At least 1,000 Russian soldiers have been killed as Ukraine targeted unequipped Russian troops deployed on the war’s front lines. This is the largest number of casualties on the Russian side since the beginning of the war.
New Delhi,UPDATED: November 2, 2022 12:37 PM IST
By India Today Web Desk: Russia has suffered the highest number of casualties in a single day when Ukrainian forces targeted unequipped Russian soldiers, killing at least 1,000. The Ukrainian Defense Ministry has claimed that up to 71,200 Russian soldiers have been killed in the conflict so far.
In the latest escalation, Russia has pulled out of a United Nations brokered deal with Ukraine to export grain during a war. The deal was brokered by the UN and Turkey in July. Russian President Vladimir Putin has demanded security guarantees from Ukraine after accusing Kiev of using the grain corridor to attack Russian ships in Crimea.
Meanwhile, water and power in Kiev had been fully restored, days after rocket attacks knocked out critical infrastructure in the war-torn country.
These are the main developments.
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According to Ukraine’s defense ministry, nearly 1,000 soldiers were killed in 24 hours, days after British defense intelligence analysts said “several thousand” newly mobilized Russian soldiers (most of them reservists) deployed on the front lines were “poorly”. to be well rested.
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Russia ended its military appeal campaign calling for reservists to join the army to fight the war in Ukraine. According to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, 41,000 reservists were called up and deployed to the battlefield.
The mobilization was ordered by President Vladimir Putin last month after his troops suffered major setbacks on the battlefield, the first time since it launched the invasion of Ukraine in February.
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Meanwhile, Russia has pulled out of a United Nations brokered deal with Ukraine to export grains during a war. Russia announced the move after accusing Kiev of a “mass” drone strike on its fleet on Saturday, which Ukraine called a “false pretext”.
On Tuesday, President Vladimir Putin told Turkish President Erdogan that Russia would consider resuming the grain deal with Ukraine only after an investigation into drone attacks on the Crimean naval base Sevastopol.
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Responding to the Russian move, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the grain transportation corridor to get food out of his country, part of an agreement Russia has now suspended, needs reliable, long-term protection. Russia must clearly understand that it will face a harsh global response to any measures disrupting our food exports, he added.
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The United States has accused Russia of deciding to ‘starve’ developing countries after it pulled out of the UN-brokered deal.
“Moscow doesn’t care if the world is starving. Moscow doesn’t care if people are starving. Moscow doesn’t care if the world’s food insecurity crisis gets worse,” said a US official.
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The UN coordinator for grain and fertilizer exports under the accord said on Twitter that he expects loaded ships to leave Ukrainian ports on Thursday. Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said on Twitter that eight ships would pass through the corridor on Thursday.
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On the battlefield, Russia has moved to a systematic attack on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure as the Russian military faces pushbacks on the eastern and southern fronts. In the south, Kiev’s forces prepare for fierce fighting to retake the city of Kherson and the surrounding region.
Kherson is one of four regions – along with Zaporizhzhya, Donetsk and Lugansk – that Moscow claims to have annexed, but not fully under control.
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Russia fired missiles at Ukrainian cities, including the capital Kiev, in what President Vladimir Putin called retaliation for an attack on Russia’s Black Sea fleet last weekend. Ukraine said it shot down most of those missiles, but some had hit power plants, cutting off electricity and water supplies.
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Vladimir Putin’s escalation in recent weeks was in retaliation for the Oct. 9 bombing of the Kerch Bridge – an important link to Crimea. Russia blamed Ukraine for the bombing, calling it an act of terrorism, a claim Kiev denied. Ukraine says the strikes on energy grids are intended to freeze Ukrainians in the winter.
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Recent missile and drone strikes have disabled more than 40 percent of Ukraine’s power generation capacity, leading to energy rationing and blackouts across the country. They herald the beginning of what could be a cold, dark winter in Ukraine as the war continues.