© Reuters. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy speaks during a joint news conference with Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala (not seen), as Russia’s attack on Ukraine continues, in Kyiv, Ukraine October 31, 2022. REUTERS/Viacheslav Ratynskyi
(Reuters) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy cautioned that Russia was “planning new strikes” on his country, urging defence forces and citizens to be prepared to withstand a new week of strain on the power grid amid freezing temperatures.
POWER SUPPLY
* “We understand that the terrorists are planning new strikes. We know this for a fact,” Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address on Sunday. “And as long as they have missiles, they, unfortunately, will not calm down.”
* In Kyiv, snow fell and temperatures hovered around freezing on Sunday as millions in and around the Ukrainian capital struggled with disruptions to electricity supply and central heating caused by the waves of Russian air strikes.
* City authorities said workers were close to completing restoration of power, water and heat, but high consumption levels meant some blackouts had been imposed.
* Zelenskiy criticised Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko, saying he had not done enough to help beleaguered residents. Klitschko, a former professional boxer, hit back, saying the criticism was out of place amid Russia’s military campaign.
BATTLEFIELD
* The General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces said in its daily update on Monday that Ukrainian forces had repelled Russian attacks in several areas, including Bakhmut and Avdiivka in the Donetsk region over the past 24 hours.
The General Staff added that Ukraine’s forces on Saturday had destroyed six units of military equipment of various types and that about 30 servicemen had been injured in the area of the occupied Enerhodar city, where many of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant’s workers live.
* The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine remains under Russian control, authorities installed by Moscow in the nearby city of Enerhodar said, after a Ukrainian official suggested Russian forces were preparing to leave.
* Reuters could not verify the battlefield reports.
* The Pentagon is considering a Boeing (NYSE:) proposal to supply Ukraine with cheap, small precision bombs fitted onto abundantly available rockets, allowing Kyiv to strike far behind Russian lines as the West struggles to meet demand for more arms.
MEMORIES OF FAMINE
* Ukraine has accused the Kremlin of reviving the “genocidal” tactics of Josef Stalin as Kyiv commemorated a Soviet-era famine that killed millions of Ukrainians in the winter of 1932-33.
GRAIN EXPORTS
* Exports of Ukraine’s grain would not reach 3 million tonnes in November as Russia tried to limit ship inspections at ports, Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said. In October, some 4.2 million tonnes of grain had left Ukrainian ports, Kubrakov said on his Facebook (NASDAQ:) page.
