It is the 197th day of the war and the conflict is not cooling down. Indeed, “there is every reason to believe that it will not end anywhere in 2022”, alarm the Ukrainian generals. Putin’s party, ‘United Russia’, proposed a referendum to annex the Ukrainian territories on November 4, and almost around midnight yesterday, the headquarters in Melitopol were blown up. This was reported by the local president of the formation, Vladimir Rogov, who spoke of “a Ukrainian terrorist attack”. It happened a few hours after the International Atomic Energy Agency asked for the creation of a safety zone around the plant: “The current situation” in the nuclear power plant, the UN agency underlined, “is unsustainable” . Meanwhile, another alarm comes from US intelligence, according to which the Russians forcibly transfer hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians. Ambassador Maurizio Massari, permanent representative to the UN Security Council, spoke of “violation of the ‘jus in bello'”. On the energy front, the EU says it is ready for the price cap on Russian gas and the summit is expected on Friday. “A stupidity that has no future,” attacks Putin, who announces a stop to oil and gas to countries that will impose a price ceiling on Moscow. “He only knows how to blackmail,” von der Leyen replied.
The story – Putin takes command in camouflage among the troops
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00.35 – Italian Ambassador to the UN: Russia to bring back deported Ukrainians
“The Russian aggression against Ukraine is a blatant violation of international law, but the filtering system of Ukrainian civilians is a violation of ‘jus in bello’ as profound as we have not seen in Europe since the Second World War.” Ambassador Maurizio Massari, permanent representative to the UN Security Council, said: “It is essential to reiterate the ban on forced transfers of civilians, regardless of the reason.”
23.35 – Ukrainian generals: war will not end anywhere in 2022
“There is every reason to believe” that the conflict “will not end anywhere in 2022”. This was argued by the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian armed forces, General Valeriy Zaluzhnyi and Lieutenant General Mykhailo Zabrodskyi, first vice-president of the committee for national security, defense and intelligence of the Ukrainian parliament. “A certain final result is not expected” in the battle against Russia and success will only be possible by increasing the distance that Ukraine can hit with its missiles, they explained. “Only by balancing the operational range of the weapons, thus disturbing the aforementioned center of gravity for the enemy, can we reach a turning point in the ongoing war.”
23.27 – Russia calls for a meeting at the UN on weapons
The Russian ambassador to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, has asked the Security Council for another meeting for tomorrow of the UN body on Ukraine, the third in three days. “Since today we have wasted time talking about fantasies, I ask the French presidency for another meeting tomorrow to talk about weapons”, he said, underlining that “we are in favor of talking about real problems”.
23.18 – UN: credible forced transfer of children to Russia
The UN reported that there are “credible allegations” that Moscow forces have transferred children from Ukraine to Russia for adoption as part of large-scale forced displacements and deportations. “We are concerned that the Russian authorities have adopted a simplified procedure for granting Russian citizenship to children without parental care and that these children may be adopted by Russian families”, underlined the UN Deputy Secretary General for Human Rights, Ilze Brands Kehris. speaking of “credible accusations of forced transfers of unaccompanied children to the territories occupied by Russia, or to the Federation itself”.