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Meloni prank call and a day of heavy strikes
Summary
A hoax call exposed remarks by Italy's prime minister, while Russian attacks on Ukrainian towns reached a yearly high just before.
What did Europe's leaders really think about the war in Ukraine as winter approached? On 2 November 2023, a hoax phone call offered one glimpse. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni believed she was speaking with a senior African Union official, but the caller was in fact Russian comedians Vovan and Lexus.
During the call, Meloni said European leaders were tired of the war and wanted to broker a deal with the Kremlin. She said that "we need a way out". The remarks came from a private conversation she believed was with an African official, not from a formal policy statement.
The battlefield backdrop
The call came as fighting stayed intense. On 1 November 2023, Russia struck 118 Ukrainian towns and villages with artillery, missiles and drones over 24 hours, the most in a single day that year. More than 40 attacks were reported in Avdiivka.
Ukraine, for its part, had carried out airstrikes on Crimea on 31 October 2023, destroying a Russian S-300 missile system near Yevpatoria.
What the day showed
Taken together, the reports from 31 October to 2 November 2023 show a war with no pause: Russian bombardment at a yearly peak, Ukrainian strikes on Russian air defences in Crimea, and, in a call Meloni believed to be private, a prime minister describing fatigue among European leaders and a wish for an exit.
