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What the security picture looked like on 3 November 2022
Summary
A look back at the security developments in the days before 3 November 2022, from Black Sea tensions to drone sightings in Norway.
How far had the war's security effects spread by 3 November 2022? The reports from the preceding days showed consequences well beyond the front lines, reaching energy grids, shipping, Moldova's border area and Norway's offshore waters.
Strikes on infrastructure
On 31 October 2022, Russian forces again damaged critical infrastructure in Kyiv, leaving parts of the capital without energy and water. Energy facilities in Zaporizhzhia, Kherson and Cherkasy were also damaged.
Crimea and the grain deal
On 29 October 2022, Russia accused Ukraine of a drone attack on its Black Sea Fleet headquarters in Sevastopol, Crimea. The Russian-installed Governor of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvozhayev, said the Russian Navy had repelled the attack, which he called the "most massive" since the invasion began. Russia consequently suspended its participation in the Black Sea Grain Initiative.
The same day, the Russian Defence Ministry accused the United Kingdom's Royal Navy of blowing up the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea on 26 September. It said the Navy was also behind recent attacks on Russian Navy facilities in Crimea. The British government denied both accusations.
Spillover beyond Ukraine
On 31 October 2022, a Russian cruise missile, reportedly shot down by a Ukrainian anti-aircraft system, crashed on the outskirts of Naslavcea, Moldova. The Moldovan government reported no casualties, though some houses were damaged by the blast.
Further north, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre announced on 31 October 2022 that the country's military alert level would be raised the following day. The decision responded to sightings of military drones near offshore oil rigs over the previous few weeks.
Aid, mobilisation and supplies
On 28 October 2022, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced another $275 million in military aid to Ukraine. The same day, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu announced the end of Russia's mobilisation campaign, saying 300,000 reservists had been reached.
On 2 November 2022, the United States said North Korea was secretly supplying artillery shells to Russia for use in the war in Ukraine.
Taken together, the reports from those days showed a conflict touching civilian infrastructure in Ukrainian cities, the security of maritime trade, the borders of neighbouring states and the supply lines feeding Russia's war effort.
