Five Russian missiles and drones crossed into Moldova and exploded on its territory on October 3, President Maia Sandu said, as Russia fired 157 drones at Ukraine overnight.

“Five Russian air attack vehicles, including Banderol missiles and drones, violated our airspace and exploded on our territory,” Sandu said, Militarnyi reported. Defence Minister Anatolie Nosatii said three were missiles and two were drones. Police said no one was hurt, though a drone set a vineyard alight at Crocmaz and blew out the windows of a nearby house.

Ukraine's Air Force said Russia launched 157 drones between 18:00 on October 2 and 09:00 on October 3, and that 131 were downed or suppressed, with hits at 12 locations and debris at five, Ukrinform reported. The attack was still under way when the figures were published. The Air Force's tally for the night of October 3-4 was not yet published at the time of writing.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Ukraine would step up strikes on Russian oil refineries in response to what he called President Vladimir Putin's “new doctrine”. “We have to respond on their energy. First of all, oil refiners,” he told Reuters in an interview, Ukrinform reported on October 3.

In Russia, the defence ministry said its air defences destroyed 244 Ukrainian drones between 08:00 and 20:00 Moscow time on October 3 over regions including Belgorod, Bryansk, Kaluga, Kursk, Moscow and Krasnodar, as well as Crimea and the Azov and Black seas, Interfax reported. The ministry's tally for the night of October 3-4 was not yet published at the time of writing, and the Russian side of last night is not yet fully reported.

Refinery strikes

Nationwide: no new strike on a Russian refinery was reported for October 3 or the night of October 3-4 at the time of writing. Neither Lukoil nor Russian officials have confirmed damage at the Volgograd refinery, which Ukraine's General Staff said its forces hit on the night of October 1-2, the Kyiv Independent reported.

Krasnodar region: no restart has been reported at the Ilsky refinery, which IntelliNews reported on September 30 had halted after the September 26 strike. Russian authorities have not confirmed the shutdown.

Nationwide: plants reported halted or cut in September account for about 121.6mn tonnes a year, or 37% of Russia's 327mn tonnes nameplate capacity, by IntelliNews' refinery ledger, and up to 159.2mn tonnes, or 49%, if earlier halts still hold. The Ilsky halt, which rests on Ukrainian sources, is not counted. Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said in early September that about 10% of Russian refining capacity was under repair.

Metal plants hit

No new strike on a Ukrainian metals plant was reported for October 3 or the night of October 3-4. Ukraine could stop making steel altogether in 2027 if its bombed mills stay idle, the Kyiv-based think tank GMK Center said in a forecast published on October 1, IntelliNews reported. It expects output to fall 39% this year to about 4.3mn tonnes, after Russian strikes in September idled about 90% of the country's steel capacity.

Oil depots, factories and military targets in Russia

Moscow: six drones flying at the capital were destroyed overnight on October 4 and emergency crews were working where debris fell, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said, Interfax reported. He gave no details of damage or casualties.

Tula region: 13 drones were destroyed overnight on October 4, with no damage to buildings or infrastructure and no casualties according to preliminary information, Governor Dmitry Milyaev said, Interfax reported.

Samara and Bryansk regions: Zelenskiy said on October 3 that Ukraine's long-range strikes, which he calls “sanctions”, had reached Samara region and Iskander launch positions in Bryansk region, Ukrinform reported. He did not name the sites or the weapons used.

Belgorod region: Ukraine's General Staff said its forces struck a command post near Novaya Tavolzhanka and a logistics warehouse near Voznesenivka on October 2 and early on October 3, Ukrinform reported. It gave no damage assessment.

Occupied Donetsk and Kherson regions: the General Staff said it also hit a drone launch, storage and preparation site near Donetsk, a river crossing near Novoocheretuvate and a repair facility near Hromivka, Ukrinform reported.

Ukraine under fire

Kyiv: UPDATE, October 3: two people were injured when Russia hit the North Bridge, one of them taken to hospital, and the road surface and the trolleybus overhead lines were damaged, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said, Ukrinform reported. Traffic was partly restored by the afternoon, with three lanes open towards the right bank and one in the other direction. Zelenskiy said a Shahed drone hit the bridge. That evening, drone debris fell on the roof of a high-rise in the Obolon district and started a fire, with no casualties, Klitschko said.

Kyiv region: UPDATE, night of October 2-3: the number injured in the Russian attack on Hostomel rose to four, including a child, and two warehouses in the Bucha district caught fire, the State Emergency Service said, Ukrinform reported.

Odesa region: a Russian attack on a Liberian-flagged cargo ship in a port in the region killed a crew member and injured three on October 3, and 13 crew were evacuated, the Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority said, Ukrinform reported. Neither the port nor the ship was named. Zelenskiy said a drone hit a ship in Chornomorsk the same day.

Odesa: a Russian attack on the city on the evening of October 3 damaged infrastructure, regional governor Serhii Lysak said, Ukrinform reported. No casualties were reported.

Kharkiv region: Russian attacks on Kharkiv and 13 settlements killed five people and injured 49 over the previous day, 42 of them in Kharkiv, including three children, regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said on October 3, Ukrinform reported. Russia used six guided bombs and several types of drones, damaging 23 houses in Kharkiv, an educational institution, office buildings and power lines.

Sumy: four Russian guided bombs hit buildings of civilian enterprises at two sites in the city's industrial zone on October 3, with no casualties according to preliminary information, regional governor Serhii Kryvosheyenko said, Ukrinform reported.

Kirovohrad region: a drone crashed onto a road in Haivoron during an air-raid alert on October 3, killing a man and injuring a woman, regional governor Andrii Raikovych said, Ukrinform reported.

Zaporizhzhia region: a series of drone attacks damaged transformers and disrupted the off-site power supply near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, the International Atomic Energy Agency said, the Kyiv Independent reported on October 3. The agency did not say who launched the drones.

Data centres, telecoms, media and R&D

No new strike on a data centre, telecoms operator, broadcaster or research site in Ukraine was found for October 3 or the night of October 3-4 at the time of writing.

Weapons and technology

Funding has been secured for Ukraine's drone purchases in early 2027 after talks in Brussels, Zelenskiy told Reuters, Ukrinform reported. He said a $27bn gap in the defence budget would be closed by reallocating Ukraine's own spending, bilateral aid and drawing early on the €90bn of EU loans planned for next year.

Russia is developing a jet-powered version of its Garpiya strike drone, launched from a KamAZ truck, Militarnyi reported on October 3, citing NTV footage and a Russian military Telegram channel. It said the drone is made by the Kupol plant in Izhevsk in small numbers compared with the jet-powered Geran built at Alabuga.

Arson and sabotage in the EU and the UK

Moldova: explosions were reported near ten localities on October 3, including Crocmaz, Causeni, Anenii Noi and Hincesti, and debris was found near Causeni and Dubovca, Militarnyi reported. Moldova's defence ministry linked the incident to Russia's massive strikes on Ukraine, Ukrinform reported. It came days after a drone marked “Geran-4” exploded near Branesti, less than 50km from Chisinau, IntelliNews reported.

Lithuania: an unidentified object entered Lithuanian airspace from Belarus on the morning of October 3 and was tracked near Vilnius and towards Jonava, prompting a shelter alert, the temporary closure of Vilnius airport and the scrambling of Nato jets, before it vanished from radar, Militarnyi reported. “It wasn't necessarily a drone,” said Vilmantas Vitkauskas, head of threat management and crisis prevention at the prime minister's office. Officials have not said what it was or who sent it.

UK: UPDATE, October 1: counter-terrorism police arrested a 25-year-old dual UK-Iranian national in Westminster on suspicion of preparing terrorist acts in the RAF Fairford investigation, and the five men arrested on September 27 remain on bail, Counter Terrorism Policing said. “We're looking at all possible angles - including possible foreign state involvement,” said Senior National Coordinator Vicki Evans.

Europe: Zelenskiy said the recent wave of Russian drone incursions and hybrid attacks in Europe was an attempt to intimidate Europeans and undermine support for Ukraine, Ukrinform reported. Russia denies involvement.

Poland: no update on the envelope opened at the Nowa Deba military police station on October 1 was found.

Tit for tat

Russian missiles and drones exploded on Moldovan soil for the second time in a week, a sailor died on a cargo ship in an Odesa-region port and five people were killed in Kharkiv region. Ukraine's drones reached Moscow and Tula overnight on October 4, Russia's defence ministry claimed 244 shot down by day, and Zelenskiy promised more strikes on Russia's refineries.

The ledgers

The running ledgers are kept as six public spreadsheets at permanent addresses. The first three are non-exhaustive, every row is sourced, and where only one side has spoken the row says so. Defence ministry figures are recorded as claims, and in the sabotage ledger attribution is given exactly as the authorities state it and no further. The fourth tracks what has happened to Ukraine's steel, iron ore, coke, ferroalloy and non-ferrous plants since 2021, grouped by owner. The fifth tracks strikes on data centres, telecoms, media and research sites; the sixth tracks refinery strikes.

RUSSIA STRIKES LEDGER: Russian strikes on Ukraine's economic infrastructure, 330 rows

UKRAINE STRIKES LEDGER: Ukrainian strikes on economic infrastructure in Russia and occupied territory, 196 rows

ARSON & SABOTAGE LEDGER: Arson, sabotage and drone incursions in the EU and the UK, 70 rows

METAL STRIKES LEDGER: Ukraine's metals and mining assets: 2021 baseline against status in September 2026, 38 plants and mines

DATA CENTRE & TELECOM STRIKES LEDGER: Data centres, telecoms, media and research sites hit in Ukraine, 33 rows

REFINERY STRIKES LEDGER: Russian oil refineries hit, and how badly, 27 refineries

Russian oil refineries hit by Ukrainian strikes, as of September 30, 2026. Non-exhaustive; strike counts are floors. Damage: 0 claimed, no damage confirmed; 1 fire or minor damage; 2 secondary unit damaged, output reduced; 3 primary distillation unit damaged; 4 refinery halted. Plants reported halted or cut in Sep 2026 account for about 121.6 mn t/yr, about 37% of the 327 mn t/yr nameplate total; up to 159.2 mn t/yr (49%) if earlier halts still hold. Russian officials put capacity under repair at about 10% (Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, early September). Status mostly from unnamed industry sources cited by Reuters. Full sourced ledger: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1AHjZvX9Hf-6jdKxcTE8Dw7f6O2_svY0kX54sqKPyU_s

This article was produced with the help of IntelliNews Lambda analytical tool