Ukraine Daily

Tuesday, November 22

Russia’s war against Ukraine

A woman rides a bike in liberated Kherson on Nov. 20, 2022. (Kostyantyn Chernichkin)

UK Defense Ministry: Svatove in Luhansk Oblast becomes vulnerable flank of Russian troops. Russian leaders will likely consider maintaining control over Svatove as a big population center in Luhansk Oblast a political priority, but Russian commanders are facing the challenge of retaining a reliable defense in the sector while trying to resource offensive operations in Donetsk Oblast, according to the U.K. Defense Ministry.

NATO Parliamentary Assembly recognizes Russia as ‘terrorist state,’ calls for special tribunal creation.“The resolution names Russia the most direct threat to Euro-Atlantic security,” said Tomas Valasek, a member of the Slovak delegation to the NATO PA. “It states clearly that the state of Russia, under its current regime, is a terrorist one,” he added. He added that Russia violated its agreements with the alliance, thus, the provision of limiting the forward deployment of troops is “null and void.”

ISW: Kremlin looking to tighten control of Russian information space. The Russian government is continuing to increase its control of the Russian information space as it looks to shape the narrative in and outside of Russia surrounding its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Institute for the Study of the War wrote in its latest update. The D.C.-based think tank cited one Russian military blogger as saying the Kremlin’s efforts to shape Russia’s information space “look like a kitten against a rhinoceros” compared to foreign think tanks, non-profit organizations, and independent media.

Media: Polish prosecutors won’t allow Ukraine to join investigation of Przewodow blast. Polish Prosecutor’s Office will not agree to include the Ukrainian side in the investigation of the rocket explosion in the town of Przewodow, Polish media outlet Rzeczpospolita reported, citing sources familiar with the matter.

Poland plans to station Patriot missile systems at Ukrainian border. Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Błaszczak confirmed Germany’s offer to deploy additional Patriot air defense systems to Poland. After the missile blast in the Polish village of Przewodow, German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht said her country would provide the missile systems and help Poland in its air patrol.

IAEA: No immediate nuclear safety concerns at Zaporizhzhia power plant despite severe shelling. International Atomic Energy Agency experts found that despite a high level of shelling at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant over the weekend, key equipment remained intact and there were no immediate nuclear safety concerns.

Zelensky’s address on Dignity and Freedom Day: Ukrainians may be left without electricity, but they will never lack freedom. Zelensky said in a video address that since he congratulated Ukraine with this holiday a year ago, many things have changed in the country, in Europe, and the whole world. He added that some things, however, remained unchanged: who Ukrainians are and that their main values are dignity and freedom.

General Staff: Russia continues covert mobilization in occupied Crimea. In occupied Simferopol, the Russian-imposed administration continues to conscript people to meet quantitative mobilization indicators determined by the Kremlin, the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces reported on Nov. 21.

Ukraine says military operation underway on left bank of Dnipro River. Ukraine’s Southern Operational Command reported on Nov. 21 that the operation had been launched on the Kinburn Spit in Mykolaiv Oblast, and a storm in the sea is helping Ukrainian troops to liberate this territory.

Bloomberg: Russia has lost over 90% of its oil market in northern Europe. Russia has already lost the vast majority of its market in the European Union’s northern countries even before an EU embargo on Russian oil is set to take effect on Dec. 5, Bloomberg reported.

Read our exclusives

Growing global business amid war: Lessons from Ukrainian tech company Kitrum

Ukrainian tech entrepreneur Vlad Kytainyk, 34, has spent substantial time in the U.S. building his global business in the past seven years. Still, he has no intentions of settling there for good.

Photo: Kitrum

Learn More

Life slowly returning to Kherson, still without power and water

For the first time in nearly nine months, Kherson residents could openly discuss the war without fearing repercussions. Those who barely left their homes during the occupation enjoy the sunshine and fresh air, sharing a laugh with one another.

Photo: The Kyiv Independent

Learn More

The human cost of Russia’s war

The Guardian: Kherson residents say Russian forces dumped fallen soldiers in landfill. Kherson residents said that Russian occupying forces had sealed off a landfill where they were dumping the bodies of fallen Russian soldiers and burning them, the Guardian reported.

Russia’s attacks kill 1 in Kharkiv Oblast, injure 3 in Donetsk Oblast. In the past 24 hours, Russian forces attacked settlements in Donetsk, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, and Mykolaiv oblasts.

Official: Russian shelling of Kherson kills 1, injures 4 people. Russian forces shelled the liberated southern city of Kherson, killing one and injuring three civilians, said Kyrylo Tymoshenko, President Volodymyr Zelensky’s deputy chief of staff. The village of Antonivka in Kherson Oblast also came under a Russian attack on Nov. 21, one woman was hospitalized.

General Staff: Russia has lost 84,600 troops in Ukraine since Feb. 24. Ukraine’s General Staff reported on Nov. 21 that Russia had also lost 2,892 tanks, 5,822 armored fighting vehicles, 4,378 vehicles and fuel tanks, 1,870 artillery systems, 393 multiple launch rocket systems, 209 air defense systems, 278 airplanes, 261 helicopters, 1,537 drones, and 16 boats.

International response

Britain sends Ukraine advanced Brimstone missiles. Recent footage has surfaced of laser-guided Brimstone 2 missiles being delivered to Ukraine by Britain’s Royal Air Force, the Telegraph reported. This more advanced version has double the range of an earlier version Britain already supplied to Ukraine around six months ago.

New Zealand expands sanctions against Russia, Belarus. New Zealand has imposed new sanctions against 22 Russians and Belarusians, and four Russian companies in the oil, gas, steel, and transport sectors, the country’s Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta reported on Nov. 21.

Luxembourg to supply off-road vehicles to Ukrainian military. Luxembourg will send additional High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles (HMMWV) to “strengthen Ukraine in exercising its right to self-defense,” the country’s Defense Minister Francois Bausch said on Nov. 21.

Norway to allocate nearly $200 million to Ukraine to help purchase gas. In late August, Norway announced it would help Ukraine increase its natural gas reserves before winter arrives. “The gas will help alleviate the country’s grave humanitarian situation,” the government then said.

Polish regulator to appeal annulment of $6.3 billion fine imposed on Gazprom. Poland’s consumer rights watchdog, known as UOKiK, will appeal a court ruling that annulled fines imposed on Russian energy giant Gazprom and five other companies responsible for building the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, the Polish regulator said on Nov. 21.

Spanish police to help Ukraine investigate Russian war crimes. Spain will send its police units to Ukraine to assist the country’s law enforcement officers “in the investigation into possible war crimes and crimes against humanity,” according to Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, cited by CNN.

Want to get the news faster? Follow our website: kyivindependent.com.

Today’s Ukraine Daily was brought to you by Toma Istomina, Dinara Khalilova, Oleksiy Sorokin, Thaisa Semenova, Lili Bivings and Oleg Sukhov.

If you’re enjoying this newsletter, consider becoming our patron on Patreon or donating via GoFundMe. Start supporting independent journalism today.