Picture of 38th week of war: missile attacks on energy infrastructure, the UN resolution on reparations, verdict of MH-17 case
Also, about the rebuilding of the Kherson region, critical stops in the temporarily occupied territories and the mysterious Black Box for the russian federation from Ukrainian intelligence - in our timeline. We will tell you how the situation changed during the week from November 14 to 20.
Kherson direction
After the escape of russian troops from the right bank of the Dnipro river and the de-occupation by Ukrainian troops of part of the territories of the Kherson region and almost all of the Mykolayiv region, the situation in the south of Ukraine stabilized. Although there was unconfirmed information at the beginning of the week that the Armed Forces of Ukraine landed on the Kinburn spit (the last occupied part of the Mykolayiv region) and occupied Nova Kakhovka and Oleshki on the left bank of the Dnieper, it was not confirmed.
Currently, the russians are trying to hold the temporarily captured territories and equip defensive lines. Moreover, the russian troops retreat 15-20 km deep from the previously fired positions in order to protect themselves from the shelling of the Armed Forces. The occupation administration left the front-line Nova Kakhovka. Some units of the occupiers are moving even from a larger number of remote settlements of the Skadovsk and Henichesk districts of the Kherson region in the direction of the occupied Crimea. All this is happening because the rocket artillery of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is now located on the Dnipro and can shoot through the territory all the way to Crimea.
Donetsk direction
Ukrainian troops are gradually advancing in Luhansk region. 12 settlements have already been liberated in the region. As Serhii Gaidai, head of the Luhansk military, notes, promotion is not easy, every meter is given very hard. After all, the russians had time to prepare and bring in a large number of mobilized soldiers. The main direction of the Ukrainian attack is the area of the cities of Svatove and Kreminna, which will make it possible to cut off the logistics of the occupiers. russian troops are trying to counterattack on the entire territory of Donbass, in particular in the areas of the settlements of Stelmakhivka and Belogorivka in the Luhansk region and Avdiyivka, Bakhmut, and Vugledar in the Donetsk region. The occupiers do not stop shelling the positions of the Armed Forces and settlements near the contact line. Separate units of russian troops have already been moved from the Kherson direction to the city of Novoaidar in the Luhansk region.
Situation in the occupied territories
There is a critical situation in the large occupied cities of Donbas – such as Severodonetsk, Rubizhne, Lysychansk a critical situation has developed for civilians. The townspeople freeze and are forced to heat apartments in high-rise buildings with firewood. Currently, the occupiers want to "evacuate" (actually deport) people from these cities. The so-called "evacuation" deep into Russia also continues from the part of the Kherson region temporarily captured by the Russian Federation.
In Mariupol, temporarily occupied by the Russians, the civilian death rate has increased by approximately 4-5 times compared to this indicator until February 24. About 150 people die there every week. Children are practically not born. The city is actually dying out. Something interesting is happening in the temporarily occupied Crimea. The "authorities" of the region ordered to carry out the "fortification works to ensure the safety of Crimeans" on the peninsula. Apparently, after the return of Kherson by Ukraine, it became clear even to them that the return of Crimea is a matter of time.
Protection of borders
In the north of Ukraine, the situation has not changed significantly. There is still a threat of missile and air strikes by Belarus on the territory of Ukraine, but there is currently no threat of a full-scale invasion.
On the border of the Volyn, Rivne, and Zhytomyr regions with Belarus, construction of a reinforced concrete fence with barbed wire is underway. This is one of the elements of the engineering barriers that are installed to protect the border. It was also reported that the Ukrainian military destroyed several border bridges in order to prevent the rapid advance of the enemy.
Controlled and liberated territories of Ukraine
Life is being restored in the liberated territories of Kherson region and Mykolaiv region, including critical infrastructure and communication facilities, communal institutions, and businesses. Hundreds of specialists, thousands of tons of material aid, tens of units of equipment from all over Ukraine are currently heading there to help the regions. The National Police, rescue service, etc. have already returned to the big cities. "Ukrposhta" opened the first two branches, and also started paying pensions in liberated Kherson.
Nova Poshta, Ukraine's largest private postal operator, also opened two branches in de-occupied Kherson and resumed courier delivery in the city. Mobile communication has returned to Kherson, and thanks to hundreds of Starlink terminals, the Internet has returned. Public Wi-Fi points are being equipped. Work on the restoration of water, electricity and heat supply in the city is still ongoing.
For the first time since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of russia, Ukrzaliznytsia has resumed passenger rail service with Mykolaiv. And on November 18, the first train to Kherson left Kyiv.
Work is underway to restore water supply in the city of Mykolaiv. It will be able to be completely restored only after repairing the water supply and electricity networks in the Kherson region, which may take several more wee
Situation with critical infrastructure
This week, the russian federation carried out the largest series of missile attacks on the objects of critical infrastructure of Ukraine since the beginning of the war. The aggressor launched about 100 missiles on November 15, and 18 missiles on November 17. And although a large part of them was intercepted by the forces of the Ukrainian anti-missile defense system, many energy facilities were affected, including the gas production industry in the east of Ukraine.
Missile attacks disabled almost 50% of Ukraine's energy system. About 10 million Ukrainians were left without electricity. Energy workers have started emergency power outages across Ukraine. Anti-record for the volume of outages took place in Kyiv – they amounted to more than 500 MW. As energy experts warn, such large-scale destruction in the future may lead to power outages for several days and "scheduled power-ups" in some areas for only a few hours.
Two Ukrainian nuclear power plants – Khmelnytskyi and Rivne – suffered from massive shelling by the russians on November 15. This indicates potential risks for the nuclear security of the whole of Europe due to the terrorism of the russian federation.
At the same time, the Kremlin has finally admitted that it is trying to persuade Zelenskyi to negotiate with strikes on Ukraine's infrastructure.
Important events in the world that affect the war in Ukraine
The important Resolution was adopted by the UN General Assembly on November 14. It contains a call to russia to compensate for the damage caused by full-scale aggression. The UN countries that supported the document recognize that the Russian Federation should be held accountable for any violations of international law in or against Ukraine, and that it should bear the legal consequences of all its internationally illegal actions, including compensation for damages. Such a decision opens a real way for Ukraine to receive reparations from the russian federation for the damage caused by its military aggression.
Another important international decision for Ukraine took place on November 17. The District Court of The Hague, which heard the case of the downing of the airliner MH17 in 2014, as a result of which 298 people died, found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment the russian proxies Igor Girkin (Strelkov), Sergey Dubinsky and Leonid Kharchenko. The court confirmed that the anti-aircraft missile that shot down the plane was launched from the territory of the so-called "DNR", controlled by the russian federation. Also, those responsible for the downing of the plane must pay compensation to the families of the dead – more than 16 million euros.
On November 15, during a large-scale Russian missile attack on Ukraine, it became known about explosions in the village of Przewodów in the Lublin Voivodeship in Poland, which took the lives of two people. They were caused by one or more missiles. While the investigation into the incident is still ongoing, Poland said there is now plenty of evidence that one of the Ukrainian missiles that was supposed to shoot down the russian missile missed its target. The self-destruct system did not work, and this rocket, unfortunately, led to the tragedy.
A Polish-American investigative team is working at the crash site, which has already been joined by Ukrainian experts. In any case, the international community does not blame Ukraine for the incident. The culprit of the tragedy is certainly the russian federation, because it was its terrorist missile attacks that led to it.
We are supported
On November 16, the seventh meeting of the Contact Group on Defense issues, better known as the Rammstein format, was held. International partners announced further military assistance to Ukraine. In particular, Spain promised to provide two more Hawk anti-missile systems and missiles for them. Germany continued the much-needed supply of anti-aircraft weapons, artillery and ammunition for MLRS. Greece announced an important transfer of 155 mm artillery shells. Poland undertook to supply additional artillery and anti-tank weapons, as well as means of short-range air defense.
Economic trends
In Istanbul, it was agreed to extend the work of the "grain initiative" for the export of products from three Ukrainian seaports for another 120 days. Ukraine officially appealed to the UN and Turkey and other partners with a proposal to extend the agreement for at least a year and to include two ports in Mykolaiv. Prolongation of the agreement primarily means stability and profit for Ukrainian farmers, as well as the economy of Ukraine, because thanks to the initiative, the country's budget receives much-needed foreign currency.
Solutions to win
Ukrainian intelligence reported on the implementation of the mysterious Black Box project together with the "Return Alive" charitable foundation, which will help reduce russia's offensive potential. As Kyrylo Budanov, Ukraine's top spy noted, due to secrecy, it is impossible to reveal the details of this cooperation, but its results will definitely be noticeable on the battlefield. Volunteers are currently collecting 230 million hryvnias.
The Ukrainian development – the bionic arm of the Esper Bionics startup – was recognized as one of the best inventions of the year by Time magazine. The exchange of information between the device and the human brain takes place through a neurocomputer interface. This technology will definitely be able to restore a full life to millions of people around the world, including thousands of Ukrainians who lost their limbs due to russian aggression.
