Ukraine updates: Russia hits scores of villages and cities
Published November 1, 2023last updated November 1, 2023
What you need to know
Ukraine said Russia fired artillery at scores of settlements — more over 24 hours than at any other time this year.
The artillery fire killed one person in the Kherson region and another in Kharkiv.
Other deaths were reported in drone strikes.
The regularly targeted Kremenchuk oil refinery was also hit in a drone attack, but no injuries were reported.
Here's a look at the latest developments in Russia's war in Ukraine on Wednesday, November 1:
Ukraine must build up army reserves, says commander-in-chief
Ukraine must expand the categories of citizens who can be mobilized as the war reaches an "attritional phase," Ukraine's commander-in-chief has said.
In an article for the Economist magazine, Valery Zaluzhny says "gaps in legislation" are allowing people to evade service at a time when Ukraine should be bolstering its army reserves.
Zaluzhny admitted, though, that it had limited capacity to train them inside the country.
"We are trying to fix these problems. We are introducing a unified register of draftees, and we must expand the category of citizens who can be called up for training or mobilization," he wrote.
He also singled out air power as the advantage Russia has, with fears they are planning to unleash a campaign of airstrikes to cripple the power grid this winter.
"Basic weapons, such as missiles and shells, remain essential. But Ukraine's armed forces need key military capabilities and technologies to break out of this kind of war. The most important one is air power."
North Korea sent over a million shells to Russia — spy agency
South Korea's leading spy agency believes North Korea has sent more than a million artillery shells to Russia since early August.
That claim is according to lawmaker Yoo Sang-bum, who attended a private briefing with security intelligence officials on Wednesday.
The news comes as Ukraine reported that Russia has shelled and launched drone strikes against more than 100 Ukrainian settlements in the last 24 hours.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un made the short trip across the Russian border in September to meet Vladimir Putin.
While the exact nature of their cooperation is unknown, US officials have repeatedly accused North Korea of supplying Russia with much-needed munitions in exchange for Russian technologies that would strengthen North Korea's ballistics program.
Both North Korea and Russia have denied the claims.
Ukraine reports widest drone and artillery attacks by Russia this year
Ukraine said Russia has shelled and launched drone strikes against more than 100 settlements over the last 24 hours — more than on any other single day so far this year.
"Over the last 24 hours, the enemy attacked 118 settlements in 10 regions. This is the highest number of cities and villages that have come under attack since the start of the year," Ukrainian Interior Minister Igor Klymenko said in a post on social media.
Overnight attacks in the northeastern Kharkiv region killed at least one person, local officials said, with another person killed in the southern Kherson region. A Russian drone attack on the southern city of Nikopol was also reported to have killed a 59-year-old woman.
Ukraine has said 275 children are being evacuated from 10 locations in and around Kupyansk, which lies less than eight kilometers (five miles) from the frontline.
Since launching its offensive last February, Moscow has fired millions of artillery shells on Ukrainian cities, towns and villages along the frontlines. Several settlements across the eastern part of the country have been reduced to rubble.
Switzerland extends protections for Ukrainians until March 2025
The Swiss government said it will keep in place the special protection status granted to Ukrainians who have fled the war until March 4, 2025.
"The situation in Ukraine is not expected to change in the foreseeable future," the statement from the Federal Council said.
The Swiss government also set a target for labor market integration, with the aim of bringing some 40% of people with "protection status S" who are capable of work into employment by the end of next year.
The status, which allows people to travel abroad and work in Switzerland, is usually limited to one year but it can be extended.
Ukraine says Russian attack hits oil refinery
Kyiv said an overnight attack by Russia, which it says launched scores of missiles and drones aimed at military and critical infrastructure, hit the Kremenchuk oil refinery.
The Ukrainian air force said a large number of kamikaze Shahed drones were destroyed before they reached their targets, as well as a missile.
The Kremenchuk refinery in the central region of Poltava has been a repeated target and was set ablaze, according to the head of the region's military administration, Filip Pronin.
"[The fire] has been extinguished. The situation is under control," Pronin said on Telegram.
He said that there were no initial reports of casualties as officials sought to gather more details of the destruction.
Ukraine imposes new rules for food exports
Ukraine is putting in place the mandatory registration of food export companies in an effort to stamp out abuses such as tax avoidance.
While Ukraine is one of the world's leading food producers and exporters, officials estimate that up to a third of goods that are exported are bought in cash — being sold without payment of the required taxes.
The new procedure means that companies registered in the State Agrarian Register are payers of the value-added tax and have no tax debts or delays in the return of foreign currency proceeds. Only these firms are allowed to engage in exports.
Ukraine is in dire need of money for the war against Russia. Data shows that Ukraine's grain exports in October had almost halved year-on-year to 2.15 million metric tons from 4.22 million.
Traders' and farmers' groups say Russia's blockade of Ukrainian Black Sea ports and Russian attacks on Ukrainian ports on the Danube River are the main reasons for the lower exports.
rc/sms (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)