Since 1 November, Russian forces had intensified air raids and rocket launcher shelling. The Ukrainian government reported that critical and civilian infrastructure had been targeted. There were also reports indicating that Russian forces were using civilians as human shields by stationing soldiers in schools and industrial facilities (in Svatove). In the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, the Russians continued forced “evacuation” of the civilian population. Attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure led to widespread power outages, affecting much of the country, including Kyiv, and leaving approximately 4.5 million people without power. According to Ukrainian authorities, at least one-third of the plant infrastructure had been destroyed. To prevent overloading the power grid, electricity was regularly shut off for several hours at a time.

North Korea proposed forming “volunteer” forces to fight in Ukraine. 

Russian officials announced that the process of integrating the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant into Russia’s energy system had begun.

On 3 November, 107 Ukrainian soldiers (including 6 officers) were released in a prisoner of war exchange. The majority (74) of those released were defenders of Azovstal. 

On 5 November, the Institute for the Study of War reported that a significant proportion of Wagner Group forces fighting in Ukraine were convicts. Supporting this claim, data from the Russian website Insider indicated that, out of the 800 to 1,000 Wagner mercenaries killed in Ukraine over the past two months, 500 were former prisoners. 

Ukrainian authorities reported that more than 80% of Kherson’s residents had left the city since the start of the war due to forced “evacuations” and resettlements conducted by Russian forces. In addition, under the pretext of vacation programs, Russian officials continued deporting Ukrainian children. For instance, children from Kakhovka were reportedly kept in “vacation camps” in Yevpatoria, which is located in Russian-occupied Crimea. 

 On 7 November, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Army reported that Russian troops, under the pretext of searching for “saboteurs,” were abducting and torturing civilians in occupied towns of the Kherson and Luhansk regions. 

Ukrainian authorities also reported instances of systematic looting by Russian forces in the Kherson region. Convoys carrying stolen household appliances and tanks loaded with washing machines and refrigerators that had been stolen from local residents, were observed. In Kherson, the monument and ashes of Georgy Potemkin had been plundered before, and now the local museum was looted and its collections and furniture taken away. Cell phone towers in the area were dismantled.

Illustrative photo. Generated by AI