Home › Politics › What was happening on Ukraine's northern flank?
What was happening on Ukraine's northern flank?
Summary
A look back at security moves in Norway, Poland, Russia and South Korea in the days before 3 November 2022.
What were Ukraine's neighbours and partners doing as the war continued? On 3 November 2022, several security developments from the preceding days shaped the regional picture.
On 28 October 2022, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu announced the end of Russia's mobilisation campaign, saying 300,000 reservists had been reached.
The same day, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol denied that his country was sending weapons to Ukraine. His denial followed a reference to South Korea by Russian President Vladimir Putin at a conference the previous day.
On 31 October 2022, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre announced that the country's military alert level would be raised the following day. He cited sightings of military drones near offshore oil rigs over the previous few weeks.
On 2 November 2022, Poland's Minister of National Defence, Mariusz Błaszczak, announced the construction of a barrier along the border with the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad. Poland believed Russia would use the border to transport African and Asian immigrants illegally into Europe.
Taken together, these announcements show how the war was drawing in states well beyond Ukraine's borders, from questions over arms supplies in East Asia to heightened alertness in Norway and border fortification in Poland.
