As the war enters its 998th day, key developments include:
The situation for Tuesday, November 19th is as follows.
go for it
- A Russian missile attack killed 10 people and injured 44 in the Ukrainian Black Sea port of Odessa. According to local officials, four children were among the injured, and three were in serious condition.
- The Russian Defense Ministry said its forces had taken control of the village of Novuleksivka in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region.
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited Pokrovsk and Kupyansk, front-line towns east of Kiev, to mark the 1,000th day of Russia’s full-scale invasion.
- The global chemical weapons watchdog said last month it had found traces of tear gas in samples taken from Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region on the front line with Russia. The team was not required to take responsibility, but Ukraine and the United States claimed Russia illegally deployed tear gas to clear the trenches.
- Ukrainians in Odessa had been without power for 24 hours as of Monday morning, and further power cuts were expected across the country after Russian missile strikes damaged energy infrastructure.
long range missile
- The United States says Russia is escalating its war in Ukraine by deploying North Korean troops after the Kremlin warned Washington that Kiev forces were “adding fuel to the fire” by allowing U.S.-made weapons to attack as far as Russia .
- Russia’s Foreign Ministry reiterated that Ukraine’s use of long-range missiles to attack Russian territory would represent a radical escalation of the conflict and would trigger an “appropriate and substantive” response.
- Changes to Russia’s nuclear doctrine have been drawn up and now need to be formalized, according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
- French President Emmanuel Macron said U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration made a “good decision” in allowing Ukraine to use U.S.-made weapons to attack inside Russia.
- Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot also said it was still an option for France, which has been providing long-range missiles to Ukraine, to allow Kiev to attack military targets inside Russia.
- Polish President Andrzej Duda said the decision to allow Ukraine to use American-made weapons to strike deep into Russia could be a defining moment in the war.
- A German government spokesman said Berlin was sticking to its decision not to provide long-range missiles to Ukraine despite the US action.
- Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said he strongly opposed the U.S. decision. It said it was an “unprecedented escalation of tensions” aimed at disrupting peace talks.
- Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Sizarto also called this measure “incredibly dangerous.”
- EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said he hoped the EU could agree to allow Ukraine to use its weapons to attack inside Russia. He also expressed concern about reports that Iran, North Korea and China are producing and supplying weapons systems to Russia for the war in Ukraine.
international diplomacy
- This week, leaders of the G20 in Brazil issued a joint statement highlighting the suffering caused by the conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine, and Russia’s escalation of the war, focusing on “human suffering” and the resulting economic fallout. A narrow agreement was reached.
- German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said he would discuss the delivery of dual-use goods with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G20 after reports emerged that Chinese factories were producing military drones for Russia. Scholz added that he would also tell Xi Jinping that it is unacceptable for North Korean troops to be deployed to fight Ukraine.
- South Korean President Yoon Seok-yeol called for an end to illegal military cooperation between North Korea and Russia at the G20 summit.
- On the sidelines of the G20 summit, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said support for Ukraine was “top of” his agenda.
- U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said the United States would announce additional security assistance to Ukraine in the coming days.
- Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Chakna said Scholz’s call with Russian President Vladimir Putin was a “strategic mistake” that weakened the European Union in the face of Moscow’s war with Ukraine.
sanctions
- The European Union has expanded sanctions against Iran over Tehran’s support of Russia in its war against Ukraine, targeting shipping companies in the Islamic Republic of Iran and Iranian director Mohammad Reza Qiabani, the European Commission said. .
- Britain has imposed sanctions on Iran’s state-owned airline and shipping company in response to claims that Iran transferred ballistic missiles to Russia for use in its war against Ukraine.
