Germany and France are leading a new ground-based air defense coalition aimed at strengthening Ukraine’s defense capability against Russian missile and drone threats.
The 20-nation coalition was announced on Wednesday at the 17th meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group (UDCG), an organization of about 50 nations coming together to provide Kiev with what it needs to continue the fight against Russia needs.
“I appreciate the leadership of Germany and France in organizing this important initiative,” US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Wednesday before the virtual meeting. Collectively, UDCG members have provided more than $80 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since the beginning of 2022.
Details about the coalition, what it will offer, how it will work and who will participate are limited.
In his evening speech, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked the new coalition.
“The leaders in the organization are Germany and France. I am grateful for this leadership. “I am also grateful to every country that participates in these efforts, which allow our cities and villages to be better protected from Russian attacks,” he said. “Not everything can be said publicly yet, but Ukraine’s sky shield is becoming more powerful literally every month.”
Before we dive into the latest updates from Ukraine, The War Zone readers can catch up on our previous ongoing coverage here.
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In a summary of battle conditions presented on Telegram on Wednesday, Zelensky said that Ukraine faced “difficult weather and difficult defenses in the Lyman, Bakhmut, Donetsk and Avdiivka directions.” He said his forces were conducting “offensive actions in the south.”
Gen. Valeri Zaluzhny, the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian military, said on Telegram on Wednesday that he attended his first meeting of the Defense Contact Group. He told those present that “the situation at the front is complicated but controlled. The Armed Forces of Ukraine continue to conduct defensive and offensive operations.”
Ukraine continues to fight Russian forces in and around the village of Krynky in occupied Kherson Oblast, about 1.5 miles (2.4 kilometers) across the Dnipro River.
“A Russian miblogger claimed that Ukrainian forces attacked from Krynky and entered the forest area near the settlement,” according to the Institute for the Study of War reported on Tuesday. “Russian sources claimed that Ukrainian forces continue to hold positions in Krynky and near the Antonivsky road bridge and the small railway bridge six kilometers east of the Antonivsky bridge.”
“Geolocal footage released on November 21 suggests that Russian forces were advancing northeast of Krynky. The Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) reported that parts of the Russian 810th Marine Infantry Brigade (Black Sea Fleet) were operating towards Kherson.
A video has emerged showing a new Ukrainian “Mammoth” drone attacking a building in Krynky. In the video below, powered by Aerosmith’s Dream On, you can fly it through a window into the building, causing heavy damage.
Elsewhere on the battlefield, fighting continues despite the cold, snowy weather, but little territory has been gained or lost by either side. Here are some key takeaways from the Institute for the Study of War’s latest assessment:
- Ukrainian and Russian forces continue to conduct offensive operations in eastern and southern Ukraine despite rainy and snowy weather conditions.
- The Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) and Russian officials are struggling to contain Russian hysteria surrounding Ukrainian operations on the eastern (left) bank of Kherson Oblast.
- Russian forces carried out a series of missile and drone attacks against ports and civilian infrastructure, including a hospital in Donetsk Oblast, on the night of November 20-21 and on November 21.
- Russian forces conducted offensive operations on November 21 along the Kupiansk-Svatove-Kreminna line, near Bakhmut, near Avdiivka, west and southwest of the city of Donetsk, in the border area of Donetsk-Zaporizhia Oblast and in western Zaporizhia Oblast and advanced in some areas.
You can see the challenges of fighting in the mud in this video below, where a Ukrainian M777 Howitzer team works in the mud.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow was “ready for talks” to “end the tragedy” of war in Ukraine, but blamed a Kiev law that bans talks, The Guardian reported on Wednesday.
Putin, who unilaterally launched the all-out invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, used his speech at the virtual meeting of G20 countries to say it is necessary to think about how to stop the tragedy of the conflict in Ukraine, saying , Russia has never refused to take part in peace talks with Ukraine.
“Military actions are always a tragedy,” Putin said at the virtual meeting. “And of course we should think about how we can stop this tragedy. By the way, Russia has never rejected peace talks with Ukraine.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree in October 2022 officially declaring the prospect of Ukrainian talks with Putin “impossible” but leaving the door open for talks with Russia.
Addressing former US President Donald Trump’s claim of being able to end the war quickly, Zelensky on Tuesday told Fox News that Ukraine could end the war by giving up Donbass and Crimea, but “that’s not it.” Peace plan.”
“Today the vehicle is already taking part in all operations carried out in connection with the events taking place. Further test flights still need to be completed and then the Defense Ministry will make a final decision,” Sergei Korotkov, general designer of the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), told RIA Novosti.
There are currently six MiG-35 pre-production aircraft in service with the Russian Aerospace Forces, Korotkov said.
Korotkov said the MiG-35’s capabilities “satisfy the foreign customer,” adding that export negotiations were underway. RIA Novosti did not provide any information about which countries are considering purchasing the MiG-35. As for its capabilities, you can read more in our report on the jet’s development in Russia.
A still from a recently released video from the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) shows a closer look at the UMPK, or Unifitsirovannyi Modul Planirovaniya i Korrektsii, meaning a unified sliding and correction module. You can read more about this wing kit for dumb bombs in our story here.
Ukraine claimed air defense forces destroyed an Iranian-made Russian Mohajer-6 reconnaissance and attack drone near Odessa.
One of the many attributes that the Bradley Fighting Vehicle brings to the battlefield for Ukraine is its 25mm Bushmaster main gun. In this video below you can see it in action, raking a Russian position in a treeline, supposedly near Stepove in Donetsk Oblast.
Speaking of treelines, Michael Kofman (@KofmanMichael), Senior Fellow, Carnegie Endowment, recently returned from a trip to Ukraine and spoke about slowing the war.
“The scale of the fighting has progressed to the point where each tree line has a name… tree lines have become critical targets,” he said on a recent “War On The Rocks” podcast.
The raw horror of the battle is captured in this 33-minute video released by the 47th Separate Mechanized Brigade. It shows the unit in the bitter trench warfare near Avdiivka, exchanging volleys with the Russians, dodging incoming fire and treating the wounded.
In total, 16 foreign nationals are suspected of being part of an organized criminal group and acting against Polish foreign intelligence interests, and 15 have been arrested, the newspaper reported. If convicted, they face up to ten years in prison.
The public prosecutor’s office said it had taken 15 suspects into custody “due to the need to ensure the orderly conduct of the proceedings” and the risk of the defendant’s escape.
The suspects are all foreign nationals “from beyond our eastern border,” said RMF24.
Russia’s Ministry of Defense (MoD) claimed Ukrainian forces injured a Russian journalist in a drone strike on Wednesday.
“An unmanned aerial vehicle of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) dropped a fragmentation munition on a group of Russian journalists who were preparing a report on the AFU shelling of settlements in the Zaporizhia region,” the Defense Ministry wrote on Telegram. “As a result of the AFU airstrike, Russia-24 TV correspondent Boris Maksudov was injured by shrapnel. The journalist was immediately evacuated to a Russian Defense Ministry medical facility. There is no danger to his life. Boris Maksudov received all the necessary medical attention.”
The Ukrainian Defense Intelligence Agency (GUR) has once again set its sights on the Kerch Bridge in a cheeky tweet.
“Crimean autumn wind and a completely unnecessary construction. November 22, 2023 – To be continued…” said GUR.
The sign in the video reads “GUR Artan,” one of his special forces.
And finally, as the harsh cold of late fall sets in, Ukrainian troops unveiled a secret weapon to keep them warm.
That’s it for now. We will update this story as there is more news to report about Ukraine.
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