The Russian occupying forces clear another section of the Ukraine war. Iranian arms deliveries to Russia are feared. The news ticker.
- Formerly on the US side: Russia is recruiting elite soldiers from Afghanistan
- “Affront” against Putin: “Wagner” boss surprisingly praises Selenskyj
- Editor’s note: All news and developments in the Ukraine war read in our news ticker. The information from Russia and the Ukraine come partly from the warring parties in Ukraine conflict and therefore cannot be directly verified independently.
Update from Wednesday, November 2, 7:20 a.m.: The United States has also warned of the danger of Iranian arms deliveries to Russia. John Kirby, spokesman for the United States National Security Council, said on Tuesday (November 1): “We remain concerned about the possibility that Iran could supply Russia with surface-to-surface missiles. We haven’t seen that confirmed yet, but that’s a concern we have.”
According to western states, Iran had already delivered drones to Russia. Kirby condemned this. In this way, Iran is helping “to kill innocent Ukrainians”. “This is a regime in Tehran that is openly and willingly complicit in the murder of innocent Ukrainian people on Ukrainian soil.” Iran denies the drone deliveries.
Ukraine War: Russia uses roof of Zaporizhia NPP for air defense
+++ 10.20 p.m.: Like the Ukrainian Kyiv Independent reported that Russian forces have installed electronic warfare equipment on the roof of the fifth unit of the occupied Zaporizhia nuclear power plant. According to the Ukraine Intelligence Directorate, this is intended to combat aerial reconnaissance. According to the intelligence service, it is also planned to block the Ukrainian passes for the power plant personnel.
The Russian troops are said to have told the emergency services that they have until November 2 to decide whether to sign the contract with the Russian state nuclear power plant operator Rosatom or not, according to the directorate. Other employees of the plant are said to have been given a deadline of December 1st.
Ukraine war: Ukraine without effective defense against Iranian missiles
+++ 6.55 p.m.: The Ukrainian Air Force said on Tuesday (November 1st, 2022) that it does not have effective protection against the types of ballistic missiles supplied by Iran to Russia. Yuriy Ihnat, spokesman for Ukraine’s Air Force Command, said the range of the delivered missiles, one up to 300 km and the other up to 700 km, will allow Russia to strike anywhere in Ukraine.
“There is a high probability that they will be delivered to the north via Ukraine (at the border) from where they threaten the whole of Ukraine,” Ihnat told a news conference in Kyiv on Tuesday. When asked if the Ukrainian armed forces were prepared to defend themselves against this type of Iranian ballistic missiles, Ihnat replied that they would take “every measure and means of protection against these missiles” that they could.
However, Ihnat warned: “Currently we have no effective defense against these missiles. It is theoretically possible to shoot them down, but it is very difficult to do so with the means we currently have.” “We have no air defenses, no anti-missile defenses,” he added.
Ukraine war: Macron promises Ukraine more aid and air defenses
+++ 5.45 p.m.: French President Emmanuel Macron said that Guardians According to a phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, France will help Ukraine get through the winter. He also offered to help repair water and power infrastructure damaged by Russian attacks. France will also help strengthen Ukraine’s air defenses.
War in Ukraine: Russia suddenly vacates another area
+++ 5.10 p.m.: In the Ukrainian region of Cherson, the Russian occupying forces are now also clearing a strip of civilians on the south bank of the Dnipro River after the north bank. The action will be completed in three days at the most, said head of administration Vladimir Saldo on Russian television. It is about a 15-kilometer-wide strip on the southern bank. Saldo did not provide any information on the number of civilians in the area.
The Russian army expects a major Ukrainian attack on its bridgehead north of the Dnipro, especially on the regional capital of Kherson. Since mid-October, people have been taken from there deeper into Russian-controlled areas, and Ukraine speaks of its citizens being abducted. Russia has declared the Kherson region annexed.
Ukraine war: Russia recruits elite soldiers from Afghanistan
+++ 3.30 p.m.: Elite Afghan soldiers who used to fight alongside the US against the radical Islamic Taliban are being recruited by Russia for the Ukraine war. The news agency reports Associated Press (AP). Three former Afghan generals said Moscow would offer fighters $1,500 a month if they took part in the fighting.
According to the report, these are soldiers who fled to Iran after US troops withdrew. There they are threatened with deportation to their home country – and with it an execution by the Taliban. “They don’t want to fight, but they have no choice,” one of the generals, Abdul Raof Arghandiwal, told the AP. “They ask me, ‘Give me a solution. What should we do? If we go back to Afghanistan, the Taliban will kill us.’” According to Arghandiwal, the notorious mercenary group Gruppe Wagner is carrying out the recruitment attempts.
News about the Ukraine war: Japan warns Russia against using nuclear weapons
+++ 1.45 p.m.: Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has warned Russia against using nuclear weapons in Ukraine. Corresponding signals from Russia are “very worrying,” he said in Tokyo after a conversation with Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier. The history of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki 77 years ago should not be neglected. “If Russia were to use nuclear weapons, it would be a hostile act against all of humanity.” The international community would never condone this.
Steinmeier thanked Kishida for Japan’s “clear stance” on Russia’s war of aggression. “Like us, Japan condemned this brutal war in Ukraine, which violated international law, and expressed its solidarity with the young democracy in Ukraine.” “The consequences are felt globally.” Steinmeier named the economic difficulties as well as food shortages and high energy prices.
News about the Ukraine war: Energy problems in many regions
+++ 12.45 p.m.: In Kyiv and six other regions, massive Russian rocket attacks on the energy infrastructure have resulted in power supply restrictions. The light will be switched off for customers at different times, said the energy supplier Ukrenerho. The regions of Chernihiv, Cherkasy, Zhytomyr, Sumy, Kharkiv and Poltava are also affected.
The shutdowns are intended to prevent the power grid from being overloaded, it said. This also gives experts the opportunity to repair systems damaged by rocket and drone attacks and bring them back online. The recent massive attacks on Monday are also seen as a response to the Russian Black Sea Fleet’s drone fire on its base in Sevastopol on the Crimean Peninsula over the weekend. “It is partly like that. But that’s not all we could have done either,” Putin said.
News about the Ukraine war: “Affront” against Putin – “Wagner” boss surprisingly praises Selenskyj
Update from Tuesday, November 1, 11:30 a.m.: Is Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin becoming more and more of a problem for Russian President Vladimir Putin? The founder of the notorious mercenary group “Wagner” is increasingly making idiosyncratic statements about the Ukraine war – and seems to be striving for greater power. Statements he made about the Ukrainian head of state Volodymyr Zelenskyy could now cause tension.
In an interview with a well-known Russian journalist, Prigozhin praised the Ukrainian president. “Zelensky may be the president of a country now hostile to the Russian Federation, but he is still a tough, pragmatic and likeable guy,” said the oligarch known as “Putin’s cook.”
The Russia correspondent of the German news channel nv, Rainer Munz, commented that the interview was as follows: It was an “affront” to Putin. “On the other hand, it somehow seems like an invitation from Prigozhin to negotiate with Zelenskyy,” the journalist summarized.
News about the Ukraine war: Russia plans new “spoilsport” strategy – secret service concerned
First report from Tuesday, November 1st, 9.30 a.m.: Kyiv – Apparently the Kremlin chief is planning Wladimir Putin a new Belarus strategy: According to British secret services, Russia wants to increasingly present the neighboring country as an ally to the West in its war against Ukraine. According to a report by the Ministry of Defense in London, Moscow is said to have stationed two MiG-31 interceptors and a large container protected by an earth wall at an airfield there. The Ministry published a satellite image.
The stationing is probably related to Russian AS-24 Killjoy hypersonic missiles (“spoilsports”). According to NATO, these missiles can hardly be intercepted with conventional air or missile defense systems – hence the nickname. According to the British, Moscow has been using such missiles since 2018. So far, however, none have been stationed in Belarus. In view of a range of around 2000 kilometers, this probably does not bring any strategic advantage in the Ukraine war, but should rather send a signal to the West.
News on the Ukraine war: Russia accuses Great Britain of disinformation
The British Ministry of Defense has published daily information on the course of the war since the start of the Russian war of aggression at the end of February, citing intelligence information. With this, London wants to counter the Russian portrayal of events and keep allies in line. Moscow speaks of a disinformation campaign. (tvd with dpa/AFP)
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