Zelenskiy says 30% of Ukrainian power stations destroyed

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said nearly a third of the country’s power stations have been destroyed in Russian strikes since October 10, sparking massive blackouts. An energy facility that supplies Kyiv was hit Tuesday amid a fresh round of attacks on infrastructure.

Ukraine said it shot down 38 of the 43 drones that Russia used to launch strikes on Monday, accusing Moscow of using Iranian-made devices to hit civilian targets. Zelenskiy expressed gratitude to troops who have intercepted attacking drones, saying “every destroyed drone is a life saved.”

The European Union agreed to a training program for some 15 000 Ukrainians, including for combat roles, and signed off on an additional €500 million ($487 million) in weapons financing. They also discussed reports about Iran’s military support for Russia’s invasion.

Key Developments

• Putin’s War Escalation Is Hastening Demographic Crash for Russia
• Ukraine’s Power Grid Holds Up Against Russia’s Missile Barrage
• EU Discusses Possible Iran Sanctions Over Arms Exports to Russia
• What Are Iranian Drones Russia Is Using in Ukraine?: QuickTake
• How Russian Ships Are Laundering Grain Stolen From Occupied Ukraine
• Exxon Completes Russia Exit, Says Operation Was Expropriated

On the Ground

Six C-300 missiles hit storage facilities for humanitarian aid in Kharkiv this morning, according to a TV report citing local police. Explosions hit the city of Kryvyi Rih in the Dnipropetrovsk region on Tuesday morning, mayor Oleksandr Vilkul said on Telegram. Air raid sirens went off across most of Ukraine Tuesday morning, including Kyiv. Energy facilities were hit in strikes at Dnipro and Zhytomyr, according to the deputy head of the president’s staff, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, who cited “serious damage.” Some 20 civilians were killed by Russian attacks on October 17, and 22 were injured, deputy head of presidential staff, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, said on Telegram.

(All times CET)

McDonald’s Reopens More Restaurants in Ukraine Despite Shelling (11:25 a.m.)

McDonald’s reopened four restaurants in Ukraine’s western city of Lviv following restart of its business in the country at war last month and despite a wave of missile and drone attacks from Russia on Ukraine’s cities, news service Interfax reported, citing the company’s press office.

Lviv became the second Ukrainian city, after Kyiv, where McDonald’s reopened its restaurants. It has seen long queues reflecting strong demand from local customers even despite Russia’s invasion that entered its eighth month. The restaurants are open between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. with pauses during air-raid alerts.

Kremlin Reiterates Mobilisation Covers 300 000 Troops (11:20 a.m.)

Vladimir Putin’s order for a “partial mobilization” covers 300 000 troops and a number of Russian regions have already met their targets for recruitment under it, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

“In the decree, it’s specified up to 300 000,” Peskov told a conference call, without explaining why the text of the order released by the Kremlin when Putin signed it last month doesn’t include that figure. The decree includes an article that’s classified, but officials have refused to comment on what it covers.

Putin on Friday announced that the mobilisation, which has led to widespread anxiety in Russia and triggered an exodus of more than 300 000 people out of the country, would be completed within two weeks. This week, the heads of Moscow and several other regions announced they’d completed the call-up and suspended further recruitment, but fears have persisted that the mobilisation may resume.

Kyiv Mayor Asks Citizens to Conserve Power, Water (11 a.m.)

More critical infrastructure was damaged in Kyiv by fresh Russian missile strikes, city mayor Vitalii Klitshchko said on Facebook. “Currently, electricity and water supply services is partially limited in many houses on the left bank of the Dnipro river in Kyiv” Klitshchko said. He urged Kyiv residents to use electricity and water as sparingly as possible, and not to turn on powerful electrical appliances. “City services are doing everything needed to stabilise the situation and return vital services to citizens,” Klitshchko said.

Another kind of Russian terrorist attacks: targeting

Russia’s October 10 missile blitz originally knocked 2 gigawatts of power offline, equivalent to about 14% of electricity supplied the week before. But the Paris-based International Energy Agency said more than 1.3 gigawatts of generating capacity had been restored as of Monday.

Belarus Military Exercises Used to Distract Ukraine, Latvia Says (10:10 a.m)

Belarus’s joint military exercises with Russia are taking place to divert Ukrainian resources away from its eastern front, Latvia’s intelligence service said in a statement. Russia and Belarus will hold exercises that include live fire and anti-aircraft missiles, Valeriy Revenko, an assistant to the defence minister of Belarus, said on Monday.

Still, if Belarus were to enter the war, its main role would be to sever Western military supply lines, the Latvian service said. Any move could weaken the Belarus regime’s ability to suppress dissent since the public largely opposes the attack on Ukraine.

Nord Stream Missing About 55 Yards of Pipeline: Expressen (9:55 a.m.)

A section of Nord Stream spanning at least 50 meters (54.68 yards) seems to be missing in the area of the Baltic Sea where detonations caused a rupture in the gas pipeline last month, Swedish newspaper Expressen reported.

Expressen filmed the underwater pipeline using a drone operated by Norwegian company Blueye Robotics.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock vowed that NATO will defend “every centimetre” of the alliance’s territory should it be threatened by Russian aggression.

“The security of the Baltic and of eastern Europe is Germany’s security,” Baerbock said at a Koerber Foundation forum in Berlin. “And we will continue to support Ukraine intensively with weapons, because we’re not only supplying arms to Ukraine to save lives, but, I hope, with these deliveries comes a measure of trust and solidarity,” she added.

Norway Detains Four Russian Citizens Under Suspicion (9:06 a.m.)

Norwegian authorities took four Russian citizens into custody, accusing them of taking images of “objects subject to a photography ban” in the northern region of Nordland, police said.

The three men and a woman were detained on October 11 after police found photography equipment and “relatively extensive” visual material in their car. No connection had been found with cases reported last week, which two Russian nationals were detained for illegally flying drones and taking footage. The Russian embassy referred to Norway’s actions as a “psychosis,” NTB newswire reported.

Two Nuclear Plant Officials Detained by Russia, Ukraine Says (8 a.m.)

Ukraine’s nuclear operator Energoatom accused Russia of detaining two senior officials of the Zaporizhzhia plant — Oleh Kostyukov, the head of its information technology service, and Oleh Osheka, the station’s general director assistant. “We appeal to the director general of the IAEA, Rafael Grossi, and the entire world community to make every effort and take all possible measures to release the ZapNPP workers,” the company said.

Death Toll From Russian Jet Crash Reaches 13 (6 a.m.)

Some 13 people died in Monday’s crash of a Russian Su-34 fighter jet in Yeysk, a southern Russian city on the Azov Sea across from Crimea, according to the country’s ministry of emergency situations. Another 19 where injured. Rescuers have finished searching the rubble, the ministry said.

The Defense Ministry told Interfax that one of the plane’s engines caught fire when it took off for a training flight.

Zelenskiy Thanks Troops Who Shot Down Drones (11:45 p.m.)

Zelenskiy, in his Monday night address, praised his nation’s troops for shooting down drones, as “every destroyed drone is a life saved.”

The Ukrainian president went on thank everyone who involved in mitigating the consequences of the the latest Russian attacks on Kyiv and other cities, including police officers, doctors, energy workers, utility workers, government officials and business representatives.

EU To Disburse €2 Billion to Ukraine as Soon as Tuesday (9:31 p.m.)

The European Union will disburse €2 billion to Ukraine as early as Tuesday, a person familiar with the matter said.

The installment is part of a package totaling €9 billion in so-called macro-financial assistance the EU first announced in May. Further installments of €2.5 billion and €500 million are expected in the second half of November and December respectively, another person said. Some €1 billion were disbursed in August.

The payments have been mostly delayed due to haggling between member countries over the terms of the package, and an agreement on how to structure the final €3 billion of the package and future support has yet to be reached. The funding is needed to keep Ukraine’s economy afloat and cover essential costs such as salaries, pensions and public spending.

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