The situation as of 8:00 a.m. on November 3, 2022
OPERATIONAL SITUATION
Russian Federation continues attacks on critical infrastructure facilities of Ukraine. Ukrainian air defense demonstrates high efficiency, yet cannot completely eliminate the threat. As of November 1, approximately 40% of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure was damaged, and rolling blackouts were introduced in a number of regions.
The situation on the front line remains without significant changes. The Russian command seeks to strengthen the defense at the expense of the reserve provided by mobilization. Ukrainian Armed Forces are repelling attacks in Donetsk region and preparing to continue the offensive in Luhansk and Kherson regions.
Luhansk direction
The front line in Luhansk region remains unchanged. In some areas of the frontline Russian troops tried to go on the offensive, but their attacks were repelled.
Donetsk direction
Russian troops keep trying to break through the defense of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the areas of Bakhmut and Avdiivka.
Ukrainian troops are holding their positions and striking at the enemy’s logistics and military equipment accumulation points. In particular, on November 1, the adviser to the mayor of Mariupol Petro Andriushchenko indicated that in Volnovakha (Donetsk region) an explosion was recorded in a hotel where “Kadyrovites” (Russian militants from Chechnya) were based. Ukrainian military destroyed a helicopter with officers of the so-called Wagner Group near Bakhmut.
Russian troops continue intensive shelling, which leads to destruction of civilian infrastructure and civilian casualties. Within 31 October – 2 November at least 11 civilians were killed and 18 people were injured in Donetsk region.
Zaporizhzhia direction
In the morning of October 31, as part of another massive missile attack, Russian troops launched a missile strike on Zaporizhzhia, damaging critical infrastructure facilities. In the evening of November 2, an attack on Zaporizhzhia was carried out with the use of kamikaze drones, but the air defense forces managed to fight it off.
Kherson direction
The Armed Forces of Ukraine with the help of artillery and aviation continue to strike at the strongholds and positions of the Russian army air defense complexes; places of concentration of personnel and military equipment in Kherson region; strategic objects, which are used to supply the Russian grouping on the right bank of the Dnipro.
Preparations for the battle for Kherson are in progress. According to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the Russian military moved the occupation administration from the city to the left bank of the Dnipro. At the same time, they temporarily banned road traffic across the Dnipro for the population of Kherson region.
Russian troops continue missile attacks on Mykolaiv. On the night of November 1, a number of residential infrastructure facilities and an educational institution were destroyed and damaged in the city. As a result of the shelling, 1 person was killed and at least 5 people were injured.
Shelling of Ukrainian territory
Russia continues massive shelling of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. In the morning of October 31, Russian troops launched a new attack on the territory of Ukraine, using missiles and drones. In particular, they attacked 10 regions.
Ukrainian air defense demonstrated high efficiency. According to the military, it shot down 44 missiles launched at the territory of Ukraine. However, this did not prevent significant damage to Ukrainian infrastructure. The October 31 attack damaged 18 facilities, most of them energy facilities.
Among the targets of the Russian attack were three hydroelectric power plants, namely Dnipro, Dniester and Kremenchuk HPPs. As a result of Russian missile attacks, a power facility near Kyiv was damaged. 80% of households in the capital were left without water supply, about 350 thousand – without electricity. In addition, strikes on critical infrastructure were recorded in several districts of Dnipropetrovsk region (including an industrial enterprise in Kryvyi Rih), Kirovohrad, Chernivtsi, Cherkasy and Kharkiv regions. In Vinnytsia region a downed missile fell on civilian objects. Missiles were also shot down in Lviv region. The fall of missiles was recorded in Khmelnytskyi region.
Strikes of the Russian military cause significant damage to the Ukrainian power grid. The level of its damage reaches 40%. DTEK Executive Director Dmytro Sakharuk reported that the company ran out of equipment to repair the damaged infrastructure and lacked funds for its purchase.
According to the head of the National Police Ihor Klymenko, at least 13 people were injured as a result of the Russian missile attack on the territory of Ukraine on October 31.
Over the following days, Russian strikes on civilian objects in Ukraine continued. On the night of November 1, Russian troops launched a drone attack on the territory of Poltava region. According to the head of Poltava Regional Military Administration, 4 drones fell on civilian objects, 3 more UAVs were shot down.
On the night of November 2, the Russian military tried to use kamikaze drones again, but Ukrainian air defense destroyed almost all UAVs.
In the morning of November 2, an attempt was made to attack Odesa with missiles. The missiles were destroyed by Ukrainian air defense forces.
In the evening of November 2, Russian troops attacked Kryvyi Rih using kamikaze drones. They managed to hit an object on the territory of the city.
Also in the evening of November 2, Kharkiv was struck. In recent days, at least 8 people (including 2 children) were injured in Kharkiv region.
In addition, Russian troops continue systematic shelling of Nikopol and Marhanets in Dnipropetrovsk region with heavy artillery. In recent days at least 1 person was killed and 1 civilian was wounded in the area.
Shelling of the border areas of Chernihiv and Sumy regions from the territory of the Russian Federation continues.
Information confrontation
The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine denies the information of Russian sources that Russian hackers allegedly managed to hack the Delta situational awareness program used by the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
HUMANITARIAN SITUATION
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights updated the data on civilian casualties as a result of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. As of October 31, the confirmed losses amount to 16,295 people (6,430 killed, 9,865 wounded). According to the information of the Commissioner for Missing Persons Oleh Kotenko, about 7,000 people are still considered missing as a result of the war.
According to the Prosecutor General’s Office, as of the morning of November 2, as a result of the armed aggression of the Russian Federation in Ukraine, the number of children affected has increased to 1255 (430 children were killed, 825 were injured). According to the governmental platform Children of War, as of November 2, 9755 children were deported, 246 went missing.
Director General of Ukrenergo Volodymyr Kudrytskyi stated that almost all large non-nuclear power plants of the country, as well as more than 30% of substations of the power grid were damaged as a result of Russian bombing. Therefore, Ukraine will face a humanitarian crisis in winter, because electricity is also needed to ensure gas supply and heating.
NNEGC Energoatom informs about the continuation of provocative shelling of the territory of Zaporizhzhia NPP by the Russian military. On the night of November 3, the plant went into full blackout mode due to damage to high-voltage communication lines with the Ukrainian power system.
Russian troops keep on forcibly deporting Ukrainian population in the temporarily occupied territories of Kherson region. The Russian occupation administration has ordered to relocate 70 thousand people living near the eastern bank of the Dnipro river, arguing that they are concerned about a potential counterattack of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in this direction.
The mayor of Melitopol (Zaporizhzhia region) Ivan Fedorov informed about the attempts of the Russian military to take Ukrainian children to Crimea, Krasnodar or other regions of the Russian Federation. They have already applied this practice in other temporarily occupied territories: 300 children have been taken from Enerhodar and Kamianka and have not been returned to their parents yet. The Head of the Crimean Human Rights Group Olha Skrypnyk also reported about the facts of abduction of Ukrainian children from schools in the temporarily occupied territories of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions and their removal to sanatoria in Crimea.
Ukrainian law enforcement officers continue to record war crimes of the Russian army in the territories liberated from Russian occupation. The bodies of 2 civilians killed by the Russian military were exhumed in the village of Vysokopillia in Kherson region. According to the investigation, on June 1, during the capture of Vysokopillia, a Russian army soldier shot an unarmed local couple in their yard. In the liberated town of Izium in Kharkiv region, law enforcement officers exhumed the bodies of 3 more civilians who were shot in their cars in March during the Russian offensive. In addition, the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Denys Monastyrskyi reports on a large-scale work on documenting crimes and identifying persons involved in the torture of Ukrainian citizens. Currently, 23 torture chambers have been discovered in Kharkiv region (including 8 in Kupiansk), 3 in Kherson region and 1 in Donetsk region.
Prosecutor General Andrii Kostin stated that the Prosecutor’s Office has recorded more than 300 facts of crimes committed by the Russian Federation in Ukraine, which fall under the definition of genocide of the Ukrainian people.
The mine threat remains acute on the territories recently liberated from occupation and in the area of active hostilities. In Kharkiv region, 2 residents of Zolochiv community were killed by a mine explosion.
Russian troops continue to damage the cultural heritage of Ukraine. The removal of art funds from the gallery in the temporarily occupied Nova Kakhovka in Kherson region was recorded. The gallery had more than 1200 exhibits, including a unique collection of 297 works of painting and graphics by Albin Gavdzinskyi, a collection of etchings by the People’s Artist of Ukraine Vasyl Myronenko, a collection of illustrations by the People’s Artist of Ukraine Valentyn Lytvynenko and many others.
Resistance
According to the head of the Berdiansk City Military Administration, a representative of the occupation administration, the so-called first deputy head of the city administration for foreign policy and mass communications Pavlo Ishchuk, was injured in an explosion that occurred in the temporarily occupied Berdiansk on October 31.
On November 2, a series of explosions were heard in the temporarily occupied Kherson.
ECONOMIC SITUATION
The Cabinet of Ministers approved the draft budget for 2023 for the second reading, taking into account the proposals of MPs. According to Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, the government adjusted the GDP growth forecast for 2023 towards the conservative scenario (3.2% instead of 4.6%). The inflation forecast was reduced from 30% to 28%.
At a meeting on November 1, the Cabinet of Ministers dismissed Yurii Vitrenko from the post of Chairman of the Board of Naftogaz of Ukraine. Former Minister of Communities and Territories Development Oleksii Chernyshov, who resigned on November 2, is likely to become the new head of Naftogaz.
POLITICAL AND DIPLOMATIC EVENTS
The Russian Federation was forced to return to participation in the “grain deal” after Ukraine, the UN and Türkiye agreed to continue working on the transportation of food, coordinating plans for the movement of ships through the grain corridor despite the blackmail of the Russian authorities around the food issue. Russia, in turn, does not dare to openly block the corridor by force. This does not negate the fact that the actions of the Russian Federation remain the only threat to global food security in the region, as President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi once again stated in his address.
World leaders continue to visit Kyiv, demonstrating full support for the Ukrainian people and strengthening cooperation with Ukraine in combating the consequences of the war. President Volodymyr Zelenskyi had a meeting with Prime Minister of the Czech Republic Petr Fiala during which they discussed the consolidation of defense cooperation, strengthening of sanctions against Russia, bringing it to justice for terrorist acts against civilians. The leaders signed a joint declaration on the Euro-Atlantic prospects of Ukraine, which recorded the Czech Republic’s support for Ukraine’s membership in NATO, emphasized the commitment to the Alliance’s “open door” policy, identified priority areas of cooperation between the states, including to ensure further implementation of NATO standards in Ukraine. In addition, as a result of the meeting between the representatives of the governments of Ukraine and the Czech Republic the parties signed documents on cooperation in various spheres, launched intergovernmental consultations and announced additional military assistance.
Also, the President of Ukraine held negotiations with Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation of Spain José Manuel Albares and European Commissioner for Energy Kadri Simson who were on a visit to Kyiv. The main topics of the negotiations were the restoration of the energy infrastructure of Ukraine after the Russian missile attacks (the EU announces its readiness to supply electricity to Ukraine in case of an severe shortage); increasing assistance to Ukraine (Spain is sending generators and ambulances); bringing Russia to justice. U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Karen Donfried also visited Kyiv.
An active dialogue at the highest level is maintained between Ukraine and partners to strengthen mutual understanding and support in countering Russian aggression. Volodymyr Zelenskyi had phone conversations with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Hun Sen. The leaders discussed the enhancement of Ukraine’s defense capabilities, restoration of energy infrastructure and food security.
Ukraine’s international partners are expanding sanctions in response to the ongoing Russian aggression. The UK imposed sanctions against 4 Russian metallurgical and petrochemical tycoons who finance Russia’s war against Ukraine. The Government of New Zealand imposed new restrictive measures against 14 individuals and 7 organizations directly linked to the production of weapons or supporting the military invasion of Ukraine. The list of New Zealand sanctions against Russia since February 24 includes more than 1200 individuals and legal entities.
The international community is responding to Iran’s participation in the aggression against Ukraine as an ally of the Russian Federation. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba noted that the Ukrainian side has warned Iran through diplomatic channels about the consequences of the transfer of missiles and even more drones to Russia. According to U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price, the United States is working to expose Iran’s UAV proliferation network and is trying to counter Iran’s arms sales to Russia. The Swiss government announced the introduction of sanctions against Iran for supplying the Russian Federation with attack drones used in the war against Ukraine.
According to the Strategic Communications Coordinator of the U.S. National Security Council John Kirby, the DPRK is covertly supplying Russia with significant batches of artillery shells to be used in the war against Ukraine, under the guise of deliveries allegedly to the Middle East and North Africa.
Ukraine continues to actively work with international partners to restore the energy infrastructure damaged by Russian missile attacks. Currently, there are already agreements on the supply of energy equipment to Ukraine from the governments and companies of 12 countries. The EU and other international partners of Ukraine will provide €25.5 million through the Ukraine Energy Support Fund for the most urgent needs in the restoration of damaged energy facilities. Besides, the United States Government allocated $55 million to repair and maintain the heating infrastructure in Ukraine.
Due to the high risks of constant attacks on critical infrastructure (primarily energy), partner states have increased military assistance to Ukraine to strengthen its air defense. The United States will provide Ukraine with a total of 8 NASAMS air defense systems with ammunition. The United States also keeps encouraging other allies and partners to provide weapons to Ukraine. Spain allocates a new package of military assistance, which includes a battery of Aspide air defense systems, Hawk air defense systems, anti-tank missile systems, guns and ammunition.
Moldova has declared a Russian diplomat persona non grata. The decision was made after the fragments of a Russian missile launched during a massive strike on critical infrastructure facilities in Ukraine fell on Moldovan territory on October 31.
The information in the digest is collected from official sources — reports of state authorities of Ukraine, Ukrainian and international news agencies. The accuracy of the data is carefully checked by the project team and corrected in case of fake news.