of the 224 clashes, so the rest are not broken down in the retellings of the report.

Ukraine’s General Staff reports russian losses for 7–8 October: 1,830 personnel, 3 tanks, 4 armoured vehicles, 47 artillery systems, 2 MLRS, 2 air-defence systems, 12 unmanned ground vehicles, 1,702 operational-tactical UAVs, 667 vehicles. Total ~1,547,780 personnel. The General Staff’s own data are “being clarified”; there is no independent confirmation.

On the night of 8 October russia attacked with 142 strike drones (including 82 jet-powered Shaheds, Gerberas and Parodiya decoy drones). By 09:30, 126 had been neutralised; hits were recorded at 7 locations and debris fell at 4 more. The drones came from the directions of Oryol, Kursk, Shatalovo, occupied Donetsk region and Crimea. The Air Force report does not mention missiles; some drones were still in the air at the time of the report.

The toll of the combined strike of 6–7 October has risen: according to Zelensky in his evening address on 7.10, 25 people were killed and almost 100 injured. In Pryluky in Chernihiv region, where a Kh-101 missile hit an apartment building, 19 were killed, five of them children. On the morning of 7.10 the local authorities gave only two dead in Pryluky — the figures were being updated.

On the morning of 8 October air-raid alerts sounded several times in Kyiv; the last began at 09:14 due to a drone threat, and an explosion was heard shortly afterwards. According to Mayor Vitali Klitschko, drone debris fell on open ground in Holosiivskyi district; no casualties had been reported as of 09:48.

unverifiedNight of 8 October: at the time of the issue (≈10:00) no official Ukrainian confirmation of new strikes on russian territory (Ukraine’s General Staff, SBU, Unmanned Systems Forces) had been found; the General Staff usually reports later in the day. No new General Staff “Results of the strike on …” reports for the past day were found either — the latest (the Samara pumping station, the Astrakhan gas plant) came out on 7.10 and were in yesterday’s issue. According to ISW, Zelensky said on 7.10 that two oil facilities and a training ground in Perm krai, Samara and Astrakhan regions and targets in the Black Sea had been hit; the Perm facility has not been officially named. The occupation energy company Krymenergo reported power cuts in a number of settlements in western and central Crimea after the night attack — an indirect sign of consequences, without naming a facility.

✈️📏 160 km from Ukrainian-held territory ≈Seshcha airfield (Bryansk region). Ukraine’s General Staff reported that on 6 October and on the night of 7 October the Defence Forces hit Seshcha military airfield; the extent of the damage is being clarified. In the same report: an EW station near Grinyovo and a radar station near Yolonka in Bryansk region, as well as UAV control points, command and observation posts and depots (including a fuel and lubricants depot near Kondriuche in occupied Luhansk region). The local authorities reported nothing about the consequences at the airfield — the hit is neither confirmed nor denied by the russians.

local authorities silentLocal authorities (Bryansk region authorities, 6–7.10): no statements about Seshcha airfield, the EW station or the radar for these dates were found; general reports of drones “shot down” over the region were not considered here.

🚢unverified📏 315 km from Ukrainian-held territory ≈Port of Sochi (Krasnodar krai), night of 6.10. According to ISW, video from 6 October shows a fire on a russian oil tanker in the port of Sochi after a probable Ukrainian strike. The russian authorities reported an attack by uncrewed boats on a Liberian-flagged oil tanker off the Black Sea coast; the sources do not say whether it is the same tanker. No official Ukrainian statement on this strike was found.

local authorities: indirectLocal authorities (russian authorities (as retold by ISW), 6–7.10): acknowledged an attack by uncrewed boats on a Liberian-flagged tanker off the Black Sea coast; the port of Sochi and a fire on a tanker there were not named.

💥unverified📏 535 km from Ukrainian-held territory ≈Night of 8 October, Ryazan region (Sasovo district): after a drone attack the roof of an enterprise caught fire and windows were blown out in several private houses; according to preliminary data, no one was hurt. The authorities did not name the enterprise, and the Ukrainian side did not comment on the strike. The local authorities effectively acknowledged a fire at an enterprise, but without naming the facility.

local authorities: indirectLocal authorities (Ryazan region governor Pavel Malkov, 8.10, before 09:37): reported a roof fire at an enterprise in Sasovo district and broken windows in houses, no casualties; did not name the enterprise or link the two drones shot down to this site.

💥unverified📏 195 km from Ukrainian-held territory ≈Night of 8 October, Krasnodar: debris from a downed drone, according to the local emergency headquarters, fell on an enterprise and damaged a building, causing a fire that was quickly extinguished; no one was hurt. The enterprise was not named, and the Ukrainian side did not comment on the strike.

local authorities: indirectLocal authorities (Krasnodar krai emergency headquarters, 8.10, before 09:13): acknowledged drone debris falling on an enterprise, damage to a building and a fire; did not name the site, no casualties.

ISW (assessment for 7 October) notes that russia uses Geran-type jet drones to concentrate cruise and ballistic missile strikes on fewer targets. By its assessment, the night attack of 6–7 October affected the north, east and west of Ukraine; ISW cites at least 128 civilians killed and injured (135 in the summary; the figures in the text differ) and considers Western air defence, including Patriot, critically important.

On the ground ISW records limited russian offensive operations in western Zaporizhzhia region aimed, in the institute’s assessment, at enveloping Orikhiv, without advances; meanwhile Ukrainian forces recently advanced east of Oleksandrivka in Dnipropetrovsk region. ISW also reports that Rosatom has taken full ownership of the logistics operator Delo Group.

📞🦠russia. On 7 October in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Trump told reporters he has a call with Putin scheduled over a suspected plague case at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute: the conversation is “very soon”, and “very deep discussions” are under way. According to the material found, Ukraine was not mentioned in these remarks. Context: the official cause of death of the 28-year-old researcher is “pneumonia of unknown aetiology”, the WHO assesses the risk outside russia as “very low”, and Peskov, as retold by the BBC, says the presidents’ conversation “has not been specifically agreed”.

“I have a call set up. Today is his birthday.”

🕊️ Ukraine. The material found contains no new statements by Trump on the terms for ending the war, sanctions or arms supplies over the past day. The latest words found are that he is “solving” the war against Ukraine and it will end “pretty soon” (6.10, Baltimore, see yesterday’s issue).

🛢️⛽ Iran. According to Fox News, on 6 October in Maryland Trump again said the US is “doing extremely well” and that the question of ending the war will be settled “nicely or not so nicely”; in his words, the war should end shortly before or after the November midterm elections. Meanwhile Iranian President Pezeshkian called talks with the US “pointless”, Qatar says mediation continues, and Brent crude cost about $101.5 a barrel on 7.10 📈.

“the nice way or the not-so-nice way”

😅🎂light noteLight note of the day. Asked about the plague in Siberia on 7 October in the Oval Office, Trump said he has a call scheduled, recalled that “today is his birthday” and asked reporters whether they were going to celebrate it — and then answered himself that he simply has a call scheduled.

“Are you gonna celebrate his birthday? No, I have a call set up.”