Russian forces shot down 36 Ukrainian drones overnight from Saturday to Sunday over the Black Sea and the Crimean peninsula, the Russian Defense Ministry announced. “On the night of October 29, an attempt by the Kiev regime to carry out a terrorist attack using aerial-type drones on the territory of the Russian Federation was stopped,” the ministry said on Telegram. “The existing air defense systems destroyed 36 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles over the Black Sea and the northwestern part of the Crimean peninsula,” he added.
Ukrainian authorities did not immediately react. But Ukrainian assaults have increased in recent months, against the backdrop of a slow counter-offensive started by kyiv at the beginning of June. Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014, is regularly targeted because it is the rear base of Russia’s Black Sea fleet and a key supply route for Russian forces occupying southern and eastern Ukraine. .
32 Russian guided bombs hit Kherson Oblast
According to The Kyiv Independent, relaying the speech of Ukrainian army spokesperson Natalia Humeniuk, 32 Russian guided bombs were dropped on the Kherson oblast this Sunday, October 29, in the part of the region controlled by Ukraine. This attack is said to have caused casualties, although the number is currently unknown.
These guided bombs are particularly formidable for avoiding enemy anti-aircraft missile systems. According to the Ukrainian military, the Russian military has also sent drones to try to bypass regional air defenses and find loopholes that they can exploit in the future. In particular, Ukraine expects a record number of Russian drone attacks during the winter.
China absent from Malta peace talks
Present during talks on the war in Ukraine organized this summer in Jeddah, China, which refuses to condemn the Russian invasion, did not send a delegation to Malta, according to the European Union official. This third session of discussions supported by Ukraine began on Saturday with representatives from more than 60 countries, in the absence of Russia which denounces “a profoundly anti-Russian event”.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke in the first of two days of closed-door talks, aimed at building support for his 10-point plan to end the war sparked by Russia’s February 2022 invasion In a message posted on social networks, he welcomed the participation of diplomatic advisers from 66 countries in the meeting which comes after those in Jeddah and Copenhagen this summer. Proof according to him that the Ukrainian peace plan “has gradually become global”.
G7 concerned about trade restrictions from Russia and China
The G7 reiterated this Sunday its attachment to “free and fair” international trade, accusing Russia and China of hindering world trade, while expressing concern about the consequences of the war in the Middle East. Trade ministers from the main industrialized democracies, meeting this weekend in Osaka, western Japan, stressed “the fundamental need for fair competition in international trade relations” and the importance of a “system free and fair trade based on the rule of law.
They notably “deplored and condemned Russia’s destruction of Ukrainian grain export infrastructure”, after Moscow refused in July to renew the agreement which allowed Kiev to export its grains, crucial for world food security. , and bombed Ukraine’s grain and port infrastructure.