Ukraine Daily

Tuesday, November 1

Russia’s war against Ukraine

A woman walks near the Golden Gate in near total darkness on Oct. 31, 2022 in Kyiv, Ukraine during electricity and heating outages across Ukraine caused by missile and drone strikes on energy infrastructure. (Photo by Ed Ram/Getty Images)

Another mass attack on Monday morning: Russia hits energy infrastructure across Ukraine. On Oct. 31, Russia launched a mass attack on Ukraine’s energy system during Monday rush hour for the third time in the past month. Russia’s aim – which its leadership publicly admits – is to hinder civilians’ access to electricity and heat, potentially inflicting a humanitarian catastrophe in Ukraine.

Putin: Oct. 31 mass attacks on Ukraine revenge for Crimea drone attack. Russian President Vladimir Putin said the Oct. 31 mass strikes on Ukraine were a partial response to an alleged Ukrainian drone attack on Moscow’s Black Sea Fleet’s ships in occupied Sevastopol. “That’s not all we could do,” Putin said when asked if the attacks on Ukraine were related to the events in Crimea. Russia launched strikes against critical infrastructure in 10 Ukrainian regions on Oct. 31, causing power and water outages across the country.

Police: Russia’s morning missile strikes injure 13. Thirteen people have been reported wounded as of 11:30 a.m. after Russia attacked Ukraine with at least 50 missiles on the morning of Oct. 31, according to Ukraine’s National Police. The police keep receiving reports to “establish the damages and record the crimes that were committed today on the territory of our country,” said Police Chief Ihor Klymenko.

PM Shmyhal: Russia damages 18 critical, civilian infrastructure sites. On Oct. 31, Russian missiles and drones hit 10 Ukrainian regions and damaged 18 buildings, most of which are part of Ukraine’s energy system, said Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal. “Russian terrorists have again massively attacked Ukraine,” Shmyhal said. “They are not targeting military bases but critical and civilian infrastructure sites.”

Monday morning attack leaves most of Kyiv’s residents without water supply. Russian strike at an energy infrastructure facility near Kyiv on Oct. 31 caused water outages for 80% of the households in the city, according to water supply company Kyivvodokanal. Utility service workers are on the site to restore the supply as soon as possible, it stated. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko urged residents to stock up on water from street pumps and stores.

Ukraine downs 44 Russian missiles launched at Ukraine on Oct. 31. Ukraine’s Air Force downed 44 out of 50 missiles Russian troops fired at critical infrastructure facilities across Ukraine on the morning of Oct. 31. Russia used Kh-101/Kh-555 cruise missiles, launching them from the north of the Caspian Sea and from Rostov Oblast, according to the Ukrainian military.

After Russia’s morning attack, debris of missile falls in Moldova. One of the Russian missiles that were fired at Ukraine on Oct. 31 was shot down by Ukraine’s Armed Forces and fell in the Moldovan village of Naslavcea, damaging several buildings, according to Moldova’s Interior Ministry. Russian forces were aiming at the Dniester Hydroelectric Power Plant in Chernivtsi Oblast, which borders Moldova.

DTEK says it’s running out of equipment for power grid repair. DTEK Executive Director Dmytro Sakharuk said the Ukrainian energy giant has depleted its stock of stored equipment following the two series of attacks after Oct. 10. “We were able to purchase some equipment,” Sakharuk said. “But unfortunately, the cost of the equipment is now measured in hundreds of millions of dollars.” He said while it is not possible to know how long the power outages will last after the Russian attacks on critical infrastructure on Oct. 31, they may last six to eight hours.

Ukraine’s military: Russia fires at civilian tugboats in Mykolaiv Oblast, killing 2 people. Ukraine’s Southern Operational Command reported on Oct. 31 that Russian forces hit two civilian tug boats transporting grain near Ochakiv, Mykolaiv Oblast. Two crewmembers were killed, one person was wounded, and another person’s condition is unknown.

Russian proxies in Crimea announce ‘nationalization’ of property owned by anyone ‘associated with Kyiv.’ The property of several Ukrainian companies, including shipbuilding plant Zaliv and cement plant Bakhchysarai, will be taken over by Moscow-installed proxies in annexed Crimea, according to Sergey Aksyonov, a Russian-installed proxy on the peninsula. Proxies are also looking to appropriate President Volodymyr Zelensky’s property in Crimea, Interfax reported.

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Latvian Atlas Dynamics supplies Ukrainian military with futuristic drones, plans to start production in Ukraine. Latvian-based Atlas Dynamics has delivered over 200 small reconnaissance drones to Ukraine. Soldiers use them to recon Russian positions and provide targeting for missiles.

Photo: Atlas Dynamics/Facebook

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Ukraine’s top oligarch Akhmetov loses half his assets to Russia’s invasion. It took several months of Russia’s full-scale invasion to turn some of the most valuable assets of Ukraine’s richest man Rinat Akhmetov into a pile of dust, metal, and concrete.

Photo: Vyacheslav Ratynskiy

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The human cost of Russia’s war

General Staff: Russia has lost 71,820 troops in Ukraine since Feb. 24. Ukraine’s General Staff reported on Oct. 31 that Russia had also lost 2,686 tanks, 5,485 armored fighting vehicles, 4,128 vehicles and fuel tanks, 1,728 artillery systems, 383 multiple launch rocket systems, 197 air defense systems, 275 airplanes, 253 helicopters, 1,413 drones, and 16 boats.

Panel: War and Storytelling

The panel discussion “War & Storytelling in Ukraine,” co-organized by the Kyiv Independent and the Borderlands Foundation, took place on Oct. 23 in Kyiv. Moderated by Ryan Evans, CEO of the War on the Rocks, speakers discussed the ongoing war in Ukraine, why Russia failed to conquer Kyiv in three days, and what to expect from Moscow next.

International response

IAEA inspectors inspect 2 Ukrainian nuclear facilities amid Russia’s ‘dirty bomb’ claims. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Rafael Grossi said on Oct. 31 that the agency’s inspectors have started and will soon complete inspections at two Ukrainian nuclear power plants. Russia has made unproven claims that Ukraine is developing a “dirty bomb” – a device that uses explosives to scatter radioactive waste. Earlier, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that Russia’s allegations are part of a “misinformation campaign that might be aimed at creating a pretext for a false-flag operation.”

Upcoming event

Join us on Nov. 3 for a Q&A with Editor-in-Chief Olga Rudenko and CEO Daryna Shevchenko on “What the West gets wrong about Ukraine.” They’ll talk about misconceptions the West still has about Ukraine and Russia’s war.

This is an exclusive event for our Patreon community. Register and submit your questions here. Become our Patreon member here.

In other news

Tycoon Bakhmatyuk calls US fund Gramercy ‘aggressive’ for suing him over alleged $1 billion fraud. Ukrainian agricultural tycoon Oleh Bakhmatyuk calls U.S. investment fund Gramercy “an aggressive lender.” His comment comes after the Cyprus court froze $79.4 million of his assets in proceeding started by Gramercy in Cyprus. The U.S. fund accuses Bakhmatyuk of secretly taking money out of his company to avoid paying its debts.

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Today’s Ukraine Daily was brought to you by Oleksiy Sorokin, Denys Krasnikov, Dinara KhalilovaThaisa Semenova, Teah Pelechaty Anastasiya Gordiychuk, and Lili Bivings.

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