Here is the situation as it stands on Wednesday, November 2.
Militant
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said “reliable and long-term defense” is needed for the safe passage of ships carrying grain exports from Ukrainian ports on the Black Sea. In his nightly speech, Zelensky said the world must respond decisively to any Russian attempts to disrupt the corridor. Meanwhile, a total of nine regions of Ukraine experienced power outages following Russian missile attacks. The United States said Russia fired about 100 missiles on Monday and Tuesday. Ukraine said it shot down most of those missiles, but some had hit power stations, knocking out electricity and water supplies.
Trade
Three outbound ships had left Ukrainian ports by midday Tuesday under the July Black Sea grain export deal, the U.N.-led coordination center said, on the second day of sailings after Russia suspended participation in the UN-brokered initiative. Moscow’s move has raised fears that a global food crisis could return, although so far, the Russian embargo has not been reimposed. Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said he believed grain exports under the deal would continue. The UN coordinator for the deal said he expected loaded ships to leave Ukrainian ports on Thursday. Earlier, delegations from Ukraine, Turkey and the UN agreed not to plan any ship movements on Wednesday. Russian President Vladimir Putin told his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in a phone call that Moscow can only consider resuming the deal after an investigation into recent drone attacks on the Crimean naval port of Sevastopol is complete.
Diplomacy and government
Yevgeny Prigozhin, a close Putin ally and founder of the private military group Wagner, praised Zelenskyy as a strong and confident leader who should not be underestimated. The Ukrainian government accepted the resignation of Yury Vitrenko as CEO of state energy company Naftogaz on Tuesday. The European Union was exploring ways to increase aid to Ukraine’s energy sector following “brutal and inhumane” Russian attacks, EU Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson said. Zelensky told Simpson that Russia’s “energy terrorism” had severely damaged about 40 percent of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
Kherson
Russia has told civilians to leave an area along the east bank of the Dnieper River in the southern Ukrainian province of Kherson, a major expansion of an evacuation order that Kyiv says amounts to the forced desolation of occupied territories. Ahead of an expected battle, the streets of the Russian port city of Kherson, the capital of the Kherson province that Russia annexed in September, were virtually empty. Many shops and businesses have closed, and at a pier on the banks of the Dnieper River, a handful of people boarded a ferry to leave.
