Russia launched a massive attack on infrastructure in several regions of Ukraine on Monday morning, depriving 80% of the inhabitants of the capital kyiv of water and leaving “hundreds of localities” without electricity. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, “all the strikes achieved their objective,” he said in a statement. North of kyiv, about fifteen soldiers and police blocked traffic and prohibited access to the road which leads to an affected site, noted an AFP team.
Information to remember:
- At least 50 missiles were launched at Ukraine on Monday, says Ukrainian military
- Cereal exports resumed in the Black Sea
- 80% of kyiv residents are deprived of water
- Two cargo ships loaded with grain were able to leave Ukrainian ports
Joe Biden calls on the big oil companies to “stop profiting from war”
US President Joe Biden on Monday called on the big oil companies to “stop profiting from the war” in Ukraine, by investing part of their superprofits in the United States in order to lower prices at the pump. “It’s time for these companies to stop profiting from the war and take responsibility in this country. The American people will judge who is on their side and who only cares about their profits,” the US president said since then. the White House, deeming “scandalous” the results published in the third quarter by companies in the sector.
Accusation of “dirty bombs”: the IAEA begins its inspections in Ukraine
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) announced on Monday evening that it had begun its inspections in Ukraine, requested by this country after Russian President Vladimir Putin accused it of erasing evidence of the preparation of a “bomb dirty”. IAEA inspectors have “begun – and will soon complete – verifying the activities of two sites in Ukraine,” the Vienna-based UN agency said in a statement.
IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said he would release “his first conclusions on the verification activities of the two sites” later this week, according to the statement. The inspections follow a written request from the Ukrainian government to send IAEA teams on site.
Russia has accused Ukraine of preparing to use dirty bombs against its troops, but kyiv suspects Russia of wanting to use a dirty bomb itself and trying to blame it, perhaps to justify the use of conventional nuclear weapons by Moscow, whose troops are losing ground in eastern and southern Ukraine. A dirty bomb is a conventional bomb surrounded by radioactive, biological or chemical materials that are released during the explosion.
Russia wants “commitments” from Ukraine on the demilitarization of the grain corridor
Russia’s military said on Monday it wants ‘commitments’ from Ukraine not to use the grain export corridor for military purposes after an attack on its fleet in Crimea and the suspension of the agreement for their delivery . “There can be no question of guaranteeing the security of anything in this area until Ukraine makes additional commitments not to use this road for military purposes,” the Russian Defense Ministry said on Telegram.
Ukraine ready to “remain a guarantor of world food security”
Ukraine is determined to “remain a guarantor of world food security” and to continue its grain exports, the president assured on Monday Volodymyr Zelensky during a call with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres. “I spoke with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres. I confirmed Ukraine’s commitment to the grain deal,” Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on Twitter. Moscow suspended its participation in this agreement on Saturday after an attack.
Held talks with UN Secretary-General @antonioguterres. Confirmed commitment to the Grain Deal. We’re ready to remain a guarantor of food safety. Informed about the consequences of the missile terror & nuclear blackmail by the RF. The reaction of the world & must be tough!
— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) October 31, 2022
Washington calls Moscow’s demand to demilitarize the grain corridor an “extortion”
The United States on Monday called Moscow’s demands on Ukraine not to use the grain export corridor for military purposes a “collective extortion” after an attack on its fleet in Crimea and the suspension of agreement for their delivery. “It looks like either collective punishment or collective extortion,” US State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters.
Russian forces admit strikes with high-precision weapons”
Questioned by AFP, a soldier who blocked access with about fifteen other soldiers and police said that “three missiles hit their target a hundred meters away”. Met not far from this site, Mila Ryabova, a 39-year-old translator, told AFP “to have been awakened by powerful explosions”. “There is no more electricity in our house or at school,” the mother of a 9-year-old girl told AFP. “A cold winter is looming. We may not have electricity, heating. It could be complicated to live with, especially with a child,” she adds.
In kyiv, where at least five explosions were heard early Monday by AFP journalists, “80% of consumers in the capital” are deprived of water, Mayor Vitaly Klitscho said on Telegram, adding that “350,000 households were without electricity”. The Russian armed forces have indicated that they have carried out “strikes with high-precision and long-range weapons (…) against the military command and energy systems of Ukraine”.
“Russian terrorists have once again launched a massive attack against energy system facilities in a number of regions,” said an adviser to the Ukrainian presidency, Kyrylo Tymoshenko. According to Prime Minister Denys Chmygal, “missiles and drones hit 10 regions, damaging 18 facilities, most of them related to the energy system”. “Hundreds of localities” are without electricity “in seven regions” of Ukraine, he added.
13 people were injured in Monday’s attacks, National Police Chief Igor Klymenko told Ukrainian television, according to the Ukrainska Pravda news site. In the kyiv metro, the intervals between each train have been spaced out in order to save electricity.
Difficult water supplies
Separately, more than 100 people were patiently queuing in western Kyiv to get water from a park fountain after suffering water cuts from Russian shelling on Monday, local authorities said. AFP journalists. “Instead of fighting on the military ground, Russia is fighting civilians,” he castigated Dmytro Kouleba, the Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs.
According to the Ukrainian Air Force, “more than 50 cruise missiles were launched” at Ukraine “using aircraft”, from the northern Caspian Sea and the Russian region of Rostov. The remains of one of them, shot down by kyiv forces, fell on a Moldovan village bordering Ukraine, Chisinau said, reporting material damage but no casualties.
Russian strikes “pose a direct threat to the security of neighboring countries”, Ukrainian diplomatic spokesman Oleg Nikolenko blasted on Facebook, calling on kyiv’s allies to provide it with “modern anti-missile and anti-aircraft defense equipment”. .
Cereal exports resume in the Black Sea
The Joint Coordination Center (JCC), responsible for overseeing the international agreement on Ukrainian grain exports via the Black Sea, has scheduled a dozen cargo ships departing from Ukrainian ports on the day. Four other boats were to head from Istanbul to Ukraine after inspection of their holds.
However, Moscow warned against the “risky” and even “dangerous” continuation of navigation in the Black Sea without its agreement: “Under conditions where Russia refers to the impossibility of guaranteeing the safety of navigation in these areas, a Such an agreement is difficult to implement,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.