Ukraine Daily

Thursday, November 24

Russia’s war against Ukraine

Close relatives and Ukrainian servicemen mourn next to the coffin of Ukrainian serviceman Sergii Myronov during a funeral ceremony at the St. Michael’s Golden-Domed Cathedral in Kyiv on November 23, 2022, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by Genya SAVILOV / AFP) (Photo by GENYA SAVILOV/AFP via Getty Images)

European Parliament labels Russia ‘state sponsor of terrorism.’ The European Parliament passed a resolution on Nov. 23 marking Russia as a “state sponsor of terrorism,” saying Russia’s deliberate attacks on civilian targets, including energy infrastructure, schools, and shelters, violate international law.

Zelensky appeals to UN Security Council over Russian mass strike on infrastructure. President Volodymyr Zelensky appealed to the United Nations Security Council on Nov. 23 to take action to stop Russian missile strikes targeting civilians and critical infrastructure as cold weather sets in. “The UN Security Council was created as the world’s most powerful platform for decisions and actions. Therefore, it must give a clear assessment of the actions of the terrorist state,” Zelensky said.

PM: Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy sector have caused damage worth nearly $2 billion. Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said on Nov. 23 that Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure have caused damage worth over Hr 70 billion ($1.9 billion). Shmyhal said 70 repair teams, comprised of over 1,000 specialists, are working on restoring the country’s power grids.

Air Force says it downed 51 out of 70 Russian missiles, 5 kamikaze drones on Nov. 23. Russia targeted Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, launching missiles from aircraft and ships in the Caspian Sea, the Black Sea, and Rostov Oblast.

Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure cause power outages in Moldova. “Russia has left Moldova in the dark. We will fix the technical issues and we will have power again. All state institutions are working towards this,” Moldovan President Maia Sandu wrote on Facebook.

Russia’s attack injures 36 in Kyiv Oblast. Kyiv Oblast Governor Oleksiy Kuleba said that 31 people were injured in the town of Vyshhorod. According to the governor, three people were also wounded in the town of Ukrainka and the rest in the settlements of Chabany and Hlevakha, Kyiv Oblast.

Ukraine returns 36 POWs, including Azovstal defenders, from Russian captivity. Thirty-five Ukrainian soldiers and one civilian were released from Russian captivity, President Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief of staff Andriy Yermak reported on Nov. 23.

Politico: US concerned Russia could use chemical weapons in Ukraine. U.S. administration officials estimate that Russian dictator Vladimir Putin may use chemical weapons — including those used in the poisoning of Alexei Navalny — in Ukraine before resorting to a nuclear confrontation with NATO if his troops continue to lose occupied territory. The officials stressed there is no intelligence to suggest such an attack in Ukraine is imminent.

ISW: Prominent Russian politicians continue to promote openly genocidal rhetoric against Ukraine. The Institute for the Study of War said in its latest update that Moscow City Duma Deputy Andrey Medvedev posted to his Telegram channel on Nov. 23 a note in which he “categorically denied the existence of the Ukrainian nation, relegating Ukrainian identity to a ‘political orientation.’” Medvedev also called for the total “liquidation of Ukrainian statehood in its current form.”

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Russia bombards Ukraine after European Parliament declares it ’state sponsor of terrorism’

Russia launched yet another large-scale missile attack all over Ukraine on Nov. 23, killing civilians, damaging critical energy infrastructure, and causing blackouts in much of the country, including Kyiv, Lviv, as well as parts of neighboring Moldova.

Photo: Kostyantyn Chernichkin

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Deadly attack on Vyshhorod residence: ‘I don’t have a home anymore’

Vyshhorod, a town with a prewar population of 30,000 people located just north of Kyiv, came under fire of Russia’s fifth large-scale missile strike on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure since early October. The latest strike caused power outages and halted water supply across the county.

Photo: Kostyantyn Chernichkin

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The human cost of Russia’s war

Minister: Russia strikes 3 residential buildings, kills 10 people on Nov. 23. According to Interior Minister Denys Monastyrskyi, Russia launched nearly 600 missile attacks on Ukraine between Oct. 10 and Nov. 23.

Russia’s missile attack on Vyshhorod kills 5. According to President’s Office Deputy Head Kyrylo Tymoshenko, the number of casualties of Russia’s attack on Kyiv Oblast’s Vyshhorod rose to five.

International response

White House: US to provide Ukraine with $400 million in defense aid. U.S. President Joe Biden announced the new aid package in a memorandum. This includes air defense missile systems, machine guns, artillery, ammunition, vehicles, generators, and spare parts for howitzers.

EBRD to provide Ukraine with €372 million for emergency repairs. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will inject €372 million into Ukraine’s electricity transmission company, Ukrenergo, in a bid to keep the country’s energy system stable amid winter. The funds will cover emergency repairs of damages caused by Russian bombings.

Blinken, Borrell condemn Russia’s latest mass missile attack against Ukraine. “Continued attacks on infrastructure are designed to keep Ukraine’s civilians cold and in the dark. These appalling tactics won’t break the resolve of Ukraine and its partners,” said U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Poland asks Germany to send Patriot missile launchers to Ukraine’s western border. Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak said on Nov. 23 he had asked Germany to send Patriot missile launchers offered to Poland to western Ukraine. “This will protect Ukraine from further deaths and blackouts and will increase security at our eastern border,” Blaszczak wrote on Twitter.

New York Times: Pope Francis compares Russia’s war against Ukraine to Holodomor. Pope Francis compared Russia’s war against Ukraine to the “terrible Holodomor genocide,” the famine of Ukrainians by the Soviet authorities, which killed millions in 1932-1933. According to the New York Times, this was the pope’s strongest condemnation of the Russian invasion to date.

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