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Russia & the Warfront
>>> Russian strikes on Sumy injured 14 civilians, including four children, highlighting continued cross-border pressure on frontline and rear areas ahead of winter.

>>> In Kherson, a market in the Dniprovskyi district came under Russian fire; two civilians—a 56-year-old woman and a 51-year-old man—were killed and dozens wounded, intensifying calls for additional counter-battery assets.

>>> After the Oryol TPP strike, three city districts reported heat and water disruptions and visible damage to a cooling tower; follow-on attacks repeatedly hit the Vladimirskaya 750 kV substation, causing further instability in the regional grid.

>>> Multiple explosions and fires were reported at Russian energy facilities and a refinery in Yaroslavl on 31 October, signaling cumulative effects on fuel logistics and rail-borne resupply.

>>> Mapping groups tracked Russian advances near Pokrovsk around Poltavka, Volodymyrivka, and Novomykylaivka, while Ukrainian forces repelled assaults near Novyi Shakhtarskyi; fighting remains street-intense inside the urban area.

>>> Russia claimed readiness for direct talks even as it prepared to borrow in Chinese yuan to plug budget gaps, indicating fiscal strain amid sustained infrastructure losses.

>>> Belarusian leader Alyaksandr Lukashenko said an “Oreshnik” system is deployed in Belarus and issued escalatory threats toward the EU and Ukraine, aiming to raise psychological pressure on the northern flank.

>>> Ukrainian officials reported that Russia has used the banned Novator 9M729 missile in 23 strikes on Ukraine since August, raising alarm about treaty-busting systems entering routine attack packages.

>>> The IAEA reported damage to substations critical to safe operation of Ukraine’s nuclear power plants after mass Russian strikes; South Ukraine and Khmelnytskyi plants lost one external line each, and output was reduced at two Rivne units to maintain grid stability.