Home › Opinion › What did the first week of October 2025 show?
What did the first week of October 2025 show?
Summary
A look back at the reports from 1 to 5 October 2025 that framed the situation on 7 October, from missile salvos on Lviv to a power cut at Chernobyl.
What was the picture on 7 October 2025, as the war entered another autumn? The reports from the preceding days pointed to sustained Russian strikes on civilians and infrastructure, alongside Ukrainian action against targets linked to Russia.
Strikes on cities and trains
On 5 October, an overnight Russian attack on Ukraine involved 53 ballistic and cruise missiles and 496 drones. At least five people were killed in Lviv.
On 4 October, Russian drones struck two passenger trains at a rail station in Shostka, Sumy Oblast. One person was killed and at least 30 were injured.
On 3 October, a Russian drone strike in Donetsk Oblast killed the French journalist Antoni Lallican and injured the photographer Hryhoriy Ivanchenko.
Energy infrastructure
On 1 October, Ukraine's energy ministry declared an emergency situation at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. The New Safe Confinement structure, designed to stop radioactive material spreading into the environment, lost power for three hours. The cause was a Russian drone strike on an energy facility in nearby Slavutych, Kyiv Oblast.
Action against Russian targets
On 1 October, Volodymyr Leontiev, the former Russia-installed mayor of Nova Kakhovka, was killed in a Ukrainian drone strike.
On 4 October, a Russian Buyan-class corvette was allegedly attacked near Lake Onega in Karelia, Russia. The ship reportedly sustained damage to the right side of its power plant compartment.
Sanctions and a natural disaster
On 1 October, the U.S. Department of the Treasury postponed sanctions on the Serbian oil company Naftna Industrija Srbije until 8 October 2025. Russian state-owned companies Gazprom and Gazprom Neft hold a majority of its shares. The deadline fell the day after the date covered here.
Separately, on 1 October, nine people died in a flood caused by a downpour in Odesa.
Taken together, the reports from those days show a war fought on several fronts: against cities far from the front line, against rail and energy infrastructure, and against targets inside Russia and in occupied areas.
