• The Ukrainian army says it has “repelled Russian forces by 3 to 8 kilometers” on the Russian-occupied eastern bank of the Dnipro River.
• Wave of Russian drone strikes on Kiev on two consecutive nights.
• G20: Putin will take part in the online summit on November 22nd.
8:57 a.m. – US Secretary of Defense makes an unannounced visit to Kiev
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin arrived in Kiev this morning to reassure Ukraine that Washington will continue to support its fight against Russian invading forces. Austin “traveled to Ukraine today to meet with Ukrainian leaders and reaffirm the United States’ strong support for Ukraine’s struggle for freedom,” the Pentagon said. The visit was not announced for security reasons
8:35 a.m. – Qatar is ready to mediate for the return of prisoners of war to Ukraine
Qatar is ready to join Ukraine’s efforts to bring civilian prisoners of war home from Russia and to mediate in the rescue of deported Ukrainian children, Ombudsman and Human Rights Commissioner Dmytro Lubinets said on state television. “The only thing is that we haven’t been able to bring the children back as quickly as we would have liked. There are many more children (deported from Ukraine to Russia),” Lubinets added. “But we are working. We have many cases in progress at the moment.” Qatar worked with Ukraine to repatriate Bohdan Yermokhin, a Ukrainian teenager who was illegally deported by Russia from occupied Mariupol, placed with a foster family in Moscow Oblast and served with a draft notice . Yermokhin returned to Ukraine on his 18th birthday, November 19, after the rescue operation, which also involved Unicef Ukraine and the Ukrainian Embassy in Belarus.
7:55 a.m. – Ukraine: An average of 37,000 dead Russian soldiers since the invasion began
Thanks to open source research, Russian independent media Mediazona, together with BBC Russia, confirmed the names of 37,052 Russian soldiers killed since the invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022.
Since the last update on November 3, 1,300 additional names have been registered on the victim list. This was reported by the independent Ukrainian website The Kyiv Independent.
The journalists point out that the actual figures are likely much higher because the information they have verified so far comes from public sources, including obituaries, messages from relatives, regional media reports and reports from local authorities. The number of obituaries followed by the media has increased dramatically in recent weeks. About 100 to 110 cases of soldiers killed are identified every day. According to Mediazona, this increase is linked to the Russian army’s attempts to capture Avdeyevka: “We see dozens of obituaries pointing to this place of death, others are obviously also linked to Avdeyevka, even if the place of death is not specified.” In the latest update 14 names with the rank of lieutenant colonel or higher were added to the list, which, according to Mediazona, “is almost an all-time record.”
7:52 a.m. – Zelensky: “The world never tires of supporting us”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on the international community to send a signal to Russia that the world will not tire of supporting Ukraine in his daily speech on November 19. “We continue to prepare for the international events planned for this week,” Zelenksy said. “Now it is important to ensure that support for Ukraine is sufficient next year.” I would like to thank all the countries that, like us, are addressing this issue. “We need this signal for Russia: whatever it does, the world will not tire of defending international freedom and order.” The Kyiv Independent website reported extensive excerpts from the president’s speech. The Ukrainian leader also thanked the Netherlands for the recent “waves” of military aid.