The attack on Sevastopol by naval drones, according to the Russians launched by the Ukrainians with the probable help of British intelligence this morning has had a response, at least according to social sources close to the Russians: air warnings over the whole of Ukraine new bombings on critical infrastructure.
The hydroelectric power plant in Novodnistrovsk is on fire. Odessa region. The Dnieper Hydroelectric Station (Zaporižja) substation on fire. At about 10 a.m. there were about 20-25 shots on various structures of the power facility. There were blackouts in several areas. Internet and mobile phone communications were disrupted. Urgent rolling blackouts have been introduced in Ukraine. Part of the railway service is interrupted.
In addition to the hydroelectric plants in Dnipropetrovs’k and Southern Dnestr, the hydroelectric plants in Kanevskaya and Kremenčuk were also hit by missiles. Several explosions in Pavlohrad, where there is a strategically important railway junction used to supply the Ukrainian group in the Donbass.
Currently, after the latest Russian bombardment, 80% of Kiev is without water supply and about 30% without electricity supply. There are also cellular network and Internet outages in the city. The population has been warned that unscheduled outages could be the order of the day.
On 28 October, all of Russia closed the partial mobilisation, 95,000 people have already been deployed in the area of operations: 82,000 mobilised and 13,000 volunteers. Another 218,000 mobilised are still being trained and amalgamated in military training camps. The declared mobilisation figure of 300,000 has been reached. At the current rate of deployment, a significant increase in the number of Russian Armed Forces on the front can be expected in the second half of November. Putin has called for a modernisation of the mobilisation system, given the errors that have come to light during this just-ended deployment.
We learn from Ukrainian media that there was a new prisoner exchange over the weekend that would bring home 100 soldiers: 50-50
Vladlen Tatarsky, on his Telegram channel reports that on 29 October, after a morning of artillery preparations and air strikes, Russian troops went on the offensive, reaching the outskirts of Pavlivka. Earlier it was reported that they had managed to break through the Ukrainian first line of defence with artillery strikes.
Between 28 and 29 October, the Russian Armed Forces launched an offensive on Ukrainian positions near Vuhledar (60 km south-west of Donetsk). During the offensive, the Russian Armed Forces managed to bring under fire a large section of the Pokrovs’k – Bachmut – Mykhailivka highway north-east of Vuhledar, through which Ukrainian units received supplies.
Expected Ukrainian counter-offensive to avoid encirclement. On 30 October in the direction of Vuhledar, Pavlivka was cleared by the DNR OBTF, which also included the MGB SDF. Russian forces have gained a foothold in the southern and south-eastern territories and are pushing the Ukrainian armed forces out of the area. The Russians have deployed Lancet and Cub drones against Ukrainian artillery and armoured vehicles.
At 12 noon on 31 October 2022, units and formations of the 29th Combined Army, the 68th Army Corps of the Russian Armed Forces and the DPRK People’s Militia continued the offensive in the direction of Vuhledar. According to military analysts in the social sphere, who point to the military at the front, ‘So far, about 60% of the village of Pavlivka has been cleared. According to military correspondent Evgeniy Poddubny, Russian forces have managed to take control of the crossings near the Vedmezha river – thus, the AFU controls the state farm on the other bank, while scattered pockets of resistance remain in the village itself’.
Meanwhile, a Pushilin decree includes 5 villages near Bachmut in the Šachtars’k district of the DNR. It is worth noting that of the 5 villages mentioned, 4 have been taken by the Donbass army together with the Russian army so far: Vesela Dolyna, Ivanhrad, Zaitseve, Odradivka. Opytne is still under Ukrainian control and is being fought over.
Direction Kreminna situation at 15:30 on 31 October. The picture of the actions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces near the town of Kreminna has not changed. The same artillery shelling and continuous attacks on Russian positions along the Svatove-Kreminna highway, during which the Ukrainian Armed Forces suffered heavy losses.
Graziella Giangiulio
