October 2026

Aleksandar Vucic conceded defeat in Serbia's parliamentary elections, acknowledging that the Student List protest movement had won. The result ends his 12-year rule, according to an account of the protests that brought students to the center of Serbian politics.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said 862 Ukrainian drones flew toward the Moscow region from the evening of 29 October, and that most of them were shot down at "far lines." The figure was carried by Interfax, Vedomosti and Meduza. Telegram channels reported a fire at an oil refinery in Samara Oblast during the same period.

Vladimir Putin addressed the third Russia-Africa summit, where he and Kremlin aide Maxim Oreshkin told African leaders about Russia's economic achievements. Putin singled out the share of the ruble in transactions between Russia and African countries.

Roskomnadzor added Apple and Microsoft to the register of organisers of information dissemination, the listing that obliges companies to store user data and hand it to the authorities. The entry was made on 2 October, the Telegram channel Tech Talk noted. Interfax reported that Microsoft, Apple and Google with its Meet service were included in the register.

Voting in Israel's Knesset elections ended and local television channels published exit poll results. The opposition bloc of former General Staff chief Gadi Eisenkot held a small lead over the bloc of incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin presented Vladimir Putin with proposals for a series of personnel changes in the cabinet. Putin supported the proposals, which are described as the largest government reshuffle since 2024.

Two critical vulnerabilities were found in the PHP programming language, and European governments began taking their sites offline in response. The Dutch, French, Danish and Finnish governments shut down websites over the flaws.

US envoy Steve Witkoff travelled to St Petersburg and began talks with Vladimir Putin, with the Ukrainian question, the economy and Iran on the agenda. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin would study the proposals Witkoff brought. Norway's prime minister had announced the visit in advance, and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Witkoff was on his way to the city.

US Vice President JD Vance said Ukraine should not be a member of NATO, a position Russian outlets presented as the official US stance on Kyiv's accession. The statement was carried by state wire Interfax and by opposition outlets Ukrainska Pravda, Novaya Gazeta and Rosbalt.

Yalta introduced a state of emergency after heavy rain began flooding houses and destroying foundations in the city. The flooding struck the southern coast of Crimea, where cleanup of the inundation's aftermath is continuing.

Drone attacks struck Moscow and the Moscow region, with a warehouse on fire, an object at an oil refinery damaged and fatalities reported. The number of people injured in the drone attack in Podmoskovye rose to 61.

Donald Trump ordered that part of the so-called "Graham sanctions" against Russia not be applied, freezing what Russian outlets call the "hell sanctions." The move means Washington will for now not impose sanctions on buyers of Russian oil.

Crypto exchange Bitget has added Russia to its list of countries where use of the platform is prohibited, and has barred operations for users in Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus. The restriction covers residents of all three countries, who are no longer permitted to use the exchange's services.

Ukrainian strikes on Yandex data centers disrupted the work of Russian courts, opposition outlet Meduza reported. The attacks prompted scrutiny of the company's insurance arrangements for its data centers.

Russian forces took control of the Volchansk-Budarki road in Ukraine's Kharkiv region, the Russian Defense Ministry reported. The ministry also said Russian troops took control of Varvarovka and Nikolayevka in the same region.

An oil tanker caught fire in the waters off Sochi after a drone strike, with a column of smoke visible for many kilometers and beaches closed. Two other vessels were attacked near the coast of Bulgaria. The open burning in the Black Sea was extinguished, and no oil cargo pollution of the water area was reported.

Hungary lifted its veto on opening European Union accession talks with Ukraine and Moldova. EU permanent representatives then agreed to open two negotiation clusters with both countries, clearing the way for the next stage of the accession process.

The International Monetary Fund says the combined public debt of all countries will soon surpass 100 percent of world GDP, a level it describes as a record not seen since the Second World War. The fund also flags expensive oil and an artificial intelligence boom as risks to the world economy.

Russia's Ministry of Digital Development has explained the future introduction of fees for obtaining state services through Post of Russia branches and multifunctional centers (MFCs). The ministry's explanation was reported by the state outlet Финансы Mail, the business outlets BFM.ru and Банки.ру, the oppositional outlet ФОНТАНКА.ру, and the state-aligned CNews.ru.

A powerful fire broke out at the Ustuu-Khuree Buddhist complex in Tuva, the largest Buddhist temple in Russia. The monastery caught fire and the blaze was later extinguished, with the complex described as destroyed.

A fire at a firecracker factory in Yaroslavl Oblast killed 13 people and injured one, the Ministry of Emergency Situations said. Fifteen people were working at the plant at the time of the blaze.

Vladimir Putin signed a decree placing the Russian assets of the German retail group Metro under temporary management. The assets were transferred to the management company UK Torg RUS. The Russian business outlet БИЗНЕС Online put the value of the assets at 80 billion, and framed the move against the state of relations with Germany, which it described as already "below zero."

Iran's Foreign Ministry confirmed negotiations through Qatari mediators and said it expects a US response on Tuesday. The talks are taking place as Washington and Tehran remain in a military conflict.

A Russian drone struck the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine in Kyiv, part of continued Russian strikes on the city that caused destruction and casualties. The strike also hit a medical center in Kyiv, and an air raid alert was declared in Kyiv and several Ukrainian regions.

Vladimir Putin ordered the government to purchase grain from Russian farmers into the state fund, a measure framed as support for domestic grain producers. The purchases are intended to absorb grain that cannot be exported.