Archive November 4, 2025

On Tuesday, November 4, 2018, the situation is as follows:

Fighting

Russia announced on Monday that its troops had advanced in Pokrovsk, a crucial port and logistics hub in eastern Ukraine, but Ukraine claimed its forces were still occupying the city.
• Even though Russian troops had struggled the day before, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy assured reporters that Pokrovsk remained under heavy pressure.
• He added that Dobropillia, a town where Kyiv’s forces advanced earlier this year with a successful counteroffensive, was where Russia was en masse trooping. He described the difficulty of the situation in Dobropillia.
• According to the 7th Rapid Response Corps of Ukraine, a Russian attempt to cut off a northern supply route from Rodynske was foiled by Ukrainian forces.
• Russia claimed that its troops had also attacked Ukrainian forces in Kupiansk, a city in the east, and stormed four fortified positions along the left bank of the Oskol River. Up to 60 Russian soldiers were still in Kupiansk, according to Zellenskyy, and Ukrainian forces were attempting to evacuate them.
• A Ukrainian military airfield, a repair facility for military equipment, and supporting gas infrastructure facilities were the targets of heavy overnight strikes by the Russian Ministry of Defense.
• The Ukrainian military reported that a successful strike and a subsequent fire had been reported on one of the refineries in the Saratov region of Russia.
• In the Luhansk, Ukraine, area that is under Russian control, it was reported that it had also struck Russian military logistics.

Weapons

• This year, Zelenskyy announced that Kyiv will establish joint weapons production and export offices in Berlin and Copenhagen.

• Zelenskyy added that Ukraine intends to start mass production of its domestically developed missiles, the Flamingo and Ruta, by the end of this year.
• A Ukrainian delegation will travel to Washington, DC next week for further discussions of a US-Ukraine drone deal, which Kyiv hopes will strengthen ties with US President Donald Trump’s administration.

diplomacy and politics

According to the Reuters news agency, the European Commission (EC) stated in a draft text that Ukraine is showing “remarkable commitment” to joining the EU, but that it must reverse recent negative trends in the fight against corruption and accelerate rule-of-law reforms.
• According to the report, the EC added that Kyiv needed to advance more in respect of civil society, judicial independence, and organized crime.
• Russian President Xi Jinping and Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin will visit China for a two-day visit, according to the Kremlin, which will include scheduled meetings.

Economy

• Zelenskyy claimed that Ukraine still needs $750 million to fund gas imports for the upcoming winter. After Russia’s sharp attacks on Ukraine’s energy sector in recent weeks, with an emphasis on gas facilities, the government wants to increase natural gas imports by about 30%.

Kim Yong Nam, the former leader of North Korea and a lifelong supporter of the ruling family, has passed away, according to state media.

The 97-year-old politician, who served as a senior diplomat and served as a member of the nation’s parliament for more than 20 years, passed away on Monday from multiple organ failures linked to cancer, according to a report released on Tuesday from The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

At the age of 97, the KCNA reported that “Comrade Kim Yong-nam, an old-generation revolutionary who left extraordinary accomplishments in our party’s and nation’s history, completed his noble life.”

Kim Jong Un, the leader of KCNA, visited Kim Yong Nam’s body on Tuesday to offer his condolences. Kim Yong Nam’s funeral was supposed to be held on Thursday, according to the statement.

Kim Yong Nam, who was well-known for his pro-democracy speeches and booming voice at important state events, frequently appeared in state media greetings for Kim Jong Un and his late father, Kim Jong Il, greeting visiting foreign dignitaries.

He was able to serve as the Kim dynasty’s ceremonial head of state for 20 years because of his devotion to the ruling Kim dynasty.

Kim Yong Nam, the grandson of Kim Il Sung, the country’s founder, is not related to Kim Jong Un, the country’s leader, who became a dictator after his father Kim Jong Il’s death in 2011 took office.

From 1998 to April 2019, Kim Yong Nam presided over the Supreme People’s Assembly. The Kim family, which has ruled the nation since its formal foundation in 1948, holds that position, even though North Korea’s nominal head of state is in charge of it.

Kim Yong Nam had read the state’s founder’s elegy in 1994, when Kim Il Sung passed away. After Kim Il Sung’s son observed a three-year mourning period, he also took the initiative to officially nominate Kim Jong Il as the chairman of the National Defense Commission.

After years of growing resentment on the Korean Peninsula, Kim Jong Un’s influential sister Kim Yo Jong traveled to South Korea with Kim Jong Un to watch the opening ceremony of the Pyeongchang Olympic Games.

Kim Yong Nam became the highest-level North Korean official to travel to South Korea since Kim Jong Un sent a top military officer to the Incheon, South Korea, ceremony marking the conclusion of the 2014 Asian Games.

Kim Yong Nam and Kim Yo Jong sat close to then-U.S. Vice President Mike Pence at the opening ceremony in Pyeongchang, but there was no apparent contact between the two.

Kim Yong Nam’s influence may have decreased in recent years as a result of his absence from the summits Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump, but his influence may have increased as a result.

Choe Ryong Hae, one of Kim Jong Un’s close ally who had previously served as the top political figure in North Korea’s 1.2 million-member military, succeeded him as head of the parliament in April 2019.

After accusing Peru of denying asylum to a former Peruvian prime minister who is facing a coup alleged attempt in 2022, Peru has cut diplomatic relations with Mexico.

After fleeing to the Mexican Embassy in Peru, former prime minister Betssy Chavez, who served under former president Pedro Castillo, fled on Monday.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Hugo de Zela stated at a press conference that “today we learned with surprise and deep regret that former president Pedro Castillo’s alleged co-author of the coup attempt is receiving asylum at the Mexican Embassy residence in Peru.”

The Peruvian government has decided to end diplomatic relations with Mexico today, he added, taking into account the numerous instances in which the current and former presidents of that nation have interacted with the country’s internal affairs.

Mexico did not respond right away.

Raul Noblecilla, Chavez’s attorney, informed the local radio station RPP that he had not heard from his client in a while and that she had not inquired whether she had sought asylum.

Following a months-long standoff between the president and the Congress, Chavez was appointed as minister of culture in November 2022.

The following month, Castillo, a former rural schoolteacher and trade unionist, attempted to dissolve the Congress, but was impeached by lawmakers. He was later called Peru’s “first poor president.”

After that, Lima and Mexico’s relations sharply deteriorated.

When he was detained and later charged with rebellion and abuse of authority, Castillo was on his way to the Mexican embassy in Lima to request asylum.

Chavez and he were also charged.

After Mexico granted Castillo’s wife and children asylum, Peru expelled the ambassador in December 2022.

In February 2023, Castillo’s successor, then-President Dina Boluarte, accused then-left-wing leader Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador of meddling in her country’s affairs by expressing support for Castillo. Boluarte also temporarily recalled Peru’s ambassador to Mexico City.

In March of this year, the former president and Chavez were charged.

Chavez was released on bail in September despite Castillo’s pre-acquiescence and his subsequent impeachment.

Chavez was allegedly a part of Castillo’s plan to dissolve Congress, leading to a 25-year term that the prosecution wanted for him to serve.

They want Castillo to serve a 34-year sentence.