Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 254

Here is the situation as it stands on Friday, November 4.

Fighting

• A Moscow-installed official in the Kherson region has indicated Russian troops might pull back from the west bank of the Dnieper river, but as the United States sounded an optimistic note on Ukraine’s ability to retake the strategically important southern city of Kherson, Kyiv expressed more wariness.
• The Kyiv government and Western military analysts remained cautious, suggesting Russia could be setting a trap for advancing Ukrainian troops.
• Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has been disconnected from the power grid after shelling damaged the remaining high-voltage lines, leaving it with just diesel generators, Ukraine’s nuclear operator Energoatom said.
• Some 4.5 million Ukrainians, more than 10 percent of the pre-war population, were temporarily without power because of Russian attacks, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

Diplomacy

• The United Nations nuclear watchdog said it found no sign of “undeclared nuclear activities” at three sites it inspected in Ukraine at Kyiv’s request following Russian allegations concerning a so-called “dirty bomb“.
• Russia and Ukraine exchanged 214 captured soldiers in the latest of a series of prisoner swaps. Many were wounded Ukrainians who survived a failed attempt to defend the city of Mariupol in April and May.
• UN chief Antonio Guterres urged Russia and Ukraine to extend a grain deal that expires in two weeks as the Kremlin said it has not committed to extending the Black Sea agreement beyond its current end date of November 19.
• US embassy officials in Moscow met imprisoned American basketball star Brittney Griner, the Biden administration said, pledging to continue to push for her release after she was convicted of drug charges for bringing cannabis-infused vape cartridges into Russia and sentenced to nine years in prison.
• Sweden and Finland have not yet fulfilled all obligations under a deal clearing their bids to join NATO, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said, adding no concrete steps have been taken yet.