Ukrainian forces in the Kherson region in southern Ukraine, October 2022 (AP)
EA on BBC: Bombs and Ballots — The Latest from Ukraine to Brazil
Sunday’s Coverage: Russia Threatens to Renew Blockade After Explosions Strike Its Warships in Crimea
Source: institute for the Study of War
UPDATE 1925 GMT:
Kyiv Mayor Vitaly Klitschko says 40% of residents are without water after this morning’s Russian missile strikes.
“As of this hour, 270,000 apartments in the capital are without electricity,” Klitschko posted on Telegram.
The mayor said 80% of residents were without water and 350,000 apartments without electricity this morning.
UPDATE 1911 GMT:
The UN has rebuffed the Kremlin’s propaganda that a civilian cargo ship with Ukrainian grain may have been involved in Saturday’s drone strike against Russian warships in occupied Crimea.
Martin Griffiths, the head of the UN humanitarian agency, told the Security Council that no such ships were in the maritime corridor in the Black Sea at the time of the explosions.
“No vessel reported an incident over the weekend,” Griffiths said.
Three Russian warships, including its Black Sea flagship Admiral Makarov, were reportedly damaged about 4:20 am on Saturday morning.
UPDATE 1600 GMT:
The Ukrainian energy company DTEK has warned that it is exhausting equipment to repair infrastructure damaged by Russian missile and drone strikes.
The company said it has bought some spare parts to fix power lines but its needs millions of dollars to restore the system after this morning’s attacks, which damaged one of its facilities.
DTEK executive director Dmytro Sakharuk said, “We have already used up the stockpiles of equipment which we had in our depots after the first two waves of attacks since October.”
UPDATE 0922 GMT:
Ukrainian officials say Russia attacked this morning with cruise missiles from Russian Tu-90 and T-60 aircraft flying north of the Caspian Sea and Russia’s Rostov region.
The Kyiv, Zaporizhzhia, and Kharkiv regions and the areas of Mikolaiv, Lviv, Zhytomyr, Kirovohrad, and Chernivtsi were attacked.
Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko said “another barbaric attack” hit “electric substations, hydropower, and heat generation facilities.”
Emergency and scheduled partial blackouts have been introduced in the Kyiv, Cherkasy, Zaporizhzhia, Cherkasy, Kyiv, Kirovohrad, Kharkiv, Zaporizhia, and Poltava regions.
UPDATE 0919 GMT:
Updates from Kyiv and Kharkiv on this morning’s Russian missile strikes on “critical infrastructure”….
Kyiv Governor Oleksiy Kuleba said that, with damage to energy infrastructure, part of the region is without electricity and emergency power cuts have been introduced: “Prepare for long-term power outages.”
Kuleba said there is one “victim” on whom further information is awaited, and destruction of private buildings.
Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov posted on Telegram about a “rather complicated” situation. Power was lost to the subway and electric transport on the ground. One metro line has been restored, and replacement bus services are operating.
Engineers are repairing water supply.
UPDATE 0843 GMT:
Ukraine’s Infrastructure Ministry says 12 ships with grain left from Ukrainian ports on Monday despite Russia’s suspension of the July deal lifting its blockade.
Ten inspection teams from the UN and Turkey are processing 40 other ships.
The Russian Defense Ministry fumed, “The movement of ships along the security corridor is unacceptable, since the Ukrainian leadership and the command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine use it to conduct military operations against the Russian Federation.”
UPDATE 0750 GMT:
Russia has also attacked Zaporizhzhia city in southern Ukraine this morning.
“Today, at approximately 8:00 am, the enemy launched rocket attacks on Zaporizhzhia,” Governor Oleksandr Starukh posted on Telegram.
No casualties have been reported and emergency services are at the scene.
UPDATE 0737 GMT:
The latest Russian attacks across the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine have killed four civilians in Bakhmut.
Pushed back elsewhere in the east and northeast, Russian forces have been trying for weeks to overrun the city.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy hailed Ukrainian defenders on Sunday evening, “Today, they stopped a fierce assault by the enemy. The Russian attack was repelled.”
UPDATE 0734 GMT:
Kyiv Mayor Vitaly Klitschko has posted a Telegram update on Russia’s missile strikes on the Ukraine capital this morning:
Power engineers are working to restore electricity supply after damage to an energy facility that powers about 350,000 apartments in Kyiv. Specialists, together with other emergency services and authorities are doing everything possible to stabilize the situation as soon as possible.
UPDATE 0722 GMT:
Russian forces have again fired missiles on Kyiv, Ukraine’s second city Kharkiv, and the Cherkasy region in the center of the country.
Kyiv Mayor Vitaly Klitschko said critical infrastructure facilities were struck: “There is no water supply in some areas. All services are working.”
Explosions so far seem to have been outside Kyiv city centre. Electricity, water out in some parts of Kyiv. Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv and Cherkasy hit too.
Ukraine’s emergency services issued an alert urging people to obey the sirens, seek shelter, as they expect more attacks today https://t.co/OmZRpLEsku
— Isobel Koshiw (@IKoshiw) October 31, 2022
Kharkiv Mayor Igor Terekhov said Russia “hit a critical infrastructure facility in the city”.
Facing defeat across Ukraine, Russia escalated attacks with missiles and Iranian-supplied drones from October 10, killing scores of civilians and knocking out 1/3 of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
However, the strikes had ebbed in the past week, reportedly because Russia is exhausting its stock of missiles.
Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba responded this morning:
Another batch of Russian missiles hits Ukraine’s critical infrastructure. Instead of fighting on the battlefield, Russia fights civilians. Don’t justify these attacks by calling them a ‘response’. Russia does this because it still has the missiles and the will to kill Ukrainians.
— Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) October 31, 2022
UPDATE 0715 GMT:
UK military intelligence has added to assessments of poorly-supported, newly-mobilized Russian troops deployed on frontlines in east and south Ukraine.
In its latest report, the UK analysts said several thousand men, called up by Vladimir Putin’s order of September 21, are often poorly equipped with rifles in “barely usable condition”.
Images indicate the men are usually equipped with AKMs, first used in 1959 and kept in poor storage. The rifles use 7.62mm ammunition, rather than the 5.45 mm of the AK-74M or AK-12 rifles of Russia’s regular combat units.
ORIGINAL ENTRY: Ukraine’s military says Russia is withdrawing its heavy artillery in the Kherson region in southern Ukraine.
The General Staff reported on Sunday night, “According to available information, the enemy is taking preparatory measures to withdraw artillery units from the right-bank part of [the Dnipro River] in the Kherson region, with their subsequent possible transfer to other directions.”
Kyiv repeated its message about “preparations for the evacuation of individual units and military equipment” on Monday morning.
In the face of the Ukrainian counter-offensive, advancing since late August, Russia and its proxy officials began moving residents of Kherson city to other occupied areas earlier this month.
On Saturday, the proxy officials said they have completed the relocations of 70,000 people from the city, which had a population of almost 300,000 people before Vladimir Putin’s invasion.
The Kherson region was occupied by Russian troops in the opening days of the February 24 invasion. Its loss would not only mark Putin’s defeat but also put pressure on Crimea, occupied by Russia since 2014.
Russian warships were damaged by explosions in Sevastopol Bay early Saturday. Open-source investigators said Russia’s Black Sea flagship, the frigate Admiral Makarov, was one of three vessels struck.
The Admiral Makarov replaced the Moskva, sunk by Ukrainian strikes in mid-April with the loss of hundreds of men.
Moscow blamed Ukrainian drone strikes and suspended participation in the July deal, brokered by the UN and Turkey, to ensure Ukrainian exports of grains and other agricultural produce.
The UN, Turkey, and Ukraine said they will press ahead on Monday with a transit plan for 16 ships and inspections of 40 outtbound vessels.
But the Ukraine Infrastructure Ministry said 218 ships were “effectively blocked” in ports – 22 loaded and stuck, 95 loaded and departed, and 101 awaiting inspections.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy summarized on Saturday night:
From September to today, 176 vessels have already accumulated in the grain corridor, which cannot follow their route. Some grain carriers have been waiting for more than three weeks.
This is an absolutely deliberate blockade by Russia. This is an absolutely transparent intention of Russia to return the threat of large-scale famine to Africa and Asia.
