October 6, 2023 - Russia-Ukraine news

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A Russian missile attack on residential buildings killed at least two people in Kharkiv, Ukrainian officials said. One of the victims was a 10-year-old boy and is among the more than 500 children who have been killed in Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Meanwhile, Germany’s largest defense company said it is ramping up production as Western countries continue to give aid to Ukraine.

Here’s what else to know:

A 10-year-old boy who was killed by Russia’s strike on the city of Kharkiv on Friday was apparently asleep when missiles hit residential buildings, Ukrainian officials said.

The picture purportedly shows the boy’s body, wrapped in a blue blanket covered by dust, surrounded by pieces of debris, as several rescuers stand nearby. 

CNN has not independently verified the photo. 

The boy’s younger brother, an 11-month-old baby, survived and is in hospital, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his evening address Friday. 

The boys’ parents also survived and are in hospital, but their grandmother was killed in the strike, Zelensky said.

Some context: The 10-year-old is among the more than 500 children who have been killed in Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022. Another 1,129 children have been injured with various degrees of severity, according to Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office. 

Friday’s attack on Kharkiv came after a Russian attack on the village of Hroza on Thursday, in which another child was killed, along with at least 51 more people. Two children and two adults are still missing in Hroza following the attack. 

Russia maintains it does not strike civilian targets.

The United States is expelling two Russian diplomats from the embassy in Washington, according to the State Department. 

The expulsion is in response to Russia’s “specious expulsion of two U.S. Embassy Moscow diplomats” last month, a spokesperson said Friday, adding that the State Department reciprocated by expelling two “Russian Embassy officials operating in the United States.”

Last month, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller warned that the US would respond to the expulsion of two US diplomats from Russia “expeditiously.”

The bodies of 64 fallen Ukrainian service members have been repatriated to Ukraine in exchange for the remains of Russian military personnel who died in the country, Ukraine’s Coordinating Agency for the Treatment of Prisoners of War said Friday.

Ukrainian officials will now take the service members’ bodies to state institutions for forensic exams, the agency said in a statement.

Since the beginning of the war, at least 1,896 bodies of Ukrainian service members have been repatriated, according to the agency.

The coordinating agency also negotiates exchanges involving prisoners of war. One such exchange saw 22 Ukrainian POWs released from Russia in August, according to the Ukrainian president’s office.

A court has seized the Ukraine-based assets of three Russian oligarchs — more than $464 million — for their alleged support of Russia’s war in Ukraine, according to Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) and prosecutor’s office.

The oligarchs targeted were Mikhail Fridman, Petr Aven and Andrey Kosogov, according to a Friday statement from the SBU.

The three businessmen are considered to be a part of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle and are allegedly involved in schemes that contribute “large-scale financing” to Russia’s war, the SBU and prosecutors said.

The court decision applies to “20 companies and financial institutions owned by the Kremlin oligarchs as ultimate beneficiaries or via controlled offshore companies,” according to Ukrainian officials.

The affected businesses include mobile operators, a mineral water producer, and financial and insurance companies. Ukraine said it took steps to ensure the businesses cannot be re-registered to a front person to avoid seizure.

None of the three Russian businessmen have immediately commented publicly on their assets being seized.

More on Fridman: Mikhail Fridman is among the few Russian oligarchs who have publicly spoken out against Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In the beginning days of the war, he called the conflict a “tragedy” for both Ukrainians and Russians.

But in September, the SBU accused the Ukrainian-born businessman of financing Moscow’s war.

Fridman is chairman of Alfa Group, a private conglomerate operating primarily in Russia and former Soviet states that spans banking, insurance, retail and mineral water production.

CNN’s Katharina Krebs and Charles Riley contributed reporting to this post.

Russian investigators inspect a part of a crashed private jet near the village of Kuzhenkino, Tver region, Russia, on August 24.

There is not yet a final report from investigators on the cause of the plane crash that killed Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin in August, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Friday.

“This was not the final report,” Peskov told journalists during a news briefing Friday, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s comments Thursday suggesting it was not an “external” attack that brought down Prigozhin’s plane, but hand grenades within the aircraft.

“The president said that this report has yet to be finalized,” Peskov said.

The spokesperson declined to provide any details of what happened on the day the crash took place, and added that journalists can expect an official message from the Russian investigative committee when the full probe has been completed. 

What Putin said: Speaking at the Valdai Discussion Club forum in Sochi, Putin said Thursday that the “chairman of the investigative committee just reported a few days ago that the fragments of hand grenades were found in the bodies of the victims.”

“There was no external influence on the plane, it is an established fact,” the Russian leader claimed.

Putin added that the investigation into the crash of the plane carrying Prigozhin is still ongoing and that no examination was carried out to establish the presence of alcohol or drugs in the system of the victims who were on board the plane.

“In my opinion, such an examination should have been carried out, but it wasn’t,” he said.

Some background: Prigozhin, who led a failed uprising against the Kremlin, was among 10 people on board a private plane that crashed in a field northwest of Moscow in August while en route to St. Petersburg. All on board, including Prigozhin and his top aides, were killed.

There is no concrete evidence that points to Kremlin involvement in Prigozhin’s death and, officially, the cause of the crash is unknown. Russia has denied any involvement in downing the plane.

However, Ukrainian officials and US President Joe Biden have suggested Putin may have been behind the crash. Speculation about Prigozhin’s eventual fate began soon after his short-lived mutiny, and he joined a long line of Putin antagonists who met an early death.

CNN’s Mariya Knight and Tara John contributed reporting to this post.

A technician at German armaments company Rheinmetall works on 155mm ammunition that will be delivered to Ukraine at the Rheinmetall factory in Unterluess, Germany, on June 6.

Germany’s largest arms manufacturer Rheinmetall said it has booked a major order of artillery shells to be produced in a deal with the German government to replenish stocks dented by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with the fulfillment slated for 2024, according to the defense company.

”Rheinmetall has booked a major order for 155mm artillery ammunition following a second call-off under an existing framework order with the German government,” Rheinmetall said in a press statement Friday.

The defense company, based in Dusseldorf, Germany, said that the new framework contract for 155mm artillery ammunition would run until 2029 and represents a potential order volume of around $1.35 billion (or about 1.2 billion euros). Delivery of the order to the German government is scheduled to take place in 2024.

As recently as July 2023, Rheinmetall announced the signing of a new framework agreement for artillery ammunition with Germany’s armed forces and the expansion of an existing agreement. The agreements between Germany and Rheinmetall entail the delivery of several hundred thousand shells, fuses and propelling charges, the defense company said in its statement. 

Remember: Rheinmetall’s CEO Armin Papperger told CNN in an exclusive interview in July that his company would ramp up its annual production of artillery rounds from 100,000 to 600,000 in 2024 — with much of that extra output earmarked for delivery to Ukraine. Papperger said that Rheinmetall could provide 60% of the artillery ammunition Ukraine needed. 

The defense company’s announcement comes as political upheaval in the US Congress and drained ammunition stocks among NATO countries threaten the flow of military aid to Ukraine.

Many of Ukraine’s smaller European allies are dedicating a greater share of their economic power to support Ukraine than the US.

CNN analyzed how international assistance to Ukraine stacks up.

The US has committed the second-largest amount of money to help Ukraine overall – including military, financial and humanitarian assistance – after the European Union, which has sent a total of around $85.1 billion, according to Kiel Institute data. That figure does not include contributions from individual EU member states, which are counted separately.

But unlike some of Ukraine’s smaller allies, Washington’s contributions account for 0.3% of its GDP, data shows.

Norway and the Baltic states bordering Russia — Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia — are committing a greater proportion of their wealth to the war at more than 1% of their GDP.

As the Russian invasion of Ukraine began, Kyiv has been able to keep the fight going in large part due to nearly $350 billion in aid that’s been committed by mostly Western nations since January of 2022.

CNN analyzed how international assistance to Ukraine stacks up. Individual countries around the world have committed nearly $100 billion in direct military assistance to Ukraine. Nearly half of that is from the United States, according to data from the Kiel Institute for the World Economy through July 2023.

But Washington’s contributions account for 0.3% of its GDP, data shows. In comparison, Norway and the Baltic states bordering Russia — Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia — are committing a greater proportion of their wealth to the war at more than 1% of their GDP.

Russia launched a deadly strike in the heart of Kharkiv city early Friday morning, killing a 68-year-old woman and her 10-year-old grandson. It follows a devastating strike on a nearby village in Kupiansk which left at least 52 dead and six injured.

Elsewhere, Germany has pledged to send Ukraine another Patriot air defense missile system, saying that Kyiv must be able to defend itself from Russia’s “missile terror.”

Below are the latest updates:

People lay flowers and light candles as Ukrainian rescuers work to remove debris following a Russian strike which hit a shop and cafe in the village of Hroza, Ukraine, on October 6.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov rejected that the Russian military targets civilians when he was asked about the attack on the Ukrainian village of Hroza that left at least 52 people dead. 

The Kremlin’s comments mark Russia’s first official reaction to the Hroza attack in which a cafe and a shop were targeted with what Ukrainian officials say was a powerful Iskander ballistic missile.

Hroza has a population of about 300 people — the toll in such a small community means one of every six residents is dead, according to Ukrainian officials.

Rescuers evacuate the body of a deceased woman from a destroyed residential building following a Russian missile strike in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on October 6.

The death toll from Russia’s missile attack on residential buildings that took place early on Friday has now risen to two, Oleh Syniehubov the head of Kharkiv’s regional state administration said in a post on Telegram. 

Syniehubov said a 68-year-old woman was also killed, adding that she was the grandmother of the 10-year-old boy who was killed and the 11-month-old injured baby. 

The number of people injured has also risen to at least 30, Syniehubov added.

Videos showing the aftermath of the attacks show smoke billowing into the sky. Another video shows buildings badly burnt with the charred remains of a car nearby.  

The Kharkiv region has suffered a recent uptick in attacks, after Thursday’s devastating missile strike on a nearby village in Kupiansk that left at least 52 people dead and six injured. 

In a separate incident on Friday, three people were injured after Russian shelling took place in the Ukrainian city of Vovchansk, Chuhuiv district, Syniehubov said.

He said the injured included a 76-year-old man, a 75-year-old woman and a 25-year-old woman. 

“All three have been hospitalized. Doctors are currently providing them with medical care.”

Sweden will send Ukraine an additional military support package, worth more than $199 million (2.2 billion Swedish crowns), consisting mainly of artillery ammunition, the Swedish Defense Ministry announced in a statement on Friday.

It marks the 14th military support package Sweden has given to Ukraine since Russia’s invasion began, and it “includes artillery shells, spare parts, infantry equipment, communication equipment and Combat Vehicle 90 ammunition.”

The Swedish Defense Ministry said the government has also formally tasked the Swedish Armed Forces, supported by the Defense Materiel Administration, to analyze and report on the possibility of Sweden sending JAS 39 Gripen fighter jets to Ukraine.

The armed forces’ report on the fighter jets is expected to be submitted on November 6.

Emergency personnel work at a site of a Russian military strike in the village of Hroza, Kharkiv region, Ukraine, on October 6.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OCHR) said on Friday they have deployed a field team to probe the Russian attack in the Ukrainian village of Hroza that left at least 52 people dead.

Moscow’s forces targeted a cafe and a shop in Hroza, with what Ukrainian officials say was a powerful Iskander ballistic missile on Thursday.

Throssell said Thursday’s attack underscores how Ukrainian civilians are “once again” paying the “terrible price” of Russia’s invasion. 

According to the UN’s Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, Throssell said the names of 35 people who were killed have been established but did not detail the names.

Some context: Moscow’s forces targeted a cafe and a shop in Hroza, near the eastern Ukrainian city of Kupiansk in the Kharkiv region, with what Ukrainian officials say was a powerful Iskander ballistic missile, killing at least 52 people, including a 6-year-old boy.

Scenes emerged of emergency workers wading through dense rubble in the aftermath of the strike – a scale of devastation not seen since a Russian attack on a railway station in Kramatorsk in early 2022.

The death toll in such a small community of 330 people means one in every six residents was killed.

Oleh Bychko looks at a residential building damaged by a Russian missile strike, where rescuers recover the body of his 10-year-old son Tymofii from debris in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on October 6.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday sent his condolences to the victims of the Russian strike on Kharkiv that killed one child and left at least 27 injured.  

Zelensky also extended his gratitude to the Ukrainian soldiers for their continued service against Russia’s invasion.

“I also express my gratitude to all our warriors who, despite everything, are moving forward, defeating the occupiers, and bringing justice for Russian crimes closer,” he said. 

“Our resilience, our movement, and the daily losses of the occupiers are the response to Russian terror.”

A three-story residential building was destroyed and two apartment buildings were damaged by the strike in Kharkiv.

It came the day after Moscow targeted the village of Hroza near Kupiansk, killing at least 52 people including a 6-year-old boy.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky, right, and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz shake hands as they pose for a picture during a meeting on the sidelines of the European Political Community Summit in Granada, Spain, on October 5.

Germany has promised another Patriot air defense system to Ukraine to mitigate attacks on infrastructure as winter approaches, Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced following a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Spain. 

Bolstering Ukraine’s air defense with the Patriot system “is what is needed now – ensuring air defenses with this highly efficient system,” Scholz told reporters in the southern Spanish city of Granada, where European leaders and the Ukrainian president met on Thursday. 

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said that Germany will ”do everything” to ensure that Ukraine can protect itself from Russia’s ”missile terror.”

“More than 50 people dead in Hroza,” Baerbock said on X, formerly known as Twitter. “As long as bombs hail on supermarkets and cafes, we do everything to ensure that Ukraine can protect itself from Putin’s missile terror.”

Some context: Germany has previously provided three Patriot air defense systems to Ukraine, making the latest announcement its fourth.

Zelensky on Thursday reiterated his call for more air defenses, following the Russian strike in the village of Hroza, which killed at least 52 people.

“I’m grateful for Germany’s support in defending our freedom and people. This is also the defense of Europe and our shared values,” wrote Zelensky wrote on X, following his meeting with the German chancellor.

An apartment building hit by a Russian missile strike, killing a 10 year old boy, in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on October 6.

The number of people injured from the early-morning Russian strike on the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv has risen to at least 27, according to the head of Kharkiv’s Regional Military Administration.

One missile hit a roadway, damaging windows in neighboring homes while a second hit a three-story apartment building causing a fire, Oleh Syniehubov wrote in a Telegram post on Friday.

A 10-year-old was killed in the attacks on the northeastern city, according to officials.

A statement from the Kharkiv prosecutor’s office said the attack was carried out by two Iskander missiles, according to preliminary data.

It comes a day after Moscow’s forces fired an Iskander missile at the nearby village of Hroza, killing at least 52 people, including a 6-year-old boy, in one of the deadliest attacks against civilians since the war began, according to Ukrainian officials.

Rescuers arrange body bags after a Russian missile strike on October 5, 2023 in Hroza, Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine.

The death toll following a Russian missile strike on a cafe and shop in the village of Hroza in Ukraine’s Kupiansk district has risen to 52, according to the head of Kharkiv’s Regional Military Administration.

In a post on Telegram on Friday, Oleh Syniehubov said the number of injured remained at six.

Thursday’s strike appears to have been the deadliest against Ukraine’s civilian population since an attack on Kramatorsk railway station early in 2022.

One of the dead includes a child born in 2017.

Rescuers work at a site of a residential building damaged by a Russian missile strike in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on October 6, 2023.

Two people have been rescued in Kharkiv following deadly Russian missile strikes on apartment buildings Friday, Ukrainian officials said.

A 10-year-old was killed and 16 others injured in the attacks on the northeastern city, according to officials.

Russian forces fired two powerful Iskander ballistic missiles, the Kharkiv prosecutor’s office said, based on preliminary data.

Minister of Internal Affairs Ihor Klymenko said the strikes destroyed a three-story residential building and damaged two apartment buildings.

It comes a day after Moscow’s forces fired an Iskander missile at the nearby village of Hroza, killing at least 51 people, including a 6-year-old boy, in one of the deadliest attacks against civilians since the war began, according to Ukrainian officials.