Overnight into October 8, the Kuban region was among the southern Russian areas targeted by drone attacks. In Krasnodar, UAV fragments fell onto the grounds of a local enterprise, damaging a building and sparking a fire. The regional operational headquarters reported that the fire was quickly extinguished and there were no casualties; authorities did not disclose the name of the facility.

Anna Politkovskaya was killed on 7 October 2006. Her articles, written from behind Chechnya’s blood-soaked information wall and barbed wire, became a voice of truth — the truth about what residents of the republic were experiencing as they became a convenient and powerless collective victim of the global “fight against international terrorism”.

Memorial events for Anna Politkovskaya are taking place in countries around the world today, marking 20 years since the murder of the journalist, who spent many years reporting on the war in Chechnya and human rights violations.

On the 20th anniversary of the murder of Novaya Gazeta journalist Anna Politkovskaya, representatives of 32 countries called on the Russian authorities to identify everyone involved in the crime and end pressure on independent media.

The statement was issued by the Media Freedom Coalition. It was signed by representatives of the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Canada, Ukraine, Australia, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Chile, Japan, Spain and other countries.

The Anna Politkovskaya Award has this year been given to 11 Russian and five Ukrainian female journalists who are imprisoned in Russia and in the occupied territories of Ukraine.

According to the award’s founder, the international organisation RAW in WAR (Reach All Women in WAR), the nominations committee praised the “courage and integrity” of the laureates, who “risk their freedom and even their lives to report on the war and speak out against human rights violations, war crimes and the escalating repression of journalists, human rights defenders and anti-war activists in Russia”.

Overnight into October 6, southern Russia was once again targeted by Ukrainian drones. Specifically, the Rostov region, Krasnodar Krai, and Stavropol Krai came under attack. There have been no reports of casualties or damage.

On the morning of October 4, Rostov Region Governor Yury Slyusar reported that approximately 100 UAVs were destroyed overnight while repelling an aerial attack on the region. The drones were downed across 12 districts—Belokalitvinsky, Kamensky, Kasharsky, Matveyevo-Kurgansky, Millerovsky, Milyutinsky, Neklinovsky, Oblivsky, Tarasovsky, Tatsinsky, Chertkovsky, and Sholokhovsky—as well as in the cities of Rostov and Kamensk. According to the governor, there were no reports of casualties, though there was damage on the ground.

On the night of October 2, the Volgograd region was among the Russian regions targeted by Ukrainian drones. Governor Andrey Bocharov reported a massive drone attack on the region's industrial infrastructure.

The United Kingdom expanded its sanctions against Russia on 1 October. The new package comprises 31 measures targeting 23 individuals and entities and eight vessels. London said the sanctions target, among other things, sources of funding for Russia’s military campaign, pro-Kremlin information networks and individuals linked to human rights violations in territories of Ukraine occupied by Russia.

Three people have been detained in Ingushetia, Tatarstan and Bashkortostan in a joint operation by the FSB, Interior Ministry and Investigative Committee. Russian law-enforcement authorities accuse them of involvement in attacks on military personnel and law-enforcement officers in Chechnya in 1999 and 2000. The detainees’ names and ages have not been disclosed.