Updates: Ukraine receives first NASAMS air defense systems

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said on Monday that the country had received its first NASAMS and Apside air defense systems.

"We will continue to shoot down the enemy targets attacking us. Thank you to our partners: Norway, Spain and the US," he wrote on Twitter.

Russia has hit Ukrainian infrastructure with a barrage of strikes over the past month that has destroyed around a third of the country's power stations leaving many cities facing frequent blackouts.

Ukraine hopes to use advanced air defense systems to prevent further loss of infrastructure from Russian strikes.

Reznikov said last month that Ukraine had received the first Iris-T air defense system from Germany.

NASAMS (National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System) is a short- to medium-range  ground-based air defense system developed by Norwegian company Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace (KDA) and American conglomerate Raytheon Technologies.

Aspide is an Italian medium-range anti-aircraft missile system.

Here are the other main headlines from the war in Ukraine on Monday, November 7:

US vows Ukraine support even if Republicans win midterms

The White House said US support for Ukraine's war effort will be "unwavering" even if Republicans, who have expressed concerns about the level of spending, win midterm elections.

"We are confident the United States' support will be unflinching and will be unwavering," Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters.

She said President Joe Biden is "committed to work in a bipartisan fashion, as he has been doing, to support Ukraine."

However, the United States reserves the right to hold talks with Russia at the senior level on risk reduction, the White House said in not denying a report that national security adviser Jake Sullivan has been talking to Moscow.

Putin-linked businessman admits to interfering in US elections

Yevgeny Prigozhin, an influential Russian businessman linked to President Vladimir Putin, admitted on Monday to interfering in US elections and said he would continue to do so.

“We have interfered, are interfering and will continue to interfere. Carefully, precisely, surgically and in our own way,” Prigozhin said in remarks posted by his spokespeople on social media.

Prigozhin, a dozen other Russian nationals and three Russian companies were charged with operating a covert social media campaign aimed at fomenting discord and dividing American public opinion ahead of the 2016 US presidential election.

They were indicted in 2018 as part of special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian election interference.

Prigozhin had denied involvement in election interference until now.

He also previously denied ties to the Wagner mercenary force, but in September admitted to founding and financing it in 2014 and started speaking openly about its involvement in the war in Ukraine.

For years, the Wagner group had been suspected of playing a role in realizing Moscow's overseas ambitions, with the Kremlin denying any links.

Meanwhile, White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said Prigozhin’s comments did not tell "anything new or surprising."

Putin says 50,000 newly mobilized Russians are fighting in Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin said that 50,000 Russian soldiers called up as part of his mobilization drive were now fighting with combat units in Ukraine.

"We now have 50,000 in their combat units. The rest are not taking part in the fighting yet," Putin said during a visit to the Tver region, outside Moscow.

He also said that overall 80,000 newly mobilized Russians were "in the zone of the special military operation" — the term Russia uses for its war in Ukraine, while the rest of the draftees were at training camps in Russia.

On November 4, Putin said a total of 318,000 had been drafted and 49,000 were in the combat zone.

In September, Putin announced a "partial mobilization" drive to call up hundreds of thousands of new fighters for the war after Ukraine recaptured large swaths of territory in a counter-offensive.

Russia ended the partial mobilization drive at the end of October, with Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu saying on October 28 that around 41,000 Russian fighters had already joined their combat units fighting in Ukraine.

Ukraine takes over shares in five strategic companies

Top Ukrainian officials said on Monday that the shares of five strategic companies had been taken over by the defense ministry under wartime laws.

The decision was taken at a top security meeting on November 5 and came into force the following day, Security Council Secretary Oleksiy Danilov told a briefing.

According to Danilov, after the end of the martial law the assets can be returned to their owners or their value can be compensated accordingly.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that a move to take control of stakes in five strategic companies was needed to meet Ukraine's urgent wartime needs. "Such steps, which are necessary for our country in conditions of war, are carried out in accordance with current laws and will help meet the urgent needs of our defense sector," he wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

The companies included aircraft engine maker Motor Sich, energy companies Ukrnafta and Ukrtatnafta, vehicle maker AvtoKrAZ and transformer maker Zaporizhtransformator.

The companies have links to prominent businessmen, such as Ihor Kolomoisky or Kostiantyn Zhevago. Some of them are already partially owned by the state.

In October, Vyacheslav Boguslaev, the president of Motor Sich, was detained and charged with treason.

Russian marine unit says it lost 300 men in four days

A complaint from members of a Russian marine infantry brigade published by a Telegram channel with links to the Wagner mercenary group claimed that the brigade lost 300 soldiers within just four days of fighting in Donetsk.

The soldiers had either been killed, wounded, or were missing, the complaint said.

The Russian governor of the occupied Donetsk region Oleg Koshemyako, to whom the complaint was directed, rejected the high numbers published on Telegram but admitted that there had been heavy losses.

Finnish president says no end appears close in Ukraine war  

Finnish President Sauli Niinisto has said he sees no end in sight to the war in Ukraine. Spurred by the conflict, Helsinki is pushing to join the NATO military alliance. 

Niinisto warned that the longer the war dragged on, the greater the risks. However, he also said Finland would maintain its support for Ukraine. 

"There is no end in sight to the war, and neither side is compromising its initial positions," Niinisto said. 

"Finland will help Ukraine for as long as it takes. However, it is dangerous that talk about war is becoming commonplace." 

The Finnish president also said there was no plan for his country to allow nuclear weapons on its soil, and that there were "no signs that anyone is offering them to the Finns."

The country's Prime Minister Sanna Marin last week said she would not rule out the possibility of having nuclear weapons on Finnish territory. 

Ukraine grid operator warns of more power blackouts

Ukraine's national electricity grid operator has told consumers to brace for more blackouts in Kyiv and other regions.

Rolling blackouts are becoming increasingly common in the capital, Kyiv, after Russian missile and drone attacks on energy infrastructure.

Strikes targeting Ukraine's power facilities have damaged some 40% of energy infrastructure since October 10, and the operator said repair efforts would take some time.

"The country's power grid still cannot resume full operation after the Russian terrorist attacks. In some regions, we have to introduce blackouts to avoid overloading the high-voltage infrastructure," the Ukrenergo grid operator said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said late on Sunday that Russia might be preparing more airstrikes.

UK says Russia faces struggle in skies over Ukraine

The UK Ministry of Defense says Russia is unlikely to be able to gain air superiority in Ukraine in the coming months.

The assessment on Monday follows a statement last week in which Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, claimed Russia had lost more than twice as many aircraft in Ukraine than in the nine-year Soviet-Afghan War — 278 in Ukraine compared to 119 in Afghanistan.

Whilst the UK ministry said it could not independently verify the figures, it said Russia's continued lack of air superiority was likely exacerbated by poor training and the loss of experienced crews.

It also said Russia faced a heightened risk of conducting close air support in densely covered air defense zones.

"This is unlikely to change in the next few months," said the ministry. "Russia's aircraft losses likely significantly outstrip their capacity to manufacture new airframes. The time required for the training of competent pilots further reduces Russia's ability to regenerate combat air capability."

More from DW's coverage of Russia's invasion of Ukraine

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko has warned of power outages in the Ukrainian capital on Sunday. Meanwhile, Russian media claimed the Nova Kakhovka dam was damaged in shelling by Ukrainian forces.

Americans of Eastern European heritage tend to vote conservatively. But that could change, as Republicans have said they will reduce support for Ukraine if they win the midterm elections. DW's Ines Pohl reports.

Ukrainians are scrambling to repair buildings damaged by Russia. DW reporter Oleh Klymchuk visited villages in northern Ukraine that national forces liberated in spring to see how reconstruction efforts are coming along.

dh, ab, rc/wd, dj (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters, LUSA)