Russia discusses nuking Ukraine, tries to source weapons from NK and Iran, SBU vs FSB
According to the New York Times, citing U.S. defense officials, these conversations have sparked “heightened concern” among U.S. and partner leadership. Putin was not involved in these discussion, however, the Times writes. Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, commenting on these conversations, claimed it was irresponsible to “inflate” the topic – despite it being discussed numerous times on Russian TV.
Russia has deployed three hypersonic “Kinhzal” missile carriers to Belarus.
Ukraine’s Center for Strategic Communications, or Stratcom, said the warplanes capable of launching the missiles had been spotted on satellite images. “The photos show three MiG-31K supersonic fighter interceptors, which can carry Kh-47M2 Kinzhal hypersonic missiles and launch them at a distance of 2,000 kilometers,” the report says.
Russia is attempting to source weapons from Iran and North Korea, as China has refused to assist them.
Pentagon spokesman General Pat Ryder revealed this information at a press briefing, saying it was indicative of “the kind of company they keep and where they stand in the world right now.” At the same time, according to him, the United States has no indications that China has provided any military assistance to Russia.
The Russian occupation authority in Kherson Oblast is planning to abduct local residents and forcibly resettle deeper into Russian-held territory.
Ukraine’s General Staff said that Moscow has already moved its civilian “administration” in the region from Kherson to Skadovsk – 60 kilometers south of the regional capital. Collaborationist and Moscow-appointed “governor” of Kherson Oblast, Volodymyr Saldo, earlier said that the “evacuation zone” from the temporarily captured settlements of Kherson Oblast was expanded by 15 kilometers from the Dnipro River.On top of being a traitor, Saldo is on the hook for about UAH 60 million, or $1.6 million, in back taxes to the Ukrainian government.
Ukrainian counterintelligence detained an undercover Russian FSB agent that attempted to infiltrate Ukraine’s SBU.
According to the SBU themselves, the alleged spy posed as a “Ukrainian patriot” and offered to enlist in a special service unit to fight against Russia. Among other things, the woman "guaranteed" that she could provide up-to-date information on the enemy's activities in the temporarily occupied territories of the east of the country, but in fact planned to collect information on resistance members, in particular, in the temporarily occupied village of Markivka.
The UN confirms that eight cargo ships will pass through the “grain corridor” on Nov. 3.
“The Black Sea Grain Initiative continues,” Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov tweeted. Russia warned that it would be “dangerous” to continue the grain deal without Russia, but Ukraine, Turkey and the United Nations are continuing the implementation of the deal and no security incidents with grain shipments have yet been recorded.
A new IMF monitoring program for Ukraine will be approved in December.
Central bank chief Andriy Pyshnyy confirmed the news after a meeting with U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Karen Donfried and U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink. The IMF’s Mission Chief for Ukraine, Gavin Gray, said the discussions between the Ukrainian authorities and IMF representatives were productive, and the staff and the authorities would advance work in the coming weeks to follow up on the authorities’ request for Program Monitoring with Board Involvement (PMB).
The Ukrainian government lifts a ban on export of coking coal.
Representative of the Cabinet of Ministers in the Verkhovna Rada Taras Melnychuk said that the relevant amendments had been made to the list of goods that are subject to export licensing. Ukraine’s Cabinet banned coking coal exports in early September. The decision was made to ensure proper preparation for and passage of the heating season – in particular, the accumulation of sufficient fuel reserves for thermal generation.
Oschadbank has put up for sale the right of claim to the majority owner of Ukrtelecom for $49 million.
Ukrtelecom, which possesses a telecom monopoly on non-mobile telecommunications, is owned by oligarch Rinat Akhmetov. The sale came about after the company was unable to repay the bond and coupon income to Oschadbank – resulting in a number of court cases, all of which Ukrtelecom lost.
The day’s long-read: On the path to European integration: Overview of reforms for third quarter of 2022
NV analyzes the rate of reform implementation, needed to join the European Union. In total, in three months, the authorities adopted almost fifty important changes in the environmental and economic spheres.
Don’t miss: The West must not let Putin freeze millions of Ukrainians to death
Dennis Soltys and Alexander Motyl make the case for a “tough and urgent” response from the international community to Russia’s continued attacks against Ukraine’s critical and civilian infrastructure.
Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
