• Austin: another 100 million US aid for Kiev
• Russia and Ukraine have returned dozens of bodies of soldiers killed in the conflict to each other.
• The war “is not a movie” and “will not end as quickly as we would like”: Volodymyr Zelensky said this and emphasized that Ukraine “will not capitulate to the Russians”.
1:13 p.m. – Zelensky: Russia tried to kill me five or six times
Ukrainian secret services have thwarted at least “five or six” Russian plans to assassinate President Volodymyr Zelensky since the start of the war, and now Moscow wants to overthrow him from power by the end of the year: the Ukrainian head of state himself said this in an interview with the British tabloid The Sun. Zelensky spoke yesterday at a meeting in Kiev with Fox Corporation CEO Lachlan Murdoch and Fox News journalists Benjamin Hall and Sun journalists Jerome Starkey. The Ukrainian leader said the first attempt to kill him caused panic, like the first Covid epidemic: “The first time is very interesting when it is the first time, and then it is just like Covid,” commented he. “First of all, people don’t know what to do with it and it seems very scary…” he added. And then it’s just intelligence information passing on details about another group that came to Ukraine for this.” The first time, Zelensky recalled, was on the first day of the invasion, February 24, 2022, when Russian special forces parachuted in jumped over Kiev to kill him. His bodyguards “fortified” his office with improvised barricades and pieces of plywood. His closest colleagues were given rifles and bulletproof vests: one of them said the office looked like a “madhouse.” Today, almost two years later, Russia is “still desperate” to remove him from power, he added, reiterating – as he said in an interview with Bloomberg last Friday – that he also knows the code name of their latest mission to force him to do so overthrow: “Maidan 3”, which expires at the end of the year.
12:25 p.m. – Kiev, military unit under investigation for over-cost contracts
The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense today announced the opening of a criminal investigation following the discovery of overpriced contracts in a military unit that caused the state a loss of almost one million euros. An audit found several violations that led to the loss of public funds amounting to around 39 million hryvnias (equivalent to almost 1 million euros) in a military unit based in the Cherniguiv region (north), the ministry said in a statement . Note on Telegram. “A criminal case has been opened,” he added, without specifying who is involved in the investigation. The most significant of the revealed violations concerns the purchase of generators in 2022, the excessive cost of which led to a loss of more than 37 million hryvnia, he said on Telegram. “As a result, the unit purchased 163 generators less than the required quantity,” the ministry reported, also denouncing the delay in the delivery of these equipment, which was highly anticipated last winter due to the massive power outages resulting from Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure . “Between October 2022 and April 2023, when the generators were urgently needed by the military, most of them were not delivered to military units but were collected in warehouses,” and “only 15%” were used for troop deployment, he explained. The fight against corruption, an endemic evil in the country, is one of the criteria that the European Union sets for considering the candidacy of Ukraine, which has received tens of billions of euros in Western aid since the Russian invasion began almost two years ago. does. In recent months, several corruption scandals have rocked Ukrainian officials, including in the Defense Ministry.
11:48 a.m. – Kiev, new Iranian-made Shahed drones that are difficult to hit
The modified Iranian-made Shahed-238 attack drone, recently unveiled in Tehran, is a more difficult target to identify due to a number of its characteristics, Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Yuri told United News Ignat, Rbc-Ukraine reported . The spokesman explained that according to published public information, this version of the Iranian Shahed has a jet engine and is also equipped with “different radar guidance.” Ignat also highlighted the color scheme of the Shahed-238, which allows the rocket fire ammunition to be less visible in the sky. The official clarified that there is no information yet on whether Russia will receive these updated drones. The new modified Shahed-238 was presented in three versions with different guidance systems.
11.27am – UK, Moscow is preparing for a winter campaign against critical locations
Russia has not fired cruise missiles from its bomber fleet for almost two months, probably in order to accumulate a significant stockpile of these weapons: this is what the British Ministry of Defense writes in its intelligence update published yesterday. It is very likely, we read in the report published on Between November 18 and 19, Russian forces launched around 50 kamikaze drones over Ukraine, mainly in the direction of Kiev, the London experts recall, noting that one of the objectives was probably to undermine enemy air defenses in view of a possible Winter campaign against the country to weaken energy infrastructure.
10.44 a.m. – Michel in Kiev, there will be a difficult EU Council in December
“I am here to show the EU’s great support for Ukraine on an important day: ten years ago Ukrainians chose Europe and some died,” Michel said in a briefing with a small group of international media. “But the next European Council will be difficult, the Commission’s enlargement report is not black and white, it has nuances, and the further report in March surprised me: I work for a successful Council, but sometimes failure is part of the EU.” It is It is no secret that some countries are reluctant to enlargement.
European Council President Charles Michel is in Kiev on a short visit during which he will meet Volodymyr Zelensky and attend the ceremony commemorating ten years of Euromaidan (or, for Ukrainians, the Revolution of Dignity). Michel will also meet Moldovan President Maia Sandu, also in Kiev. It is Michel’s fifth trip to Ukraine. As far as we know, the focus of the talks is the process of accession to the European Union: in fact, European leaders will have to decide in December whether or not to give the green light to start negotiations, as recommended bythe confirmed
10:33 a.m. – Moscow: “Up to 100 Russian civilians are hit by Kiev bombs every week”
Every week, up to 100 civilians are hit on Russian territory by attacks by Ukrainian forces using drones, artillery and missiles from Western countries. This was stated today by Rodion Miroshnik, special envoy of the Moscow Foreign Ministry for the “crimes of the Kiev regime”. “Every week 60 or 70 civilians, sometimes up to 100, are hit,” the diplomat said in a press conference, quoted by the Tass agency. Miroschnik also accused the Ukrainian armed forces of targeting civilians and using “long-range weapons with a large impact zone and cluster bombs.” In addition, Miroshnik said, in recent weeks the Kyiv military has used drones to “hunt people and civilian vehicles, and has carried out repeated bombings against rescue workers and health care workers who intervene to provide aid to the wounded.”
10:26 a.m. – Kiev: “One dead and eight injured in Russian raid in Donetsk”
One person died and eight were injured in a Russian missile attack on Selydove in Donetsk. This was reported by Rbc Ukraine, citing the local prosecutor’s office. The attack is believed to have been carried out using an S-300 missile system. “The target was the municipal hospital where people were being treated. “After the bombing, eight citizens suffered bruises and injuries from shrapnel, one died,” the prosecutor’s office said, adding that the Russian missiles also targeted a business in the Novogrodov territorial municipality.
7:38 a.m. – The strike by Polish truck drivers on the border with Ukraine
(Marta Serafini) The strike by Polish truck drivers continues and now farmers are also threatening to join the protest. Polish border guards reportedly refused to allow trucks carrying humanitarian goods, including fuel, into Ukraine as protests by Polish truck drivers against the free movement of Ukrainian transporters continued into their third week, Ukrinform reported on November 20.
Taras Svitlyk, a representative of a Lviv-based transport company, reported that many of his company’s trucks carrying fuel and other goods were stuck in parking lots near the border and Polish border guards refused to allow them to cross. It could be a dangerous situation if they caught fire and exploded, he added. Although Polish authorities said humanitarian aid or essential goods could pass, Ukrainian truck drivers said trucks carrying humanitarian aid, including medical equipment, had been waiting for days to cross.
Angry Polish truck drivers have been protesting at three checkpoints since November 6, leading to huge queues on both sides of the border. Protesters are calling for restrictions on the number of Ukrainian vans entering Poland. The number of Ukrainian transport companies entering Poland has increased dramatically and protesters claim local businesses are being undermined. They claim that Ukrainian drivers transport goods from Poland to third countries at cheaper prices than local companies can afford.
A group of around 100 farmers plan to join Polish truck drivers’ protest at the border crossing with Ukraine on November 23, Bloomberg reported on November 20. Farmers from the Betrayed Countryside association are planning a three-day protest at the fourth border crossing in Medyka, one of the organizers told Bloomberg.
5:07 a.m. – German Defense Minister makes an unscheduled visit to Kiev
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has arrived in Kiev for an unannounced visit to reiterate Berlin’s support for Ukraine. Pistorius traveled by train and is expected to hold talks with his Ukrainian counterpart and President Volodymyr Zelensky. Berlin, the second largest supplier of military equipment to Kiev after the United States, is seeking to offer reassurances after a shift in focus to the Middle East war raised concerns about waning support for Ukraine. The visit comes after an increase in Russian airstrikes and as Kiev prepares for a possible increase in attacks on the country’s energy facilities in the coming months.
It is Pistorius’ second visit to Kiev since becoming defense minister earlier this year and comes a day after an unannounced trip to Ukraine by US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. In addition to the political talks, Pistorius will take part in a wreath-laying ceremony in Kiev’s Maidan Square and visit a military training center. After initial hesitation, Germany dramatically increased its support for Ukraine to repel the Russian invasion and provided Kiev with a wide range of armaments, from heavy tanks to air defense systems and ammunition.