Wednesday, November 1

Russia’s war against Ukraine

Ukrainian soldiers fire grad shells with a vehicle adapted as a multiple launch system, in the direction of Bakhmut, Donetsk Oblast on Oct. 31, 2023. (Diego Herrera Carcedo/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Russia hits energy facility in front-line Ukrainian region causing blackouts. The attack significantly damaged the facility’s equipment, causing electricity and water supply cut-offs in a nearby settlement, Ukraine’s largest private energy company DTEK reported on Oct. 31.

Finance Ministry: Ukraine received almost $28 billion from international partners in October. Ukraine’s state budget received about $2.8 billion in October 2023 from its international partners, namely the U.S. and EU, the Ministry of Finance announced on Oct. 31.

PM Shmyhal: EU to send $354 million in aid for reconstruction and reforms. Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal added that after both parties sign the “recovery and reforms” support program, the funds will be allocated to “the reconstruction of infrastructure, in particular the energy sector.”

UNESCO mission visits Chernihiv to assess damage from Russian attacks. Representatives from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) are in Chernihiv on an official mission to assess the damage to the city’s cultural heritage from Russian attacks. The damaged sites include the 12th-century Piatnytska Church, St. Anthony’s Caves, and the Chernihiv Regional Academic Music and Drama Theater.

Poll: Most Russians would not support ending invasion if it meant returning occupied territories to Ukraine. According to the survey, only 34% of Russians would support President Vladimir Putin if he decided to end the invasion and return occupied territories to Ukraine. However, 70% of respondents said they would support Putin’s decision to end the invasion of Ukraine without returning territories.

Border Guards: Russia appears to have withdrawn troops from Belarus. There are still some members of the Russian Armed Forces remaining in Belarus, but these are predominantly military personnel who service Russian equipment left in the country, said Andriy Demchenko, the spokesperson of Ukraine’s State Border Guard Service.

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Poll suggests drop in Ukrainians’ trust in media, government. Ukraine’s military and volunteers continue to command the trust of an overwhelming majority of Ukrainians, but trust in the government, and some media has slipped since last year, a poll released by the Kyiv Institute of Sociology on Oct. 31 found.

Explosion reported at Russian explosives factory. An explosion occurred at one of Russia’s largest military plants in the Perm Krai, Russian state-run news agency RIA Novosti reported on Oct. 31, citing emergency services. The Ural factory, located in the town of Solikamsk, produces explosives for ammunition and small arms, among other things.

Russian media: Suspect arrested in shooting of pro-Russian politician Tsaryov. Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) claimed that a suspect in the shooting of pro-Russian politician Oleg Tsaryov was arrested and later confessed, the Russian state-run news agency TASS reported. Russia has an ongoing track record of extracting confessions under duress.

UK Defense Ministry: Russia replaces commander in charge of occupied Kherson Oblast. Russia has changed the leadership of its forces operating in occupied Kherson Oblast, likely indicating an increased intensity of the pressure the Russian Army faces in the area, the U.K.’s Defense Ministry said on Oct. 31, citing a report by the Russian state-run news agency TASS.

Media: Pushkin sculpture dismantled in Zaporizhzhia. A monument to Russian writer Alexander Pushkin was dismantled in Zaporizhzhia as part of Ukraine’s ongoing de-Russification process, the Suspilne media outlet wrote on Oct. 31.

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Ukraine war latest: UN says all killed in Hroza missile attack were civilian

A report by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) released on Oct. 31 found that all 59 people killed in Russia’s missile attack on the village of Hroza were civilians. 

Photo: Alexander Khrebet

Riots in North Caucasus underscore rampant antisemitism in Russia

Antisemitic riots erupted in Russia’s North Caucasus on Oct. 28-29, with angry mobs looking for Jews and some going as far as calling for murdering them.

Photo:  Stringer/ AFP via Getty Images

Human cost of war

Russian strike on evacuation bus in Kherson Oblast injures 2. Russian forces used a drone to strike a civilian evacuation bus in Kherson Oblast, injuring two people, Ukraine’s Southern Defense Forces reported on Telegram on Oct. 31.

Governor: Russian strikes against Kherson kill 1, injure 2. Russian troops struck the Dniprovskyi district of Kherson on Oct. 31, causing a fire in a civilian car and killing its owner, Governor Oleksandr Prokudin reported. Later the same day, Russia launched a missile attack against Kherson, wounding two employees of a transport facility, according to Prokudin.

UN report: All 59 killed in Hroza missile attack were civilians. A report by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) released on Oct. 31 found that all 59 people killed in Russia’s missile attack on the village of Hroza were civilians.

International response

3 Russian nationals arrested in New York on suspicion of supplying Russian military. One Russian-Tajik national and two Russian-Canadians have been arrested in New York on suspicion of directing a “massive sanctions evasion and export control scheme,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office reported on Oct. 31.

Japan says Russian helicopter violated airspace over Hokkaido. A helicopter, presumed to be Russian, violated Japanese territorial airspace over their northernmost island of Hokkaido, Japan’s Ministry of Defense said on Oct. 31. The ministry said that fighter jets from Japan’s Air Self-Defense Force were scrambled to respond.

Biden cabinet secretaries make case for Ukraine aid in Senate. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that aid to Ukraine and Israel must be approved immediately during their Senate testimonies on Oct. 31. The $105 billion funding bill that includes aid for both countries has been held up for weeks by infighting in the Republican-led House of Representatives.

Bloomberg: EU’s 12th sanctions package on Russia could target $5.3 billion in trade. The European Union is discussing the adoption of a 12th round of sanctions against Russia, which would target $5.3 billion in trade, Bloomberg reported on Oct. 31.

In other news

Foreign Ministry: 19 Ukrainians killed in Israel, 4 in Gaza. Another Ukrainian child was killed as a result of the hostilities between Israel and the Hamas militant group in the Gaza Strip, Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleh Nikolenko told Hromadske media outlet.

Ukraine urges EU to cancel European film festival in Russia. “It is important to continue an effective sanctions policy not only in the economic sphere, but also in culture, in particular in cinema,” Ukraine’s Culture Ministry said in a statement.

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Today’s Ukraine Daily was brought to you by Teah Pelechaty, Dinara Khalilova, Nate Ostiller, Oleksiy Sorokin, Elsa Court, Olena Goncharova, Li Luo, and Rachel Amran.

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