Ukraine Daily

Saturday, November 19

Russia’s war against Ukraine

Passenger train to Kherson departs from Kyiv train station on Nov. 18, 2022 in Ukraine. The first passenger train departed from Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, where the war against Russia continue, to the city of Kherson, which was again under the control of the Ukrainian armed forces, about 8 months later. (Photo by Metin Aktas/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

PM Shmyhal: Russian strikes disabled nearly half of Ukraine’s energy system. According to Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, Ukraine needs support from European partners in the energy sector, such as the supply of additional equipment, and extra financial aid.

State Emergency Service: Nearly 30% of Ukrainian territory is mined. “The area and volumes of mining in the territory of Ukraine have increased ten times compared to the pre-war period,” said Serhii Kruk, who heads Ukraine’s State Emergency Service.

General Staff: Russian troops relocate some units from Kherson to Luhansk Oblast. The troops moved to the town of Novoaidar in Luhansk Oblast, Ukraine’s General Staff said on Nov. 18.

UK intelligence: After withdrawal from Kherson, Russia prepares for further Ukrainian breakthroughs. Russian troops have built up new trench systems near the administrative border with occupied Crimea and the Siverskyi Donets River in eastern Ukraine, the U.K. Defense Ministry reported on Nov. 18.

ISW: Kremlin prepares for another round of mobilization while fall conscription cycle is still underway. The Institute for the Study of War said in its latest update that the continuation of covert mobilization and preparation for a new wave of mobilization will likely worsen the overall quality of Russian troops being sent to fight in Ukraine. “This will likely lead to even lower quality training for both mobilized recruits and conscripts as they compete for insufficient training capacity, “ the ISW reported.

Ombudsman: Even children were kept in torture chambers in Kherson Oblast. Ukraine’s Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said on Nov. 18 that new facts of torture reportedly inflicted by Russian troops on Kherson Oblast residents during the occupation were discovered, including a torture chamber with a separate cell where teenagers were kept. “We are now determining their ages,” he said, adding that witnesses say some of the boys looked about 14 years old. “I haven’t seen such a scale of (human rights violations) before. And I personally visited all (Russian) torture chambers in different Ukrainian oblasts,” Lubinets said. “It seems that (the Russian military) gets some satisfaction from it when they kill and torture our citizens.”

PM: Ukraine has received over $23 billion in financial aid since Feb. 24. “Ukraine feels the reliable support of the world in its struggle for freedom and independence,” Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said on Nov. 18.

Ukroboronprom: Ukraine to produce weapons jointly with at least 6 NATO countries. Poland, the Czech Republic, France, Denmark, and other NATO countries will produce and develop heavy weapons and other military equipment jointly with Ukraine, Ukraine’s main defense company Ukroboronprom said on Nov. 18.

Zelensky, Erdogan discuss Ukraine grain deal extension. “We praised the extension of the grain deal. I thanked (Erdogan) for supporting our Grain from Ukraine initiative and assured that Ukraine will remain a guarantor of food stability,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said following a phone conversation with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Nov. 18.

Erdogan talks to Putin about ‘grain deal,’ negotiations with Ukraine. The two leaders also discussed Putin’s proposal to create a natural gas hub in Turkey, Anadolu agency reported.

Russia’s proxies in occupied Crimea claim fortification works started on peninsula. Russian forces in occupied Crimea began to build fortification structures on the peninsula and the occupied part of Kherson Oblast, preparing for possible Ukrainian advances in the south, according to Moscow-installed head proxy.

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Ukraine war latest: Half of Ukraine’s energy system disabled, says PM. According to Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, almost half of Ukraine’s energy system is out of order due to the massive Russian strikes.

Photo: Getty Images

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The human cost of Russia’s war

Death toll from Russian attack on Vilniansk rises to 10. Russia’s Nov.17 strike at a residential building in Zaporizhzhia Oblast’s Vilniansk town killed ten people, including two children, 11 and 17 years old, General Prosecutor’s Office reported.

Russia’s attacks kill 1 in Donetsk Oblast, injure 8 in Kharkiv Oblast. In the past 24 hours, Russian forces killed one civilian in Bakhmut and wounded four in Chasiv Yar, Donetsk Oblast Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko reported on Nov. 18.

Prosecutors: Russian troops killed 7 civilians, blew up house with bodies in Kherson Oblast in April. Among the victims was a child, according to the Kherson Oblast prosecutors.

General Staff: Russia has lost 83,460 troops in Ukraine since Feb. 24. Ukraine’s General Staff reported on Nov. 18 that Russia had also lost 2,879 tanks, 5,808 armored fighting vehicles, 4,366 vehicles and fuel tanks, 1,865 artillery systems, 393 multiple launch rocket systems, 209 air defense systems, 278 airplanes, 261 helicopters, 1,536 drones, and 16 boats.

International response

Politico: EU freezes 68 billion euros in Russian assets. According to an internal European Commission document obtained by the media outlet Politico, most of the assets are in Belgium, which accounts for 50 billion euros out of the total figure.

Haaretz: Israel funds ‘strategic materials’ for Ukraine under US pressure. President Biden’s administration initially asked Israel to provide Ukraine with anti-aircraft batteries, but after negotiations between the two governments, it was agreed to finance “strategic materials.” Haaretz didn’t identify the materials’ nature upon the request of its sources.

Borrell: Peace in Ukraine not possible until Russian troops leave Ukraine. Moscow, however, doesn’t demonstrate any signs of readiness to withdraw its forces from Ukraine, European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell told Reuters on Nov. 17. “It is Russia who has to make peace possible, the aggressor has to withdraw if he wants a sustainable peace,” Borrell said.

Czech foreign minister: West ‘should not dictate’ peace terms to Kyiv as Ukraine defends all of Europe. “Ukrainians made the clear choice they didn’t want to be part of Moscow’s empire,” Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky told The Guardian. He added that the West should provide Ukraine with military, financial, and humanitarian help long-term because its battle against Russia also protects Europe.

Polish PM: If we do not support Ukraine, war will come to us. “We still don’t know 100 percent of the exact circumstances and reasons for the Przewodow incident, but we definitely know the root cause — the main reason — and that is the Russian aggression against Ukraine,” Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Moravetsky said.

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