While the UK’s economic chaos and disruption in Westminster has been dominating headlines, the war in the Ukraine is about to enter its eighth month.
Here are some of the major stories from Russia’s invasion of its European neighbour over the last week which you may have missed.
1. Russia goes after Ukrainian power stations
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy claimed on Tuesday that the wave of Russian air strikes which started last week have prompted “massive blackouts”.
Moscow has been targeting power plants across Ukraine, and now has wiped out around 30% of the stations.
Zelenskyy dubbed it a “terrorist” attack, and claimed there is “no space left for negotiations” with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin.
The Ministry of Defence also shared in an update on Tuesday: “It is highly likely that a key objective of this strike campaign is to cause widespread damage to Ukraine’s energy distribution network.”
Russia began launching drones (potentially from Iran) and missile strikes across Ukraine last week, even hitting the capital of Kyiv which had not been attacked since the early days of the war in February.
The sudden offensive came after the Kremlin accused Ukraine of attacking the Kerch bridge earlier in October, which connected Russian-occupied Crimea to Russia.
Putin did briefly promise to end the strikes last week, but they resumed again on Monday October 17.
2. Russia grapples with attacks beyond the frontline
A pro-Russia official from Donetsk – an occupied region of Ukraine – claimed on Sunday that the area was under attack.
Writing on Telegram, Donetsk’s mayor Alexey Kulemzin said: “There was a direct hit by enemy ordnance.”
Ukraine has not yet taken responsibility for the attack.
It also came after two more blows for Moscow’s war efforts, after 11 people were killed when shooters opened fire at a Russian military training centre, according to Russia state news agency Tass. The two attackers were found to have come from the Commonwealth of Independent States (post-Soviet regions).
Zelenskyy also claimed on Saturday that more than 65,000 Russian soldiers had been killed in the war so far.
Meanwhile, mobilisation is set to be phased out in the next two weeks after 220,000 reservists were recruited.
3. Russian expert points to Elon Musk
A former National Security Council analyst, Fiona Hill, told Politico on Monday that Putin was using the world’s richest person to broadcast his terms for ending the Ukraine war.
She alleged: “Putin plays the egos of big men, gives them a sense that they can play a role. But in reality, they’re just direct transmitters of messages from Vladimir Putin.”
It comes after Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, caused Twitter controversy by suggesting on Twitter that the sham referendums in the four occupied areas of Ukraine are re-run under the UN’s supervision. He also suggested formally declaring Crimea as part of Russia, even though Putin illegally annexed it in 2014.
Musk has denied speaking to Putin.
4. ‘We’re all on Russia’s kill list’
Ukrainian MP, Lesia Vasylenko, told the Financial Times that all MP are on Moscow’s “kill list”, and have known this “since day one” – along with their families.
She also warned that global famine was a real risk to many countries while the war was ongoing because Ukraine exports so much grain.
However, Vasylenko also claimed the war was not going to end until the West “physically push Russia out of the territory of Ukraine.”
She also called for sanctions to continue, until war crimes and crimes against Ukraine are brought to justice.
She said this includes reparations, dating back to the 2014 annexation of Russia.
The Ukrainian MP also claimed that this is not about revenge for all of the Ukrainian civilians and soldiers who have already died in the war, about “making sure there is a non-repetition of aggression from Russia” and a removal of all Putin’s legislation from Russia.
5. First pictures of attacked Nord Stream pipeline released
Footage of the damaged Nord Stream 1 pipeline – connecting Russia’s energy supplies to Europe – were released on Tuesday.
The attacks were perceived as a sign of the war moving westwards, with pundits believing Moscow had targeted Europe for helping Ukraine throughout the war – especially as two of the four attacks were in Danish and Swedish waters.
However, Moscow has tried to blame the West for the attack by claiming the US would benefit by weakening Europe’s gas supplies – an allegation the US denies. Still, Russia has repeatedly said the explosions were being set up to blame Moscow.
Both Nord Stream 1 and 2 were damaged by explosions under the Baltic Sea last month, triggering a large amount of methane to be released int the air.
It came after Russia had already cut off gas supplies to Europe.
The fresh footage from the ongoing Danish and Swedish investigations shows 50 metres of pipe destroyed.