Worth noting, korrespondent.net has compiled its Invasion of Ukraine series into separate months, beginning May 9th, 2023. Linked in the title.
[Korrespondent] 22:16 Finland has closed four of nine checkpoints on the border with Russia. Following this, the possibility of closing the border with the Russian Federation was announced in Estonia and Norway. European countries believe that migrants “hardly came up with the idea” of trying to get into the EU through Russia, and compare the current situation with the crisis on the EU border with Belarus in 2021. Then the Lukashenko regime itself provoked attempts by illegal migrants to enter the EU. About what scheme the Russians are mastering, see the material Strike by Migrants .
21:54 The Russians struck one of the districts of Zaporozhye - the missile hit an open area, there was no information about casualties. The blast wave damaged several private houses, said the head of the OVA, Yuri Malashko.
21:45 The United States fears that Iran is preparing to transfer modern short-range ballistic missiles to Russia, said White House National Security Council Strategic Communications Coordinator John Kirby: “Iran has already provided Russia with combat drones, guided bombs and artillery shells. Therefore, we are concerned that Iran is considering the possibility of providing Russia with ballistic missiles for use in Ukraine."
21:42 The Russian Army fired at Berislav, Kherson region, from aviation - as a result of hitting a private house, one person was killed and one was wounded, said the head of the Air Force, Alexander Prokudin. The enemy fired 12 KABs around the city, and in total dropped 28 bombs on the Berislavsky district today. Also recorded were hits on the territory of an enterprise, a store, and a driving school.
21:36 Defense forces shot down a rare Iranian Mohajer-6 drone over the Black Sea on the approach to the Odessa region, the Air Force command reported.
21:31 Crimean publics report loud explosions in Yevpatoria and Saki, after which a fire started at the Saki Thermal Power Plant.
20:49 The European Parliament agreed to open an office in Ukraine to strengthen support for the Verkhovna Rada at the request of senior officials of the Ukrainian government, writes Euractiv.
19:53 During the day and evening, Russian tactical aviation launched attacks with Kh-31P missiles on the Odessa region, the Southern Defense Forces report. These are anti-radar missiles, with the help of which the enemy tries to identify and destroy air defense systems. In Odessa and the Belgorod-Dnestrovsky region, hits were recorded on open surfaces, administrative buildings and port infrastructure; no people were injured.
19:21 Zelensky clarified in an evening video message that the new aid package from Germany in the amount of 1.3 billion euros involves the production of new IRIS-T systems. “It is very important that this package also includes the artillery we need... We discussed with Minister Boris Pistorius the situation on the battlefield now, our cooperation, in particular, in the joint production of weapons - in everything that will help protect both Ukraine and our entire Europe,” the president noted.
17:55 During his visit to Kiev, President of the European Council Charles Michel promised to do everything possible so that Ukraine and Moldova receive a decision on the start of negotiations on accession to the EU by the end of the year. Zelensky said that the absence of such a decision would be a victory for the Kremlin.
17:38 Russian public pages write that on November 19, near Starobeshevo, Donetsk region, the Russian command organized an award ceremony for the 810th Marine Brigade on the occasion of the Day of Missile Forces and Artillery. The Russian military was gathered in the club in the evening - as a result of the Ukrainian Armed Forces strike, 25 people were killed and about 100 were injured. Russian actress Polina Menshikh, who came to perform in front of the military, also died there.
16:54 Zelensky made a number of resonant statements in an interview with the British tabloid The Sun. The most striking statements of the Ukrainian president are in the material The Assassination of Putin, the Third World War .
16:23 During the day, the Russian Army dropped 25 guided bombs on populated areas in the Berislavsky and Kakhovsky districts of the Kherson region, the OVA reported. Two people were wounded - in Berislav and Novoberislav. After lunch, the Russians shelled Antonovka - two people were wounded there.
15:45 The head of the German Ministry of Defense Boris Pistorius, during a visit to Kyiv, announced a new aid package worth 1.3 billion euros. It will include, in particular, four IRIS-T air defense systems, 20 thousand 155-mm caliber shells, anti-tank mines and other weapons.
15:36 Canada, together with Ukraine, is ready to lead a coalition of countries that will facilitate the return of Ukrainian children, said Prosecutor General Andrei Kostin.
15:32 Because of the bridgehead captured by Ukrainian forces on the left bank of the Kherson region, the Russians are panicking and redeploying units from other directions, said Andrey Chernyak, a representative of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense.
15:01 Training of Ukrainian pilots on the F-16 has started in Denmark, said Air Force Speaker Yuriy Ignat. According to him, at first they trained on NATO-style light-engine aircraft, and now they have moved on to flying the F-16 with an instructor. The next stage is independent flights. In addition to Denmark, F-16 training also takes place in the USA and Great Britain. Not only pilots, but also other specialists, ground personnel, combat control officers and aviation engineering officers undergo training there.
14:54 German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius will announce a new package of military assistance during his visit to Ukraine, writes Bild. As one of the delegation members said, the package includes approximately the same thing that Germany has already provided to Ukraine up to this time, so it will not include long-range Taurus missiles.
14:18 Manufacturers of footwear for the Russian army purchase materials in Europe, Ukrainian investigators of the Trap Aggressor portal found out based on the results of analyzes of data from trading databases. Thus, in 2023 alone, the Russian Federation purchased $4.1 million worth of products from companies from Italy, Spain, Germany and other EU countries. Leather, glue, spare parts for shoe machines, etc. are purchased. The shoes of Russian soldiers found on the battlefield in Ukraine were examined.
13:29 The Iranian Institute of Aerospace Sciences and Technologies Ashura presented the Shahed-238 drone - a jet modification of the Shahed-136, which Tehran transfers to Russia for attacks on Ukrainian cities. Iran presented the Shahed-238 in this article about what makes the drone unique .
12:57 In the morning, the Russian military fired at the town of Cossack Lopan, Kharkov region, killing one person, the prosecutor’s office reported.
12:35 President of the European Council Charles Michel also arrived in Kiev. Together with Zelensky and Maia Sandu, they will discuss the accession of Ukraine and Moldova to the European Union.
12:11 A group of people’s deputies has developed and is preparing to register in the Verkhovna Rada a new bill on mobilization, military registration and military service. Parliamentarians propose to lift the deferment for students receiving a second education and to draft into the army those with a criminal record. More details in the material Changes in mobilization are being prepared .
11:39 Zelensky said in an interview with The Sun that Russia still “really wants” to remove him from power: “The operation is called Maidan-3, its goal is to replace the president. Perhaps not through murder. I mean that it changes. They will use whatever tools they have. That's the idea for the rest of the year." Answering the question whether Ukraine would take the chance to kill Putin if there was such an opportunity, he noted: “This is a war, and Ukraine has every right to defend its land.”
11:15 The Russian army hit a residential building in Kherson in the morning, one person was wounded, the OVA reported. Over the past 24 hours, two people were killed and three were injured as a result of Russian shelling in the region.
10:57 President of Moldova Maia Sandu arrived in Kyiv. She, together with the Zelensky spouses, paid tribute to those killed during the Revolution of Dignity.
10:54 In the occupied Gornostaevka, Kherson region, a 27-year-old former Ukrainian soldier died after interrogation by Russian security forces. He was allegedly tortured to death, reports Russian opposition publication Astra. According to journalists, Ukrainian Ruslan Rusnak was detained on the morning of November 20 - he was taken to the Ministry of Internal Affairs building on Torgovaya Street, 12, which was attacked by drones on November 13. The man was allegedly suspected of transmitting information about the location of the building to the Ukrainian Armed Forces, although his address and exact geolocation are freely available on the Internet. Already at about 16:00, after many hours of interrogation, the detainee died right in the building of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
10:43 As a result of a night Russian strike on a hospital in the town of Selidovo, Donetsk region, one person was killed and eight were injured, the prosecutor’s office reported.
10:17 Ten years ago, Ukraine began a new page of struggle and carried out “its first counter-offensive - against lawlessness, attempts to deprive us of a European future, against our bondage,” Zelensky said in his congratulations to Ukrainians on the Day of Dignity and Freedom. “Year after year, step by step, we do everything so that our star, the star of Ukraine, shines in the circle of stars on the EU flag, symbolizing the unity of the peoples of Europe,” the president noted.
09:48 According to British intelligence, at least 11 thousand Ukrainian children are being held in 43 “re-education camps” throughout Russia.
09:12 Zelensky said in an interview with The Sun that Ukraine will not seek to make peace with Russia “at any cost.” According to him, it is possible to begin full-fledged peace negotiations only after the withdrawal of the Russian army from Ukrainian territory. At the same time, the president admitted that there are growing doubts among Ukraine’s allies that the Ukrainian Armed Forces will be able to expel Russian troops, but this will not affect Kyiv’s position in any way.
Zelensky is convinced that Russia will continue to attempt offensive actions for a long time, and the United States and China can stop this. In his opinion, the moment must come when the Chinese and American authorities will put pressure on Moscow, and it will think about stopping hostilities.
Zelensky also said that he survived 5-6 attempts on his life. “The first is the most interesting. And then it’s like Covid, it becomes easier,” the president noted. In addition, he believes that the war in Israel has distracted the world's attention from Ukraine and, probably, the Kremlin is trying to stir up problems in the Balkans for the same reasons.
09:07 The supply of shells to Ukraine has decreased by more than 30% since the start of the war in the Gaza Strip, ABC News reports, citing a senior Ukrainian official. At the same time, a Pentagon spokesman said that the reduction in ammunition for Kyiv "has absolutely nothing to do with what is happening in the Gaza Strip." According to him, aid packages “begin to be drawn up several weeks in advance, so there is no connection between what is happening in the Gaza Strip and what is happening in Ukraine.”
09:01 At night, the Russians launched four missile attacks on the Donetsk region, said Interior Minister Igor Klimenko. The first two missiles hit the territory of the hospital in the city of Selidovo: two buildings of the medical facility were damaged, six people were injured. There may still be people under the rubble; search efforts continue.
A few minutes after this, the Russian army launched two more missile attacks on the mine, killing one employee of the enterprise. Four buildings, 19 vehicles, and a power line were damaged. 39 miners were trapped underground and had already been brought to the surface.
08:53 German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius arrived in Kiev , German media write. He plans to hold talks with Rustem Umerov and Vladimir Zelensky to discuss training of the Ukrainian military and military assistance.
08:37 The General Staff announced the estimated losses of the Russian Federation as of the morning of November 21:
- personnel - about 319,820 (+610) people,
- tanks - 5439 (+0),
- armored combat vehicles - 10,174 (+6),
- artillery systems - 7752 (+4),
- MLRS - 899 (+0),
- air defense systems - 588 (+0),
- aircraft - 323 (+0),
- helicopters - 324 (+0),
- UAV of operational-tactical level - 5771 (+7),
- cruise missiles - 1564 (+1),
- ships/boats - 22 (+0),
- submarines - 1 (+0),
- automotive equipment and tank trucks - 10,134 (+7),
- special equipment - 1098 (+1).
08:19 At night, air defense destroyed nine out of ten Shahed drones , which Russia attacked from the south-eastern direction (Primorsko-Akhtarsk), as well as one ground-based Iskander-K cruise missile fired from the Dzhankoy area, the Air Force command reported. In addition, the enemy used four S-300 anti-aircraft guided missiles in the Donetsk direction.
The missile was shot down on the territory of the Dnepropetrovsk region, said the head of the OVA Sergei Lysak.
07:24 Over the past 24 hours, 67 military clashes took place at the front, the General Staff reported in its morning report . In particular, 23 attacks of the Defense Forces were repulsed in the Avdeevsky direction (near Keramik, east of Novobakhmutovka, Stepnoy, Avdeevka and south of Tonenky, Donetsk region), another 21 attacks - in the Maryinsky direction (in the Maryinka and Novomikhailovka areas of the Donetsk region). In the Bakhmut direction, the Ukrainian Armed Forces repelled 11 enemy attacks in the Vasyukovka, Kleshcheevka and Andreevka areas of the Donetsk region.
In the Kupyansky direction, the enemy carried out assault operations in the Sinkovka, Petropavlovka and Ivanovka areas of the Kharkov region, in the Limansky direction - north of Serebryanka, Donetsk region, in Shakhtarsky - south of Vodyanoy, Donetsk region, but had no success. In the Zaporozhye direction, the enemy conducted unsuccessful assault operations near Rabotino and west of Verbovoy, Zaporozhye region. In the Kherson direction, Marine Corps units, together with other components of the Defense Forces, hold positions on the left bank of the Dnieper, where they repelled 12 enemy attacks over the past 24 hours.
At the same time, the Ukrainian Armed Forces continue the offensive operation in the Melitopol direction and assault operations south of Bakhmut, Donetsk region.