Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 248

Here is the situation as it stands on Saturday, October 29.

Conflict

• Ukraine and Russia have exchanged rocket, mortar and artillery fire from trench lines north of the Russian-held southern Ukrainian city of Kherson, where one of the war’s most consequential battles is looming.
• Russian President Vladimir Putin’s first deputy chief of staff, Sergey Kiriyenko, has visited Kherson, the Russian-installed governor of Crimea said.
• The Russian defence ministry said its forces have repelled attempted Ukrainian advances in the east and destroyed a Ukrainian military factory near the town of Pavlohrad. Al Jazeera could not verify battlefield accounts.
• A Russian journalist working for a Kremlin-backed media group has been killed in a shooting accident at a military training ground in Crimea, Russian-installed officials said.
• Four million people across Ukraine have been hit by power cuts due to Russia’s bombing campaign, Kyiv said.

Diplomacy

• The United Nations is pushing warring sides to renew a Black Sea grain and fertiliser deal for Ukrainian and Russian exports, a UN spokesperson said.
• Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has caused an “epochal break” in German ties with Moscow and the war has shattered former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev’s dream of a “common European home”, Germany’s president said.
• Finland and Sweden promised to join NATO at the same time in a united front to Turkey, which has raised questions about their applications.
• The Ukrainian foreign minister told his Iranian counterpart to stop sending weapons to Russia; Iranian-made drones have been used by Russia to hobble Ukrainian energy infrastructure, Ukraine said. Iran and Russia deny the charge.
• The United States will provide $275m in additional military assistance to Ukraine, including arms, munitions and equipment, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.

Economy

• Russia’s finance ministry has significantly cut expectations of taxable oil production for 2023, according to the draft budget for the next three years, in the expectation Western sanctions will mean an overall decline in output and refining volumes.
• Canada will sell a government-backed, five-year bond to raise money for Ukraine, the first country to do so, and it will impose new sanctions on 35 Russians, including Gazprom executives, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said.