As of November 2, the lists of new US sanctions on Russian individuals and companies have been published. These include AFK Sistema, the banks Absolut Bank, HCF Bank, Post Bank, RRDB, Russian Standard and Arctic LNG 2. The aim is to bring Russian finance to its knees. Trading on the St. Petersburg Stock Exchange resumed on November 6 after a loss of 13 points. The US Treasury Department has allowed Americans to pay taxes in the Russian Federation until January 31, 2024, TASS reports.
In total, the new US sanctions against the Russian Federation target more than 90 individuals and entities assisting the Russian Special Operation in Ukraine and circumventing the restrictions, Blinken said. The United States is transferring NASAMS and HIMARS MLRS air defense ammunition, artillery shells, ATGMs, warm clothing to Ukraine from its warehouses and will purchase anti-UAV equipment. Military assistance to Ukraine helps the United States create jobs, strengthen its industrial base and represents a smart investmentThe United States plans a new allocation of a $425 million military assistance package to Ukraine, including anti-UAV equipment. Reuters reports it. A far cry from the billions given to Israel. The White House has admitted that it will cut aid packages to Ukraine due to the depletion of funds allocated by Congress. They emphasized that the additional budgetary allocations available to the US administration to help Ukraine have already been exhausted.
Apparently according to Politico: “The confession of the commander in chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Valery Zaluzhny has caused resonance on Capitol Hill, where Republicans consider these statements a reason to reconsider American support for Kiev.” Sen. Josh Hawley, skeptical of increased aid to Kiev, said Zaluzhny’s outspokenness had created a big hole in the U.S. administration’s Ukraine policy. He proposed to finance not only the military aspects of Kiev, but also to allocate money for pensions and everything else. Zaluzhny’s message appears aimed at influencing the debate in the US Congress. The general, like Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, desperately needs more modern fighter planes, drones, long-range missiles and artillery to penetrate the Russian front.
The representative of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, Colonel Gennady Kovalenko said that Ukraine will not be able to continue hostilities if Western countries stop supporting Kiev. According to Kovalenko, Kiev’s partners have shifted their attention to the conflict between Israel and Hamas, and political disputes within the United States could become an obstacle to continued support for Ukraine. At the same time, he emphasizes that the current phase of hostilities “exhaustes” Ukraine.
Britain’s The Guardian says House Speaker Johnson said a decision on Biden’s impeachment will be made very soon.
Controversy also continues over Russia’s withdrawal from the Treaty on the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, which according to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is “a step in the wrong direction”. A model of the “Tsar Bomba” was presented in Moscow on November 2 “. The exhibition was shown at the pre-opening of the exhibition “Russia” at the VDNH, reports a correspondent of URA.RU. The tests of the Tsar Bomba took place on October 30, 1961 in Novaya Zemlya. The flash lasted 65-70 seconds. The nuclear mushroom rose to a height of 67 kilometers, the diameter of the hot dome reached 20 kilometers. Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov sent a message to the Secretary General of the United Nations about the withdrawal by of Russia of the instrument of ratification of the CTBT. Russia remains a signatory to the CTBT, with all rights and obligations arising therefrom. Notes that the Russian Federation intends to continue to observe the moratorium on nuclear tests.
The European Union is beginning to deal with losses resulting from sanctions and the reduction of economic relations with Russia which amount to around 1.5 trillion dollars, said Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation Grushko.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said the ambitious European plan for Ukraine, whose initiators hoped to defeat Russia by financing Kiev, was a failure. “I would like to underline some points of the European debate: it has already become very clear that the European strategy pursued so far is a complete failure, because Europe wants Ukraine to continue to fight, and they will provide funding and weapons. They think that Ukraine will win and Russia will lose, and in the end they will be able to change the leadership in Russia and negotiate with the new Russian leadership,” Orban said during a speech at the summit of the Organization of Turkish States in Astana. The Prime Minister noted that there is a plan B, which Hungary supports. This plan is to maintain peace and security. “We demand peace, the construction of a new security infrastructure that is acceptable to both Ukraine and Russia,” Orban underlined.
Germany has provided Ukraine with an additional 25 Leopard 1A5 tanks, as well as surface and reconnaissance drones, air surveillance radars and other military assistance, according to an updated list on the German government website. However, nothing yet on a possible sending of the Taurus long awaited by the Ukrainians. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Dmitry Kuleba, recalled Kiev’s hopes on the air on the German TV channel ZDF. “As we understand, the Taurus issue is under discussion, but the German government needs more time to formulate a final decision,” he said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is “considering and evaluating” the possibility of holding presidential elections next spring, head of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry Dmitry Kuleba said. “We will not close this page. The president of Ukraine is considering and weighing various pros and cons,” he said at a briefing, Sky News reports. He added that holding elections during war would pose “unprecedented” challenges.
According to the UK Ministry of Defence: Over the past week, Russia has likely lost at least four long-range surface-to-air missile systems.
Ukrainian Economy Minister Yulia Sviridenko says there are so many mines and unexploded ordnance that the “contaminated” area is the largest since World War II. The Ukrainian authorities have decided to focus on land reclamation with high economic efficiency, reducing travel times to hospitals, restoring electricity supply, rebuilding bridges and schools.
The New York Post: “Ukraine’s supreme commander-in-chief said the war has reached a dead end” and yet we learn from Ukrainian media that 70% of Ukrainians believe the government should be criticized for its actions wrong even during a military conflict with the Russian Federation. These are the results of a survey by the International Institute of Sociology in Kyiv. 25% believe that criticism should be postponed until later, as it weakens the country during the period of hostilities Public opinion has changed dramatically since May 2022, when 26% supported criticism and 68% opposed it.
The head of the office of the President of Ukraine, Andriy Yermak, announced his willingness to hold further meetings on “Vladimir Zelensky’s peace formula” with representatives of the United States, Great Britain, Germany and France. He spoke about it after a telephone conversation with US Presidential National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, during which they discussed the recent conference in Malta. Andrey Ermak clarified that during the meeting the parties discussed the results of the third conference on the “peace formula”, which ended in Malta on October 29. At the end of the meeting he also thanked the United States “for helping Ukraine in the fight for life, independence and freedom in Europe”.
Alexey Arestovich, Zelensky’s former advisor, said he left Ukraine and is now abroad, from there he is ready to conduct his presidential campaign. According to him, he now has a serious conflict with the office of the current head of state, Volodymyr Zelenskyj. Not only that, Arestovich stated that Ukraine needs a truce with Russia to accumulate potential for the next stages of the war.
The Communist Party of the Russian Federation reported to the Kremlin about the “complete purge of the internal opposition”. According to internal sources, this information was reported to the leadership of the Russian presidential administration by the deputy chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, Yuri Afonin. “There is information that in the memorandum sent to the Kremlin it is stated that among the leading deputies, officials and activists there are no longer any figures who previously maintained contacts with the team of the convicted oppositionist Alexei Navalny.
Russian Ambassador to the United States Antonov said that ”today there is no reason for Russia to talk to the United States about strategic stability (…) The United States interferes in the internal affairs of Russia, the situation in Makhachkala is a example”.
According to a UFM survey: 80% of Russians evaluate Putin’s actions positively, 77% trust him. In military matters, the Russian Ministry of Defense has proposed shortening the period for returning wounded paratroopers to service. Since the beginning of the Northern Military District, about 32 thousand soldiers, including 14 thousand volunteers, have been sent from the Chechen Republic to the ranks of the Akhmat special forces. This was announced by the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov.
As of November 2, PMC “Wagner” finally ceased to exist and was dissolved. The current status of the company’s fighters was revealed by the head of the defense committee of the State Duma, Andrei Kartapolov. Today “Wagner” does not exist either formally or physically, the deputy underlined. At the same time, some former employees of the organization continue to perform tasks, he said. The vast majority of former Wagnerians “are eager to continue carrying out combat missions to defend our Fatherland,” continued the head of the Defense Committee of the State Duma. According to Kartapolov, former PMC employees continue to serve as volunteers. “Someone signed a contract with the armed forces, someone joined the Russian guard,” Kartapolov explained. The process of joining former Wagnerians to other structures is not a centralized process, the MP noted. “There is no plan to acquire Wagner as a single facility by any specific agency,” he said.
And now a look at the front line at 3pm on November 6.
In the Odessa region an attack hit an ammunition depot near Bilen’ke. In the Kirovohrad region, the attacks hit the aircraft parking lot of the Kanatovo military airport. For the first time since March 2022, an attack was launched on the Yavoriv training base north of Shklo. In Kharkiv, the base of the “Kraken” battalion was targeted. The occupied part of the Zaporozhzhia region was hit during the formation of Ukrainian militants.
The Armed Forces of Ukraine have carried out another combined attack on Crimea. On the night of November 3, air defense and electronic warfare units neutralized 15 drones, without casualties or destruction. The next day, Kiev fired eight Storm Shadow cruise missiles at the peninsula. Six of them were intercepted near Kerch, the seventh fell into the water, and fragments of the eighth missile damaged a small ship at the Zaliv shipyard.
Svatove-Kreminna direction. Russian fighters repelled the Ukrainian attack near Sinkovka. Furthermore, the Russian army attempted an offensive in the area of Stepnaya Novoselka and Makiivka.
Donetsk direction. The Russian army continues to storm the positions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in Avdiivka from multiple sides. The Russians are gradually gaining a foothold in the railway area near Stepnoye. In Marinka there are battles on the western outskirts.
North of Avdiivka, the AFU counterattacked near Krasnohorivka and forced Russian troops to retreat from part of the railway line. On the southern flank, units of the Russian Armed Forces continue to advance along the T-05-05 road, attempting to reach Hrushevskoho Street. Another group of Russian troops is trying to eliminate Ukrainians in the Palace of Culture in Khimik district.
Zaporozhizhe direction the Ukrainian command is deploying additional forces on the front line. In the Orechiv sector the Russians counterattacked in Verbove in the direction of Rabotino. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Armed Forces unsuccessfully attacked in the Novoprokopovka area. On the Vremevsky ledge, the Russian army advanced to Pryyutne
In the direction of Kherson, the Ukrainians continue to hold the central part of Krynky, on the left bank of the Dnipro River. At the same time, Ukrainian units continue to create another bridgehead in the Poima area.
Graziella Giangiulio
