Thursday, November 2

Russia’s war against Ukraine

Emergency services putting out a fire at an oil refinery in Kremenchuk, Poltava Oblast, following an overnight Russian drone strike on Nov. 1, 2023. (Filip Pronin/Telegram)

State Bureau of Investigation says it uncovered ‘unprecedented’ scheme to evade mobilization. An investigation by Ukraine’s State Bureau of Investigation (SBR) revealed a widespread scheme in which regional military enlistment offices received bribes in exchange for helping people evade mobilization, the SBR wrote on Nov. 1.

Ukraine begins preparations to evacuate citizens from Gaza. “Following the decision of Egyptian authorities to allow the departure of foreigners from the Gaza Strip through the Rafah checkpoint, the Foreign Ministry and other agencies… launched the preparatory phase of the evacuation of Ukrainians,” Foreign Ministry’s spokesperson Oleh Nikolenko wrote on social media.

Media: North Korea sent over 1 million artillery shells to Russia. South Korean intelligence believes that North Korea sent over a million artillery shells to Russia to boost its war against Ukraine, the Associated Press reported on Nov. 1, citing a South Korean lawmaker who attended a closed-door briefing with intelligence officials.

Poll: Besides war, Ukrainians most concerned about corruption. Corruption, along with low salaries and pensions, ranks as the top concern of Ukrainians besides Russia’s ongoing war, a poll released on Nov. 1 by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) found.

Media: Russian search trends show increased interest in supporting military.

Search requests in Russia for “assisting (the war)” on Russia’s search engine giant Yandex were seven times higher in October 2023 than last year, Ukrinform reported on Nov. 1, citing the Brand Ukraine organization.

Russian media: Wagner resumes recruiting in Russian cities as unit of National Guard. The group’s recruiter told the Perm news outlet 59.ru that the unit is now headed by Pavel Prigozhin, the son of the deceased founder of Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin.

Your contribution helps keep the Kyiv Independent going. Become a member today.

Italian PM discussed fatigue over Ukraine in prank call with Russian comedians. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni spoke of “a lot of tiredness” over the war in Ukraine during a prank call with two Russian comedians posing as African leaders that took place on Sept. 18. Meloni reportedly suggested that she had some ideas about how to “find a way out.”

Media: Uzhhorod mayor’s office searched by SBU in connection to illegal border crossings. Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) conducted searches in the Uzhhorod city council and in the office of Mayor Bohdan Andriiv on Nov. 1, Hromadske reported, citing a source in law enforcement agencies.

Macron visits Kazakhstan in first leg of Central Asia trip. French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in the Kazakh capital Astana on Nov. 1 on the first leg of a trip to Central Asia that will also see him visit neighboring Uzbekistan.

Media: MP searched by law enforcement over role in illegal border crossing.

Ukrainian law enforcement is carrying out searches at the premises of lawmaker Oleksandr Dubinsky over suspected involvement in organizing an illegal crossing of the border, Ukrainska Pravda reported on Nov. 1, citing an unnamed source in the law enforcement bodies.

General Staff: Russia fails to regain lost ground at Klishchiivka, Andriivka, Robotyne. Russian forces tried unsuccessfully to regain lost ground near Klishchiivka and Andriivka south of Bakhmut, and near Robotyne in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces said in its morning report on Nov. 1.

Read our exclusives

Ukraine war latest: Russia reportedly receives over 1 million artillery rounds from North Korea

South Korean intelligence believes North Korea has sent over a million artillery rounds to Russia to boost its war efforts against Ukraine, the AP reported.

Photo: Vladimir Smirnov/AFP via Getty Images

Donations on decline: Volunteers get creative to keep raising funds for military

Ukrainian volunteers and charities face the challenge of making each fundraiser stand out with ever-catchier slogans and ever-more original ideas, attracting as much publicity to keep the flow of donations running.

Photo: Slava Kedr/Instagram

Human cost of war

Russian attacks kill 3, injure 15 over past day. Russian attacks on Donetsk Oblast killed one person in Pivdenne, wounded two in Yelyzavetivka, one in Novoukrainka, and one in Krasnohorivka, the regional military administration said.

Russian strike on Kherson city center kills 1, injures 2. A Russian strike on the Kherson city center on the morning of Nov. 1 killed a female employee of the city military administration, the administration’s head, Roman Mrochko, reported.

Russian shelling of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast injures woman. Russian forces launched a strike on Dnipropetrovsk Oblast’s Nikopol district for the second time in one day on Nov. 1, injuring a 42-year-old woman, Governor Serhii Lysak reported.

Russian rocket strike on Zaporizhzhia Oblast kills man. Russian forces launched a rocket strike on a village in Zaporizhzhia Oblast’s Komyshuvakha community on Nov. 1, killing a 52-year-old man, Governor Yurii Malashko reported.

Russian strike on Nikopol in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast kills 1, injures 4. A Russian drone strike on the city of Nikopol in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast on the morning of Nov. 1 killed a 59-year-old woman and injured four other people, Governor Serhii Lysak reported.

General Staff: Russia has lost 301,490 troops in Ukraine. The General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces reported on Nov. 1 that Russia had lost 301,490 troops in Ukraine since the beginning of its full-scale invasion on Feb. 24, 2022. This number includes 680 casualties Russian forces suffered just over the past day.

International response

Politico: US Speaker tells Senate Republicans he supports aiding Ukraine. U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson said he would back additional aid to Ukraine, but did not support combining it with funding for Israel.

The Hill: Biden would veto GOP’s Israel stand-alone aid package without funding for Ukraine. U.S. President Joe Biden would likely veto a bill put forward by House Republicans to provide aid to Israel without including funding for Ukraine and other priorities, The Hill reported on Oct. 31, citing the White House’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

Russian citizen sentenced by Dutch court to 18 months in prison for sanctions evasion. A court in the Dutch city of Rotterdam sentenced a Russian businessman to 18 months in prison and fined his company 200,000 euros for breaking EU-imposed sanctions against Russia, Reuters said, citing a court report released on Oct. 31.

Bulgaria expels Russian propagandist. A Russian citizen working for the Russian state media outlet Rossiyskaya Gazeta was deported from Bulgaria on grounds he was a threat to national security, the country’s State Agency for National Security (DANS) reported on Nov. 1.

Switzerland to extend protected status for Ukrainian refugees until March 2025. The temporary protected status for Ukrainian refugees in Switzerland will be extended until at least March 2025, the Swiss Federal Council announced on Nov. 1.

Want to get the news faster? Follow our website: kyivindependent.com.

Today’s Ukraine Daily was brought to you by Teah Pelechaty, Dinara Khalilova, Nate Ostiller, Oleksiy Sorokin, Elsa Court, Olena Goncharova, Li Luo, Abbey Fenbert, and Rachel Amran.

If you’re enjoying this newsletter, consider joining our membership program. Start supporting independent journalism today.