“Russia is destroying a country. The Russian army is not able to conquer it. Ukrainians are resisting and rejecting the invader,” Borrell told DW on the sidelines of a meeting of G7 foreign ministers in the western German city of Münster. “You can destroy a country hundreds of kilometers away. Mainly destroying the electrical system. They want to put Ukrainians in the dark in the cold during the winter.” He added that another goal of Russia’s ongoing war of aggression against Ukraine was to try to destroy European unity. Russia wants “the European people to be weakened and in the winter not so ready to support the Ukrainians”, Borrell said before insisting that European nations should consider themselves morally obliged to help the Ukrainians with money as well as weapons . “We need to support them,” he said, adding that the Ukrainians needed “weapons to defend themselves and reduce anti-Iran weapons, shut down the drones before the drones hit over their heads or their houses over their power plants. moral duty of Europeans”. With around 4 million Ukrainians fleeing to the EU, Borel went on to accuse Russia of “trying to create political instability and they are trying to create migration waves because they know Europeans are very sensitive to migration”.
Russia’s war is leading to mass displacement, UN warns
To view this video, please enable JavaScript and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Here are the other main headlines from the war in Ukraine on Thursday, November 3:
Ukraine wary of the “recession” of Kherson
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Thursday that it is now possible for Ukrainian troops to retake the strategic southern city of Kherson. “On the issue of whether the Ukrainians can take the rest of the territory on the west side of the Dnipro River and in Kherson, I certainly think they have the ability to do that,” Austin said. The secretary’s remarks coincided with statements by Russian officials in the region that they would likely retreat to the eastern side of the Dnipro. Such a move would mean one of Russia’s most significant defeats since the invasion began. However, Kyiv expressed concerns that the retreat was little more than a trap. Images of Kherson’s town hall without the Russian flag on top could be part of a disinformation campaign, Ukrainian officials have warned. “We continue to fight, also in the direction of Kherson, despite the fact that the enemy is trying to convince us that they are leaving the settlements and creating the effect of a total evacuation,” said Natalya Khumenyuk, a spokeswoman for the military command of southern Ukraine.
Nuclear watchdog finds no signs of ‘dirty bomb’
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said on Thursday that inspectors had unrestricted access and found no evidence of undeclared nuclear activity and materials at three sites in Ukraine. IAEA Director-General Rafael Mariano Grossi said in a statement that inspectors “completed their on-site verifications at three locations in Ukraine at the request of the Government of Ukraine.” The request to send teams of UN inspectors was issued following Russian claims that Kyiv was planning to develop a so-called “dirty bomb” containing radioactive material. “Our technical and scientific evaluation of the results we have so far has not shown any sign of undeclared nuclear activities and materials at these three sites. Additionally, we will report the results of the environmental sampling as soon as possible,” Grossi said. Grossi went on to say that the IAEA remains ready to conduct further verification activities in Ukraine if necessary.
UN says it sees ‘progress’ in Russian fertilizer exports
Talks are underway to unblock Russian fertilizer exports and “significant steps forward” have been made, UN negotiators said on Thursday, before admitting significant work remains. UN trade negotiator Rebecca Greenspan told reporters in Geneva that significant progress was being made toward de-escalating the situation with Russia’s fertilizer exports. “We are working very hard making this facility, [and] they have concrete results,” said Greenspan, head of the UN Trade and Development Agency (UNCTAD). “We have made significant steps forward, but there is still a way to go, especially with the fertilizer crisis we are seeing in the world,” he added. Grynspan said fertilizer exports from Russia – the world’s largest producer – face significant obstacles. “We have clarified and engaged with the EU, the US and the UK to resolve these issues,” he said. “I think we are making progress,” he said, though he added that negotiators had not made “all the progress that I would like to see right now.”
Bulgarian lawmakers approve military aid to Ukraine
Bulgaria’s parliament voted in favor of sending military aid to Ukraine. In a vote in the National Assembly, 175 voted yes to 49 against, while there was one abstention.
The government has one month to decide what weapons Bulgaria can send without jeopardizing Bulgarian national security.
Previously, Bulgaria had only agreed to repair Ukrainian equipment and refused to send weapons, with President Rumen Radev warning that it would make Bulgaria a party to the war.
Hungary and Bulgaria are the only EU member states that refused to give arms to Kyiv.
The pro-Russian nationalist Vazrazhdane Party called on supporters to gather outside parliament to protest military aid to Ukraine, saying it was “pushing the country into war”.
UN: Ten million tons of grain sent in agreement
Ships have transported 10 million metric tons of grain and food from Ukraine under a deal with Russia, according to the United Nations. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday urged both sides to renew the agreement.
“The Black Sea Grain Initiative makes a difference,” Guterres told reporters. Russia suspended its role in the deal last week after drones targeted the Black Sea Fleet in Crimea. Moscow rejoined the deal when it said it received security guarantees for safe sea transit in the region.
“The initiative is working. It is our collective responsibility to keep it running smoothly,” Guterres said.
Russia and Ukraine exchange 107 prisoners each
A prisoner exchange took place between Russia and Ukraine, involving 214 prisoners. Russia’s Defense Ministry announced that Ukraine had released 107 Russian servicemen. At the same time, Ukraine’s presidential chief of staff Andriy Yermak said Russia had released 107 Ukrainian fighters, including 74 that had been involved in the defense of the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol. “We managed to exchange seriously wounded and bedridden [fighters] from Mariupol, from “Azovstal”, boys with shrapnel wounds in arms and legs, gunshot wounds in various parts of the body. There are people with amputated limbs and [those] who cannot feel part of their face, [others] with infected wounds,” Jermak said.
Russia summons UK envoy over drone attack
Russia summoned the UK’s envoy on Thursday, claiming London was involved in a Ukrainian drone attack on its Black Sea fleet in Crimea. “Such confrontational actions by the British risk escalating the situation and could lead to unpredictable and dangerous consequences,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said. British Ambassador Deborah Bonnert went to the Russian Foreign Ministry and had a conversation for about half an hour, according to the Russian state news agency TASS. He arrived at the building with protesters accusing the UK of being a “terrorist state”. The UK has called Moscow’s claims of the drone strike “false claims of an epic scale”. Russia has also accused London of involvement in the Nord Stream pipeline explosions in September.
Microsoft extends wartime aid to Ukraine
Tech giant Microsoft has announced it will provide Ukraine with an additional $100 million (€101 million) in technical assistance as Russia’s invasion moves forward.
Ukraine will be able to use the company’s cloud and data centers across Europe until the end of 2023.
“Part of what this war has shown is that you need to move services to the cloud in a time of war to ensure their resiliency and security,” Microsoft vice president Brad Smith told reporters at the annual Web Summit technology meeting in Lisbon, Portugal.
Smith said his company is pleased to join a “digital alliance of countries and companies and non-profits standing together to support Ukraine.”
The Zaporizhzhia plant was again disconnected from the power grid
The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) in southeastern Ukraine has been disconnected from its power grid again after Russian shelling, according to a Telegram post by Energoatom. The operator said the plant currently relies on diesel fuel. Energoatom said the generators only have enough fuel to power the plant for 15 days. “The countdown has begun,” Energoatom said, adding that its options were limited to “keeping ZNPP in safe operation.” The company claimed Russia bombed two of its power lines overnight. Energoatom believes Moscow wants to repair the plant and then connect it to the Russian grid. Although Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed an order placing the plant under Moscow’s control, Ukrainian workers continue to operate the facility. The factory has been occupied by Russian forces since the early stages of the invasion.
Melitopolis witnesses explosions during the night
The Russian-occupied city of Melitopoli in the south…
