Ukraine-Russia war – live: Putin’s assault in Donbas ‘flounders’ as Kyiv claims strike on military factory
Aftermath of Russian missile strike on Ukraine mail depot that killed six
A large-scale Russian assault on a town in the Donbas region has “floundered” after coming up against “strong” Ukrainian defences, Britain’s Ministry of Defence has said.
The MoD said the Kremlin has lost around 200 armoured vehicles during its assaults on Avdiika over the past three weeks.
“In the south, the Ukrainian advance remains relatively static between the two main lines of Russia’s well-prepared defensive positions,” the MoD said in a statement.
“Around the Donbas town of Avdiivka, a large-scale Russian assault has floundered on strong Ukrainian defences.”
It comes as Ukraine’s armed forces said they hit marine and port infrastructure at a factory in the port city of Kerch in Russian-occupied Crimea on Saturday.
Reports have suggested that the Russian military vessel “Askold” was hit three times, though those claims remain unconfirmed.
“The evening of Nov. 4 Armed Forces of Ukraine implemented successful strikes on marine and port infrastructure of the ‘Zalyv’ factory in the temporarily-occupied city of Kerch,” the Department for Strategic Communications of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said in a Telegram post, giving no further details.
Ukraine military says it hit Zalyv plant in port city of Kerch, Crimea
Ukraine’s armed forces said they hit marine and port infrastructure at a factory in the port city of Kerch in Russian-occupied Crimea on Saturday.
“The evening of Nov. 4 Armed Forces of Ukraine implemented successful strikes on marine and port infrastructure of the ‘Zalyv’ factory in the temporarily-occupied city of Kerch,” the Department for Strategic Communications of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said in a Telegram post, giving no further details.
You can read more about the strike further down in the blog.
Tom Watling4 November 2023 19:03
Ukraine orders investigation into Russian attack on assault brigade
Ukraine’s defence minister ordered on Saturday an investigation into an alleged Russian ballistic missile attack on Ukrainian assault brigade, after reports that more than 20 soldiers were killed during an awards ceremony.
“My condolences to the families of the fallen soldiers from the 128th Separate Mountain Assault Transcarpathian Brigade,” Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umerov said in a social media statement, adding that he had ordered a “full investigation.”
In a separate statement on the Telegram messaging app, Ukraine’s Armed Forces said that Russia attacked the Zaporizhzhia region with the Iskander ballistic missile.
“Servicemen were killed, and local residents were also injured,” the military said.
It was not clear how many soldiers died.
Matt Mathers5 November 2023 08:20
Focus from war in Ukraine fading, Zelensky says
The Israel-Hamas war is “taking away the focus” from the conflict in Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky said yesterday.
Speaking at a briefing in Kyiv with visiting European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, Mr Zelensky said: “It’s clear that the war in the Middle East is taking away the focus” from Ukraine.
He added that Russia wanted the world’s attention on Vladimir Putin’s invasion in Ukraine to be “weakened”, but added that “everything is in our powers”.
Maroosha Muzaffar5 November 2023 07:06
Italian PM Giorgia Meloni tells pranksters posing as diplomats of ‘fatigue’ on all sides over Ukraine war
Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni told Russian pranksters posing as African diplomats that there is “a lot of fatigue” over the war in Ukraine.
In a 13-minute recording released by pranksters “Vova and Lexus”, Ms Meloni claimed that Kyiv’s counteroffensive “didn’t change the destiny of the conflict” and that the time is approaching when Europe will “need a way out”.
The Italian PM believed she was speaking to senior African Union officials in the call on 18 September, a day before the United Nations General Assembly in New York, but her office later admitted that she “had been deceived”.
Tom Watling5 November 2023 07:00
House speaker lays out conditions for Republicans to support Ukraine aid
Mike Johnson says that Ukraine aid must be coupled with security for the US-Mexico border.
You can read the full report below.
Tom Watling5 November 2023 06:00
Trump’s shadow looms large over Congress battle that could define Ukraine war
The timing could not be worse. Just as Ukraine is fighting to repel one of the fiercest Russian onslaughts since the war began, so fears emerge that US support to Kyiv could be severely undermined by Republicans loyal to the former president, says Askold Krushelnycky
Tom Watling5 November 2023 05:00
Beloved Russian singer who criticized Ukraine war returns home. The church calls for her apology
The Russian Orthodox Church has called for an apology from Alla Pugacheva, the country’s most renowned pop singer who returned home this week, over her criticism of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
You can read the full report below.
Tom Watling5 November 2023 04:00
Ukraine plans massive winter drone campaign to ‘devastate’ bogged-down Russian invaders
Exclusive: The second winter of the conflict is almost here and Ukraine’s forces are marching into more grinding warfare. But faced with freezing temperatures, Kyiv and its expert drone pilots still hope to bring home a lot to celebrate, a senior general tells Arpan Rai
Tom Watling5 November 2023 03:00
Ukraine minister says he wants to turn his country into a weapons production hub for the West
Ukraine’s newly appointed head of defense industry says he is working tirelessly to ramp up local arms production and wants to turn the country into a weapons production hub for the West.
Oleksandr Kamysyhin, the minister for strategic industries of Ukraine, said that Russia’s invasion of his country and the Israel-Hamas war raging in the Middle East have highlighted the need for countries to spend on their defense systems.
“We’re really focusing on making Ukraine the arsenal of the free world,” Kamyshin told The Associated Press in an interview late Friday.
You can read the full story below.
Tom Watling5 November 2023 02:00
Musk-endorsed X war account spreading ‘pro-Russian propaganda’
An anonymous X/Twitter account that was boosted by Elon Musk was set up by a 24-year-old US military veteran who used it to spread “pro-Russian propaganda”, according to a private Ukrainian intelligence firm.
The @sentdefender account gained hundreds of thousands of followers after being endorsed by Mr Musk on 8 October for its coverage of the Israeli-Hamas war, and puts out dozens of daily posts on the widening Middle East conflict and the war in Ukraine.
You can read the full story below.
Tom Watling5 November 2023 01:00
