November 4, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

Pope Francis is calling on leaders, particularly in the religious community, to avoid a new Cold War.

"After two terrible world wars, a Cold War that for decades kept the world in suspense, catastrophic conflicts taking place in every part of the globe, and in the midst of accusations, threats and condemnations, we continue to find ourselves on the brink of a delicate precipice and we do not want to fall," he said in Bahrain at a conference on East-West dialogue.

He added that religious leaders need to do their part in opposing rearmament.

The Pope is wrapping up a two-day conference called "Bahrain Forum for Dialogue: East and West for Human Coexistence." He is meeting with Muslim elders and other religious leaders encouraging inter-religious dialogue.

He also urged for peace talks in a tweet during his trip on Friday.

The use of chemical, biological or nuclear weapons by Russia would be met with “severe consequences,” G7 foreign ministers said in a joint statement Friday, following meetings in Germany.

“Russia’s irresponsible nuclear rhetoric is unacceptable,” the ministers said.

The ministers also rejected Russia’s unsubstantiated accusations that Ukraine is preparing a so-called dirty bomb.

“The inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed that these allegations are baseless, and we commend Ukraine for its transparency,” the ministers said.

They added that the coalition will “continue to counter Russia’s disinformation, including false allegations concerning bioweapons,” including “strengthening the G7 Rapid Response Mechanism’s capacity for a coordinated response.”

This week's meeting of the G7, short for Group of Seven, brought together leaders from some of the world’s largest economies.

Some background: International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors completed in-field 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 United Nations' nuclear watchdog.

The G7 has established a “coordination mechanism” to help Ukraine “repair, restore and defend its critical energy and water infrastructure,” the group’s foreign ministers said in a joint statement on Friday following meetings in Münster.  

The statement condemned Russia’s attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure, “in particular energy and water facilities” in Ukraine.

Ukraine has been facing a wide assault on critical infrastructure and power sources since early October. Some 450,000 households across Kyiv are without electricity Friday as power outages across Ukraine continue, according to the city’s mayor Vitalii Klitschko.  

This week alone, attacks on critical infrastructure in the regions of Kyiv, Cherkasy, Kirovohrad, Kharkiv, and Zaporizhzhia have left millions without electricity and water intermittently.

The G7 foreign ministers called on Russia to “immediately stop its war of aggression against Ukraine and withdraw all of its forces and military equipment.”

Remember: The G7 is shorthand for Group of Seven, an organization of leaders from some of the world’s largest economies: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the US.

Social media video and local Telegram channels indicate there have been explosions near an airfield just north of Kherson city — an area occupied by Russian forces.

The video showed a large plume of black smoke rising from the area of Chornobaivka. 

There's been no official comment from either the Ukrainian military or Russian-appointed officials in the area.

Further north, on the east bank of the Dnieper river, unofficial Telegram channels say that Russian forces are forcing local people to leave the village of Velyka Lepetykha. Russian-appointed officials have already announced an evacuation of civilians from a 15-kilometer zone (9 miles) along the river as they create new defenses in the area. 

Those same channels say a mandatory evacuation is also underway in the village of Hornostayivka further downstream, while new explosions have been heard in the town of Nova Kakhovka, also on the east bank and close to a dam and hydro electric plant on the river.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov has suggested that Russian forces may pull back from parts of the Kherson region.

At a briefing in Kyiv, Reznikov said, "we all know the habit of Russians showing the gestures of a goodwill" — a reference to the Russians' withdrawal from north of Kyiv and from Snake Island, both of which were described by Russia as "goodwill gestures."

Reznikov also referred to recent wet weather in Kherson, saying that it "contributes to the speed of events. The enemy is using irrigation channels as trenches."

Ukrainian forces are pushing forward on several fronts in Kherson, but Russian units have fortified positions on both banks of the Dnieper river.

Reznikov also said Russian forces had already used up their first batch of 300 Iranian drones. Hundreds more have been ordered, according to Ukrainian officials. 

Reznikov said a priority is to "protect our sky," appealing to the Brazilian government to supply some of the munitions it has for the Gepard anti-aircraft artillery system. "We use Gepards in places where there are grain hubs to close the sky from Iranian drones, so that they do not destroy the logistics system of grain hubs," he said.

"The [German] IRIS-T systems are already working, the [US] NASAMS are already on the way, with the crews. We will also receive the Crotale all-weather air defense missile system from our French partners," he said.

Britain and Poland have agreed on the need to “send a continued strong signal” against Russian President Vladimir Putin, a Downing Street spokesperson told CNN. 

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his Polish counterpart Mateusz Morawiecki discussed bolstering the security of NATO’s eastern flank in a phone call Friday, and Sunak pointed out the UK is increasing the capability of its forces and bumping up activity in the Baltic region. Both agreed on the need to send a signal to Putin that intimidation would not work, according to the spokesperson.

“The Prime Minister said he looked forward to deepening the strong defense and security links between the UK and Poland, which he said would benefit the security of both countries, and Europe as a whole,” the spokesperson said.

Russia has mobilized an additional 18,000 soldiers above its goal of 300,000 to fight in Ukraine from the general male population, President Vladimir Putin said Friday.

Since issuing a decree near the end of September to bolster Moscow’s forces, 318,000 men have been mobilized in Russia, and 49,000 of them are already in the combat zone fighting, according to Putin. He credited an “inflow of volunteers” who stepped up to fight.  

"We already have 318,000. Why 318,000? Because the volunteers are coming. The number of volunteers is not decreasing," Putin told reporters and volunteers outside of the Kremlin walls.

Last week, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu reported to Putin that the mobilization goal of 300,000 recruits has been reached and that the mobilization draft has been completed. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday that civilians in the Ukrainian region of Kherson should be evacuated from conflict zones.

"Those who live in Kherson should be removed from the zone of the most dangerous actions, because the civilian population should not suffer,” Putin told a meeting at the Kremlin, according to Russian state news agency RIA Novosti.

Ukrainian forces are undertaking an offensive on several fronts in Kherson, and Russian-backed officials in the region have told civilians to leave areas on both sides of the Dnieper river, amid signs that Russian forces are trying to improve their defenses in several areas.

About half a million homes in Kyiv were left without power Friday as Moscow intensifies attacks targeting critical civilian infrastructure, sparking fears of a bleak winter in Ukraine.

Here are the latest developments: