Russian invasion of Ukraine: Day 628

Summary for Monday, 13th November 2023 - DAY 628

• Three Russian FSB intelligence officers were killed in an explosion carried out as an “act of revenge’” by the local resistance in Russian-occupied Melitopol, Ukraine’s defence intelligence said. The three men were meeting at a post office used as a military headquarters, Ukrainian intelligence said.
  
  
• Reports said Russians fighting on the side of Ukraine killed a colonel of Moscow’s FSB security service in an ambush in Russia’s Bryansk oblast. The Kyiv Post and Ukrainska Pravda cited Ukrainian intelligence sources, Russian Telegram channels and the pro-Ukraine Russian Volunteer Corps or RDK, which circulated a video that it said showed the surprise attack.
  
  
• Russia has accused Kyiv of other attacks on border regions. On Sunday, Russia said there had been a series of attacks in Bryansk and Belgorod, damaging five train carriages and causing one injury. Russian investigators said a freight train derailment in Russia’s Ryazan oblast was caused by a homemade bomb on the line. Russian officials have previously blamed pro-Ukrainian saboteurs for several attacks on the country’s railway system.
  
  
• The head of Ukraine’s ground forces said Russian troops had begun a push to regain territory near Bakhmut. A military spokesperson said Russian attacks on the shattered eastern town of Avdiivka had eased in the past day, but were likely to intensify again.
  
  
• Ukraine presidential aide Andriy Yermak said on Sunday that he had arrived in the US with a delegation headed by the economy minister for talks on cooperation and support. “I will have meetings in the White House, Congress, thinktanks and with representatives of civil society organisations,” Yermak said.
  
  
• Germany’s defence minister on Sunday announced Berlin would double its 2024 military aid for Ukraine to €8bn (US$8.5bn). “This is a strong signal to Ukraine, showing we are not giving up on it” when international attention is focused on the Israel-Hamas war, Boris Pistorius told television channel ARD.
  
  
• Volodymyr Zelenskiy has warned Ukrainians to prepare for new waves of Russian attacks on infrastructure as winter approaches, saying that troops were anticipating an onslaught in the eastern theatre of the war.
  
  
• The United States will treat Russia as a full participant in this week’s Asia-Pacific summit in San Francisco, despite US efforts to isolate Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine, a senior official said Sunday. With a visit by President Vladimir Putin politically unthinkable, deputy prime minister Alexei Overchuk will represent Russia at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit. “He’s being treated as the head of delegation, and he’ll have the opportunity to participate fully in the week’s events,” Matt Murray, the state department official in charge of Apec, told AFP.
  
  
• In Kyiv, veterans and family of Ukrainian servicemen held a rally calling for legislation regulating the length of active military duty in Ukraine.
  
  
• Large elements of the Wagner mercenary group have likely been assimilated into the command structure of Russian national guard (Rosgvardiya), the UK defence ministry said in an intelligence briefing. The Wagner arm in the Rosgvardiya is likely being led by Pavel Prigozhin, son of the late Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, who was killed in a plane crash shortly after Wagner fighters captured the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don and marched on Moscow – acts that Vladimir Putin declared “treason”.
  
  
• Three people were killed in Russian attacks on the Donetsk oblast, acting regional governor Ihor Moroz said on Telegram. Two people were killed in Toretsk, where 30 houses, an infrastructure facility and an administrative building were damaged in Russian attacks. One person was killed in Minkivka.
  
  
• A 64-year-old man was killed and his wife hospitalised after the Russian shelling of Dnipro district of the city of Kherson, according to regional governor Oleksandr Prokudin.
  

At least three Russian officers killed in Melitopol by blast

Two Russian state news agencies published alerts on Monday saying Moscow was moving troops to “more favourable positions” east of the Dnipro River in Ukraine, only to withdraw the information minutes later.

‘We save 98% of our patients’: Inside a frontline Ukrainian field hospital

Medics work in makeshift conditions, even while targeted by Russian bombs, to stabilise patients before they can be taken to hospitals

In a field hospital on the eastern front all was calm. And then, suddenly, it wasn’t. A casualty arrived. It was a badly wounded Ukrainian soldier. An enemy mortar had landed nearby, leaving him with shrapnel wounds. Within seconds a team of medics got to work. Their operating theatre was in a former apartment, now functioning as a clinic. Children’s drawings with patriotic messages – Glory to Ukraine! – hung on the wall.
The unconscious patient was transferred on to an operating table. He looked more dead than alive. Doctors gave emergency transfusions of blood and plasma. A paramedic cut away his uniform. Another bandaged his left leg. A third gave him a shot of fentanyl, a powerful painkiller. A heart monitor beeped. Outside were regular whumps from outgoing Ukrainian artillery. The frontline with the Russians was 5km away.

Large elements of the Wagner mercenary group have probably been assimilated into Russia’s Rosgvardiya national guard and resumed active treatment as of late October

The UK’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) has described reports from September that up to 15% of Russian troops in Ukraine were using drugs as “credible”

In September 2023, independent Russian media outlet Vertska reported that up to 15% of Russian soldiers in Ukraine were using drugs, including amphetamines and cannabis, and that they were easy to obtain even on the frontline.
These reports are credible and follow numerous reports since the invasion of a high rate of disciplinary incidents, crimes and deaths related to alcohol abuse amongst the Russian force.
Russian commanders likely frequently punish drug and alcohol abusers by posting them to Storm-Z assault detachments, which have effectively become penal units.
One of the core drivers of poor Russian discipline and substance abuse likely remains the continued lack of opportunity for combat troops to rotate away from the frontline.

A two-month-old baby has been injured, with a 36-year-old woman suffering serious injuries, and a 64-year-old man killed after a car was struck by a shell on the outskirts of the city of Kherson

Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, has called for an increase in military aid to Ukraine, decisions to be made in December on the start of negotiations on Ukraine’s accession to the EU, and to speed up work on the 12th package of sanctions against Russia

We must always remember who is the main actor in the Russian-Ukrainian war. Whose actions set the direction of European history. Whose success will ensure the victory of Ukraine and the whole of Europe. This is a Ukrainian infantryman.
All types of troops are important, but only when an infantryman takes another landing or enters a village, they are considered released, and this, in the end, changes the situation on the frontline, then media headlines, and later political decisions.

Russian shelling in Kherson has injured at least 12 people

Save Ukraine, an organisation which focuses on rescuing Ukraine’s most vulnerable people, has said its rescuers have successfully evacuated over 108,880 people from the frontlines since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Russia has jailed an ally of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny while she is being tried for alleged “extremism”, her associates have said

Polish trucking representatives have said the latest talks with Ukrainian officials had failed to end a dispute over what they call unfair competition from the neighbouring country’s businesses

Drone Attack Hits Key Russian Missile Weapons Plant in Kolomna

Ukrainian lawmaker Dubinsky charged with High Treason, linked to Russian subversive group

Security Service sources told Kyiv Post that a Verkhovna Rada member is implicated in a high treason case against Ukraine for spreading false info about the higher political and military leadership.

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) press service said a Verkhovna Rada Deputy, a member of Ukraine's parliament, is under suspicion of treason following a joint agency investigation that included recent searches of his residence.
While the SBU does not explicitly name Oleksandr Dubinsky, Kyiv Post's sources from law enforcement agencies confirm his alleged involvement. Blurred photos accompanying the report purportedly suggest Dubinsky’s identity.
On Monday, Nov. 13, The Security Service of Ukraine and the State Bureau of Investigation (DBR) conducted new searches of Dubinsky’s home, according to Kyiv Post's sources.
The sources indicated his alleged involvement in a case of high treason. However, earlier they refrained from disclosing details of the criminal proceeding, including whether the deputy had been formally notified of suspicion under Ukrainian law.

In its latest release, the SBU stated that the People’s Deputy has engaged in information gathering and subversive activities benefiting Russia. According to investigation materials, he operated under the call sign “Buratino” (“Pinocchio”) and was part of a criminal organization formed by the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces (GRU).
“The main task of this organization is to destabilize the socio-political situation in Ukraine and discredit our state in the international arena,” the report said.

Members of the group allegedly received over $10 million in financing from the military intelligence of the Russian Federation. The SBU documented that Dubinsky spread false information about the high-level political and military leadership of Ukraine.
One notable instance of disinformation was Dubinsky’s spread of fake news about the alleged interference of Ukrainian high-ranking officials in the 2020 US presidential elections, according to the SBU [although the SBU Telegram post said it was the 2019 election – ed.].
The investigation revealed that the criminal organization was created by the deputy head of the Russian GRU, Volodymyr Alekseev. His deputy, Oleksiy Savin, managed the enemy group from Russian territory.

The hostile group also included former Ukrainian lawmaker Andriy Derkach, who fled abroad on the eve of Russia’s full-scale invasion. The organization’s subversive activities in Kyiv were allegedly coordinated by Derkach’s ex-assistant, and former GRU employee during the USSR, Ihor Kolesnikov, who is currently serving a sentence for treason.

Former prosecutor Kostyantyn Kulyk, known by the nickname “Ptychka” (a diminutive form of “Bird”), also part of the network, is currently evading justice abroad.

The Prosecutor General informed Dubinsky of suspicion under two articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine:

• Part 1 of Art. 111 (treason)
  
• Part 1 of Art. 255 (creation, management of a criminal community or criminal organization, as well as participation in it).
  

GRU employees Alekseev and Savin, former People’s Deputy Derkach, and ex-prosecutor Kulyk were also informed of suspicion under the same articles.
The issue of the election of People’s Deputy Dubinsky as a precautionary measure is being resolved. “The perpetrators face up to 15 years with confiscation of property,” the SBU added.

On Nov. 1, law enforcement officers had already conducted a search of the deputy’s home, a fact denied by Dubinsky himself. Subsequently, he faced charges related to a scheme involving the departure from Ukraine of conscription evaders, leading to a court order on Nov. 6 placing Dubinsky under 24-hour house arrest.

Additionally, on Nov. 8, Dubinsky received a “protocol on corruption,” an administrative notification from the DBR that they had evidence pointing to his alleged misuse of power to be granted travel abroad while martial law is in effect.
In early August, the SBU and the DBR had conducted investigations of Dubinsky concerning the circumstances and legality of his travel abroad during martial law. Investigators looked at how he managed to sign and send official documents, including to state authorities, while abroad.

By Aug. 9, Dubinsky was informed of suspicion regarding the official forgery under Part 1 of Article 366 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, a specific legal prosecution step in Ukraine like an indictment.

The following day, the Pechersk District Court of Kyiv imposed a “preventive measure on him in the form of a personal commitment” for a period of 2 months, which included requiring him to wear an electronic bracelet, to avoid any attempt to flee the country. Essentially this placed Dubinsky under house arrest.

On Nov. 10, the DBR reported the completion of the pre-trial investigation against Dubinsky on suspicion of forging documents.

In 2019, investigative journalists at Bihus.info disclosed findings suggesting Dubinsky held numerous apartments and vehicles. The investigators claimed that over a two-year span, the Dubinsky family acquired 24 apartments, 17 cars, including a Maserati and a collection of Mercedes vehicles, two houses, and 70 acres of land. The total estimated value of these assets amounted to $2.5 million, significantly exceeding the family’s official income.

Dubinsky asserted that his properties were acquired legitimately, with income being drawn from his roles as a producer, presenter, and shareholder of the 1+1 TV channel.

This case is just one of several controversies in Dubinsky’s political career, which began after his journalism tenure and before his election as a deputy from a district in the Kyiv region.

In January 2021, Dubinsky, alongside six other Ukrainian citizens, faced US sanctions for disseminating disinformation aimed at influencing the US presidential election. The US State Department alleges he was involved in a “Russia-linked disinformation network” attempting to influence the 2020 election outcome.

In response to the sanctions, the Ukrainian lawmaker stated, “I have never interfered in elections in other countries, including American elections.”

In February 2021, the Servant of the People party in the parliament expelled Dubinsky following the US State Department’s imposition of sanctions against him. While urged to voluntarily leave the party, Dubinsky declined to do so.

Closing summary

• Hungary will block the disbursement of the next tranche of military aid to Ukraine under the European Peace Facility (EPF) until Kyiv provides “guarantees” that OTP bank or other Hungarian firms will not be blacklisted as “international sponsors of war”, the country’s foreign minister said.
  
  
• Russian shelling on Monday damaged a hospital and homes in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson, killing three people and injuring at least 12, local governor Oleksandr Prokudin said.
  
  
• Germany’s aid for Ukraine will be “massively expanded” next year, the country’s foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, said. She said: “We will not only continue our support for Ukraine, we will continue to expand and increase it, especially on the part of the Federal Republic of Germany, not only with a view to the winter defence for the coming weeks and months, when it is clear that the Russian president will once again exploit the needs of the people in the cold winter. “Our support will also be massively expanded, especially for the coming year.”
  
  
• At least three Russian officers were killed in the Moscow-controlled Ukrainian city of Melitopol in a blast Ukraine’s intelligence said was an “act of revenge” by local resistance groups.