Military course of war:
The Ukrainian army has reported violent Russian attacks in some regions. “The enemy has tripled the intensity of fighting on individual sectors of the front – up to 80 attacks a day,” said the supreme commander of the Ukrainian armed forces, Valeriy Zalushny, on his Telegram channel on Thursday, without giving details. During a phone call with NATO Commander-in-Chief Christopher Cavoli, he discussed the situation at the front. “The situation is tense, but under control,” said Zalushnyj. The Ukrainian army maintains the defense “through courage and skill”.
The Russian military is still having problems with the recently recruited soldiers for partial mobilization. According to the Institute for the Study of War, the army still lacks accommodation, equipment and food for the newly recruited soldiers. According to a Russian source, most of the mobilized personnel have no training. In the Russian city of Pskov, the mobilized soldiers are supposed to sleep sick and starving on the streets. According to another Russian source, the Russian military police have also recently asked the Interior Ministry for help. The reason: More than 350 drunk, disorderly recruits had arrived at the Belgorod train station.
Voices and political developments:
Russian President Putin has ordered a special payment for contract soldiers and conscripts drafted into the war in Ukraine. The one-off payment is 195,000 rubles (3200 euros). The presidential decree said the payments were for “social support.”
The Russian Defense Ministry says it has successfully tested a new nuclear submarine. The “Generalissimus Suvorov” fired a Bulava ICBM (NATO code: SS-N-32) that can be equipped with nuclear warheads from the White Sea on the Barents Sea, the ministry in Moscow said on Thursday, according to the Russian state news agency TASS. According to the Kremlin, the nuclear submarine is to become part of the Russian Pacific Fleet. As early as September, Putin threatened to use nuclear weapons to defend Russia should it become necessary.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called on the population to hold out in the face of massive Russian attacks on the country’s energy infrastructure. “Enduring the Russian energy terror is now our national task,” Zelenskyy said in his evening video address on Thursday. He spoke of around 4.5 million people who were repeatedly affected by emergency shutdowns, especially in Kyiv and ten other areas.
Ukraine is making its participation in the G20 summit on November 15 and 16 in Indonesia dependent on its wartime enemy, Russia. If Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin travels to the meeting, he will not attend, said Zelenskyj in Kyiv, according to the Unian agency. This is his “personal position and the position of the country”. Putin has so far left open whether he will travel to Bali.
Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has announced a coordinated action by the G7 group of economically strong democracies on winter aid for Ukraine. “The joint sanctions that we have initiated are now being followed by joint winter aid from G7 partners,” said the Greens politician on Thursday at the start of the consultations in Münster. Many other countries have already announced that they will join. Russia recently launched a targeted attack on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. “This winter aid also means that we do not accept that peace and international law will be broken over the winter,” said Baerbock.
What will be important on Friday:
The meeting of the G7 foreign ministers, chaired by the German Foreign Minister Baerbock, ends in Münster – one of the topics is Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. In Moscow, Russian President Putin visits the exhibition “Ukraine. Through the ages”.
Also read: The Ukraine update on November 3rd
