Russian invasion of Ukraine: Day 619

Summary for Saturday, 4th November 2023 - DAY 619

• The US will provide $425m worth of additional arms and equipment to Ukraine for its ongoing fight against Russia’s invasion, the Biden administration announced on Friday. The package uses the last of the funds in the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), a more than $18bn fund that allowed the Biden administration to buy weapons from industry, rather than pull from US weapons stocks.
  
  
• A Ukrainian missile attack on Friday on an employment centre in a Russian-occupied town in the southern region of Kherson killed nine people and injured nine, the region’s Russia-appointed governor was quoted as saying.
  
  
• A handful of Ukrainian troops who have reached the occupied side of the Dnipro River are clinging to a foothold in Russian-controlled territory in the south of the country despite a fierce bombardment. The marines have secured a beachhead that could allow Ukraine to reclaim more of the Kherson region that lies between Ukrainian territory and Crimea, seized by Russia in 2014.
  
  
• Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, is considering the “pros and cons” of holding presidential elections next spring, his foreign minister said. “We are not closing this page. The president of Ukraine is considering and weighing the different pros and cons,” Dmytro Kuleba told a briefing, adding that holding elections during the war with Russia would entail “unprecedented” challenges.
  
  
• Russia launched its largest drone attack on Ukraine for weeks on Friday, hitting critical infrastructure in the west and south of Ukraine and destroying private houses and commercial buildings in Kharkiv.
  
  
• Russia intends to stick to a nuclear test ban moratorium despite withdrawing its ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban treaty, the foreign ministry said.
  
  
• A Russian court sentenced Pyotr Verzilov, an activist linked to the Pussy Riot group, to eight and a half years in prison for breaching Russia’s strict censorship laws. The 36-year-old was sentenced “in absentia” as he has not lived in Russia since 2020, reported MediaZona, an opposition news site that he founded.
  
  
• The Kremlin has dismissed a new package of US sanctions, saying Russia had learned to “overcome” such economic hurdles since the Ukraine conflict began. Washington yesterday sanctioned several Russian energy and finance companies it said were supporting Russia’s offensive against Ukraine.
  
  
• The chief of Austria’s Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) has said the timing of a sale or spin-off of its extensive operations in Russia is largely out of his control. Russia made up 45% of RBI’s profit in the first nine months of the year, though it reported a 30% decline in the volume of its loans in Russia in the third quarter from a year earlier.
  
  
• The Russian Orthodox church called for an apology from Alla Pugacheva, the country’s most renowned pop singer who returned home this week, over her criticism of Russia’s war in Ukraine.
  

Russia intent on capturing Avdiivka coking plant, say Ukraine officials

EU to stand by Ukraine 'for as long as it takes', pledges Von der Leyen

Russian attacks in Ukraine wounded at least 14 civilians over the past day, officials said today.

Ukraine says it has filed criminal charges against Patriarch Kirill, the leader of the Russian Orthodox church, in absentia for “justifying” Russia’s invasion.

Shipyard in Kerch attacked by missiles

Explosions rock occupied Crimea, Sevastopol bay shrouded in smoke

Russian occupiers claim to have created a smoke screen in Sevastopol Bay.

Group of Russians attacks Ukrainians in Germany

A group of seven young Russians deliberately provoked and attacked four Ukrainians in the German city of Bremen.

Russia attacks soldiers of Ukraine's military who gathered for awards ceremony: More than 20 fighters killed

The Russian army has attacked Ukrainian soldiers in the frontline village of Zaporizhzhia, as they were probably gathered in one place to be awarded on the occasion of the Rocket Forces and Artillery Day (3 November – ed.); early reports confirm at least 20 fatalities.

Russians attack Poltava Oblast: Woman killed, two children injured

On 4 November, Russian invaders attacked Poltava Oblast, injuring several people and killing a woman who was hit by missile wreckage.

Closing Summary

• Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy reaffirmed his stance that this is not the time to negotiate with Russia, and he also denied that any western leaders were pressuring him to do so. He also rejected remarks by his own commander-in-chief that the war had reached a stalemate. An aide also directly criticised the general.
  

• Talks are under way to outline what Ukraine might have to give up to secure a peace deal with Russia, US news channel NBC reported earlier, citing a senior US official and another former senior official who briefed the network about the tentative plans.
  

• European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen arrived in Kyiv on Saturday ahead of a report the EU is expected to present next week about Ukraine‘s progress in its membership bid. She said the EU will stand by Ukraine “for as long as it takes” and that the country had made “excellent progress” towards EU accession.
  

• Russian forces are now focused on capturing Avdiivka’s coking plant, according to the town’s mayor Vitaliy Barabash. He said audio transmission intercepts had revealed that Moscow was now seeking to secure it. But UK intelligence suggests that Russia have incurred heavy losses in its assault on the Donbas town.
  

• Ukraine said it has filed criminal charges against Patriarch Kirill, the leader of the Russian Orthodox church, in absentia for “justifying” Russia’s invasion. Moscow’s most influential spiritual leader, a fervent supporter of president Vladimir Putin, has called the war a historic battle against the “forces of evil”.
  

• Zelenskiy appointed a new commander of the country’s special forces, a unit known for conducting military operations in Moscow-held territories, but the officer replaced in the shuffle said he had not been told why.
  

• Ukraine’s newly appointed head of the defence industry says he is working tirelessly to ramp up local arms production and wants to turn the country into a weapons production hub for the west.