Helsinki

A Russian attack on an energy facility in Kyiv on 30 Oct cut electricity for four districts, affecting tens of thousands of residents, with no injuries reported. The strike follows a series of recent attacks, including a drone hit on a Kharkiv district that injured five people on 27 Oct and a deadly drone strike on a Dnipro railway platform on 29 Oct that killed 14. Ukraine continues to seek additional air‑defence support as the conflict spreads across multiple cities.

The third Russia‑Africa Summit opened in Moscow on 28 Oct, bringing delegations from 48 African countries, including 22 heads of state. President Vladimir Putin declared Russia Africa's premier partner and accused Western powers of exploiting the continent’s resources. The two‑day event features one‑on‑one talks on trade, security, arms deals and grain shipments. African leaders such as Tunisian Prime Minister Sarra Zaafrani Zenzri arrived with their foreign ministers, while Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el‑Sisi met Putin on the sidelines to discuss cooperation on the El Dabaa nuclear plant.

A US-brokered local ceasefire in Oleshky, a Russian-occupied city in Ukraine's Kherson region, has held for three days with no reported breaches, officials in Kyiv and Moscow say. The truce began on 27 Oct and is scheduled to run until 1 Nov. It is meant to let humanitarian aid reach roughly 2,000 remaining residents, who have faced food, water and medicine shortages for months, and to allow those wishing to leave to evacuate. Military units have cleared landmines during the pause, and aid is expected to arrive on Friday.