Friday, November 22

Russia’s war against Ukraine

A view of the interior of a heavily damaged apartment in Kostiantynivka, Ukraine, with debris from a shattered window and broken furniture strewn across the room, as the destruction of a nearby building is seen through the open window frame on November 21, 2024. (Diego Herrera Carcedo/Anadolu via Getty Images)

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Russia used new ‘Oreshnik’ intermediate-range ballistic missile against Ukraine, Putin says. Russian President Vladimir Putin said that during the Nov. 21 strike on Dnipro, Russia tested a new intermediate-range ballistic missile — Oreshnik (Hazel).

Russia pre-notified US of ‘Oreshnik’ missile strike before attack on Dnipro. Russia gave the U.S. a brief advance warning of the intermediate-range ballistic missile strike on Ukraine prior to the attack, according to comments a U.S. administration official made at a briefing on Nov. 21.

US warned Ukraine, other allies ahead of Putin’s ‘experimental intermediate-range ballistic’ attack. “Russia likely possesses only a handful of these experimental missiles,” a U.S. official told the Kyiv Independent, adding that Ukraine has withstood countless attacks from Russia, including from missiles with significantly larger warheads than this weapon.

‘Putin is using Ukraine as testing ground,’ Zelensky says after reported ICBM strike. “Today (on Nov. 21), it was a new Russian missile. Its speed and altitude suggest intercontinental ballistic capabilities. Investigations are ongoing,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

Russian FM spokesperson asked not to comment on ballistic missile strike on Ukraine during briefing. Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova received a call during her Nov. 21 press briefing instructing her not to comment on the latest ballistic missile attacks on Ukraine.

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Parliament passes bill allowing first-time deserters to return to military service. The contracts of these soldiers will continue to be valid if they decide to return to their units.

Russian troops suspected of executing Ukrainian POWs in Kursk Oblast, ombudsman says. Russian forces are suspected of summarily executing Ukrainian prisoners of war (POW) in Russia’s Kursk Oblast, Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets reported on Nov. 20.

High-ranking North Korean general injured in Ukrainian strike on Kursk, WSJ reports. A high-ranking North Korean general was wounded in a recent Ukrainian missile strike on Russia’s Kursk Oblast, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on Nov. 21, citing undisclosed sources.

Ukrainian UAVs reportedly strike Russian border regions, industrial facility hit. The airport in the city of Volgograd, lying northeast of Rostov Oblast, temporarily suspended operations due to safety concerns, the Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsiya) reported.

Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant faces 2nd blackout of the week after Russian attacks. The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is on the verge of a blackout after Russian shelling of power lines left the plant connected to only one line, the Energy Ministry reported on Nov 21.

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Ukraine war latest: Russia launched new ‘Oreshnik’ intermediate-range ballistic missile against Ukraine, Putin claims

Russian President Vladimir Putin said that during the Nov. 21 strike on Dnipro, Russia tested a new intermediate-range ballistic missile — Oreshnik.

Photo: State Emergency Service/Telegram

Investigation: Who helped Russians increase production of domestic attack drones despite sanctions

An American-made HIMARS artillery system races down a Ukrainian road as a kamikaze drone hunts it down. The drone flies into the vehicle, followed by an explosion. The scene was caught on video by a Russian reconnaissance drone in mid-November.

The Kyiv Independent

Human cost of war

Updated: Russian attack on Kryvyi Rih injures 26, damages residential buildings. Russia launched an attack against the city of Kryvyi Rih in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast on Nov. 21, injuring at least 26 people, officials said.

2 killed, 12 injured in Russia’s attack on Sumy. Russia struck a residential area in the city of Sumy overnight on Nov. 22 with Shahed drones, killing two people and injuring 12, local authorities reported.

General Staff: Russia has lost 727,250 troops in Ukraine since Feb. 24, 2022. This number includes 1,510 casualties Russian forces suffered just over the past day.

International response

Russian ICBM strike would be ‘clear escalation,’ EU says. “While we’re assessing the full facts, it’s obvious that such (an) attack would mark yet another clear escalation from the side of (Russian President Vladimir Putin,” EU foreign affairs spokesperson Peter Stano said, according to AFP.

Hungary deploys air defenses near Ukraine, cites war escalation after US allows strikes in Russia. Hungarian Defense Minister Kristof Szalay-Bobrovniczky ordered the deployment of air defense systems in the country’s northeastern regions, saying that “the war has entered its most dangerous phase.”

US imposes sanctions on over 50 Russian banks, including Gazprombank. The U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on dozens of Russian banks, including Gazprombank, securities registrars, and financial officials, according to a Nov. 21 statement.

UK prepared to fight Russia if it invades Eastern European NATO member, British general says. The U.K. is prepared to send its soldiers to fight Russia if it invades a NATO country on the alliance’s eastern flank, Rob Magowan, the deputy chief of the British defense staff, said on Nov. 21, Politico reported.

Nikki Haley slams Trump’s top intelligence pick Gabbard, calls her ‘Russian sympathizer.’ Speaking on her podcast Nikki Haley Live, the ex-South South Carolina governor slammed Tulsi Gabbard’s past statements and actions, particularly her criticism of NATO and her remarks about Russia’s “legitimate security concerns” regarding Ukraine’s potential NATO membership.

In other news

Belarusian who fought for Ukraine extradited from Vietnam to Belarus. Vasil Verameichyk now faces the prospect of imprisonment, as the Kalinouski Regiment was recently declared a terrorist organization by the Supreme Court of Belarus.

Merkel describes Trump as ‘fascinated by Putin’ in her memoir. “(Donald Trump) saw everything from the point of view of a property developer, which is what he was before he came into politics. Every plot of land could only be sold once, and if he didn’t get it, someone else would,” Angela Merkel says in her memoir.

UK sanctions Ukrainian oligarch Dmytro Firtash and others in anti-corruption crackdown. The U.K. has sanctioned Ukrainian oligarch Dmytro Firtash, along with Angolan billionaire Isabel dos Santos, and Latvian politician Aivars Lembergs, according to the U.K. government’s website statement on Nov. 21.

Ukraine ‘95% ready’ to resume flights but needs adequate air defenses, minister says. Ukraine is “95%” ready to resume commercial flights, but the key remaining factor is to ensure the safety of passengers, Communities and Territories Development Minister Oleksii Kuleba said on Nov. 21.

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