Update: Dmytro Lubinets, Ukraine’s parliamentary human rights commissioner, said the Russian military equipment shown moving in Sky News footage was being used to clear mines under Ukrainian supervision.
Russia moves military equipment into Oleshky, as the U.S. seeks incentives for Putin
Russia refused to extend the ceasefire in Oleshky. Russian forces occupied Oleshky, in Ukraine’s Kherson region, in 2022, and a humanitarian catastrophe has unfolded there in recent months. Moscow and Kyiv agreed to a temporary truce to allow the evacuation of residents. It ended on November 1. Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry proposed extending it, but a Ukrainian official told AFP that “the Russians don’t want to.”
Russian and Ukrainian intelligence services arranged the evacuation from Oleshky but presented it as the result of mediation by Melania Trump, Le Monde reported. A source in Ukraine told the newspaper that claims about the U.S. first lady’s role should be treated “with caution,” since “it’s unclear exactly what role Washington played.”
Russian forces used the humanitarian pause in Oleshky to “improve” their positions, Ukraine’s General Staff said. A Sky News journalist reached the same conclusion. After reviewing Ukrainian drone footage, he confirmed that even before the truce ended, Russian forces were bringing heavy equipment, weapons, ammunition, and personnel into Oleshky and neighboring villages. They were also going from house to house looking for basements to use as new positions, he added. The Kremlin said Kyiv had also used the ceasefire to “reposition its forces accordingly.” “This is perfectly normal practice in situations like these,” Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
The U.S. offered Moscow a plan for selling Russian gas to Europe through an American intermediary, The Wall Street Journal reported. The American negotiators who put forward the idea believe it could give President Vladimir Putin a strong incentive to agree to an “energy” truce in Ukraine. The White House proposes that Russia deposit the proceeds from gas sales into an account under a third country’s jurisdiction so the Kremlin cannot use the money to fund the war. But Europe flatly rejects the idea.
Alert apps in Russia and Ukraine were hacked. The targets were the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry’s mobile app and Ukraine’s Air Alert app. The cyberattacks happened almost simultaneously: Overnight into November 2, Russians received warnings that “nuclear warheads” had been launched “at all regions” of the country, while people in Ukraine saw this notification in Russian: “Hi! There’s about to be a nuclear alert across Ukraine! Don’t worry, an Oreshnik [a Russian intermediate-range ballistic missile] is on its way!”
The war in photographs: Sloviansk after a Russian airstrike
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