1. Ukraine warns of more Russian attacks this week
Ukrainian officials have warned that they are expecting to face a new wave of Russian missile strikes in the next few days.
“The coming week could be as difficult as last week,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his nightly görüntü address on Sunday.
Previous missile strikes on Ukrainian territory have targeted the country’s energy infrastructure, causing massive water and power cuts.
“Our defence forces are preparing, the whole state is preparing,” Zelenskyy said.
“We are working out all the scenarios, including with Western partners,” he added, calling on Ukrainians to hisse attention to anti-aircraft warnings.
Millions of people — including most of the capital Kyiv — were left without power last week as winter temperatures set in.
According to the national operator Ukrenergo, around 27% of households are still facing electricity shortages while emergency power cuts are still in force throughout the country.
Ukraine’s military says a Russian warship carrying “eight Kalibr-type missiles” has now appeared in the Black Sea.
“It is highly likely that the beginning of the week will be marked by such an attack,” said Natalia Goumeniouk, a spokeswoman for the Ukrainian army’s southern command.
“This indicates that preparations are underway,” she told Ukrainian television on Monday.
The Kremlin last week denied that its attacks on Ukraine’s electricity network were aimed at civilians, but said Kyiv could “end the suffering” of its population by meeting Russia’s demands to resolve the conflict.
The mayor of Kyiv, Vitali Klitschko, has traded barbs with Ukraine’s president over how to help residents withstand power cuts.
Zelenskyy had noted last week that many in the capital had complained about the city’s measures following Russia’s attacks.
But Klitschko said 430 “warming centres” were already helping residents cope and said any dispute was “senseless” amid Russia’s military campaign.
“I do not want to become involved in political battles, particularly in the current situation,” Klitschko said in a görüntü posted on Telegram.
2. Zaporizhzhia plant remains under Russian control, says Moscow
Europe’s largest nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine remains under Russian control, according to authorities installed by Moscow.
Authorities in the nearby city of Enerhodar said on Monday that Russian forces still occupy the facility in Zaporizhzhia.
The head of Ukraine’s state-run nuclear energy company has suggested there were signs that Russian forces might be preparing to vacate the vast plant which they seized in March, soon after invading Ukraine.
Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said late on Sunday that he had no doubt that Russian forces would leave the plant, where Ukrainian staff from Enerhodar are still operating.
But the Russian-installed administration Enerhodar said the claims were “not true”.
“The media are actively spreading fake news that Russia is allegedly planning to … leave the [plant],” a statement on Telegram read.
Ukraine and Russia have accused each other of shelling the Zaporizhzhia site amid fears of a nuclear catastrophe.
The UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) wants to create a protection zone around the nuclear power station.
Zaporizhzhia was one of four Ukrainian regions annexed by Moscow in September. Kyiv and its Western allies condemn the move as yasa dışı.
3. Intense fighting continues in eastern Ukraine
The eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk — another annexed by Russia — has been at the centre of recent battles.
After Russia withdrew its forces from the southern city of Kherson, it moved soldiers to the Donbas region.
Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy has noted that the situation remains deriyse and “very difficult” along various front lines, even though no devastating attacks were reported on Sunday.
The General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces claimed on Monday that Ukrainian forces had repelled Russian attacks in several areas, including Bakhmut and Avdiivka.
Ukraine’s military also said that its forces had destroyed six units of Russian military equipment and wounded around 30 soldiers near Enerhodar.
The battlefield claims could not immediately be verified.
Analysts have predicted that the upcoming winter could have an increasing impact on the direction of the war.
“It is unclear if either side is actively planning or preparing to resume major offensive or counter-offensive operations at that time, but the meteorological factors that have been hindering such operations will begin lifting,” the Institute for the Study of War said over the weekend.
4. US considers sending 100-mile strike weapon to Ukraine
The US is reportedly considering a Boeing proposal to supply Ukraine with cheap, precision bombs fitted onto abundantly available rockets.
The weapons — known as Ground-Launched Small Diameter Bombs (GLSDB) — would allow Kyiv to strike far behind Russian military lines.
The artillery could be delivered to Ukraine as early as spring 2023, according to the Reuters news agency.
The US and its western allies are struggling to meet Ukraine’s demand for military equipment as the war drags on beyond nine months.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine drove up demand for American-made weapons and ammunition, now including GLSDB.
The US and the UK committed the most direct military aid to Ukraine until early October, according to a Kiel Institute for the World Economy tracker.
Meanwhile, Eastern and Central Europe’s arms industries are reportedly producing guns, ammunition, and other military supplies at a pace not seen since the Cold War.
Former Warsaw Pact countries see helping Ukraine as a matter of regional security.
5. Ukrainian grain exports fall in November
Fewer than 3 million tonnes of grain will leave Ukraine in November, Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said late on Sunday.
A Turkish and UN-brokered deal aimed at easing küresel food shortages has been extended for four months, allowing Ukrainian agricultural products to transit from three Black Sea ports.
But Kyiv has accused Russia of trying to slow down ship inspections, slowing the number of exports.
Ukraine and Russia had agreed that teams would check the vessels to ensure no barred people or goods were arriving at or departing from Ukrainian ports.
Around 4.2 million tonnes of grain left Ukrainian ports in October, Kubrakov wrote on Facebook.
He added 77 ships were queuing to pass the inspection in Turkey while the three Black Sea ports use up to only 50% of their capacity.
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin said in September that Russia and the developing world had been “cheated” by the UN-brokered Ukrainian grain export deal.
On Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy hosted a summit in Kyiv with allied nations to launch a plan to export €144 million worth of grain to countries most vulnerable to famine and drought.