November 3, 2022 Russia Ukraine news

The United Nations is expressing growing concern about the harsh winter Ukrainians may face after attacks on energy infrastructure and the large number of people displaced by the war.

"The Russian invasion of Ukraine has driven the fastest, largest displacement witnessed in decades. Some 14 million people have been forced from their homes since 24 February," Filippo Grandi, the UN's high commissioner for refugees, said in a statement Wednesday.

"Unfortunately, we see the opposite: and the destruction caused by strikes at civilian infrastructure, which happens as we speak, is quickly making the humanitarian response look like a drop in the ocean of needs," Grandi added.

Strikes continue: Overnight Wednesday, Russian attacks hit energy and water infrastructure in the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih, according to the head of the city’s military administration Oleksandr Vilkul. 

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres welcomed the revival of the Black Sea grain corridor this week, saying the ships departing Ukrainian ports provide “hopeful news in a world churning in turmoil.”

Seven vessels carrying food left Ukraine's ports Thursday after Russia agreed to rejoin the Black Sea grain deal. Shipments of grain from Ukraine had been in jeopardy after Russian suspended its participation in the initiative last weekend. It resumed its role on Wednesday.

Guterres said the initiative has reached a new milestone with 10 million metric tons of grain and other food products being shipped through the Black Sea corridor in three months.

“Despite all the obstacles we have seen, the beacon of hope in the Black Sea is still shining and the initiative is working,” he said. “It is our collective responsibility to keep it working smoothly.”

More background: In July, following months of negotiations, ministers from both Ukraine and Russia signed the grain deal brokered by the UN and Turkey. Russia pledged to unblock ports on the Black Sea to allow the safe passage of grain and oilseeds — some of Ukraine’s most important exports. The shipments are viewed as critical to addressing the global food shortage.

The UN chief said Thursday that he is grateful for Turkey's diplomatic efforts in establishing and helping reopen the vital food supply line.

Europe needs to take “immediate action” to avoid risking a natural gas shortage next year, the International Energy Agency (IEA) warned Thursday.

Analysis by the world’s leading organization on global energy sector published Thursday said that Europe could face a supply-demand gap of as much as 30 billion cubic meters of natural gas during the key summer period for refilling gas storage sites in 2023, if Russia stops all pipeline deliveries and China’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports recover.   

The potential gap could represent almost half the gas required to fill storage sites to 95% capacity by the start of the 2023-24 heating season, the organization added.

The organization that provides analysis and policy recommendations on global energy said it is “highly unlikely” that Russia will deliver another 60 billion cubic meters of pipeline gas in 2023 — the amount it estimates Russia will deliver in 2022 — cautioning that “Russian deliveries to Europe could halt completely.”

International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors have completed verification activities at three locations in Ukraine at the request of the Ukrainian government, and they have not found any indications of undeclared nuclear activities and materials, according to a statement by IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi Thursday.

Ukraine made the request after Russia made allegations about activities related to the possible production of “dirty bombs” in three locations: the Institute for Nuclear Research in Kyiv, Eastern Mining and Processing Plant in Zhovti Vody, and Production Association Pivdennyi Machine-Building Plant in Dnipro, according to the IAEA, the UN's nuclear watchdog.

"Over the past few days, the inspectors were able to carry out all activities that the IAEA had planned to conduct and were given unfettered access to the locations. Based on the evaluation of the results available to date and the information provided by Ukraine, the Agency did not find any indications of undeclared nuclear activities and materials at the locations," the IAEA statement said.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba called Russia "the world's top liar" after the IAEA's announcement.

"IAEA has checked 3 Ukrainian facilities in focus of Russian disinfo and found no evidence of any ‘dirty bombs’. I thank @rafaelmgrossi for IAEA’s excellent and prompt cooperation which helped counter Russian falsehoods. Russia has confirmed its status of the world’s top liar," Kuleba tweeted Thursday.

Russia had accused Ukraine of planning to use a so-called dirty bomb — a weapon that combines conventional explosives like dynamite and radioactive material like uranium — an allegation dismissed by Kyiv and its Western allies as a false-flag operation that Moscow could use as a pretext to escalate the Kremlin’s war.

CNN's Yulia Kesaieva in Kyiv contributed reporting to this post.

Correction: An earlier version of this post misspelled the town of Zhovti Vody in Ukraine.

The G7 group of wealthy nations will coordinate their support for Ukraine as winter approaches, German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock said Thursday, ahead of a meeting of the G7 foreign ministers in the western German city of Muenster.

''We, as the group of G7, have already launched our measures to kick off winter aid together," she continued.

Germany has already sent 100 generators to Ukraine amongst other things such as heaters, blankets and tents, the minister said.

Russia's defense ministry is reporting that 107 Russian prisoners of war (POW) were swapped for 107 Ukrainian POWs on Thursday.

Earlier on Thursday, Denis Pushilin, head of the self-declared Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), said that 107 "of our fighters" are being returned from "Ukrainian dungeons."

In exchange, 107 Ukrainian soldiers are being released, he added.

Ukraine confirmed the exchanged.

"I know how Ukrainians wait for good news every day. And today we have them. We have returned home 107 of our people from Russian captivity. Among the liberated 107 soldiers: 6 officers, 101 privates and sergeants. 74 'Azovstal' defenders," said Dmytro Lubinets, the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, on his Telegram channel Thursday.

Ukraine's Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War said Thursday that the POWs included service members from the National Guard, Navy, Armed Forces and other agencies. The POWs range in ages from 18 to 54. It said 83 were wounded during hostilities, with some in critical condition.

The Pentagon clarified that the team making inspections of weapons stockpiles in Ukraine are not near the front lines of the war and are conducting the inspections based on security conditions.

“When and where security conditions permit, a small team comprised of US Embassy Kyiv – Office of the Defense Attaché personnel have conducted multiple inspections of US security assistance deliveries within the last couple months at locations in Ukraine. These locations are not near the frontlines of Russia’s war against Ukraine. For operational security and force protection reasons, we won’t discuss specific numbers of personnel or inspection locations," according to Pentagon press secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder.

On Tuesday, CNN reported that the US had begun conducting on-site inspections of weapons stockpiles in Ukraine as part of a broad effort to assure US-provided weapons are not illegally diverted, according to the Pentagon. It was the first public acknowledgement that troops are being used for other than embassy protection.

"To be clear, these inspections are not reactive – we have no evidence of widespread diversion of US security assistance in Ukraine. Rather, our approach to ensuring accountability for our security assistance is deliberate and proactive, as described in the recently-released U.S. Plan to Counter Illicit Diversion of Certain Advanced Conventional Weapons in Eastern Europe," he said.

Ryder added that the US conducted inspections in Ukraine prior to Russia's invasion in February.

Moscow on Thursday summoned the British ambassador to Russia, Deborah Bronnert, over its allegations that Britain was involved planning a Ukrainian drone attack on the Crimean port city of Sevastapol, the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement. 

The ministry gave a note of protest to the ambassador over Britain's alleged involvement in the drone strike on Russia’s Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol, the statement said. 

Russia has accused the UK of helping Ukraine to plan Saturday's drone attack, saying it was conducted under the guidance of British Navy specialists.

Britain on Saturday denied the claim, saying Russia was “peddling false claims of an epic scale." 

The Russian ministry said in its statement that “the démarche emphasized that such confrontational actions by the British threaten to escalate the situation and can lead to unpredictable and dangerous consequences."

The ministry claimed that “concrete facts of such activity of London were provided” to the British ambassador. It did not specify any evidence for the claim.

The Russian military has repelled attacks by Ukrainian forces in the Kherson region in southern Ukraine, according to the defense ministry spokesperson Igor Konashenkov.

"Russian troops repelled five attacks by motorized infantry companies of the Armed Forces of Ukraine" in the direction of the four settlements of the Kherson region, Konashenkov said at a briefing Thursday in Moscow.

Three of those settlements are in the northeastern part of Kherson region — about 100 kilometers (about 62 miles) from the capital. The area has seen heavy fighting over the last month. 

"As a result of the fire defeat and decisive actions of the Russian troops, the enemy was thrown back to its original positions," Konashenkov said, adding that "the total losses of the enemy amounted to more than 80 Ukrainian servicemen killed and wounded, six armored fighting vehicles and seven vehicles for various purposes."

Russian forces had also shot down an Mi-8 helicopter in the same area, Konashenkov said.