Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 1,364

On Wednesday, November 19, 2018, this is how things are going.

Fighting

• Authorities in Kharkiv, the second-largest city in Ukraine, reported that five people were hurt in an apartment building as a result of Russian drone strikes on two central districts, Slobidskyi and Osnovyansk, which set off a fire.
• Ihor Terekhov, the mayor of Kharkiv, reported that 22 residents had been evacuated from one section of the damaged apartment complex, while another drone struck a medical facility, injuring a doctor, and causing damage to the building and nearby cars.
• Oleh Syniehubov, the governor of the Kharkiv region, claimed that in total, seven people were hurt in the attack thanks to 11 drones deployed.
• On Wednesday morning, Russia’s civil aviation authority announced that it was temporarily halting flights at the southern Russian airport, citing only the safety of the situation.
• On Tuesday, the city’s mayor reported that four Ukrainian drones were shot down by Russian air defenses on their way to Moscow. Russia’s aviation watchdog reported that Sheremetyevo and Vnukovo, Russia’s two biggest airports, temporarily stopped all air traffic before later reopening.
• In the Donetsk region, which is under Russian control, Ukrainian drone attacks have seriously damaged the power grid. About 65 percent of local residents were without power, according to Denis Pushilin, the self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic’s head, who was appointed by Moscow.
• The commander of Ukraine’s drone forces claimed that Ukraine attacked two thermal power stations in Donetsk, which is located in the Russian-occupied territory. Major Robert Brovdi claimed that his forces had struck the Starobeshivska and Zuivska power plants.
• Ukraine called it a “significant development” when it used ATACMS missiles from the United States to attack Russian military installations. The military continued to use long-range strike capabilities, including systems like ATACMS, according to a statement from the military.
• According to his ministry’s outlet, Zvezda, Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov regularly inspects troops fighting in eastern Ukraine. Belousov presented awards to military personnel in a video posted by Zvezda.

military assistance

• To help Ukraine maintain its current Patriot missile air defense systems, the Trump administration approved a $ 105 million deal. Upgrades to M901 and M903 launchers, which can simultaneously fire more missiles, are included in the sale.
• Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced on Tuesday that Spain will provide Ukraine with a new $ 710 million military aid package.
• Along with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Sanchez said, “Your fight is ours,” adding that Vladimir Putin’s “neoimperialism” aims to “weaken the European project and everything it stands for.”

Regional security

• Members of parliament expressed concern that the United Kingdom lacks a strategy for defending itself from military assault, and that at least 13 locations have been identified as new manufacturing facilities, according to a report.
• Authorities have located two Ukrainian nationals, according to Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who had a history of colliding with Russia and caused an explosion on a Ukrainian railway line.
• According to Tusk, “the most crucial information is that we have located the perpetrators of the sabotage,” according to Tusk. We are certain that the railroad infrastructure violation and the rail explosion attempt were made with the intention to end railroad traffic.

• After Warsaw placed the explosion on a railroad en route to Ukraine on the hands of two Ukrainian citizens who it claimed were being recruited by Russian intelligence, Poland was accused of succumbing to Russian xandria.
• Soldiers from the NATO alliance gathered in Nowa Deba, Poland, to practice counterdrone skills on Tuesday. They included members from the US, the UK, and Romania.
• According to a draft document that the Reuters news agency saw, the European Commission will make a new proposal to accelerate the development and purchase of cutting-edge defense technologies.

Ceasefire

• Zelenskyy promised to “reactivate” the diplomatic dialogue to put an end to the Russian-Russian conflict. Later, Selenskyy announced that he would travel to Turkiye on Wednesday to try to resume discussions with Russia about ending the Ukrainian conflict.
• Since their July meeting in Istanbul, there haven’t been any face-to-face discussions between Kyiv and Moscow.
• Another Ukrainian official involved in the meeting’s preparations, according to the AFP news agency, Steve Witkoff, a US special envoy, is scheduled to attend the discussions with Zelenskyy in Turkiye.
• At the UN climate conference in Brazil, Ukrainian deputy minister for economy, environment, and agriculture Pavlo Kartashov announced that the country plans to receive $ 43 billion in climate compensation from Russia to support a planet-friendly rebuild.
• The climate shockwaves of this aggression will be felt far beyond our borders and into the future, according to Kartashov, who lives in Ukraine directly.

diplomacy and politics

• A major opposition party physically prevented lawmakers from removing two ministers from parliament on Tuesday because of a corruption investigation and demanded that the entire cabinet be removed.
• Zelenskyy traveled to Spain for one day on Tuesday, and he got to see Pablo Picasso’s Guernica, a painting that depicts the horrors of war, and specifically the German and Italian forces’ bombardment of civilian targets.

Economy

• Rostec, a Russian state conglomerate, reported that as a result of the Ukraine war, domestic orders had fallen by half since 2022. Russia’s defense exports were second only to the US in the world up until 2022, but the volumes dropped because we had to give our army the majority of our production, Rostec CEO Sergey Chemezov told reporters.
• As Moscow looks for new revenue sources to boost its economy during its nearly four-year conflict with Ukraine, Russian lawmakers on Tuesday approved new tax increases. The State Duma, the lower house of parliament, gave the crucial second reading to a bill increasing the value-added tax from 20% to 22%.

Sanctions

• According to sources with knowledge of the situation, US oil company Exxon Mobil and rival Chevron Corp are considering options to purchase shares of sanctioned Russian oil company Lukoil’s international assets.
• According to the sources, Exxon is considering options for Lukoil assets in Kazakhstan, where both the US and the Russian company own stakes in the Karachaganak and Tengiz fields. Another partner in these assets, Chevron, is also researching purchase options.