Malazan Empire: Werthead - Viewing Profile - Malazan Empire

Despite claiming it has wrapped up, the Ukrainians are continuing Operation Vivaldi, expanding its operations along the area's northern front and mopping up Russian positions near the Oskil River.

The Russian Saratov Refinery has been hit again and suffered even more damage. The facility has been hit so many times now its amazing there's anything left.

Ukrainian Hornet drones are continuing their sustained logistics interception operations, destroying hundreds of supply vehicles behind the front at significant depth. One video shows a Russian driver outside a vehicle spotting the drone and running back into the cab, which seemed to prove extraordinarily unwise.

Russia may have fired up to 36 ballistic missiles at targets in Ukraine in one volley, which is unusually high.

Dangers to Russian jets have seen Russia install cruise missile launchers on helicopters instead. Only smaller cruise missiles like the S8000 Banderol can be launched this way so far.

Some early discussions suggest bipartisan support in Congress for Ukraine will enable some measures to override the Presidential override, with Trump's approval no longer necessary for Republicans to court.

Russian missile attacks have almost shut down Ukraine's steel industry, with several blast furnaces destroyed and several others shut down. Getting them operational again will be a major operation.

Ukrainian pilots start training on the Dessault Rafale next month, though the first aircraft delivery is not expected until 2028.

Russia and Iran are apparently negotiating a deal to supply Iran with the most advanced S-400 anti-air missile systems. Trump oddly silent on the deal. 

Ukraine has reportedly (by some of the more enthusiastic OSINT sources, so maybe optimistic) made a sweeping advance in the southern Zaporizhzhia sector, extending the grey zone back into Russian lines by 1-2km across a front multiple kilometres wide. Not a success on the scale of the recent Lyman counteroffensive, but interesting. Not a major strategic breakthrough yet.

British intelligence assessing that Russia lost 11 aircraft in October 2026 alone, a huge step-up from almost any previous month of the conflict, with Russia losing over 115 aircraft since the start of the conflict. The October losses include six Su-34s and an Su-57.

Melania Trump is hosting both Ukrainian and Russian delegations at the White House to discuss the successful Oleshky operation and the possibility of further humanitarian operations on the front.

One of Russia's leading newspapers has stated that there is now a limited window for the Kremlin to conclude a deal with Trump, suggesting a ceasefire advantageous to Russia may not be possible to achieve after 1 January 2027 when the new Congress begins sitting. There seems to be a message here to Putin that he needs to take a good deal ASAP or risk not being able to do a deal at all until it's too late for Russia. A startling undertone in a state-approved newspaper.

Ten Russian regions have announced they cutting the war benefits paid to the families of those killed in Ukraine, citing budget constraints. Families have asked the Kremlin to intervene to provide more funding.

Ukraine conducted a very concentrated attack on the Russian city on Ryazan, with over 100 drones targeting the refinery and surrounding defences. The result was a fire that burned for multiple hours into the following morning.

Interesting reporting about the battle for Tetkino, a bloody and gruelling engagement that has been dragging on for the better part of two years. This has been underreported, all the more remarkable as Tetkino is on Russian soil. It's right on the border between Ukraine and Kursk Oblast, and the town has been effectively levelled. The reason for the fighting is that the geography favours a Ukrainian offensive effort, and it forestalls a Russian invasion attempt; Russian forces trying to establish a buffer along the border have instead been fed into Tetkino and destroyed. Some Russian positions in Tetkino have been cut off from resupply and, unable to surrender without their own side hitting them, at least two Russian troops have literally starved to death.

Ukraine hitting multiple Russian refineries, clearly the energy truce (which Russia never followed) is over.

Interesting seeing a Ukrainian official on Russian-occupied soil talking to Russian counterparts for the first time since February 2022. Some criticism of that but the humanitarian mission actually seems to be working. The evacuated residents have arrived in Belarus, from where they are (supposedly) to go to Ukraine, so hopefully that actually happens.

Moscow under a substantial drone attack, all the airports are closed and something is burning near one of the main airports.

Oleshky evacuees arriving in Kyiv. The truce and the ceasefire seemed to hold, the first of its kind to do so.

Ukrainian cruise missiles have been hitting targets more than 600km inside Russian territories, including airfields. Russian commentators now urging that aircraft be moved even further back from Ukraine's borders, which of course makes the time they spend near Ukraine less and less.

The Novokuybyshevsk refinery in Russia took multiple hits and the whole thing is now on fire. The shots look pretty apocalyptic.

Ukraine hit the Marinovka Airfield, Volgograd today, destroying two Su-34s, reducing Russia's on-paper fleet to 138. Due to shortages of spare parts and some planes stripped to repair others, combat-effective numbers are believed to be noticeably lower. 

Russian casualties for October 2026 are anticipated to exceed 50,000 this month, the highest one-month figure since the start of the invasion.

Automated turrets in Kyiv have claimed their 50th shoot-down since their introduction a couple of months ago.