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Latest Developments in Ukraine: Nov. 1


Local residents queue for water after about 80 percent of the inhabitants of the Ukrainian capital were left without water supply according to the mayor, after a Russian missile attack, as Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues, in Kyiv, Ukraine Oct. 31, 2022.
Local residents queue for water after about 80 percent of the inhabitants of the Ukrainian capital were left without water supply according to the mayor, after a Russian missile attack, as Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues, in Kyiv, Ukraine Oct. 31, 2022.

For full coverage of the crisis in Ukraine, visit Flashpoint Ukraine.

The latest developments in Russia’s war on Ukraine. All times EDT.

11 p.m.: The U.N. coordinator for the Ukraine Black Sea grain deal said he expects loaded ships to depart Ukrainian ports on Thursday, Reuters reported.

"Exports of grain and foodstuffs from #Ukraine️ need to continue. Although no movements of vessels are planned for 2 November under the #BlackSeaGrainInitiative, we expect loaded ships to sail on Thursday," U.N. coordinator Amir Abdulla posted on Twitter.

Eight ships with agricultural products were expected to pass through the corridor on Thursday, Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said on Twitter.

In his nightly video message Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said a long-term defense is needed for Ukraine's grain export corridor and the world must respond firmly to any Russian attempts to disrupt it.

Zelenskyy said ships were moving out of Ukrainian ports with cargoes thanks to the work of Turkey and the United Nations, the two main brokers of the July 22 grain export agreement.

"But a reliable and long-term defense is needed for the grain corridor," he said.

"Russia must clearly be made aware that it will receive a tough response from the world to any steps to disrupt our food exports," Zelenskyy said. "At issue here clearly are the lives of tens of millions of people."

10:30 p.m.: Russian fertilizer producer Uralchem-Uralkali plans to send the first humanitarian supply of fertilizer from a European Union port to Malawi, the TASS news agency quoted the company as saying on Tuesday.

Uralchem is ready to supply in total 240,000 metric tons of its fertilizers currently blocked in EU warehouses to Africa for free, TASS reported.

10 p.m.:

9:48 p.m.: Yevgeny Prigozhin, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin and the founder of the Wagner private military group, has praised Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as a strong and confident leader who should not be underestimated, according to Reuters.

His comments underlined Prigozhin's rising public profile and growing confidence in speaking out on sensitive issues around the war in Ukraine in defiance of the standard Moscow line.

"Although he is the president of a country hostile to Russia at the moment, Zelenskyy is a strong, confident, pragmatic and nice guy," Prigozhin said in a statement shared on the Vkontatke social media platform by the press service of his Concord catering firm.

"Don't underestimate him," Prigozhin said in a second statement, after he was asked why he was heaping praise on a man that Moscow has largely criticized, belittled and attacked since he came to power in 2019.

Russian political analyst Tatiana Stanovaya said Prigozhin was voicing a view far removed from Putin's that others in the ruling elite might not dare to express. "Prigozhin dared. He thinks he has a right and he thinks it wouldn't anger Putin," she said.

9 p.m.: The White House said Tuesday Iran was willingly taking part in killing Ukrainians by providing drones to Russia for the war, and voiced concern it would also ship missiles to Moscow, Agence France-Presse reported.

By arming the Russians, the Iranian regime "is involved in killing innocent Ukrainians," White House national security spokesman John Kirby said.

"At its core, this is a regime in Tehran that is openly and willingly making themselves an accomplice to the murder of innocent Ukrainian people on Ukrainian soil."

Kirby noted Iran's provision of attack drones to Russia, which have been deployed in recent weeks to damage Ukraine infrastructure.

But he would not confirm reports that Tehran could also send short-range ballistic missiles to Russia.

"We remain concerned about the potential of Iran to provide Russia with surface-to-surface missiles," Kirby told reporters.

"We haven't seen that bear out, but it's a concern that we have," he said.

8:12 p.m.: Russian President Vladimir Putin told Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan Tuesday that he wanted "real guarantees" from Kyiv before it potentially rejoined the grain deal, Agence France-Presse reported.

Putin told Erdogan that Russia sought "real guarantees from Kyiv about the strict observance of the Istanbul agreement, in particular about not using the humanitarian corridor for military purposes," according to a statement from the Kremlin.

Putin told Erdogan "it is necessary to conduct a thorough investigation into the circumstances of the incident" against the Black Sea fleet.

"Only after that will it be possible to consider the question of resuming work" within the deal, the Kremlin statement said, referring to both the investigation and guarantees it is seeking.

7:17 p.m.: New Group of Seven and European Union sanctions on Russian oil exports will have a muted impact on flows and global prices according to analysts polled by Reuters, as Russia is set to largely succeed in rerouting its trade eastward.

The market is set to be deprived of a maximum of 2 million barrels per day of Russian oil in the short term once the measures take effect on December 5, and possibly none at all, a range not seen moving prices much upward.

6:28 p.m.: Russian occupation authorities announced Tuesday the movement of more large numbers of people from Ukraine's Kherson region amid a counter-offensive by Kyiv, which has already seen 70,000 people flee, Agence France-Presse reported.

"I decided to extend the evacuation zone by 15 kilometers" from Dnipro," pro-Moscow governor Vladimir Saldo said in a Telegram video. The evacuations would be carried out by road, the post added.

Saldo had said earlier Tuesday that 70,000 more people along the left bank of the Dnieper River would be moved deeper into the region or to Russia.

He said the resettlement was being carried out because of the risk of a "massive missile attack" by Ukrainian forces on a local dam.

Kyiv's forces are preparing for a fierce battle to retake the region's main city Kherson and the surrounding areas on the right bank of the Dnipro after making major gains in Ukraine's east and south.

The city, with a pre-conflict population of around 288,000 people, was one of the first to fall to Moscow's forces after President Vladimir Putin sent troops across the border in February. Retaking it would mark a major milestone for Kyiv.

5:34 p.m.: Serbia must decide whether it wants to join the European Union or enter into a partnership with Russia, Germany told Belgrade on Tuesday, two days before six Western Balkan countries are scheduled to discuss closer cooperation in Berlin, Reuters reported.

“The need for a decision is coming to a head in view of geopolitical developments,” a German government representative said in reference to Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Serbia, which was bombed by NATO two decades ago but now seeks to join the European Union, has long struggled to balance historically close ties with Russia against aspirations for economic and political integration with the West.

An agreement between Serbia and Russia on enhanced cooperation had been met with surprise and disappointment, and was a poor fit with expectations that EU accession candidates should also adopt EU sanctions against Russia, the representative said.

4:53 p.m.: Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said on Tuesday that he believed a U.N. brokered grains deal that Russia had suspended over the weekend would continue, after two phone calls in as many days with his Russian counterpart, Reuters reported.

"Mr. (Sergei) Shoigu continues to discuss the issue with his own authorities in the light of information we have provided. We expect a response from them today and tomorrow," Akar said in a statement.

"There is progress in this direction. We are evaluating the available information that this agreement will continue."

4:04 p.m.: The streets and boulevards of the Russian-held port of Kherson in southern Ukraine are virtually empty. Many shops and businesses have been shuttered and, at a jetty on the banks of the Dnieper River, a handful of people board a ferry to leave, Reuters reported.

As Ukrainian forces advance to the north and east of the strategic city, Russian-installed officials there have evacuated tens of thousands of civilians in recent weeks.

Only a few remain, and some expressed frustration at not knowing what lay ahead.

Compounding the uncertainty are claims and counter-claims by both sides in the eight-month-old conflict, which Russia calls a “special operation”, that a nearby dam could be destroyed, potentially triggering floods downstream.

3:20 p.m.: Russia's attacks on Ukrainian water and energy supplies are aimed at exacerbating human suffering and are particularly heinous, U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters on Tuesday.

Russia fired a huge volley of missiles at Ukrainian cities on Monday in what Russian President Vladimir Putin called retaliation for an attack on Russia's Black Sea Fleet at the weekend. Ukraine said it shot most of those missiles down, but some had hit power stations, knocking out electricity and water supplies.

2:30 p.m.:

2:10 p.m.: Russia has moved its occupying administration in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson to a location further south, the Kyiv Independent reported Tuesday.

According to the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces, the occupation administration was moved from Kherson to the city of Skadovsk.

Russia has undertaken an evacuation of military staff and civilians from Kherson recently, as Ukrainian troops have advanced toward the city and a battle for its control appears imminent.

1:30 p.m.: Delegations from Ukraine, Turkey and the United Nations agreed not to plan any movement of vessels on Nov. 2 as part of the Black Sea grain deal, the United Nations secretariat at the joint coordination center said on Tuesday.

In a statement, the secretariat said Turkish and U.N. inspectors have concluded 36 inspections on board outbound vessels on November 1, days after Russia suspended participation in the initiative.​

1:15 p.m.: Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Tuesday that up to 40% of Ukraine’s energy system has been destroyed by Russian attacks, the Kyiv Independent reported.

Ukraine has to stop exporting electricity to European countries “due to Russian missile and drone attacks which destroyed 30-40% of its energy system,” Zelenskyy said, according to the Kyiv Independent.

12:35 p.m.:

12:10 p.m.: Algeria is hosting the 31st summit of the largest annual Arab conference on Tuesday and Wednesday as the region battles to find common ground over a series of divisive issues, The Associated Press reported.

The 22-member Arab League last held its summit in 2019, before the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. In the years since, new challenges have drastically reshaped the region’s agenda, with the establishment of diplomatic ties between Israel and four more Arab League countries, as well as the fallout of the war in Ukraine.

Chief among the summit’s discussion points will likely be the food and energy crises aggravated by the conflict in eastern Europe.

Russia’s reinforcement of its blockade on Ukraine’s Black Sea ports on Sunday threatens to further escalate the crisis, with many Arab countries near solely dependent on eastern European wheat exports.

To the annoyance of Ukraine and its Western backers, the war has become a point of unity among Arab League members, with nearly all adopting a stance of neutrality. Experts say this is likely to continue.

“Political and economic involvement in this conflict would be costly for Arab countries,” said Hasni Abidi, a political scientist who teaches at Switzerland’s Global Studies Institute. ‘‘That’s why a new non-alignment (agreement) could be a realistic approach.’’

11:55 a.m.:


11:30 a.m.: Rising prices and a weak currency mean Sweden will reach the NATO target for defense expenditure of 2% of GDP by 2026, two years earlier than previously planned, Sweden's supreme commander said on Tuesday, according to Reuters.

Sweden and Finland applied to join NATO in the summer as a direct consequence of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The two Nordic countries membership has been approved by 28 of NATO's 30 members.

"We are in a very serious security situation," Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces Micael Byden told a news conference after delivering spending recommendations to the government.

Byden said he recommended the government to not set any red lines initially when joining NATO, such as not allowing NATO bases or nuclear weapons on Swedish territory.

"To set reservations at an early stage, before we have even joined, is to create friction and blockages and we want to avoid that," he said.

11:15 a.m.: The Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, met with Finland’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto on Tuesday to discuss nuclear non-proliferation and the situation in Ukraine, Grossi said on Twitter.


11:05 a.m.: A Russian court on Tuesday fined Wikipedia owner Wikimedia Foundation $32,600 (2 million rubles) over articles relating to the Ukraine war, the head of the foundation in Russia told Reuters.

Stanislav Kozlovsky said the penalty was imposed for not deleting entries that Russia has demanded be removed. He said the foundation would appeal.

The two articles, in Russian, were titled "Non-violent resistance of Ukraine's civilian population in the course of Russia's invasion" and "Evaluations of Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine."

Russia describes its war in Ukraine as a "special military operation."

On April 26, a Russian court fined Wikimedia Foundation a total of 5 million rubles for similar offenses.

10:50 a.m.: Mikhail Khodorkovsky, an exiled Russian businessman and opposition activist, now residing in London, spoke with Britain’s Foreign Affairs Committee Tuesday.


10:40 a.m.: Analysts say Russia still is bound by the terms of the U.N.-brokered Black Sea grain deal it signed, which include a commitment not to target civilian vessels that are taking part in the agreement, The Associated Press reported Tuesday. Such an attack also would violate international law.

“Although it is not currently participating in that deal, it is still a signatory to it. Russia’s interests are not going to be served in any way, shape or form by attacking vessels and groups in the international community,” said Munro Anderson, head of intelligence of the risk consultancy company Dryad Global.

Anderson said Russia was “unlikely to mount any overt action against any vessels operating within the parameters of the original deal,” though the risks were as high as ever of Russia attacking Ukrainian grain silos, other agricultural infrastructure or targets at sea.

However, the future of the initiative is unclear as the risks have potentially increased, Anderson said. Now, the U.N. operation is moving to prioritize a large backlog of ships waiting for inspections off Istanbul, he said.

10:20 a.m.: Ukraine’s Minister of Infrastructure, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said on Twitter Tuesday that 17 ships had passed through the humanitarian corridor since the start of the week, and he said the volume could be even greater if Russia didn’t block inspections.

Earlier, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed his country’s commitment to the Black Sea grain deal, saying “We’re ready to remain a guarantor of food safety” after holding talks with U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres Monday.

10:05 a.m.: Turkish President Erdogan will speak with Russian and Ukrainian counterparts in the coming days with the aim of restoring the grain export deal, the Turkish foreign minister said on Tuesday. "We believe we will overcome this ... (the grain deal) benefits everyone," Agence France-Presse reported.

9:55 a.m.:

9:40 a.m.: Few took Elon Musk's tweeted threat to stop funding Starlink in Ukraine as seriously as the commander in charge of communications along much of the southern front.

The world's richest man last month took to his favorite social media platform — which he has since bought — to wonder why he should keep providing Ukraine with free satellite internet service, Agence France-Presse reported.

The temperamental mega-billionaire appeared to change his mind a few days later.

"The hell with it," Musk wrote after his initial threat created a geopolitical furor and underscored the Pentagon's growing dependence on private space technology.

"Even though Starlink is still losing money and other companies are getting billions of taxpayer dollars, we'll just keep funding the Ukrainian government for free."

Major Roman Omelchenko is still not sure if Musk's second tweet was ironic or if he really did intend to keep paying for the Ukrainian army's main line of communication.

He just knows that Starlink's loss would leave him scrambling during the brewing battle for Kherson. "If we lose it, it will be a serious blow to our means of communication," the 59th brigade's communications chief said in an interview conducted at a secret location along the southern front. "It would be very difficult without it."

9:25 a.m.:


9:10 a.m.: BP’s earnings more than doubled in the third quarter as the London-based energy giant benefited from high oil and natural gas prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, The Associated Press reported Tuesday.

Underlying replacement cost profit, which excludes one-time items and fluctuations in the value of inventories, jumped to $8.15 billion from $3.32 billion in the same period last year, BP said Tuesday. The company also announced plans to reward shareholders, buying back another $2.5 billion of stock.

Soaring earnings at British energy companies are fueling calls for the government to expand a tax on their windfall profits as Prime Minister Rishi Sunak struggles to close an estimated 40 billion-pound ($46 billion) hole in the budget. BP rival Shell last week said third-quarter earnings more than doubled to $9.45 billion.

U.S. President Joe Biden also has floated the possibility of a windfall tax if energy companies don’t boost domestic production, accusing them Monday of “war profiteering."

8:55 a.m.: U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Germany this week to meet with his counterparts in the Group of Seven to discuss Russia's invasion of Ukraine, climate change, energy and other issues, the State Department said on Tuesday.

Other topics include health, the food crisis, the Indo-Pacific and Africa, it said. Blinken, who travels Nov. 3 through Nov. 4, will also attend the U.S.-German futures forum, the department added.


8:40 a.m.: Russia said on Tuesday it was considering what "further steps" to take in connection with its allegation that Britain was responsible for an attack on the Nord Stream undersea gas pipelines, Reuters reported.

Russia's defense ministry said on Saturday that British navy personnel had blown up the Nord Stream pipelines in September, an assertion that London said was false and designed to distract from Russian military failures in Ukraine.

The Kremlin has not provided evidence to support its claims Britain was behind the ruptures on the Nord Stream pipelines, which have threatened to put the multi-billion dollar gas link permanently out of use.

The Kremlin also said no decision had been taken on whether to repair the Russian-controlled pipelines.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Russian government was awaiting for an expert assessment of the damage and that no decisions had yet been taken on the future of Nord Stream 1 or Nord Stream 2.

8:20 a.m.: Experts from the United Nations’ nuclear power agency inspected two sites in Ukraine on Tuesday that Russia identified in unfounded claims that Ukrainian authorities were manufacturing radioactive “dirty bombs,” The Associated Press reported.

International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi said the inspections for evidence of a so-called dirty bomb, requested by Kyiv in the wake of the unsubstantiated Russian allegations, would be completed soon.

Top Russian officials, including President Vladimir Putin, made unsubstantiated accusations that Ukraine was preparing to use such an explosive device, which scatters radioactive waste.

The International Atomic Energy Agency has said the investigated sites “are under IAEA safeguards and have been visited regularly by IAEA inspectors,” whose mission is detecting undeclared nuclear activities and materials related to the development of dirty bombs.

“The IAEA inspected one of the two locations a month ago and no undeclared nuclear activities or materials were found there,” the agency said in a statement Monday.

The U.N.’s atomic energy watchdog also has had on-site monitors at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.

8:05 a.m.:


7:50 a.m.: Russia does not need a presidential decree to formalize the completion of the partial mobilization of reservists to fight in Ukraine, Reuters reported Tuesday, citing a senior senator from Russia's ruling party.

Russia has announced the completion of a mobilization ordered by President Vladimir Putin, declaring it had called up 300,000 reservists in a little more than a month, and no more are needed.

But the suggestion that Putin might not issue a formal decree calling an end to the drive may increase concern among Russians that the mobilizations could still be restarted.

When asked on Monday if he would issue a decree to formalize the completion of the mobilization, Putin said he had not considered whether or not one was needed and would consult with lawyers.

"No additional decrees on the end of mobilization are required," Andrei Klishas, head of the committee on constitutional legislation in the Federation Council upper house was quoted as saying by TASS news agency on Tuesday.

Putin declared the "partial mobilization" of 300,000 reservists on Sept. 21, after a series of military defeats. The mobilization touched off an exodus of military age men from Russia, with tens of thousands heading for countries including Georgia, Armenia and Kazakhstan.

Defense Secretary Sergei Shoigu said 300,000 Russian reservists had been mobilized, with 82,000 already deployed to the conflict zone.

7:35 a.m.:

7:20 a.m.: The new Baltic Pipe pipeline between Norway and Poland on Tuesday received its first direct deliveries of Norwegian gas after a Danish terminal started operations following delays, Denmark's gas system operator Energinet said, according to Reuters.

Baltic Pipe is a joint project between Energinet and Poland's Gaz-System and is central to Polish efforts to diversify away from Russian gas.

The pipeline connecting Norway to Poland opened on October 1. Delays to completing the receiving terminal in Nybro in Denmark had however initially seen the pipe filled with gas via Germany instead.

"The Baltic Pipe project on Tuesday ... reached an important milestone," Energinet said in a statement. "Norwegian gas now enters the new Baltic Pipe gas pipeline and can be sent on to Poland via the Danish gas system."

7:10 a.m.:


6:55 a.m.: A small number of U.S. military forces inside Ukraine have recently begun doing onsite inspections to ensure that Ukrainian troops are properly accounting for the Western-provided weapons they receive, The Associated Press reported, quoting a senior U.S. defense official.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to provide a military update Monday, would not say where the inspections are taking place or how close to the battlefronts the U.S. troops are getting. The official said U.S. personnel can’t do inspections “close to the front lines,” but said they are going where security conditions allow.

The official said there have been several inspections, and they are being done by the U.S. Defense attache and the U.S. Office of Defense Cooperation team that is in Kyiv. So far, the official said, Ukrainian officials have been transparent about the weapons’ distribution and are supporting the inspections.

6:40 a.m.:

6:30 a.m.: Ukrainian officials called for Russia to be isolated from international bodies after Russian forces carried out attacks on infrastructure targets in multiple Ukrainian cities.

Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesperson Oleg Nikolenko said Tuesday that Russia should be expelled from the G-20 group of nations and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invitation to this month’s G-20 summit in Indonesia should be revoked.

"Putin publicly acknowledged ordering missile strikes on Ukrainian civilians and energy infrastructure," Nikolenko tweeted. "With his hands stained in blood, he must not be allowed to sit at the table with world leaders."

6 a.m.: Russian occupation authorities in southern Ukraine said Tuesday that tens of thousands more people would be evacuated from the Kherson region amid Kyiv's counteroffensive, Agence France-Presse reported.

The Russian-installed leader of Kherson region, Vladimir Saldo, said some 70,000 people along a 15 kilometer (10-mile) stretch of the left bank of the Dnipro River would be moved deeper into the region or to Russia.

"We have already begun this work," he said in an interview with the Solovyov Live YouTube channel.

He said the resettlement was being carried out because of the risk of a "massive missile attack" by Ukrainian forces on a local dam.

Russia's occupation authorities last week said that 70,000 civilians left their homes located on the right bank of the Dnipro River.

5:27 a.m.: Finland's Prime Minister Sanna Marin on Tuesday urged Hungary and Turkey to approve the Swedish and Finnish NATO applications "sooner rather than later."

5 a.m.: Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesperson said Tuesday that Russian President Putin's hands are "stained in blood" after he acknowledged ordering missile strikes on Ukraine.

4:27 a.m.: Water and electricity supplies have been restored in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, a day after being knocked out by Russian missile strikes, Agence France-Presse reported Tuesday, citing the city's mayor.

"Water supplies to the homes of Kyiv residents have been fully restored.... Electricity supplies in Kyiv have also been restored" Vitali Klitschko said on social media.

But Klitschko said there would still be planned power cuts in the city "because of the considerable deficit in the power system after the barbaric attacks of the aggressor."

The Ukrainian military said Russia had launched 55 cruise missiles and dozens of other munitions across the country on Monday.

Presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovich on Tuesday called the bombardment "one of the most massive shellings of our territory by the army of the Russian Federation."

But he noted that thanks to improved air defenses, including with Western aid, "the destruction is not as critical as it could be."

Ukraine says Russian strikes over the past month have destroyed around a third of its power stations and has urged Ukrainians to save on electricity as much as possible.

4 a.m.: Russia fired four missiles into the southern Ukrainian port city of Mykolaiv overnight, demolishing half an apartment building and killing one resident, a day after it unleashed a barrage of missiles on several cities including the capital Kyiv.

Rescue workers recovered the body of an elderly woman from the rubble of the apartment block early on Tuesday, Reuters witnesses said.

As rush hour was underway, passersby walked past a two-story school, the front of which was torn off by the force of the blast that left a massive crater.

"This is what the barbarian horde does," said Irena Siden, 48, the school’s deputy director, standing in front of the gutted building as workers began sweeping up the rubble.

"They (the Russians) are the descendants of the barbarian horde. They stole our history and how they are trying to steal our culture."

3:29 a.m.: Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar told Ukraine's defense and infrastructure ministers that keeping the Black Sea grain export deal going was important and that, as a humanitarian initiative, it should be kept separate from the conflict in Ukraine.

Akar's comments, released in a statement by his ministry on Tuesday, followed Russia's suspension of its participation in the deal, brokered by the United Nations and Turkey in July and aimed at keeping food commodities flowing to world markets.

Akar also told his Russian counterpart on Monday that Moscow should re-evaluate its decision, Reuters reported.

3 a.m.: A fragile recovery in Russia's manufacturing sector slowed down in October as sanctions combined with a mass call-up of workers to fight in Ukraine weighed on the country's producers, Reuters reported on Tuesday, citing a business survey.

The S&P Global Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) fell in October to 50.7 from 52.0 in September, slipping closer to the 50.0 mark that separates expansion from contraction.

Employment levels in the manufacturing sector fell at their fastest rate in six months, the survey found.

President Vladimir Putin announced a "partial mobilization" in late September, and over the last five weeks some 300,000 reservists — mostly young, working men — have been drafted for the military campaign in Ukraine.

"The decrease in workforce numbers was solid overall and the quickest since April. A number of firms suggested that the decline in staffing numbers was due to labor shortages," S&P Global said.

The survey is the latest sign that mobilization is weighing on a Russian economy already struggling under sanctions, export bans, currency volatility, capital controls and an exodus of Western firms.

Russia's central bank said last week that mobilization would aggravate shortages in the labor force and create "supply-side restrictions in the broader economy."

Foreign demand also fell sharply during the month, the PMI survey found, as sanctions that have cut industry off from global payments systems, disrupted supply chains and banned the export of crucial materials and hi-tech equipment to Russia, continue to weigh on the economy.

Despite those headwinds, manufacturers' assessments of future output came in at their second-highest monthly reading in 3-1/2 years, S&P Global said.

Firms said they expected growing business from the country's import substitution drive and were hopeful that the most disruptive period of economic turmoil had passed.

2:38 a.m.:

2:10 a.m.: Russian-installed officials in Ukraine's southern Kherson region said on Monday evening they were extending an evacuation zone further from the Dnipro river, saying Ukraine could be preparing to attack the Kakhovka dam and flood the region, Reuters reported.

In a post on Telegram, Vladimir Saldo, the Russian-backed head of the region, which is partially occupied by Russian forces, said he was extending the area covered by an order for civilians to evacuate by an additional 15 km (9 miles) to include another seven settlements.

1:32 a.m.: President Vladimir Putin said Russian strikes on Ukrainian infrastructure and a decision to freeze participation in a Black Sea grain export program were responses to a drone attack on Moscow's fleet in Crimea that he blamed on Ukraine, Reuters reported.

1:02 a.m.: Billionaire banker and entrepreneur Oleg Tinkov said he renounced his Russian citizenship because of the conflict in Ukraine, which he had previously criticized, Agence France-Presse reported.

"I have taken the decision to exit my Russian citizenship. I can't and won't be associated with a fascist country, that started a war with their peaceful neighbor and killing innocent people daily," Tinkov announced on Monday.

"I hope more prominent Russian businessmen will follow me, so it weakens (President Vladimir) Putin's regime and his economy, and put him eventually to defeat," he wrote on Instagram.

He shared a picture of a certificate confirming the "ending" of his Russian citizenship.

"I hate Putin's Russia, but love all Russians who are clearly against this crazy war!" Tinkov said.

12:27 a.m.: U.S. President Joe Biden said he plans to seek tax penalties for oil companies unless they invest their record profits in lowering consumer costs and boosting production, criticizing their "war profiteering," Agence France-Presse reported.

His comments came days after oil giants ExxonMobil and Chevron reported bumper earnings, reflecting how a surge in crude prices after Russia's invasion of Ukraine has boosted the industry. Natural gas costs have also risen, due to Europe's mobilization to offset lost imports from Russia.

"Their profits are a windfall of war," Biden told reporters on Monday, referring to energy businesses' earnings.

12:05 a.m.: Russian President Vladimir Putin has hosted Armenia and Azerbaijan's leaders to try to broker a settlement to a longstanding conflict between the two ex-Soviet neighbors but announced no breakthrough, The Associated Press reported.

After meetings Monday with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in a Black Sea resort city, Putin said they had to remove points of disagreement from a prepared statement. That statement was to have formed the basis of a peace deal.

Putin called the meetings “very useful,” without detailing what was and what wasn’t achieved. He said only that they agreed to continue contacts to seek solutions. Armenia and Azerbaijan have been locked in a decades-old conflict over a region called Nagorno-Karabakh.

Some information in this report came from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.

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