Contents
The Reporter's Notepad: The business and political news cycle slows to a crawl as leaders in Ukraine and throughout the West await results of the US presidential election this week.
Just The Facts: A Ukrainian intelligence agency doxxes capitains of ships it accuses to transporting stolen grain, Ukraine changes radio frequency regulations to allow for a 5G pilot operation and Germany provides €2.4 million to support Ukraine's green industrial recovery at a municipal level.
Here's What They Think: CNN thinks Putin won't likely come to the negotiating table no matter who wins US elections, The Hill says Trump may force him to do so through bluster and threats, and Newsweek writes that the Zelensky's Kursk gambit has failed.
Sober Second Thought: While most polls shows slightly more than half of Russian adults support Russia's invasion of Ukraine, a new study published in the European Journal of Social Psychology suggests they do so mostly to show loyalty to President Vladimir Putin.
The Rebuilder's Social: Ukrhydroenergo, Ukraine's national hydropower operator, boosts a national market for guarantees of origin for renewably produced electricity. Ukraine changes vehicle registration procedures to make it easier for military personnel to register vehicles they received as humanitarian aid. CCI France Ukraine to address energy sector reconstruction in webinar this week.
US election week
Dear URN Daily readers,
Except for the unpredictable developments on the military front, the news cycle has slowed to a crawl ahead of the US presidential election this week. The conference schedule has nearly paused, businesses are making few, if any, announcements and the executives URN Daily has contacted in recent days have postponed interviews and chats until after the election.
Today's edition reflects that - slightly more editorial reviews than normal but less news than on an average day.
We expect this pace to continue for a day or two still, then we have several more interviews lined up, followed by a trip next week to Warsaw for the Rebuild Ukraine event on Nov 13 and 14.
Ukraine changes radio frequency regulations to prepare for 5G pilot project
Ukraine's government has changed regulations on the use of radio frequencies, allowing for the launch of a pilot project to introduce 5G networks in some cities, according to a press release by the Ministry of Digital Transformation and a Telegram post by Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov.
The pilot initiative will run for two years in two phases, covering three cities, to determine the compatibility of 5G networks with military equipment, Fedorov wrote.
The government's decision will also allow for the use of the 2100 MHz frequency not only for 3G but also 2G or 4G, which will give operators more flexibility, the ministry said.
In addition, 694-862 MHz frequencies will no longer be used for analog and digital television, freeing them up for mobile communications.
"This is one of the key steps towards the full launch of 5G in Ukraine, which we plan to complete by 2030," Fedorov wrote. The ministry noted that the launch of 5G throughout the country is not yet possible due to martial law.
Germany provides €2.4 million to support Ukraine's green industrial recovery at municipal level
Germany's Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) is providing €2.4 million to support Ukraine's green industrial recovery at a municipal level.
The project is part of a program of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the Ukrainian government for a green industrial recovery in Ukraine for the 2024-2028 period, UNIDO said in a press release on Friday.
"Municipalities in Ukraine have faced the direct impact of war and destruction, but they also hold the keys to recovery," said Permanent Representative of Germany to UNIDO Rüdiger Rainer Bohn.
The activities of the new project will build on the initial phase of the cross-sectoral BMZ-UNIDO initiative, which established an analytical and capacity framework for UNIDO's operations in Ukraine, as per the statement.
Through this collaboration, UNIDO carried out an industrial diagnostic study of Ukraine, mapped the use of artificial intelligence in major industries, developed a National Guiding Framework of Standards and Technical Regulations for Ukraine's Green Reconstruction, and applied a strategic foresight approach to support the shift towards a circular economy.
The new project aims to enhance the capacity of public sector and government institutions at both national and municipal levels to support a green industrial recovery. With the assistance of regional development coordinators, this initiative aims to help Ukraine's municipalities promote sustainable development and inclusive growth, UNIDO said.
The project will also collaborate with the United Nations Environment Programme to promote joint initiatives for the sustainable development of the Carpathian region, building on the joint declaration between UNIDO and the Secretariat of the Carpathian Convention established in 2023.
Ukrainian intelligence agency doxxes ship captains it says transport stolen Ukrainian grain for Russia
A Ukrainian intelligence agency has started publishing names and photos of ship captains it says are transporting grain taken by Russian forces from Ukrainian territory in a "name and shame" campaign.
The Defense Intelligence Unit (DIU), an agency directly under the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, has published the names of 31 people it says captained ships with goods stolen by Russian from Ukrainian land, including 24 of them with photos.
"Captains, as the most important persons on board a ship, are responsible for the cargo and its safety," says the website, called War Sanctions. "According to the ship's documents (bills of lading), the captain has all the information about the cargo and its owner. They can refuse to commit illegal acts, but they choose to make money on war and suffering."
The website indicates that the DIU also plans to publish similar information on ships transporting crude oil and other goods, and aims to start sections related to airplanes, ports and airports.
CNN: Putin unlikely to come to the negotiating table, regardless of who wins US election
This week's presidential election in the United States may mark a turning point in US foreign policy, particularly on policy toward Ukraine, but that doesn't necessarily mean Russian President Vladimir Putin will want to turn to the negotiating table, CNN said in an analysis piece.
Whoever wins, Putin will be looking to exploit what he sees as political dysfunction in the United States, as well as “cracks in Western unity,” Thomas Graham, a Russian foreign policy expert and distinguished fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, told CNN.
The cracks could come in the form of reduced US aid for Ukraine, disagreements over the future of NATO, differences in foreign policy between the US and Europe and a number of other factors, to be determined in elections this week, CNN said in the online article.
“Absent Western unity, absent a clear demonstration that the West and Ukraine have a common vision of what they’re trying to achieve… Putin has no reason to reconsider what he is doing in Ukraine at this point,” Graham added.
The Hill: How a Trump peace ultimatum could end the Russia-Ukraine war
Donald Trump, if he wins US presidential elections this week, could end the war in Ukraine by threatening to expand US support for Ukrainian forces and unleash a "withering" economic war against Russia, according to an opinion piece in The Hill.
"The scales of war are slightly in Russia’s favor now, but all that will change if America adds money and resources and gives Ukraine the opportunity to destroy Russian strategic objects deep within Russian territory," according to author Alexander Temerko, a Ukrainian-British businessman and Councillor of the Institute of Economic Affairs.
"On the other hand, if America refuses to help Ukraine at all, then the Ukrainian front would fall apart," he wrote.
He added that the outcome, though, is existential:
"The victory of either puts the other side on the brink of survival — Ukraine may lose sovereignty, Russia could disintegrate into a kaleidoscope of nuclear-armed feudal states."
Newsweek: Ukraine's Kursk gamble isn't paying off
"Volodymyr Zelensky is a lonely man these days," Newsweek writes at the start of an opinion piece on the war in Ukraine.
The Ukrainian president, who was so widely courted by Western leaders in the first year or two of the full-scale Russian invasion, had had little success in his most recent push to secure more military aid from his allies, which included the Ukrainian invasion of Russia's Kursk region, the article states.
The Kursk invasion "could work out brilliantly, putting the Russian army on the back foot yet again and forcing Putin's inner circle to rethink its war strategy. Or it would turn out to be counterproductive, exacerbating Ukraine's manpower problem and moving end-of-war negotiations further away."
"After a downright pathetic few weeks, the Russians regrouped—or at least got regrouped enough," the article states. "A Russian counteroffensive in Kursk was launched about a month after Ukraine's initial foray into the region."
Study suggests Russians support war in Ukraine mostly as a show of loyalty to Putin
While most polls shows slightly more than half of Russian adults support Russia's invasion of Ukraine, a new study published in the European Journal of Social Psychology suggests they do so mostly to show loyalty to President Vladimir Putin.
"Russian support for the war may reflect broader support for the existing regime with backing for the military intervention serving as a demonstration of loyalty to Vladimir Putin and his government," wrote the authors of the study, led by the University of Kent’s Psychology and Public Policy Research Unit in the UK.
The researchers reviewed three studies of opinions of Russian adults with a focus on two "key ideologies" that they identified as "right-wing authoritarianism" and "social dominance orientation." The researchers found the better predictor of support for the war was right-wing authoritarianism, described as "desire for an orderly society, manifesting in trust in established religious and political authorities, adherence to longstanding social conventions and norms and antipathy and aggression towards individuals and groups that violate those conventions and norms."
The authors made two main observations in their conclusions:
"First, even though the Russian invasion of Ukraine is a clear act of aggression against an outgroup, authoritarian aggression does not appear to drive support for the invasion. Instead, submission to established authorities, with the most clear authority in Russia being Vladimir Putin, has the most explanatory power."
"Second, even though the invasion of Ukraine could be viewed as an act of dominance on the part of a larger power against a smaller country, it also does not drive much support for war. Instead, in the same way that people high in anti-egalitarianism might not support the KKK but oppose affirmative action, those high in anti-egalitarianism might not have been particularly supportive of the war, but reluctant to support peace now that war is the status quo."
Ukrhydroenergo, Ukraine's national hydropower operator, posts about its push to create a national market for guarantees of origin for renewably produced electricity, which "represents a crucial step in developing Ukraine's renewable energy sector and an avenue to attract investment for the company’s sustainable growth."
Kostiantyn Koshelenko, deputy minister of social policy for digital transformation, outlines changes to vehicle registration procedures that make it easier for military personnel to register vehicles they received as humanitarian aid for use in the defense of the state.
CCI France Ukraine, the French Chambers of Commerce and Industry, announces the webinar "Rethinking the Energy Sector in Ukraine: Reconstruction and Resilience to Challenges" on Nov 7, including speakers from DTEK and Schneider Electric.
Ukrainian Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko posts that USAID Competitive Economy Program in Ukraine (USAID CEP) is allocating $1.8 million to "support employment for Ukrainians, helping youth, veterans, women, people with disabilities, & IDPs realize their potential in the labor market."
