Here we go @blueshoes, not very selective so there is probably some duplication!
Kiev Independent:
⚡️Ukraine could join Unionn* by late 2029, EU official says.
Ukraine could join the European Union by 2029 if it completes the necessary reforms, EU Commissioner for Enlargement Oliver Varhelyi said on Oct. 29.
The European Commission has recently praised Ukraine’s progress on critical reforms, including those related to the rule of law, judicial system, and anti-corruption measures, though it emphasizes that further reforms are still required.
⚡️Ukraine produces 20 Bohdana howitzerss* per month, Zelensky says.
"...The Danish model allows (us) to attract finance from our partners in Ukrainian defense production. For example, we’re now manufacturing almost 20 'Bohdana' artillery units monthly, with strong progress across other areas," President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
⚡️Georgia's president declines to appear before prosecutors in election fraud investigationn*.
During a press conference in Tbilisi, President Salome Zourabichvili presented footage purportedly showing ballot violations. "It is not the President's responsibility to provide evidence that already exists within society."
⚡️ Ukraine's UN envoy names North Korean generalss* sent to aid Russia's war.
The Ukrainian ambassador to the U.N., Sergiy Kyslytsya, provided the names of the three generals North Korea had sent to join Russia's war against Ukraine during a U.N. Security Council meeting on Oct. 30.
The generals sent to Russia are Kim Yong Bok, head of special forces; Ri Chang Ho, head of a spy agency; and Sin Kum Cheol, head of the Main Operational Directorate, Kyiv said.
⚡️ Ukraine charges Russian soldier identified by Kyiv Independenn*t as raping woman.
The Kyiv Independent in June identified Mykola Senenko as raping a woman in Kherson Oblast in March 2022.
⚡️ US lawmakers call for Biden to allow Poland to down Russian missiless* over Ukraine.
The possibility of Warsaw downing Russian missiles heading toward Poland through Ukraine was laid out in June in a signed Polish-Ukrainian security agreement.
⚡️ Global entrepreneur organization Endeavor launches first Ukraine officee* to boost growth amid war.
The New York-based global network Endeavor has opened its first office in Ukraine, signaling confidence in the country’s business potential.
Opinion: Rigged elections have stolen Georgia's European futuree*
“Over the past 30 years, Georgia has been the West’s most reliable ally in the region, benefiting from substantial U.S. and EU aid aimed at helping the country modernize and build its democracy.
Allowing Georgian Dream’s electoral fraud to go unchallenged would squander decades of hard-won progress and deal a major blow to the global effort to protect democracy against authoritarian threats,” writes the former head of Georgia’s Mission to the EU, Salome Samadashvili, in her recent op-ed.
Ukraine Business Roundup — Ukraine debates who serves and who doesn’tt*
In this edition: companies in Ukraine that were expecting to be able to “reserve” their employees to shield them from military service might not be able to do so starting mid-November, while a Finnish court ruled in favor of Ukraine’s state-owned oil and gas giant Naftogaz to seize Russian assets in Finland worth tens of millions of dollars.
⚡️National Bank of Ukraine leaves interest rates unchanged at 13%%*.
The decision was in line with analysts’ predictions, and comes as Ukraine braces for next week’s U.S. presidential election, Bloomberg reported.
⚡️ Ukraine’s 2025 budget clears first readingg*, allocates $53 billion for defense.
Ukraine’s proposed 2025 budget passed its first reading in parliament on Oct. 31, allocating approximately 26% of the country’s GDP to defense and military spending.
Military and defense spending will grow by Hr 46 billion ($1.6 billion) compared to 2024, reaching over Hr 2.2 trillion ($53.4 billion).
⚡️ Ukraine has received just 10% of US aidd* approved by Congress earlier this year, Zelensky says.
The U.S. has transferred nearly 10% of the aid approved by Congress in April 2024 to Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky said at a press conference on Oct. 30.
"You do your job. You count on reserves, you count on special brigades, you count on such equipment. And if you get 10% of all the package (that) has already been voted on... It's not funny," Zelensky said.
⚡️Kyiv still waiting for MiG-29 fighter jetss* from Warsaw, Zelensky says
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said in July that Warsaw may provide Kyiv with additional Soviet-made fighter jets if it can find a replacement.
Following Zelensky's calls to speed up the transfer, Polish Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said, "Poland makes decisions based on its security and has already done everything it can for Ukraine."
⚡️Kyiv won't stop supporting wartime pool of TV channelss* before martial law ends.
The Ukrainian government doesn't plan to stop supporting the telethon, Ukraine's state-run pool of TV channels created during wartime, before the end of the martial law, Interfax Ukraine reported on Oct. 31, citing Culture Minister Mykola Tochytskyi.
🔹 Russia carried out at least 36 double-tap strikess* in Ukraine, killing over 100 people since 2022, report says
The Russian military carried out at least 36 double-tap strikes against Ukraine from the start of the full-scale invasion in February 2022 to August 2024, killing over 100 people, according to a recent report by Truth Hounds, a Ukrainian non-profit organization that documents and investigates war crimes. Twenty such attacks were carried out this year alone.
According to Truth Hounds, their report confirms that Moscow deliberately uses double-tap attacks to hinder humanitarian aid efforts, with Russian propaganda framing the killing of Ukrainian first responders as justified.
⚡️8,000 North Korean troopss* have been deployed to Kursk Oblast, Blinken says.
There have been no clashes between the North Korean and Ukrainian military so far, Antony Blinken said, adding that they can happen "in the coming days."
"One of the reasons that Russia is turning to these North Korean troops is that it's desperate. (Vladimir) Putin has been throwing more and more Russians into a meat grinder of his own making in Ukraine. Now he's turning to North Korean troops, and that is a clear sign of weakness," he said.
🔸 Russia's next mass missile attack on Kyiv likely imminentt*, experts and weary residents say
Russia's aerial attacks against Kyiv have changed dramatically in recent weeks, becoming far more frequent yet far less destructive.
Moscow has ramped up drone strikes on the capital — which overnight on Oct. 31 was attacked for the 20th time this month — and the rest of the country, while dialing down the use of more powerful and harder-to-intercept cruise and ballistic missiles.
Ukraine war latest: Russia confirmss* North Korea's involvement in war to West, Kyiv says
Russia has confirmed to the West that North Korea is taking an active part in the war against Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview with the South Korean KBS TV channel published on Oct. 31.
Some 8,000 North Korean troops have been deployed to Russia's Kursk Oblast to participate in the war against Ukraine, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said during a press conference on Oct. 31.
⚡️Ukrainian drone strikess* Russian oil refinery 1,500 km from border, Russian official claims.
A Ukrainian drone struck an oil refinery in the city of Ufa in Russia's Bashkortostan Republic, the head of the republic, Radiy Khabirov, said on Oct. 31.
The incident appears to be just the second time since the start of the full-scale invasion that Ukrainian drones attacked facilities in Bashkortostan, which lies some 1,500 kilometers from the country's border.
The Kyiv Independent cannot immediately verify the claims of the official and Ukraine has not yet commented on the alleged attack.
⚡️Ukraine, Hungary preparingg* bilateral document 'to clear up misunderstandings,' Zelensky says.
Kyiv is preparing a bilateral cooperation document with Budapest "to clear up misunderstandings" between the two countries on an number of issues, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Oct. 31.
No information was provided on what specific agreements the bilateral document seeks to reach, however, Zelensky said that the document would likely involve issues pertaining to national minorities as well as security cooperation.
🔹 'A war of two countries against one' — Zelensky urges Western allies to take decisive action on North Korean troop involvement..*
In a lengthy post on social media on Oct. 31, President Volodymyr Zelensky urged Western allies to develop "concrete solutions" to provide additional supports for Ukraine as North Korean troops prepare to engage Ukrainian forces on the battlefield.
"When Russia invaded and occupied Crimea ten years ago, there was little global reaction, aside from a few quiet statements. It’s the same today with North Korea’s involvement," the president wrote.
⚡️Negotiations between Ukraine and China underwayy* to expand agricultural exports.
Ukraine is currently in discussions with China to expand exports of various agricultural products, according to a statement on Oct. 31 by Oleh Osiian, the First Deputy Head of the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection.
Osiian noted that the intention is to establish seven new markets, and for Ukraine to export peas, wheat flour, livestock feed, beef, corn, poultry, and wild-caught aquatic products.
⚡️Over 45 countries pledgee* support at Montreal conference for total return of Ukrainians captured and deported to Russia.
Following the Ministerial Conference on the Human Dimension of the Peace Formula in Montreal, over 45 countries signed a pledge on Oct. 31 in support of facilitating the return of all Ukrainian captives and deportees taken by Russia.
⚡️Ukrainian drone targetss* oil depot in Stavropol Krai, Russian governor claims.
A Ukrainian drone fell on the territory of an oil depot in the town of Svetlograd in Russia's Stavropol Krai overnight on Nov. 1, Governor Vladimir Vladimirov has claimed.
According to Russia's Defense Ministry, Russian air defenses overnight shot down 36 drones over Kursk Oblast, 20 over Bryansk Oblast, 12 over occupied Crimea, eight over Voronezh Oblast, four over Oryol Oblast, and three over Belgorod Oblast.
⚡️Russian butter prices soarr*, rise in supermarket dairy thefts reported.
Two men were recently arrested in Moscow after allegedly trying to steal 25 packets of butter.
⚡️Trump sayss* those who describe him as a 'friend of Russia' are 'sick.'
Donald Trump has said those who consider him "a friend of Russia" are "sick," in an interview with controversial far-right commentator Tucker Carlson in Arizona on Oct. 31.
⚡️ Russian drone strikes on Ukraine soared to record monthly levelss* during October, military says.
October's reported tally broke the previous record set in September by nearly 700.
⚡️Poland starts fortifyingg* border with Russia's Kaliningrad exclave as part of 'East Shield' initiative.
Poland has started building defensive lines on the border with Russia as part of the "East Shield" initiative, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Nov. 1.
The "East Shield" program aims to fortify Poland's its eastern borders with Belarus, and the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad.
⚡️Lavrov reportedly to make first visitt* to EU country since launch of full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov plans to visit Malta this December to attend the Organization for Security and Cooperation Ministerial Council (OSCE) meeting, the ministry's spokesperson Maria Zakharova told Vedomosti newspaper on Oct. 31.
If the visit takes place, it will be Lavrov's first trip to an EU country since the launch of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
🔹 Opinion: Pennsylvania's Ukrainian community could swing the statee* in the upcoming election
“I am one of more than 120,000 Pennsylvanians of Ukrainian heritage who will vote on which presidential candidate best serves our interests. Since only 80,000 votes separated the presidential candidates in 2020, our community’s vote could be key to deciding who wins Pennsylvania’s 19 electoral votes in November: Kamala Harris or Donald Trump,” writes Gary Wasserson, a board member of the nonprofit Ukrainian Children, in his recent op-ed.
⚡️ Poland's Sikorski hits backk* at Zelensky's MiG-29 fighter jets criticism.
"We're trying to help, but we're also a front-line country. Russia also threatens us, and not everything is possible," Poland's Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said.
Belarus Weekly: Minsk rushes with presidential election, seeking to hand Lukashenko a victory ahead of term's endd*
The Belarusian Central Election Committee (CEC) on Oct. 29 registered an initiative group supporting the candidacy of Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko for the presidency, while rejecting applications to register groups for two other candidates.
The move effectively allows Lukashenko to run for a seventh consecutive term in office unopposed. The election is to be held on Jan. 26, 2025.
⚡️Russia not advancingg* in Chasiv Yar, Toretsk, contact line stabilized, Ukraine says.
Russian troops are not advancing in the embattled towns of Chasiv Yar and Toretsk in Donetsk Oblast, and the contact line has been stabilized, spokesperson for the Operational Tactical Group Luhansk Anastasia Bobovnikova, said on Nov. 1.
Speaking on national television, Bobovnikova refuted Russian claims that the two towns had been captured by Moscow's forces.
🔸 Opinion: Accessibility in Ukraine remains elusive as Russia’s war reveals systemic failuress*
“As of June, more than 50,000 Ukrainians have lost one or more limbs in Russia’s war against Ukraine, and more than 3 million people—10% of the population—live with a disability. In theory, Ukraine has a legislative framework to protect people with disabilities and ensure their inclusion in society.
In practice, however, outdated infrastructure and prevailing social attitudes still uphold significant barriers three years into the full-scale invasion,” writes documentary translator Maria Kuchapska in her recent op-ed.
⚡️Ukrainian Defense Ministry's chief inspectorr* fired.
Admiral Ihor Voronchenko has been dismissed from the post of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry's chief inspector, online newspaper Ukrainska Pravda reported on Nov. 1, citing the ministry.
The Main Inspectorate of the Defense Ministry audits the ministry's activities, including monitoring the quality of military training and staffing, overseeing military aviation safety, and conducting technical investigations, among other functions.
⚡️North Korean troopss* could suffer even greater losses in Ukraine than Russia, Estonian intelligence says.
North Korean troops are likely to suffer heavy losses in Ukraine, potentially exceeding those of Russia, Estonian Colonel Ants Kiviselg, head of the Estonian Defense Forces Intelligence Center, told the Estonian public broadcaster ERR on Nov. 1.
North Korean soldiers are usually trained to fight in mountainous terrain, which means they are not familiar with Ukrainian territory, its climate, and geography, Kiviselg said.
🔹 These are the indicative estimates of Russia’s combat losses as of Nov. 1, according to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.