Ukraine - Russia's perfidious attack, a chronicle of events

[Alex_Sor]

Raisins. Night.
The silence is so unusual that it even rings in the ears. Usually in private sectors you can hear dogs barking, roosters crowing, various birds, but here the silence is like in a cemetery.
The house I'm staying in survived the occupation. Rather, the residents of the building experienced all the horrors of the occupation. Why didn't they leave on time, because at that time there were already 12 people living there, whose houses were bombed by aviation. And no one really knew where to leave, because the front was moving from different directions.
The occupiers were led through the forest by a local forester, otherwise they would have spent a long time looking for an opportunity to cross the river.
Buryats, Chechens, and Roshvardya came. They looted wickedly. Trucks took away everything they could lift from the ground. Anything that was too heavy, such as a woodworking machine or an expensive car that could not be started, was pulled by cables to the helicopter.
Helicopters made ten flights a day. Bohdan had a Honda Gold Wind motorcycle taken away, which they also couldn't start, and to this day it is sold somewhere near Kaluga on the Avito website, with the inscription "don't ask stupid questions."
In general, a lot of looted goods in Ukraine are sold throughout Moscow. On the edge of Izyum, there were trucks loaded with all the loot, and the caravans moved unhindered towards Moscow.
The occupiers behaved like a horde. They swelled up and shot for fun at the windows of houses, where they saw that a candle was burning in the window. There was no water, gas, or electricity. Those who had a wood-fired boiler in their house survived. 20-30 people lived in such houses.
Collaborators turned in everyone in a row - pro-Ukrainian, wealthy, those whom they simply disliked. All those killed were taken to the forest and buried in a common grave.
Raisin, Mariupol, Bucha... common handwriting of occupation.
Today, Ryzyum is slowly coming to his senses after six months of occupation. There is light, the gas was turned on the other day. But the front is nearby, and it can be heard under certain weather conditions.
Let's have breakfast. The hosts are pleasant and intelligent people. It can be seen that before the war they were cheerful, cheerful, and energetic. Now something appeared in their eyes, which Milan Kundera called "the unbearable lightness of being."
They hugged each other in a special way. This is how they hug before something unknown.
Izyum night silence continues to ring in the memory.

[Alex_Sor]

“Today’s Europe is strong because of Ukraine - as it may be with an outpost,” - Oksana Zabuzhko, specially for DW.

- Where are you from? - a Turkish taxi driver asks me in quiet university Paderborn.
- From Ukraine.
- And where are you going now?
- Back, home.
- To Ukraine? - he asks.
- Yes, to Ukraine.
- Why? - he wonders.
- Because I live there.
- But there is a war! - he explains to me like a small child: don't go to the forest, there is a wolf there.
- And what? (Well, what?)
- Do you like war?...

Cholera, what an interesting twist of thought. All the same, all of us - both Ukrainians and non-Ukrainians - do not realize the extent to which our image of a "warring country" has been shaped by the television of recent decades (as Stephen Fry, who blurted out in Kyiv on the press: oh, what a city you have , and I thought everything was destroyed here!) - Sarajevo, Grozny, Aleppo... In Frankfurt, during the fair, I had to explain to my Balkan colleagues that the banking system works perfectly in Ukraine - in contrast to the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s, where the whole life collapsed after all, thirty years of freedom have armed our country with a level of civilizational resistance that neither Afghanistan nor Syria could boast of: this is a different, "European" war. And the fact that in it the Russians are killing us in the same way as they practiced on the Afghans and Syrians, and that our fighters have to dig in on the front line just as they did a hundred years ago, and the border towns and villages (which are "easy to get to") the enemy really wipes us off the face of the earth, does not at all contradict the fact that in general the fabric national life, although badly damaged (and in some places burned to the point of holes!), remains intact. Premieres take place in theaters (with the risk of spending half the evening in a bomb shelter, but will it pass?...), in hospitals "medical tourists" from the EU are accepted for treatment (where you have to wait three months for the examination itself, and in our country at that time you can already complete a course of radiotherapy!), and restaurants serve oysters (which surprised the foreign guests of the Lviv Forum no less than the Westphalian taxi driver - my intention is to go home: how come, the war - and oysters?... but where are the grocery ones? cards, empty shelves, acorn coffee, oil from the black market, everything that is usually associated in the Western imagination with war, old people remember, Hemingway and Annie Ernot described, Hollywood filmed?..).

And Russia's plan to "bomb" our infrastructure in the stone age, leaving us in winter in hunger and cold, without heat and light (a traditional Russian horror story that in the modern age has been indelibly conjured in their minds with the image of their main military victories, the frozen French and Germans near Moscow and Stalingrad...), also did not foresee at the place of the attack a highly developed country in which a damaged power grid can be repaired in half a day, and a train in the wake of a missile strike on the track will be delayed by an hour at most (in the same Germany, this regularly happens with trains and without missile strikes, and even the British have already noticed, at my speeches there, from time to time someone in the audience is there to share a discovery - "do you know that your Ukrainian railway works better than ours?..."). I suspect that this is probably the main reason why all those Western experts who gave us "72 hours" at the beginning of the Russian invasion were so epically confused: they also imagined Ukraine to be something like Syria or Bosnia.

All of us have a "colonial war" in the basic firmware - this is when the stronger attacks the weaker, including the more technologically advanced - the more backward (USA - Vietnam, USSR - Afghanistan, Russia - Georgia...). Instead, precedents for what a modern war might look like in a European country repelling a barbarian invasion simply did not exist in the cultural arsenal of humanity until now - only Israel can give some rough analogy here (I assume that this is primarily the reason for the current hot surge of Ukrainian solidarity with it , because in everything else our wars are still very different and parallel poorly). Unfortunately, our war with Russia is still not seen in the West in such categories - civilization versus barbarism: until February 24, 2022, we were considered "barbarians" in this combination. So my taxi driver's question is more than logical: since I'm going there, to "my Aleppo", it means that I must love the war itself, because what else is there to love?

And a whole army of European intellectuals thinks roughly the same way. From the mayor of a Swiss town, who insulted for three hours at a meeting with Ukrainian refugees, why some of them arrived in such expensive cars (although it seems clear that the bombs fall on everyone indiscriminately, without distinguishing the brand of cars, but the glue between "running away from the war " and "running away from the poor" in the European consciousness is still not broken, by default "war=poor", because the rich - read, "us" - are not attacked!) - and up to, with all due respect, my beloved Agnieszka Holland, who in her latest film, "The Green Border", accused Polish society of racism and xenophobia for being completely indifferent to the tragedy of "colored" refugees on the Belarusian border, but massively rushing to the aid of the flow of "white" refugees from of Ukraine (this is not the place to analyze this film, the director had other artistic and non-artistic tasks there, refugees were interesting to her exclusively as ideological stereotypes that must be fought, but it is all the more telling that Holland did not even notice how in her polemical zeal she contributed to the same European, in essence also colonial, stereotyping of the refugee as a collective object of care of social services without much insight into who these people are and what, in fact, they are fleeing from: in her film, all the cataclysms from which they are fleeing are the same - they are about "is united by the fact that they are happening with others, not "with us", and in this perspective, the Ukrainian war is the same as the Syrian war, only "white").

That Ukraine is not only "not Russia", but also "not Syria" - such a book (only a serious, research one!) should also be written someday: from the point of view of military affairs, it turned out to be a colossal difference - trying to destroy Ukraine/Israel, on the one hand, or Syria/Afghanistan, on the other. It suddenly turned out that war is won not only by the amount of deadly iron (who would have thought!), and not only by moral (ideally, bordering on religious) fervor - but also by the degree of freedom, which includes the level of education and even political culture countries - civil society, free initiative, communications (and so on up to the fiber optic Internet and Novaya Poshta inclusively, because every market is preceded by readiness for it, i.e. what is in people's heads!) - things that at one time was not written by Clausewitz and which none of the experts would have predicted and in any good will, because how do you predict a schoolboy who invents how to "see" mines buried deep in the ground from a drone?.. For such a schoolboy (and for all the successes of the Ukrainian army!) stands, the underwater part of the iceberg, something that cannot be asked for and cannot be bought for any money - a civilizational advantage over the enemy, or a certain level of culture historically acquired by the nation, in the broadest sense of the word, which makes it possible to qualify this nation as European. Today's Europe is strong with Ukraine - as it should be with an outpost.

And by the time we ourselves manage to understand this about ourselves and speak for others, the generation for which 20 months of war is already, to be considered, a sixth part of a conscious life, intuitively catches it out of thin air. After one of my German speeches, I sign a book for a 19-year-old student from Australia, who manages to brag to me that he knows the Ukrainian national anthem: he learned it here in Munich, at anti-war rallies. Because for a teenager who comes across half a planet to study in Europe, this is her, Europe's face today, and "Glory to Ukraine!" - universal password of European understanding.

And so it is, by and large, even if the vast majority of us are not yet aware of it.

It's time to realize it.

[Alex_Sor]

The total combat losses of the enemy from 24.02.22 to 20.11.23 were approximately:

Situation update as of 6 a.m., November 20, 2023

Day 635 of the russian full-scale military aggression against Ukraine has begun.

The russian federation continues to ignore the laws and customs of warfare, using the terror tactics, launching missile and air strikes, and firing multiple launch rocket systems not only at the military, but also at numerous civilian targets across Ukraine.

During the day of November 19, russian occupants launched 1x air strike on Ukraine, using Shahed-136/131 attack UAVs. Ukrainian air defense forces and means destroyed 15x of 20x attack UAVs.

During the day of November 19, there were 46x combat engagements. The enemy launched 1x missile and 17x air strikes, 94x MLRS attacks at the positions of Ukrainian troops and various settlements. Unfortunately, the russian terrorist attacks have killed and wounded civilians. Private residential buildings and other civilian infrastructure were destroyed or damaged.

Air strikes hit Petropavlivka (Kharkiv oblast), Serebryans’ke forestry (Luhansk oblast), and Yampolivka (Donetsk oblast).

More than 100x settlements in Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, and Mykolayiv oblasts came under artillery fire.

Pivnich operational-strategic group, Volyn and Polissya axes: no significant changes.

Sivershchyna and Slobozhanshchyna axes: the adversary maintains its military presence in the areas of russia bordering Ukraine. The enemy troops conduct active subversive activities in order to prevent the deployment of Ukrainian troops to threatened axes. The adversary increases the density of minefields along the state border in Belgorod oblast (russia).

Khortytsia operational-strategic group, Kup’yans’k axis: the enemy conducted assault operations in the vicinities of Syn’kivka, east of Petropavlivka and Ivanivka (Kharkiv oblast), where the Ukrainian Defense Forces repelled 7x attacks.

Lyman axis: the adversary did not conduct any offensive (assault) operations.

Bakhmut axis: the enemy conducted assault operations in the vicinities of Klishchiivka and Andriivka (Donetsk oblast). The Ukrainian defenders repelled 11x attacks in that area. The Ukrainian Defense Forces continue assault operations south of Bakhmut (Donetsk oblast), inflict losses in manpower and equipment on the enemy, and consolidate their new positions.

Tavria operational-strategic group, Avdiivka axis: the occupiers keep trying to encircle Avdiivka. The Ukrainian soldiers are standing their ground as they inflict major losses on the enemy. The adversary’s offensive actions were unsuccessful east of Novokalynove, Novobakhmutivka, Sjeverne, and Avdiivka (Donetsk oblast), where the Ukrainian Defense Forces repelled 12x attacks.

Mar’inka axis: the enemy conducted unsuccessful assault operations in the vicinities of Krasnohorivka, Mar’inka, and Pobjeda (Donetsk oblast). The Ukrainian soldiers repelled 16x attacks in that area.

Shakhtars’ke axis: the invaders conducted assault operations near Staromaiors’ke (Donetsk oblast), to no success.

Zaporizhzhia axis: the adversary did not conduct any offensive (assault) operations.

At the same time, the Ukrainian Defense Forces continue their offensive operation on Melitopol’ axis, inflicting losses in manpower and equipment on the occupation forces, exhausting the enemy all along the front line.

Odesa operational-strategic group, Kherson axis: the Ukrainian Defense Forces maintain their positions held on the left bank of the Dnipro River, continue to conduct counter-battery fire, as they strike behind the enemy lines.

During day of November 19, the Ukrainian Air Force launched 2x air strikes on the concentrations of enemy troops.

The Ukrainian missile troops hit 2x concentrations of troops, weapons, and military equipment, as well as 3x ammunition depots of the russian invaders.

[Alex_Sor]

The era of total US submarine dominance over China is ending - WSJ

For decades, the United States did not have to worry much about Chinese submarines. However, China is now closing the gap as it makes strides in its underwater technology and underwater detection capabilities. According to The Wall Street Journal, this has serious implications for American military planning regarding a potential conflict over Taiwan.

https://www.wsj.com/world/china/us-submarine-dominance-shift-china-8db10a0d?mod=hp_lead_pos8

As the publication notes, previously Chinese submarines were noisy and easy to track. At the same time, the Chinese military was struggling to detect America's ultra-quiet submarines. Recently, however, China has been working hard on noise reduction technologies for its submarines, as well as expanding production.

Of course, the next generation of Chinese nuclear submarines is still several years away, and significant progress in the program is not guaranteed. Submarines often go through several stages of prototyping over many years before final designs are achieved.

It is also unlikely that China will catch up with the United States in submarine technology any time soon. America's newest Virginia-class attack submarines and planned Columbia-class ballistic missile submarines are a generation ahead of China's capabilities in noise reduction technology, propulsion, weapons systems and other areas, defense analysts say.

But China doesn't necessarily need to match U.S. capabilities. By creating submarines that are much harder to detect and producing them at scale, the company can expand the resources the U.S. military uses to track them. And any war would likely be fought on China's backyard. , in the area he knows best,” writes the WSJ.

China's recent successes have also highlighted the submarine fleet shortage facing the United States. The US has 67 nuclear submarines, but only 49 of them are attack submarines, the result of a decline in their construction since the end of the Cold War.

Its attack submarine fleet is projected to decline to 46 boats by 2030 as older submarines are retired, before recovering to 50 in 2036 if the annual pace of construction is achieved. In the most optimistic scenario, the Navy in 2049 will have 66 attack submarines.

China currently has six nuclear submarines, and experts say that once China gets its head around new designs, it could triple current US annual production. The Pentagon projects that China will have a total of 80 attack and ballistic missile submarines by 2035, up from 60 at the end of last year.

China's development of more advanced submarines increases the likelihood of a military confrontation with the United States this decade, experts say.

[Alex_Sor]

The Invisible War in Ukraine Being Fought Over Radio Waves

Using electromagnetic waves to flummox and follow smarter weapons has become a critical part of the cat-and-mouse game between Ukraine and Russia. The United States, China and others have taken note.

The drones began crashing on Ukraine’s front lines, with little explanation.

For months, the aerial vehicles supplied by Quantum Systems, a German technology firm, had worked smoothly for Ukraine’s military, swooping through the air to spot enemy tanks and troops in the country’s war against Russia. Then late last year, the machines abruptly started falling from the sky as they returned from missions.

“It was this mystery,” said Sven Kruck, a Quantum executive who received a stern letter from Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense demanding a fix.

Quantum’s engineers soon homed in on the issue: Russians were jamming the wireless signals that connected the drones to the satellites they relied on for navigation, leading the machines to lose their way and plummet to earth. To adjust, Quantum developed artificial intelligence-powered software to act as a kind of secondary pilot and added a manual option so the drones could be landed with an Xbox controller. The company also built a service center to monitor Russia’s electronic attacks.

“All we could do is get information from the operators, try to find out what wasn’t working, test and try again,” Mr. Kruck said.

Full text:

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/19/technology/russia-ukraine-electronic-warfare-drone-signals.html

 

[Alex_Sor]

On February 24, Russia launched a large-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Russian troops are shelling and destroying key infrastructure facilities,

conducting massive shelling of residential areas of Ukrainian cities and villages.

I am in the capital of Ukraine, the city of Kyiv.
I do not leave the city, I follow what is happening here, reassure my family and friends, explain the situation and follow the press reports.

A lot of panic messages, a lot of fake news from Russian propaganda.
I select only the information that has confirmation.
As a former military man (in the distant past), I have a good understanding of how hostilities are conducted and what weapons are used.

I will answer all your questions.

Since February 24, Russia has attacked Ukraine, many cities of Ukraine have been destroyed.

Because of the war, I lost my business in Ukraine, if you want to help me and my family, my Paypal is: Alex.Sor.2022@gmail.com

[Alex_Sor]

Preventing the Next War

Germany and NATO Are in a Race Against Time

https://dgap.org/en/research/publications/preventing-next-war

"NATO has five to nine years to prepare for a Russian attack - DGAP report.
The main conclusion of the report is that during the war with Ukraine, the Russian Federation transferred its defense industry to a war economy mode.

Although Russia has suffered significant losses in equipment and manpower, its military potential is very high, German security experts say.

Moscow will quickly build up its military capabilities and NATO countries have 5 to 9 years to also build up their deterrent capabilities and thus prevent a war with Russia.
Moscow's first target may be the Baltic countries, the report's authors note.

One of the theses of the report is that if Russia manages to freeze the war in Ukraine, this will give it time to restore its ground forces.

In a long positional war, Russia has the advantage, and Ukraine can only achieve success if it delivers a breakthrough blow."

Well, as was said, we have five years until the start of the third series. All this equally applies to Ukraine.

[Alex_Sor]

Why is Martin Brest confident that society now has no demand for victory,

who should tell Ukrainians the truth now, why the government is now “in splits”,

will total mobilization be effective, how the government has pitted civilians and military against each other.

 

Turn on subtitles and select English translation.

 

[Alex_Sor]

The total combat losses of the enemy from 24.02.22 to 21.11.23 were approximately:

Situation update as of 6 a.m., November 21, 2023

Day 636 of the russian full-scale military aggression against Ukraine has begun.

The russian federation continues to ignore the laws and customs of warfare, using the terror tactics, launching missile and air strikes, and firing multiple launch rocket systems not only at the military, but also at numerous civilian targets across Ukraine.

During the day of November 20, there were 70x combat engagements. The enemy launched 5x missile, 10x air strikes, and 20x MLRS attacks at the positions of Ukrainian troops and various settlements. Unfortunately, the russian terrorist attacks have killed and wounded civilians. Private residential buildings and other civilian infrastructure were destroyed or damaged.

Last night, the russian occupants launched yet another strike on Ukraine, using 4x S-300 anti-aircraft guided missiles, 1x Iskander-K cruise missile, and 11x Shahed-136/131 attack UAVs. The Ukrainian air defense forces and means destroyed 1x Iskander-K cruise missile and 10x attack UAVs. The following facilities were destroyed or damaged: Central city hospital in the city of Selydovo (Donetsk oblast), the building of Kotlyarevska mine, and other civilian infrastructure.

Air strikes hit Kostobobriv (Chernihiv oblast) and Seredina-Buda (Sumy oblast).

More than 110x settlements in Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk, and Kherson oblasts came under artillery fire.

Pivnich operational-strategic group, Volyn and Polissya axes: no significant changes.

Sivershchyna and Slobozhanshchyna axes: the adversary maintains its military presence in the areas of russia bordering Ukraine. The enemy troops conduct active subversive activities in order to prevent the deployment of Ukrainian troops to threatened axes. The adversary increases the density of minefields along the state border in Belgorod oblast (russia).

Khortytsia operational-strategic group, Kup’yans’k axis: the enemy conducted assault operations in the vicinities of Syn’kivka and east of Petropavlivka (Kharkiv oblast), where Ukrainian soldiers repelled 10x attacks.

Lyman axis: the occupiers did not conduct any offensive (assault) operations.

Bakhmut axis: the Ukrainian defenders repelled 20x adversary attacks in the vicinities of Klishchiivka, Andriivka, and east of Pivdenne (Donetsk oblast). Also, the Ukrainian Defense Forces continue assault operations south of Bakhmut (Donetsk oblast), inflict losses in manpower and equipment on the enemy, and consolidate their new positions.

Tavria operational-strategic group, Avdiivka axis: the invaders keep trying to encircle Avdiivka. The Ukrainian soldiers are standing their ground and inflicting major losses on the enemy. The adversary’s offensive actions were unsuccessful east of Novobakhmutivka, Stepove, Avdiivka, and Pervomais’ke (Donetsk oblast), where the Ukrainian Defense Forces repelled 10x attacks.

Mar’inka axis: the enemy conducted unsuccessful assault operations in the vicinities of Mar’inka, Pobjeda, and Novomykhailivka (Donetsk oblast). The Ukrainian Defense Forces repelled 12x attacks in that area.

Shakhtars’ke axis: the enemy conducted unsuccessful assault operations in the vicinity of Staromaiors’ke (Donetsk oblast). The Ukrainian defenders repelled 2x attacks in that area.

Zaporizhzhia axis: the adversary conducted assault operations near Robotyne and northwest of Verbove (Zaporizhzhia oblast), to no success.

At the same time, the Ukrainian Defense Forces continue their offensive operation on Melitopol’ axis, inflicting losses in manpower and equipment on the occupation forces, exhausting the enemy all along the front line.

Odesa operational-strategic group, Kherson axis: the Ukrainian Defense Forces maintain their positions held on the left bank of the Dnipro River, conduct counter-battery fire, as they strike behind the enemy lines.

During the day of November 20, the Ukrainian Air Force launched 2x air strikes on the concentrations of enemy troops.

The Ukrainian missile troops hit 1x ammunition depot of the russian invaders.

[Alex_Sor]

Ukrainian and Russian forces continue to conduct offensive operations in eastern and southern Ukraine despite rainy and snowy weather conditions. 

https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-november-21-2023

[Alex_Sor]

The Russian Federation made prisoners the main source of replenishment for its losses on the battlefield. This was announced by President Volodymyr Zelenskyi based on the results of the daily selector.

"Daily reports on the arrival of ammunition, equipment, equipment, distribution between brigades. Summary of the situation on the battlefield. Difficult weather, difficult defense in the Lyman, Bakhmut, Donetsk and Avdiiv directions. Offensive actions in the south," the head of state noted.

Also, according to him, during the meeting, they heard intelligence information about some international events, as well as enemy plans.

"At this stage, the Russian army has made convicts the main source of replenishment of losses on the battlefield," Zelenskyy emphasized.

In addition, he received reports on the liquidation of the consequences of shelling of civilian infrastructure in Kherson, Beryslav, and Nikopol.

"In Nikopol, in particular, the enemy targeted the water supply network. Services are working to restore water supply to people. My Office is keeping this under control. The Black Sea "grain corridor" is showing good results. The last few days have been record-breaking in terms of the volume of transported cargo," the president noted.

[Alex_Sor]

The total combat losses of the enemy from 24.02.22 to 22.11.23 were approximately:

Situation update as of 6 a.m., November 22, 2023

Day 637 of the russian full-scale military aggression against Ukraine has begun.

The adversary continues to ignore the laws and customs of warfare, using the terror tactics, launching missile and air strikes, and firing multiple launch rocket systems not only at the military, but also at numerous civilian targets across Ukraine.

On the night of November 21, russian occupants launched an air strike on Ukraine, using Shahed-136/131 attack UAVs. The Ukrainian air defense destroyed 9x of 10x attack UAVs. On the night of November 22, the adversary launched yet another air strike on Ukraine, using 14x Shahed-136/131 attack UAVs. All of the enemy drones have been destroyed. The invaders also attacked the port infrastructure of Odesa and Bilhorod-Dnistrovs’kyi district (Odesa oblast) with Kh-31P missiles, and the city of Zaporizhzhia with Kh-22 missile. The Kh-22 cruise missile failed to reach its target and crashed in Zaporizhzhia oblast in an open area, the blast wave damaged private homes.

During the day of November 21, there were 48x combat engagements. The enemy launched a total of 5x missile and 61x air strikes, more than 60x MLRS attacks at the positions of Ukrainian troops and various settlements. Unfortunately, the russian terrorist attacks have killed and wounded civilians. Private residential buildings and other civilian infrastructure were destroyed or damaged.

Air strikes hit Leonivka, Popivka (Chernihiv oblast), Seredyna-Buda (Sumy oblast), Syn’kivka, Petropavlivka (Kharkiv oblast), Serebryans’ke forestry (Luhansk oblast), Spirne, Andriivka, Klishchiivka (Donetsk oblast), Mala Tokmachka, Urozhaine (Zaporizhzhia oblast), Zmiivka, Novoberyslav, and Kozats’ke (Kherson oblast).

More than 150x settlements in Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk, and Kherson oblasts came under artillery fire.

Pivnich operational-strategic group, Volyn and Polissya axes: no significant changes.

Sivershchyna and Slobozhanshchyna axes: the adversary maintains its military presence in the areas of russia bordering Ukraine. The enemy troops conduct active subversive activities in order to prevent the deployment of Ukrainian troops to threatened axes. The adversary increases the density of minefields along the state border in Belgorod oblast (russia).

Khortytsia operational-strategic group, Kup’yans’k axis: the enemy conducted assault operations in the vicinities of Syn’kivka and east of Petropavlivka (Kharkiv oblast), where Ukrainian soldiers repelled 3x attacks.

Lyman axis: the enemy conducted assault operations near Sivers’k (Donetsk oblast), to no success.

Bakhmut axis: the Ukrainian defenders repelled 5x adversary attacks near Klishchiivka, and east of Pivdenne (Donetsk oblast). The Ukrainian Defense Forces continue assault operations south of Bakhmut (Donetsk oblast), inflict losses in manpower and equipment on the enemy, and consolidate their new positions.

Tavria operational-strategic group, Avdiivka axis: the occupiers keep trying to encircle Avdiivka. The Ukrainian soldiers are standing their ground as they inflict major losses on the enemy. The adversary’s offensive actions were unsuccessful east of Novobakhmutivka, Stepove, Sjeverne, and Pervomais’ke (Donetsk oblast), where the Ukrainian Defense Forces repelled 13x attacks.

Mar’inka axis: the enemy conducted unsuccessful assault operations in the vicinities of Mar’inka and Novomykhailivka (Donetsk oblast). The Ukrainian soldiers repelled 18x attacks in that area.

Shakhtars’ke axis: the occupiers conducted assault operations near Staromaiors’ke (Donetsk oblast), to no success.

Zaporizhzhia axis: the adversary conducted unsuccessful assault operations in the vicinities of Robotyne and Kam’yans’ke (Zaporizhzhia oblast).

At the same time, the Ukrainian Defense Forces continue their offensive operation on Melitopol’ axis, inflicting losses in manpower and equipment on the occupation forces, exhausting the enemy all along the front line.

Odesa operational-strategic group, Kherson axis: the Ukrainian troops maintain their positions held on the left bank of the Dnipro River, conduct counter-battery fire, as they strike behind the enemy lines.

During the day of November 21, Ukrainian Air Force launched 1x air strike on a command post, 6x air strikes on the concentrations of troops, weapons, and military equipment, and 2x air strikes on the anti-aircraft missile systems of the adversary.

The Ukrainian missile troops hit 1x command post, 3x concentrations of troops, weapons, and military equipment, as well as 2x ammunition depots of the russian invaders.

[Alex_Sor]

The Ukrainian operator of the kamikaze drone hit the head of the Russian occupier, trying to avoid the attack.

shocking video.

...war becomes what we were shown in science fiction films...

https://storage2.censor.net/video/3/231123_str.mp4

 

[Alex_Sor]

"I also met with brave Ukrainian troops who have just returned from the front line. And my message to them was simple: we will continue to support Ukraine as long as necessary. We are focused on supporting Ukraine as it continues to battle the winter and protect its critical infrastructure. And through this extraordinary group of approximately 50 countries, we are reminding the world of our shared commitment to support Ukraine today – and for the long term,” emphasized US Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) in the opening remarks at the 17th meeting of the Contact Group on Defense of Ukraine on November 22, 2023.
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Charles Brown and Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Celeste Wallander held the seventeenth meeting of the Contact Group on Defense of Ukraine with world leaders - ministers and ministers of defense and chiefs of defense agencies from more than 50 countries around the world in an online format at the Pentagon, Washington, DC, on November 22, 2023, during which they discussed Russia's ongoing war in Ukraine and continued close coordination to provide the Ukrainian people with the means necessary to protection of its sovereign territory.
Since my last visit to Kyiv in April 2022, they [Ukrainian troops] continued to courageously fight against Russian aggression. Ukraine has returned 50 percent of the territory captured since February 2022. And it was touching to once again see with my own eyes the resilience of the Ukrainian people, who stand firm in the face of ongoing attacks.
For more than 20 months, the people of Ukraine demonstrated to the world the power of a free people to resist Putin's aggression.
And Ukraine's struggle for freedom is important for all of us. As President Biden said, when tyrants don't pay for their aggression, they continue to threaten the world.
None of us wants to live in a world where scoundrels like Putin can invade their peaceful neighbors with impunity. And we refuse to let the shape of global security be dictated by autocrats who rely on repression by force at home and by coercion abroad.
We have gathered today because we share a vision of a world that is free, open, prosperous and secure. That is why I am proud that this historic Contact Group has committed more than $80 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since the Kremlin began its unjustified invasion.
And I am proud of your unwavering commitment. Our unity sends a clear signal to Putin that he will not be able to defeat us or defeat us in a contest of wills.
As Putin continues his tragic, unnecessary war, he has been forced to look to Iran and North Korea for support. Both Ukraine and Israel face relentless enemies who seek to destroy them.
This is a moment of global challenge. But make no mistake. The United States is perfectly capable of continuing our strong support for Ukraine even as we support Israel in its hour of need.
Therefore, as Ukraine faces another winter of war, I call on this group to provide Ukraine with air defenses to protect its people.

Text by :

© U.S. Department of Defense

Фото / Photos by: © Chad McNeeley, Office of the Secretary of Defense Public Affairs, U.S. Department of Defense (DoD)

https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/Article/3531013/air-defense-remains-top-priority-at-meeting-on-ukraine-defense/
 

The White House President Joe Biden U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) The Joint Staff

[Alex_Sor]

The total combat losses of the enemy from 24.02.22 to 23.11.23 were approximately:

Situation update as of 6 a.m., November 23, 2023

Day 638 of the russian full-scale military aggression against Ukraine has begun.

The adversary continues to ignore the laws and customs of warfare, using the terror tactics, launching missile and air strikes, and firing multiple launch rocket systems not only at the military, but also at numerous civilian targets across Ukraine.

During the day of November 22, there were 74x combat engagements. The enemy launched a total of 3x missile and 43x air strikes, more than 64x MLRS attacks at the positions of Ukrainian troops and various settlements. Also, on the night of November 22, the occupiers launched yet another strike on Ukraine, using 14x Shahed-136/131 attack UAVs. The Ukrainian air defense destroyed all 14x Shaheds. Unfortunately, the russian terrorist attacks have killed and wounded civilians. Private residential buildings and other civilian infrastructure were destroyed or damaged.

Air strikes hit Syn’kivka, Podoly, Kup’yans’k-Vuzlovyi, Stepova Novoselivka (Kharkiv oblast), Serebryans’ke forestry, Bilohorivka (Luhansk oblast), Spirne, Pivdenne, Oleksandropil’, Avdiivka, and Vuhledar (Donetsk oblast).

More than 100x settlements in Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk, and Kherson oblasts came under artillery fire.

Pivnich operational-strategic group, Volyn and Polissya axes: no significant changes.

Sivershchyna and Slobozhanshchyna axes: the adversary maintains its military presence in the areas of russia bordering Ukraine. The enemy troops conduct active subversive activities in order to prevent the deployment of Ukrainian troops to threatened axes. The adversary increases the density of minefields along the state border in Belgorod oblast (russia).

Khortytsia operational-strategic group, Kup’yans’k axis: the enemy conducted assault operations in the vicinities of Syn’kivka, northeast of Petropavlivka and Ivanivka (Kharkiv oblast), where the Ukrainian Defense Forces repelled 12x attacks.

Lyman axis: the adversary did not conduct any offensive (assault) operations.

Bakhmut axis: the occupiers did not conduct any offensive (assault) operations. In turn, the Ukrainian Defense Forces continue assault operations south of Bakhmut (Donetsk oblast), inflict losses in manpower and equipment on the enemy, and consolidate their new positions.

Tavria operational-strategic group, Avdiivka axis: the occupiers keep trying to encircle Avdiivka, but the Ukrainian soldiers are standing their ground, inflicting major losses on the enemy. The adversary’s offensive actions were unsuccessful east of Novobakhmutivka, north of Lastochkyne, Avdiivka, and Pervomais’ke (Donetsk oblast), where the Ukrainian Defense Forces repelled 30x attacks.

Mar’inka axis: the Ukrainian defenders repelled 18x enemy attacks in the vicinities of Mar’inka and Novomykhailivka (Donetsk oblast).

Shakhtars’ke axis: the enemy conducted unsuccessful assault operations near Staromaiors’ke (Donetsk oblast).

Zaporizhzhia axis: the adversary made 4x unsuccessful attempts to regain the lost ground in the vicinity of Robotyne (Zaporizhzhia oblast).

At the same time, the Ukrainian Defense Forces continue their offensive operation on Melitopol’ axis, inflicting losses in manpower and equipment on the occupation forces, exhausting the enemy all along the front line.

Odesa operational-strategic group, Kherson axis: the Ukrainian troops maintain their positions held on the left bank of the Dnipro River, continue to conduct counter-battery fire, as they strike behind the enemy lines.

During the day of November 22, the Ukrainian Air Force launched 11x air strikes on the concentrations of troops, weapons, and military equipment of the adversary.

The Ukrainian missile troops hit 13x concentration of troops, weapons, and military equipment, 1x command post, 1x air defense system, 4x artillery systems, and 1x ammunition depot of the russian invaders.

[Alex_Sor]

During the last massive drone attack on Ukraine, about 40% of "Shaheed" were destroyed by mobile fire groups

Yuriy Ignat, the spokesman of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, announced this on the air of the telethon.

"This time, I want to thank the mobile fire groups. This is the echelon tasked with shooting down UAVs in order to reduce the costs of anti-aircraft guided missiles. Today, the percentage of shooting down by mobile fire groups has reached 40," Ignat said.

Tonight, November 25, the occupiers staged another drone attack on Kyiv. The head of the Kyiv city military administration, Mikhail Shamanov, announced on the telethon that more than 40 air targets had been destroyed by air defense forces.

“There is only preliminary operational information, this is the fourth attack by enemy UAVs on Kiev in a month. This drone attack was the most massive since the beginning of a full-scale invasion. More than four dozen air targets were hit by air defense forces and means,” Shamanov said.

According to him, the enemy used loitering bombs. There were several waves of launches that came from different directions.

“This night, the enemy launched a record number of attack UAVs of the Shahed-131/136 type across Ukraine. The main direction of the attack was Kyiv,” the Ukrainian Armed Forces added.

[Alex_Sor]

On the night of November 25, 2023, the enemy launched a record number of "Shahed" type UAVs over Ukraine.
A total of 75 "shakhed" launches were recorded from two directions - Primorsko-Akhtarsk - Russian Federation and the district of the Kursk region. - Russian Federation The main direction of the attack is the city of Kyiv.
Anti-aircraft defense worked in at least six regions of Ukraine: Kyiv, Sumy, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhya, Mykolaiv, Kirovohrad regions.
Anti-aircraft missile forces, tactical aviation, mobile fire groups, and electronic warfare units are involved in repelling an air attack.
💥 As a result of an anti-aircraft battle this night, 71 Shahed-131/136 attack UAVs were destroyed by the forces and means of the Air Force, in cooperation with the Air Defense Forces of the Defense Forces of Ukraine. The vast majority is in Kyiv region!
A Kh-59 guided air missile was also destroyed in Dnipropetrovsk region.

[Alex_Sor]

The total combat losses of the enemy from 24.02.22 to 25.11.23 were approximately:

Situation update as of 6 a.m., November 25, 2023

Day 640 of the russian full-scale military aggression against Ukraine has begun.

The russian federation continues to ignore the laws and customs of warfare, using the terror tactics, launching missile and air strikes, and firing multiple launch rocket systems not only at the military, but also at civilian targets across Ukraine.

During the day of November 24, there were 74x combat engagements. The enemy launched a total of 7x missile and 29x air strikes, 36x MLRS attacks at the positions of Ukrainian troops and various settlements. Unfortunately, the russian terrorist attacks have killed and wounded civilians. During the day of November 24, russian occupants launched 1x air strike on Ukraine, using 6x Shahed-136/131 attack UAVs. All of the enemy drones have been destroyed. The occupants launched yet another series of air strike on Ukraine during the day of November 25. The attack of Shahed-136/131 UAVs is ongoing. Private residential buildings and other civilian infrastructure were destroyed or damaged.

Air strikes hit Serebryans’ke forestry (Luhansk oblast), Spirne, Klishchiivka, Zorya, Avdiivka, Mar’inka, Novomykhailivka (Donetsk oblast), Zmiivka, Novoberyslav, Mykolaivka, Ol’hivka, and L’vove (Kherson Oblast).

More than 140x settlements in Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk, and Kherson oblasts came under artillery fire.

Pivnich operational-strategic group, Volyn and Polissya axes: no significant changes.

Sivershchyna and Slobozhanshchyna axes: the adversary maintains its military presence in the areas of russia bordering Ukraine. The enemy troops conduct active subversive activities in order to prevent the deployment of Ukrainian troops to threatened axes. The adversary increases the density of minefields along the state border in Belgorod oblast (russia).

Khortytsia operational-strategic group, Kup’yans’k axis: with the air support, the enemy conducted assault operations in the vicinities of Syn’kivka, Petropavlivka (Kharkiv oblast), and Stel’makhivka (Luhansk oblast), where the Ukrainian Defense Forces repelled 15x attacks.

Lyman axis: with enemy conducted conducted assault operations in the vicinity of Serebryans’ke forestry (Luhansk oblast), to no success.

Bakhmut axis: the Ukrainian troops repelled 11x attacks of the adversary near Bohdanivka, Ivanivske, Klishchiivka, and Andriivka (Donetsk oblast). The Ukrainian Defense Forces continue assault operations south of Bakhmut (Donetsk oblast), inflict losses in manpower and equipment on the enemy, and consolidate their new positions.

Tavria operational-strategic group, Avdiivka axis: with the air support, the enemy keeps trying to encircle Avdiivka. The Ukrainian soldiers are standing their ground and inflicting major losses on the enemy. The adversary’ offensive operations east of Novokalynove, Novobakhmutivka, Stepove, Avdiivka, Sjeverne, and Pervomais’ke (Donetsk oblast) were unsuccessful. The Ukrainian defenders repelled 30x attacks in that area.

Mar’inka axis: with the air support, the enemy conducted assault operations in the vicinities of Mar’inka and Novomykhailivka (Donetsk oblast). The Ukrainian Defense Forces repelled 10x attacks in area.

Shakhtars’ke axis: the adversary did not conduct any offensive (assault) operations.

Zaporizhzhia axis: the enemy made 7x unsuccessful attempts to regain the lost ground near Robotyne and Novopokrovka (Zaporizhzhia oblast).

At the same time, the Ukrainian Defense Forces continue their offensive operation on Melitopol’ axis, inflicting losses in manpower and equipment on the occupation forces, exhausting the enemy all along the front line.

Odesa operational-strategic group, Kherson axis: the Ukrainian Defense Forces maintain their positions held on the left bank of the Dnipro River, continue to conduct counter-battery fire, as they strike behind the enemy lines.

During the day of November 24, the Ukrainian Air Force launched 9x air strikes on the concentrations of troops, weapons, and military equipment of the adversary.

The Ukrainian missile troops hit 2x command posts, 4x concentration of troops, weapons, and military equipment, 2x artillery systems, and 1x logistics center of the russian invaders.

[Alex_Sor]

"There is a possible shortage of imported products, starting with salt," said Deputy Minister of Agricultural Policy Taras Vysotskyi

First Deputy Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food Taras Vysotskyi told UNIAN which products are at risk of shortage due to the border blockade, how Ukraine solves problems with grain export, and what transformations await our agricultural industry.

How will the blocking of the border by Polish carriers and the unstable operation of the Slovak border affect Ukraine's food security? Which groups of goods that we import may become scarce and become more expensive?

We understand that the waterway is not fully operational yet because there are military risks there. Previously, we mainly imported products in containers through Odessa, now it all went by road transport. And there is no alternative. Therefore, shortages may arise, starting with salt, because, unfortunately, Ukrainian production is under temporary occupation. As well as other products that are not grown in our country. For example, citrus fruits, bananas. Also seafood, because we currently do not have access to the sea to fully catch them. It's not necessarily something "luxurious" - it's even ordinary hake and other frozen fish.

[Alex_Sor]

Latvian President Edgars Rinkevičs was in Kyiv during the massive attack by the “shaheds” on the night of November 25.

As noted by the Latvian leader on the social network X, at night he went down to cover when the Russians attacked the Ukrainian capital with a record number of drones.

“November 25, 05:10 am, Kyiv,” wrote Rinkevichs, posting a photo from a hiding place.

[Alex_Sor]

After the Russian night attack by suicide bombers in Kyiv, 77 residential buildings and 120 institutions were left without electricity. The Ministry of Energy of Ukraine reports this.

“On the morning of November 25, during a large-scale drone attack in the capital, the air line was cut off. As a result, 77 residential buildings and 120 institutions in the central part of the city were left without power,” the report says.

 

[Alex_Sor]

President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky said what strength the Russian Federation must feel in order to pay for aggression against Ukraine.

According to an UNIAN correspondent, Zelensky said this at a joint press conference with Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics in Kyiv. Zelensky said Ukraine is grateful to Latvia for its continued support of sanctions against Russia. “It is important that at the level of each specific country and at the level of all of Europe, the necessary work is carried out to block Russian schemes for circumventing sanctions,” Zelensky noted.

The president also added that important work has begun in Europe and other jurisdictions on the fair use of frozen Russian assets.

“We are grateful to all our partners who are looking for specific legal solutions to ensure that the aggressor’s assets are sent to those who suffered from aggression,” the president noted.

"Modern Russia does not believe in anything other than money and force. Therefore, the aggressor must feel our strength on the battlefield. The strength of the political unity of Europe. The strength of sanctions packages, and the aggressor must pay the most for his aggression. Pay with the assets of those individuals who one way or another connected with a terrorist state. These funds must work for the restoration of Ukraine after hostilities," Zelensky emphasized.

[Alex_Sor]

Russia is starting to make its superiority in electronic warfare count

There may not be much the West either can or will do to help Ukraine

https://www.economist.com/europe/2023/11/23/russia-is-starting-to-make-its-superiority-in-electronic-warfare-count

...

Ukraine discovered in March that its Excalibur GPS-guided shells suddenly started going off-target, thanks to Russian jamming. Something similar started happening to the JDAM-ER guided bombs that America had supplied to the Ukrainian air force, while Ukraine’s HIMARS-launched GMLRS long-range rockets also started missing their targets. In some areas, a majority of GMLRS rounds now go astray.

Even more worrying has been the increasing ability of Russian EW to counter the multitudes of cheap unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that Ukraine has been using for everything from battlefield reconnaissance and communications to exploding on impact against targets such as tanks or command nodes.

[Alex_Sor]

In the Netherlands, the right-wing populist party of Geert Wilders won the parliamentary elections. And such results are an indicator of the deep crisis of the European Union.

If previously high rates of populists and radicals were characteristic of Central and Eastern Europe, now we see a revival of populist parties and populist movements (not only of the far right, but also of the far left) in Western Europe. These elections have shown that it is possible for such forces to win simply in the core of the European Union. Moreover, this is not just a victory, but a victory under completely clear anti-European slogans.

     These are metastases of a pan-European political crisis, which will allow such populists to win in more and more states

The growing popularity in Germany of the “Alternative for Germany” party (a populist party which, in particular, in court, challenged official Berlin’s supply of weapons to Ukraine - UNIAN), as well as the party of Sarah Vanegkecht, which is positioned as a competitor to the “alternative”... or the election victory of the party of former Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, who lobbied for the appointment as Minister of Environment of Rudolf Gulyak, who advocates Slovakia’s exit from the EU... These are metastases of a pan-European political crisis, which will allow such populists to win in more and more states.

The fact is that at a time when there are major conflicts in the world, on almost every continent, when we are still in a situation of hyperinflation, which can turn into stagflation (a state of the economy that involves its fall along with rising prices), when we just started to move away from the coronavirus, when people are naturally angry and dissatisfied, people appear with very passionate, but at the same time primitive slogans. They say: “We know who is to blame, and we will change everything!”

And, unfortunately, in every democracy there can be a significant part of the population that will support such ideas. People are tired of crises, they want to solve them simply, and populists offer them this way.

What is populism anyway? It includes simple solutions to complex issues. But for a populist several things are important. He needs someone to blame for the problem, he needs an enemy to fight, and he needs a crisis to overcome. And now it all comes together.

     The Europeans simply did not expect that such narratives could gain quite a lot of support

For example, European institutions have always promised that they will maintain stability, maintain a normal level of income for their citizens, but here, it turns out, they are not able to cope with this, because the problem is global. Therefore, now is the moment when every European democracy has its own conventional Orban, Fico or Alternative for Germany, who “know” exactly who is to blame and what to do.

This has always been the case in political history. Europeans simply did not expect that such narratives could gain sufficiently large support, and in general victory in the most democratic and open European societies.

“The loss of open Europe”: in the Netherlands they voted for radicals, what to expect for Ukraine .
 

Ultra right turn. Another European country voted for radical populists. In the Dutch elections, following the Slovak ones, the party won, one of whose election promises was to stop aid to Ukraine. Now the state, which has been one of the most loyal allies, can completely change course. The election results have already been dubbed “the loss of open Europe” in the Netherlands.

[Alex_Sor]

There are heavy battles in the Bakhmut direction, the enemy continues to counterattack, constantly using artillery and dropping high-explosive bombs.