Missile and drone attacks have destroyed 40% of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure and have already briefly left large parts of Kiev without power and water, causing power cuts. On Wednesday, Klitschko wrote on the Telegram messaging app that city authorities were considering different scenarios due to missile attacks. “The worst is where there will be no electricity, water or district heating at all,” he said. “For this case, we are preparing over 1,000 heating points in our city.” The sites will be equipped with generators and stocked with essentials such as water, he said. While urging Ukrainians who have already fled the country to stay abroad for the winter, the government accused Russia of sparking a new humanitarian crisis by forcing even more people to flee, fearing the prospect of surviving without electricity or heating during the cold season. Important events Show only key events Please enable JavaScript to use this feature
The UN says no grain ships will depart on Wednesday, they will resume on Thursday
Ships loaded with grain left Ukraine on Tuesday, despite Russia suspending its participation in a UN-brokered deal that ensures the safe passage of critical wartime food supplies to parts of the world struggling with hunger. But despite grain-laden ships leaving Ukraine this week, the UN said no such ships would sail on Wednesday, raising fears about the future of the initiative. Amir Abdulla, UN deal coordinator, later tweeted: “We expect loaded ships to depart on Thursday.” Grain and food exports from #Ukraine️ must continue. Although there are no vessel movements scheduled for 2 November under the #BlackSeaGrainInitiative, we expect loaded vessels to depart on Thursday. — Amir M. Abdulla (@AmirMAAbdulla) November 1, 2022 Three ships carrying 84,490 metric tons of corn, wheat and sunflowers left Ukraine through a maritime humanitarian corridor established in July, while another 36 ships completed inspections near Turkey to head to their final destinations, the UN said. The corridor, brokered by Turkey and the UN, was seen as a breakthrough to ensure that Africa, the Middle East and parts of Asia would receive grain and other food from the Black Sea region during Russia’s war in Ukraine. Russia cited allegations of a Ukrainian drone strike against its fleet in the Black Sea, announcing at the weekend that it was suspending its part of the grain deal. Russia’s Defense Ministry said on Monday that shipping from ports in southern Ukraine had stopped, calling the move “unacceptable”. A total of 14 ships set sail that day, including one chartered by the UN’s World Food Program to bring wheat to Ethiopia, which, along with neighboring Somalia and Kenya, has been hit hard by the worst drought in decades. The UN has warned that parts of Somalia are facing famine and thousands of people have died there. Updated at 06:24 GMT
Russia calls for vote on Ukraine’s baseless bioweapons claims
The U.N. Security Council scheduled a vote Wednesday on a resolution that would create a commission to investigate unfounded Russian allegations that Ukraine and the United States are conducting “military biological” activities that violate the convention banning the use of biological weapons, the Associated press. . Russia released a 310-page document to council members last week alleging that this biological activity is taking place in Ukraine with the support of the US Department of Defense. The document included a formal complaint to the Security Council, which is permitted under Article VI of the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention, and a draft resolution that would authorize the Security Council to establish a committee of 15 Council members to investigate Russia’s claims. Russia’s initial claim of secret US biological warfare labs in Ukraine, made soon after its invasion, has been disputed by independent scientists, Ukrainian leaders and White House and Pentagon officials. An Associated Press investigation in March found that the claim is taking root online, uniting Covid-19 conspiracy theorists, QAnon supporters and some supporters of former President Donald Trump.
Authorities in Kyiv are preparing generator-powered ‘heating stations’
Authorities in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv are preparing more than 1,000 heating points across the city in case the district heating system is disabled by continued Russian attacks, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Wednesday. Missile and drone attacks have destroyed 40% of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure and have already briefly left large parts of Kiev without power and water, causing power cuts. On Wednesday, Klitschko wrote on the Telegram messaging app that city authorities were considering different scenarios due to missile attacks. “The worst is where there will be no electricity, water or district heating at all,” he said. “For this case, we are preparing over 1,000 heating points in our city.” The sites will be equipped with generators and stocked with essentials such as water, he said. While urging Ukrainians who have already fled the country to stay abroad for the winter, the government accused Russia of sparking a new humanitarian crisis by forcing even more people to flee, fearing the prospect of surviving without electricity or heating during the cold season.
Welcome and summary
Hello and welcome to today’s live coverage of the war in Ukraine. My name is Helen Sullivan and I will be with you for the next time. Authorities in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv are preparing more than 1,000 heating points across the city in case the district heating system is disabled by continued Russian attacks, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Wednesday. The sites will be equipped with generators and have essential supplies such as water. More on that soon. In the meantime, here are the other important recent developments:
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy met with Kadri Simson, the European Union’s energy commissioner, telling her that Russian forces had “seriously damaged” about 40 percent of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, particularly thermal and hydroelectric plants. Due to the attacks, Ukraine was forced to stop exporting electricity to Europe. Long-term defense is needed for Ukraine’s grain export corridor and the world must respond strongly to any Russian attempts to disrupt it, Zelensky said, as more ships are loaded despite Moscow’s suspension of participation in the UN-brokered deal. Zelensky said the ships were moving away from Ukrainian ports with their cargo thanks to the work of Turkey and the UN, the two main brokers of the July 22 grain export deal. In an interview with Sky News, Boris Johnson said he did not believe Vladimir Putin would use a nuclear weapon in Ukraine and that would “immediately cause Russia to withdraw from the club of civilized nations”. The Russian occupation government in Kherson region has moved its administration further south to Skandovsk, the general staff of the Ukrainian armed forces said. Russia told citizens on Tuesday to leave an area along the east bank of the Dnieper River, a major expansion of an evacuation order that Kyiv says amounts to the forced depopulation of occupied territories. Russian forces launched four missiles and 26 airstrikes and carried out 27 multiple-launch missile system attacks on more than 20 settlements, the general staff of the Ukrainian armed forces said. The Ukrainian armed forces said their attack on Russian ammunition depots in the Zaporizhzhia region on October 29 destroyed five units of military equipment, killed 30 Russians and wounded at least 100. UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace has given evidence to the British Parliament’s international relations and defense committee, outlining why he believes Russia’s plans for a swift invasion have failed. He also talked about future deployments in NATO. The Ukrainian government has accepted the resignation of Yury Vitrenko from the post of CEO of the state energy company Naftogaz. In a statement on the Telegram messaging app, Naftogaz said Vitrenko would remain in the role until November 3, but gave no further details.
Updated at 05:30 GMT
