What the war's toll looked like by 13 October 2025

What did the days leading up to 13 October 2025 show about the war's reach? The reports from 8 to 11 October point to harm on both sides of the border, and to pressure on Russian-linked assets abroad.

Civilian harm in Ukraine

On 11 October, a Russian strike on a church in Kostiantynivka, Donetsk Oblast, killed at least two people and injured four others, one of them critically. Three days earlier, on 8 October, a drone strike on a house in Sumy, in Sumy Oblast, injured a family, including a 4-year-old girl who was in critical condition. Dozens of civilian infrastructure facilities were also damaged in that attack.

These were separate incidents in different regions. Taken together, they show that homes and places of worship were among the sites hit in the days before 13 October.

Casualties in Russia

Also on 8 October, a Ukrainian missile strike on Maslova Pristan, in Russia's Belgorod Oblast, killed three people and injured nine. A search and rescue operation was under way for others believed to be trapped under rubble. The report shows that the war's casualties were being recorded on both sides of the border.

A sanctions decision

On 9 October, the US Treasury Department issued sanctions against Naftna Industrija Srbije, the main petroleum producer and supplier in Serbia. The company is majority-owned by the Russian state company Gazprom. The measure was a separate track from the battlefield events, but it too concerned Russian state-linked business.

Why it matters

The reports from these days combine two kinds of pressure. One is the continuing violence, with civilian casualties reported in Donetsk and Sumy oblasts and in Belgorod Oblast. The other is financial, in the form of the sanctions on a Serbian energy company with Russian state ownership. As of 13 October 2025, the reported toll from the strikes was still being established, and the search for those trapped in Maslova Pristan was among the open items.