Ukraine's Winter War: Lights Out, a Black Sea Grain Deal in the Works — and America in the Middle
Russia is pounding Ukraine's power grid as winter sets in. Turkey and Ukraine have agreed to work on a Black Sea grain corridor, Washington says interest in a limited sea ceasefire is growing, and three-way talks are being prepared for November. A full briefing.
By Clara Hughes
As Americans head to the polls, the war in Ukraine is entering its most dangerous season — winter — on two fronts at once: the power grid and the sea. Overnight into Sunday, Nov. 1, Russian strikes hit "substations, transformers, and power lines" in four Ukrainian regions, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, leaving "hundreds of thousands of families" without power. At the same time, a new diplomatic push is building around the Black Sea, where attacks on merchant ships threaten food and energy routes far beyond Ukraine. Secretary of State Marco Rubio put the stakes plainly in Atlanta on Oct. 31: the Black Sea attacks are "threatening the world for food security and some energy security as well," Reuters reported. This Special Report lays out what happened this weekend, what is being negotiated, and what to watch in the weeks ahead. Keep reading with Altas Premium. Below: the scale of Russia's winter campaign by the numbers, the Erdogan–Zelenskyy grain-corridor deal, the U.S. push for a limited Black Sea ceasefire, the Kherson truce that just expired, and five things to watch through November. [Subscribe to Altas World News →] 1. The grid under fire Zelenskyy said on X that energy infrastructure was struck overnight in the Dnipropetrovsk, Vinnytsia, Zhytomyr and Khmelnytskyi regions, according to Ukrainska Pravda and DW. "Repair crews are working everywhere," he said. He