Norway raises military alert in response to Ukraine war
Norway will put its military on a raised level of alert from Tuesday because it sharpens security in response to the war in Ukraine, the Nordic country’s prime minister said, Reuters reported.
Norway is now the largest exporter of natural gas to the European Union, accounting for around 1 / 4 of all EU imports after a drop in Russian flows.
Houses by the ocean in Norway
Ryhor Bruyeu | EyeEm | Norway
“That is essentially the most severe security situation in several many years,” Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere told a news conference.
“There aren’t any indications that Russia is expanding its warfare to other countries, however the increased tensions make us more exposed to threats, intelligence operations and influence campaigns.”
The armed forces will spend less time training and more time on operational duties, and the Home Guard, a rapid mobilization force, will play a more lively role, Defense Minister Bjoern Arild Gram said.
— Reuters
Greater than 6,400 people have died in Ukraine, U.N. says
A communal employee carries a cross through the funeral of Mykhaylo Matyushenko, a colonel of Armed Forces of Ukraine, who was shot down within the sky over the Black Sea on June 26, 2022, on the Heroes Alley of the cemetery of Bucha, Kyiv region on October 3, 2022, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Sergei Supinsky | AFP | Getty Images
The United Nations has confirmed 6,430 civilian deaths and 9,865 injuries in Ukraine since Russia invaded its ex-Soviet neighbor on Feb. 24.
The Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights said the death toll in Ukraine is probably going higher, because armed conflict can delay fatality reports.
The international organization said a lot of the civilian casualties recorded were brought on by the usage of explosive weapons with a large impact area, including shelling from heavy artillery and multiple launch rocket systems, in addition to missiles and airstrikes.
— Amanda Macias
Intense fighting within the Kharkiv region, situation ‘really tense’
Artillery craters scar the landscape on October 24, 2022 in Sulyhivka, Kharkiv oblast, Ukraine.
Carl Court | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Intense fighting is going down within the Kharkiv region in northeastern Ukraine with the country’s armed forces fighting to liberate 24 settlements, and facing lively Russian resistance in the method.
“Our Armed Forces are actively fighting for the liberation of our territories. We still have a mean of 24 settlements under occupation. I say ‘on average’ since the situation is admittedly changing on the front,” Oleg Synehubov, head of the Kharkiv Regional Military Administration, said during a nationwide telethon, news agency Ukrinform reported Monday.
Synehubov said Ukraine’s forces were “making every effort to completely liberate the region as soon as possible” but that Russian units were “actively resisting and weren’t going to go away.”
“The situation is admittedly tense there,” he added with each side looking to strengthen their positions.
“Defense and fortification structures are being built. Let me remind you that we now have a 315km border with the Russian Federation. The Russians are also reinforcing the positions from their territory. Indeed, construction is underway on fortified areas, concrete structures,” Synehubov said.
—Holly Ellyatt
12 ships left Ukrainian ports, despite Russian suspension of Black Sea Grain Initiative
A general view shows a road-and-rail bridge, which is constructed to attach the Russian mainland with the Crimean peninsula, at sunrise within the Kerch Strait, Crimea November 26, 2018.
REUTERS | Pavel Rebrov
Twelve ships carrying grain have left Ukraine’s ports, despite Moscow’s announcement that it will suspend its participation within the United Nations-backed Black Sea Grain Initiative.
A record 354,500 tons of grain were carried on the vessels leaving Ukrainian ports as a part of the Black Sea grain deal, a spokesperson for Odesa’s military administration said, in response to Reuters.
In response to Russia’s decision to halt participation within the deal, the U.N., Turkey and Ukraine reached an agreement on Sunday to unblock 16 grain ships in Turkish waters. This agreement resolves the Russian-imposed inspection backlog and helps stave off fears of a world food crisis.
The UN and Turkish delegations provided 10 inspection teams to examine 40 ️ships, Oleksandr Kubrakov, Ukraine’s Minister of Infrastructure, said in a tweet. The Russian delegation is aware of the brand new inspection plan, he added.
— Rocio Fabbro
Russian reservists prone to be using ‘barely usable’ weapons
Russian reservists deployed to fight in Ukraine are prone to be using weapons which are in a “barely usable condition” in response to the U.K.’s Ministry of Defence.
Russia has deployed several thousand newly mobilized reservists to the frontline in Ukraine since mid-October, the ministry noted, and “in lots of cases they’re poorly equipped.”
“In September, Russian officers were concerned that some recently mobilised reservists were arriving in Ukraine without weapons,” the ministry said in an intelligence update posted on Twitter.
Russian newly-mobilized reservists train at a shooting range in the middle of Russia-Ukraine conflict within the Donetsk region, Russian-controlled Ukraine, October 10, 2022.
Alexander Ermochenko | Reuters
“Open source images suggest that those rifles which have been issued to mobilised reservists are typically AKMs, a weapon first introduced in 1959. Many are likely in exactly usable condition following poor storage.”
The AKM is an assault rifle that fires 7.62mm ammunition while Russia’s regular combat units are mostly armed with 5.45mm AK-74M or AK-12 rifles, the ministry noted.
“The combination of reservists with contract soldiers and combat veterans in Ukraine will mean Russian logisticians may have to push two varieties of small arms ammunition to front line positions, fairly than one. It will likely further complicate Russia’s already strained logistics systems,” the ministry noted.
— Holly Ellyatt
Russia says Black Sea grain shipments ‘dangerous’ without its security guarantee
An aerial view of “Glory” named empty grain ship as Representatives of Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the United Nations (UN) of the Joint Coordination Center (JCC) conduct inspection on vessel in Istanbul, Turkiye on August 09, 2022.
Ali Atmaca | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
Russia said that it will be dangerous for Ukraine to proceed exporting grain via the Black Sea now that Moscow had suspended its participation in a U.N.-brokered deal to facilitate shipments.
“In conditions when Russia is talking in regards to the impossibility of guaranteeing the protection of shipping in these areas, such a deal is hardly feasible, and it takes on a unique character – far more dangerous, dangerous and unguaranteed,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
Peskov blamed the actions of the Ukrainian side for disrupting the deal. Russia said on Saturday it was suspending its participation after an attack on its Black Sea fleet.
Kyiv has accused Moscow of “blackmailing the world with hunger.”
— Reuters
80% of Kyiv’s residents without water after missile strikes
Kyiv residents fill plastic containers and bottles at a water pump in one in all the parks within the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on October 31, 2022.
Sergei Chuzavkov | AFP | Getty Images
As many as 80% of Kyiv’s residents have been left without water following missile strikes on town’s energy infrastructure, in response to Mayor Vitali Klitschko and town’s water supplier.
Klitschko said this was “attributable to the damage to an influence facility” near town by Russian missile strikes on Monday morning.
Mayor of Kyiv Vitali Klitschko visits a checkpoint of the Ukrainian Territorial Defense Forces, as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues, in Kyiv, Ukraine March 6, 2022.
Valentyn Ogirenko | Reuters
Utilities company Kyivvodokanal, which supplies water to Kyiv, said it was working to revive water supply stations as soon as possible.
A wave of Russian missile strikes have hit Ukraine today following what Moscow alleges was a Ukrainian attack on its Black Sea fleet over the weekend.
Greater than 50 missiles fired at Ukraine, prime minister says
Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said that Russia’s shelling of varied regions in Ukraine on Monday morning has damaged civilian energy infrastructure.
“Missiles and drones hit 10 regions, where 18 objects [facilities] were damaged, most of that are energy-related,” he said on Telegram.
“Tons of of settlements in seven regions of Ukraine were cut off. The implications might have been much worse. But because of the heroic and skilled work of the Air Defense Forces, 44 of the greater than 50 missiles fired at our territory were shot down,” he added.
A series of missile strikes hit major Ukrainian cities on Monday morning, with the capital Kyiv and cities to the northeast and south being targeted. Much of Kyiv is without power and water following the attacks.
Kyivvodokanal, a utilities company supplying water for Kyiv, said Monday that 80% of town’s residents are currently with out a water supply.
— Holly Ellyatt
Dnipropetrovsk region targeted with several strikes
A faculty lies destroyed after being hit by a Russian missile, on October 30, 2022 in Apostolove, Dnipropetrovsk oblast, Ukraine. Russia has said it’s suspending involvement in a deal that enables Ukraine to export grain from its Black Sea ports after a drone attack on its Black Sea fleet.
Carl Court | Getty Images
Dnipropetrovsk in southeastern Ukraine has come under attack from Russian missiles this morning with the pinnacle of the regional military administration, Valentyn Reznichenko, saying there have been “several hits through the morning attack on the region.”
“The Russians targeted energy infrastructure facilities in Dnipro and Pavlohrad. Serious destruction is recorded. All services are working on site.”
Major cities, including Kyiv, have been hit by missile strikes Monday morning with critical energy infrastructure targeted again by Russian forces.
— Holly Ellyatt
Missile strikes hit major Ukrainian cities, including capital Kyiv
Russian missile strikes goal Ukrainian cities, including capital Kyiv
Elmurod Usubaliev | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
A series of missile strikes hit major Ukrainian cities on Monday morning, with the capital Kyiv and cities to the northeast and south being targeted, in response to regional officials.
Kyiv’s Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram that a part of the capital had been “cut off” by the strikes, which he said had hit critical infrastructure facilities. “There isn’t a water supply in some areas,” he said.
In his latest post he said engineers were working to revive electricity supply after damage to an energy facility that powers around 350,000 apartments in Kyiv. Local authorities have called on town’s residents to remain in bomb shelters until the air raid alert ends.
An advisor to Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the wave of missile strikes as “massive.”
Elsewhere, the Mayor of Kharkiv in northeastern Ukraine, Igor Terekhov, said there had been two “arrivals” in town that had hit critical infrastructure facilities in town this morning.
Other strikes were reported in town of Zaporizhzhia within the south of Ukraine, with the Secretary of the City Council Anatolii Kurtiev posting on Telegram that Russian forces had “attacked a critical infrastructure facility” causing power outages in town. “Information in regards to the victims and the extent of the damage is being clarified,” he said.
The wave of missile strikes comes after Russia accused Ukraine on Saturday of carrying out a drone attack against its Black Sea Fleet off the coast of Crimea. Ukraine has not said whether it was accountable for the attack.
— Holly Ellyatt
Wheat prices rise almost 6% after Russia pulls out of grain export deal
Global wheat prices have began to rise following Russia’s withdrawal from the Black Sea grain export deal last weekend.
Essentially the most-active wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade jumped 5.8% to $8.77-1/2 a bushel around midnight London time, in response to Reuters, after earlier hitting a high of $8.93 a bushel. Corn and soybean prices also rose.
The increases come after Russia announced Saturday that it was suspending its involvement within the Black Sea Grain Initiative that was brokered in July and which allowed vital agricultural products to be exported from several Ukrainian ports.
Russia announced Saturday that it was withdrawing from the deal for an indefinite period after it accused Ukraine of a “massive” drone attack on the Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol in Crimea.
Ukraine has not said whether it was accountable for the attack. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia’s withdrawal from the initiative was “fairly predictable” and the worldwide food crisis would worsen.
An aerial view of Sierra Leone-flagged dry cargo ship Razoni which departed from the port of Odesa Monday, arriving on the Black Sea entrance of the Bosporus Strait, in Istanbul, Turkey, on August 3, 2022.
Anadolu Agency | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
Moscow’s move was “a completely transparent intention of Russia to return the specter of large-scale famine to Africa and Asia,” Zelenskyy said, adding that “access to food has actually worsened for greater than 7 million consumers.”
The UN and Turkey, which helped Ukraine and Russia to succeed in the grain deal, have agreed a plan with Ukraine to assist move 16 vessels (12 outbound and 4 inbound) which are stuck throughout the maritime corridor used to export grains.
The organization overseeing grain exports, the Joint Coordination Centre, said in an announcement Sunday that “with a view to proceed fulfilling the Initiative, it was proposed that the Turkish and United Nations delegations provide tomorrow 10 inspection teams aiming to examine 40 outbound vessels. This inspection plan has been accepted by the delegation of Ukraine. The Russian Federation delegation has been informed.”
— Holly Ellyatt
Mulitple buildings destroyed in Donetsk, police say
Smoke rises after a fireplace broke out at a factory following an airstrike by Russian forces that hit Ukraine’s Kramatorsk in Donetsk Oblast as Russia-Ukraine war continues on October 27, 2022.
Metin Aktas | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
Greater than 30 buildings have been destroyed within the Donetsk region consequently of Russian shelling, Ukraine’s National Police said Monday.
Police within the Donetsk region said the destruction had occurred consequently of 24 attacks on the civilian population and that “there are killed and wounded.”
Sixteen settlements got here under fire, including the towns of Avdiivka, Bakhmut and Lyman and other villages, with 22 residential buildings destroyed in addition to city council premises, utility buildings, garages and cars, the police said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described in his nightly address how Ukrainian forces had repelled a “brutal” Russian assault within the Donetsk region. Bakhmut and Avdiivka have seen intense fighting in recent weeks.
— Holly Ellyatt
Ukraine repels ‘brutal assault’ by Russian troops in Donetsk region
Howitzers of the 53rd Mechanized Brigade fire towards Russian points in Bakhmut, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine on October 28, 2022.
Anadolu Agency | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sunday that Ukrainian forces had repelled a “brutal” offensive by Russian troops within the eastern Donetsk region.
The president said a military unit from Chop in western Ukraine had fought off the offensive but didn’t say where fighting had took place. In recent weeks, nevertheless, intense fighting has centered around Avdiivka and the strategically-important town of Bakhmut.
“Today they stopped the enemy’s brutal assault” Zelenskyy said in his nightly address. “The Russian attack was repulsed,” he said. He also alluded to the indisputable fact that Russian soldiers had been taken prisoner and may very well be utilized in future prisoner exchanges.
On Saturday, Russia announced it was suspending its participation within the Black Sea Grain Initiative, a deal struck in July to enable agricultural shipments from Ukraine.
Zelenskyy said 218 vessels were now “effectively blocked” consequently of the collapse of the initiative and that Moscow was “putting the world on the point of a severe food crisis.”
— Holly Ellyatt