Russian invasion of Ukraine: Day 622

Summary for Tuesday, 7th November 2023 - DAY 622

• A close military adviser to the commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s army has been killed after a grenade among birthday presents exploded. “Under tragic circumstances, my assistant and close friend, Major Gennadiy Chastiakov, was killed … on his birthday,” Gen Valery Zaluzhny wrote online. Chastiakov had left a wife and four children, he said.
  
  
• The death was initially reported as a suspected assassination attempt, but details later emerged suggesting there was a mix-up and the grenade was amongst birthday presents and mistakenly set off. Chastiakov’s son, 13, was also reported to have been seriously injured.
  
  
• Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has said the deaths of at least 19 soldiers in a Russian missile strike on a military ceremony was a “tragedy that could’ve been avoided”. Other reports suggest the death toll could be much higher, while defence chiefs are under pressure over the staging of the event in a frontline village vulnerable to attack.
  
  
• Zelenskiy has said it is irresponsible to talk of holding an election in Ukraine in wartime and called for unity to avoid pointless political discussions. “We need to recognise that this is a time for defence, a time for battle, upon which the fate of the state and its people depend … I believe that elections are not appropriate at this time.” Elections are banned under martial law in force in Ukraine, but Zelenskiy had been considering whether to invoke special provisions to stage them. He has said he would like to run for a second term if a vote took place.
  
  
• In the US, some senate Republicans have released a sweeping set of US border security proposals as a condition for sending more aid to Ukraine, laying out a draft plan that includes resuming construction on parts of the Mexico border wall.
  
  
• Vladimir Putin has decided to run in the March presidential election, a move that would keep him in power until least 2030, as he is said to feel he must steer Russia through its most perilous period in decades, sources told Reuters.
  
  
• Radio Free Europe has said that it believes Russia may have taken one of its journalists “hostage” for a potential prisoner swap with the US and is appealing to Moscow not to treat her cruelly, the broadcaster’s acting president said.
  
  
• Several dozen owners of transport companies blocked three Polish border crossings with Ukraine in protest at what they say is unfair competition from its businesses.
  
  
• Ukraine’s grain exports have fallen by almost a third compared with last year, agriculture ministry data shows, to 9.8m tonnes so far in the July 2023-June 2024 season. The ministry said that by this point last year, Ukraine had exported 14.3m tonnes.
  
  
• Odesa’s national art museum said seven exhibitions, most featuring the work of contemporary Ukrainian artists, were damaged by a Russian strike that left a large crater outside the museum, which is celebrating its 124th anniversary. Ukraine’s deputy foreign minister, Emine Dzheppar, said Kyiv was “deeply outraged” by the attack and urged the UN’s Paris-based heritage agency, Unesco, to condemn it.
  

Adviser to Ukraine’s military chief died in explosion on his birthday

Loud explosions have been heard near the towns of Novofedorivka and Saky in Crimea, according to Shot, a Russian news outlet whose story was in turn reported by Reuters.

Ukraine fired 17 drones towards Crimea, Russia says

Russian strikes overnight in the southern Ukrainian region of Odesa left eight people wounded and damaged a historic art museum

A Russian ship was “almost certainly” damaged after being struck in Crimea, says the UK’s Ministry of Defence.

Ukraine said Tuesday it had not received any official demands from Polish transport companies, which have blocked three major border crossings to protest what they say is unfair competition from their war-torn neighbour.

A 42-year-old civilian was injured after a mine detonated in the village of Rubizhne in Kharkiv oblast

Nato allies condemn Russia's withdrawal from key cold war-era security treaty

 Allies condemn Russia’s decision to withdraw from the treaty on conventional armed forces in Europe (CFE), and its war of aggression against Ukraine which is contrary to the treaty’s objectives.
Russia’s withdrawal is the latest in a series of actions that systematically undermines Euro-Atlantic security.
Therefore, as a consequence, allied states parties intend to suspend the operation of the CFE Treaty for as long as necessary, in accordance with their rights under international law.
This is a decision fully supported by all Nato allies.

Russia likely ready to launch new assault on Avdiivka

- says head of town's military administration

Ukraine bolstering defences as it braces for winter attacks on energy facilities

Summary of the day so far...

• Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has been quoted as saying that Ukraine had deployed more western air defence systems, as it braces for a second full winter of Russian attacks on energy facilities.
  
  
• Ukraine is preparing for a renewed Russian assault on the eastern town of Avdiivka, after several recent unsuccessful attempts by Moscow’s forces to surround it, AFP reported. “The third wave will definitely happen. The enemy is regrouping after a second wave of unsuccessful attacks,” Vitaliy Barabash, head of the Avdiivka military administration, said.
  
  
• The Netherlands sent its first five F-16 fighter jets to Romania on Tuesday for use in the training of Ukrainian pilots, Reuters reported.
  
  
• Russia formally withdrew from a landmark security treaty that limited key categories of conventional armed forces, blaming the US for undermining post-cold war security with the enlargement of the Nato military alliance. Nato allies said that, as a consequence, they intended to suspend the operation of the treaty as long as necessary.
  
  
• G7 support for Ukraine in its war with Russia will not be affected by the intensifying Middle East conflict, Japan said as the group’s foreign ministers prepared to hold virtual talks with Kyiv during a meeting in Tokyo.
  
  
• Russia foiled an attempted Ukrainian drone attack on Tuesday morning, shooting down drones over the Black Sea and the annexed Crimean peninsula, Moscow’s defence ministry said.
  

Reporters Without Borders said Tuesday it was planning to launch a digital platform aimed at providing Russian speakers with access to independent news

Shelling by Ukrainian forces killed six people in the city of Donetsk on Tuesday

US says Russia has funded Latin America-wide anti-Ukraine disinformation drive

Closing Summary

• The heads of the US treasury, defence and state departments called on Congress to fund $11.8bn in Ukraine aid as part of President Joe Biden’s supplemental spending request, according to a letter released on Tuesday. Senate Democrats blocked a Republican effort to win quick approval for a bill providing emergency aid to Israel that passed the US House of Representatives last week, but that provides no assistance for Ukraine.
  
  
• The US has accused Russia of financing a Latin America-wide disinformation campaign that feeds media contacts with propaganda aimed at weakening support for Ukraine and boosting anti-American and anti-Nato sentiments, Reuters reported.
  
  
• Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has been quoted as saying that Ukraine had deployed more western air defence systems, as it braces for a second full winter of Russian attacks on energy facilities.
  
  
• Ukraine is preparing for a renewed Russian assault on the eastern town of Avdiivka, after several recent unsuccessful attempts by Moscow’s forces to surround it, AFP reported. “The third wave will definitely happen. The enemy is regrouping after a second wave of unsuccessful attacks,” Vitaliy Barabash, head of the Avdiivka military administration, said.
  
  
• The Netherlands sent its first five F-16 fighter jets to Romania on Tuesday for use in the training of Ukrainian pilots, Reuters reported.
  
  
• Russia formally withdrew from a landmark security treaty that limited key categories of conventional armed forces, blaming the US for undermining post-cold war security with the enlargement of the Nato military alliance. Nato allies said that, as a consequence, they intended to suspend the operation of the treaty as long as necessary.
  
  
• G7 support for Ukraine in its war with Russia will not be affected by the intensifying Middle East conflict, Japan said as the group’s foreign ministers prepared to hold virtual talks with Kyiv during a meeting in Tokyo.
  
  
• Russia foiled an attempted Ukrainian drone attack on Tuesday morning, shooting down drones over the Black Sea and the annexed Crimean peninsula, Moscow’s defence ministry said.