Sunday, November 12

Russia’s war against Ukraine

Ukrainian army medics transfer a wounded soldier at a stabilization point in the direction of Bakhmut, Donetsk Oblast, on Nov. 10, 2023. (Diego Herrera Carcedo/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Ukraine regains control of village in Kharkiv Oblast, raises flag. Ukrainian forces on Nov. 11 regained control of the town of Topoli in Kharkiv Oblast and raised the national flag on video, the State Border Service reported.

Military: Russia increases activity near Avdiivka. Russian forces became once again more active near Avdiivka in Donetsk Oblast, resulting in heavy losses on their side, the Ukrainian army’s Tavria group spokesperson Oleksandr Shtupun said on television on Nov. 11.

Minister: Crowdfunded sea drone fleet strikes 8 Russian targets in first year of operation. A fleet of Ukrainian naval drones, launched as a result of an international crowdfunding campaign, has struck eight key Russian targets in the first year of its operation, Digital Transformation Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said on Facebook on Nov. 11.

Energy Ministry: Russian attacks on energy infrastructure impact 6 oblasts, thousands without power. Russian attacks hit energy infrastructure in several locations in Ukraine, leaving thousands without power in six different oblasts, Ukraine’s Energy Ministry said on Nov. 11.

Air Force: Russian missile launched at Kyiv downed by Patriot. A Russian ballistic missile launched at Kyiv on the morning of Nov. 11 was shot down by a Patriot air defense system, the Air Force reported.

Russian attack damages 18 homes in Kyiv Oblast. Several non-residential premises were also damaged, but there were no hits to critical infrastructure. No casualties were reported. Russian forces launched a missile strike at Ukraine’s capital on the morning of Nov. 11 for the first time in 52 days.

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Zelensky: Partnership between Ukraine and Poland makes Europe stronger. President Volodymyr Zelensky marked Poland’s Independence Day and offered his congratulations “on behalf of the Ukrainian people” in a post on X on Nov. 11. The partnership between Ukraine and Poland “makes both of us and our entire Europe stronger,” he said.

UK Defense Ministry: Russia publishes collection of pseudo-history to justify war against Ukraine. The documents are representative of the Kremlin’s “weaponization of history,” the U.K. Defense Ministry said, which is “intensifying” and “aimed at inculcating anti-Westernism in the minds of the Russian population and intimidating its immediate Western neighbors.”

Russia sentences Crimean political prisoner to additional 4.5 years in prison. A Russian court sentenced Crimean political prisoner Oleh Prykhodko to four and half years in prison in addition to the five-year sentence he is already serving, Suspilne Crimea reported on Nov. 10, citing his daughter, Nataliia Shvetsova.

Russian media: ‘Unknown people’ derail train in Russia’s Ryazan Oblast. The previous day, a fire also broke out at a gunpowder plant in Kotovsk, a town in Russia’s Tambov Oblast.

IDPs in Ukraine number nearly 5 million. Ukrainian officials in November counted 4.9 million internally displaced persons (IDPs), with 3.6 million of them receiving IDP status after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in Feb. 2022, Ukrinform reported.

Read our exclusives

Under deadly attacks, Kherson fights to keep life going 1 year after liberation

Russian forces have intensified their shelling of Kherson and its surrounding areas over the past weeks, killing civilians almost daily. A year after Ukraine’s liberation of the only regional capital Moscow managed to capture during the all-out war, Kherson residents are continuing their lives at great risk.

Photo: Asami Terajima/Kyiv Independent

Oksana Zabuzhko’s ‘The Longest Journey.’ An excerpt

The title of Oksana Zabuzhko’s 2022 book, “The Longest Journey,” a long-form essay on the Russian-Ukrainian war written specifically for a foreign audience, proves apt. The book has already been published in seven languages, and more translations are in the works. In the book, Zabuzhko addresses the historical backdrop of the Russian-Ukrainian war.

Photo: Les Kasyanov/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images

This Week in Ukraine Ep. 33 – Ukraine makes “substantial progress” in its EU bid

Human cost of war

Russian shelling in Kherson kills 1, injures 2 on 1-year anniversary of liberation. The local media outlet Most reported that shelling struck the home of a member of the Kherson Regional Council, Ihor Yosypenko, causing a fire. It was unknown if there were injuries as a result.

Russian attack on Toretsk kills 2. A 61-year-old woman and a 65-year-old man were killed when they came under Russian artillery fire. The woman was walking on the street and the man was on a bicycle, the Donetsk Oblast Prosecutor’s Office said.

International response

Borrell: US support for Ukraine will ‘most likely’ decrease, EU should be ready. The EU has the necessary means to continue supporting Ukraine, the EU’s top diplomat Josep Borrell said, but it should be prepared for the likelihood that the U.S. may not sustain its contribution at current levels.

Bild: German government plans to provide 8 billion euros in military aid to Ukraine in 2024. While four billion euros ($4.3 billion) was the amount initially allocated for military aid for Ukraine in the draft 2024 budget, the government made the decision to increase that number to eight billion euros ($8.6 billion).

AP: Proposed US funding bill excludes Ukraine aid as political battle looms. U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson revealed on Nov. 11 a new proposal to keep the federal government open, a plan which excludes additional funding for Ukraine, AP reported.

Latvian president: West must arm Ukraine to prevent further Russian aggression. Latvian President Edgars Rinkēvičs told the AP on Nov. 11 he believes Moscow is well prepared for a long war and that the West must keep providing Ukraine with security assistance or else Russia will be emboldened to threaten other countries in the future.

Explaining Polish trucker protests at Ukrainian border

In other news

The Kyiv Independent celebrates its 2nd anniversary. The Kyiv Independent is marking its 2-year anniversary on Nov. 11, 2023. Exactly two years ago, the company’s co-founders officially announced the decision to launch a new English-language media publication covering all things Ukraine for foreign audiences. It was soon named the Kyiv Independent.

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

Today’s Ukraine Daily was brought to you by Toma Istomina, Martin Fornusek, Oleg Sukhov, Nate Ostiller, Oleksiy Sorokin, Elsa Court, Li Luo, and Olena Goncharova.

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