Ukraine war latest: Russian forces reportedly capture most of Vuhledar, Kyiv doesn’t comment

Key developments on Oct. 1:
Russian troops have entered the embattled town of Vuhledar in Donetsk Oblast, Governor Vadym Filashkin said on Oct. 1, adding that fighting is ongoing.
Speaking on national television, Filashkin described the situation as “extremely difficult,” adding: “The enemy has already almost reached the center of the town.”
“The fighting is going on within the town, so it is almost impossible to bring in humanitarian aid.”
Later in the day, videos emerged on social media showing Russian soldiers flying the country’s flag on the roof of an apartment building in the town.
Geolocated to the northern streets of Vuhledar’s small and dense urban area, the videos suggest that a complete Ukrainian withdrawal from the town is highly likely.
A total of 107 civilians remain in Vuhledar, though all children have been evacuated, he added.
Ukraine’s 72nd Mechanized Brigade has defended Vuhledar for nearly two years, as Russian forces have been trying to capture the town since the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022.
According to the crowd-sourced monitoring website DeepState on Oct. 1, Russian soldiers entered Vuhledar from the west and south.
In recent days, Russian forces advanced northeast of Vuhledar and on the western outskirts of the town, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reported on Sept. 30, citing geolocated footage.
The front-line town lies about 50 kilometers (30 miles) southwest of occupied Donetsk and roughly 40 kilometers (25 miles) east of the administrative border with Zaporizhzhia Oblast.
Vuhledar has withstood numerous attacks since the outbreak of the full-scale war in 2022 and has become key to Ukrainian defenses in the southern part of Donetsk Oblast.
Vuhledar is also the last fortified town before the village of Velyka Novosilka and the entire southern part of Donetsk Oblast that Ukraine controls.
Russian troops are trying to seize new positions in the Zaporizhzhia sector to improve their tactical position, Ukrainian military’s Southern Command spokesperson Vladyslav Voloshyn told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) on Oct. 1.
Voloshyn said there were indications that Russian forces were gathering troops near the towns of Pryiutne and Robotyne in order to attack Ukrainian positions.
“There are certain signs that (the enemy) is taking such steps: concentrating personnel and moving them to the front line, training these assault groups, accumulating ammunition,” he said.
Following Kyiv’s ongoing incursion into Kursk Oblast, Russia reportedly began moving its troops from Ukraine’s south and east to the Russian region, but Voloshyn said the number of troops in the Zaporizhzhia sector remained around the same.
Russia has only redeployed certain units and specialists to the Kursk direction and is increasing the number of personnel by 2,000-3,000 soldiers per week to replenish losses, Voloshyn said.
According to Voloshyn, Russia does not have enough troops to launch a large-scale offensive.
“No such groups have been spotted so far. Therefore, we can only say that the enemy is preparing for (smaller) assaults,” Voloshyn said.
In recent days, Moscow’s troops have intensified attacks against Zaporizhzhia, targeting its civilian infrastructure.
Ukraine can use domestically-produced weapons to hit targets inside Russia, and does not need U.S. permission to do so, U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said at a briefing on Sept. 30.
Kyiv has repeatedly promised it would not attack Russian territory with long-range weapons provided by Western allies without official approval. In turn, Ukraine has carried out successful attacks on targets inside Russia with homemade arms, namely long-range drones.
Over the past year, Ukraine has destroyed or damaged over 200 military facilities in Russia using “drone swarm” technology, Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said last month.
According to Miller, Kyiv can use “many” domestically-made weapons, and has “an enormous amount of material to defend itself.”
Ukraine is also hoping for permission to use Western-supplied long-range missiles that it already possesses to strike military targets located deep inside Russian territory.
Anticipation had been high last month ahead of meetings between U.S. President Joe Biden and U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer in Washington, but no announcement on a decision was made.
When asked why Washington could not allow Ukraine to use U.S.-supplied weapons to strike back, the spokesperson said that the White House considers all capabilities, tactics and support for Ukraine comprehensively.
“When we approve any new weapon system or any new tactic, we look at how it’s going to affect the entire battlefield and Ukraine’s entire strategy.  And that’s what we’ll continue to do,” he added.
“And if you look at the weapons we’ve provided them, we’ve made it very clear that they can use them to retaliate against Russian targets across the border that are conducting attacks.
“We are always looking to see if there are additional tools we can provide them.”
In late August, Umerov submitted to senior U.S. officials a list of targets that Ukraine wants to hit with U.S.-supplied long-range ATACMS missiles in Russia, which included airfields used by the Russian army to launch strikes against population centers across Ukraine.
Russian forces appear to have shot 16 Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) in Donetsk Oblast, the largest recorded case of mass execution of surrendered soldiers on the battlefield, Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office said on Oct. 1.
Evidence of the execution appeared on social media earlier on Oct. 1. The POWs were reportedly killed after surrendering on the front line near Pokrovsk.
The Prosecutor General’s Office said it was verifying the material published online and investigating the circumstances around the case.
The execution of POWs is a “cynical and gross violation of the Geneva Conventions,” the Prosecutor General’s Office said.
“This is the most massive known case of execution of Ukrainian POWs on the front line,” Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin said.
“The murders and torture of prisoners are not an accident, but a purposeful policy of the Russian military and political leadership,” he added.
In early September, Russian forces executed three Ukrainian POWs near Toretsk in Donetsk Oblast. The Prosecutor General’s Office said earlier this year that it was investigating more than 50 cases of execution of Ukrainian POWs.
Russian forces attacked a substation connected to the occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (ZNPP), cutting off a power line to the facility, Ukraine’s Energy Ministry said on Oct. 1.
The attack put the plant “on the verge” of a blackout again, the ministry said in a statement, adding work was underway to restore full power.
The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, the largest nuclear plant in Europe, has been under Russian occupation since March 2022. Throughout its occupation, the plant has been repeatedly disconnected from the Ukrainian power grid due to Russian attacks on the country’s energy infrastructure.
“We demand to immediately implement the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) resolution and return the occupied nuclear power plant under Ukraine’s control. The safe operation of Zaporizhzhia NPP is possible only under Ukraine’s control,” Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko said.
The plant has already experienced eight complete blackouts, the state nuclear energy company Energoatom said.
Ukraine’s National Resistance Center reported on Sept. 15 that Russian forces continued to use the territory of the occupied power plant to deploy military personnel and store ammunition and explosives and criticized the IAEA for supposedly ignoring the fact.
President Volodymyr Zelensky told the U.N. Security Council on Sept. 24 that Russia was preparing to target three Ukrainian nuclear power plants.
He did not specify which stations are under threat, but said Kyiv had evidence and “proof” of Russia’s plans.
There are three operating nuclear power plants on the Ukrainian-held territory — Rivne and Khmelnytskyi NPPs in the country’s west, and Pivdennoukrainsk NPP in the south. Russia’s regular attacks put their safety in jeopardy by cutting off power to the units.