Russia replaces commander in charge of occupied Kherson Oblast

Russia has changed the leadership of its forces operating in occupied Kherson Oblast, likely indicating an increased intensity of the pressure the Russian Army faces in the area. According to the U.K.'s Defense Ministry, Colonel General Mikhail Teplinsky, the deputy commander of Russian forces in Ukraine, replaced Colonel General Oleg Makarevich. This change may be due to Makarevich providing false reports to higher-ups about the situation on the ground. Ukrainian forces have continued to put pressure on Russian troops in the Dnipro River area in Kherson Oblast, making this a high-priority objective for Russian forces in Ukraine.

Russia hits energy facility in front-line Ukrainian region causing blackouts

Russian forces struck a thermal power plant in one of Ukraine's front-line regions late on October 30, causing significant damage to the facility's equipment. This attack resulted in electricity and water supply cut-offs in a nearby settlement, but no casualties were reported. DTEK, Ukraine's largest private energy company, is working to restore energy and water supply to residents. Russia has repeatedly targeted critical infrastructure across Ukraine since early October 2022, and attacking such infrastructure constitutes a war crime under the Geneva Convention. Ukraine is making preparations to defend its critical infrastructure from anticipated Russian attacks in the winter.

Ukrainian language dominance is growing on social media

A recent study by the Content Analysis Center has found that the Ukrainian language is gaining prominence on Ukrainian social media networks, particularly on platforms like Facebook, X, and Instagram. The study compared posts from October 2023 to those in 2022 and 2020. According to the findings, Ukrainian language posts have seen significant growth on these platforms, with over 90% of posts on Instagram now written in Ukrainian. On Facebook, 75-80% of posts are in Ukrainian, up from 65-70% the previous year. This marks a notable shift, as analysis from October 2020 showed that only 15-25% of posts were in Ukrainian. The study suggests that this trend is likely to continue, with Ukrainian language usage continuing to increase. Furthermore, YouTube has shown significant progress over the last year, and the share of Ukrainian language posts on TikTok has doubled, now favoring the national language. The study was conducted from September 20 to October 20 and included parts of occupied Ukraine.