Russian invasion of Ukraine: Day 640

Summary for Saturday, 25th November 2023 - DAY 640

Good morning

• Ukraine says Russia has launched a drone attack on Kyiv. According to Reuters, Ukraine is describing it as its biggest Shahed kamikaze drone attack yet on the country, saying it is primarily targeting Kyiv, according to Ukraine’s air force. Reuters witnesses in Kyiv heard drone engines and explosions throughout the night.
  
  
• Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy discussed “efforts to maintain European unity” in a call with outgoing Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte, after far-right politician Geert Wilders’ Party for Freedom (PVV) got the most votes in the Dutch election.
  
  
• Kajsa Ollongren, the Dutch defence minister, said she hoped military support to Kyiv would continue but also that she was worried due to the PVV’s stance on Ukraine.
  
  
• Robert Fico, Slovakia’s populist prime minister, said he considered the war between Ukraine and Russia a “frozen conflict”.
  
  
• The British Ministry of Defence said Russian forces in Ukraine continued to suffer mass casualties from Ukrainian long-range precision strikes well behind the frontline.
  
  
• Ukraine’s truckers’ union said hopes of a rapid end to Polish trucker protests at the border were fading.
  
  
• Finland temporarily closed all but one of its eight passenger crossings to Russia.
  
  
• The Finnish prime minister, Petteri Orpo, said the high flow of migrants via Russia must stop.
  
  
• The Ukrainian deputy prime minister, Olha Stefanishyna, said a veto of the country’s European aspirations at an EU summit next month “would be the irresponsibility of the others”.
  
  
• Plans to expand the Grain from Ukraine program further across Africa one year after its launch will be announced on Saturday by Zelenskiy, backed by the appointment of a new series of goodwill ambassadors including Charlotte Leslie, a former UK Conservative MP with deep contacts in the Middle East.
  
  
• The leaders of Canada and the European Union reiterated on Friday strong support for Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s invasion, while pledging to deepen coordination on climate efforts, according to the AFP news agency. “We will stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes,” the two sides said in a statement, pledging to “work to address Ukraine’s immediate military and defence needs and ensure Ukraine has the long-term security commitments needed”.
  
  
• A Ukrainian sea drone attack on Russia’s Crimean bridge in July had “overturned” naval operations and forced Moscow to resort to ferries to move weaponry, the head of Ukraine’s main intelligence agency said in a video broadcast on Friday, Reuters reported. Vasyl Maliuk, head of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), said the second of two major attacks in August had seriously disrupted operations on the 19-km (12-mile) bridge, Europe’s longest, and dented the notion of Russian invincibility. “We have practically overturned the philosophy of naval operations,” Maliuk said in the first of a series of televised documentaries titled “SBU, the Special Operations of Victory”.
  
  
• Russia views Moldova’s decision to join EU sanctions against it as a hostile step aimed at destroying ties with Moscow and will retaliate, the Russian foreign ministry said. The Russian denunciation on Friday was issued in response to a vote in Moldova’s parliament agreeing to abide by the punitive measures as part of measures to alter its legislation as required for its bid to join the European Union. “We regard this as yet another hostile step by the Moldovan leadership, which is fully integrated into the anti-Russian campaign of the ‘collective west’,” the ministry said in a statement.
  

Ukraine says overnight drone attack was largest of the war

Kremlin declares former Russian PM a 'foreign agent'

Russian woman films Crimean Bridge from her yacht: Ukraine's Security Service reveals details of special operation

The Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) made use of information shared by Russians on social media in its preparations for attacks on the Crimean Bridge.

• Ukrainian uncrewed surface vessels (USVs) attacked the Crimean Bridge in July 2023 and destroyed a Russian Sig oil tanker in the Kerch Strait and the Olenegorsky Gornyak, a large landing ship, in Novorossiysk Bay in August.
  
  
• Vasyl Maliuk, Head of the SSU, has said that USV production has been set up at an underground facility in Ukraine.
  

Ukraine's Armed Forces destroy dozens of Russian military vehicles in one day

Ukrainian defenders destroyed at least 18 artillery systems, 29 military vehicles and six Russian tanks over the course of 24 November.

• approximately 323,760 (+860) military personnel;
  
  
• 5,502 (+6) tanks;
  
  
• 10,263 (+7) armoured combat vehicles;
  
  
• 7,851 (+18) artillery systems;
  
  
• 905 (+1) multiple-launch rocket systems;
  
  
• 596 (+1) air defence systems;
  
  
• 323 (+0) fixed-wing aircraft;
  
  
• 324 (+0) helicopters;
  
  
• 5,808 (+8) tactical UAVs;
  
  
• 1,565 (+1) cruise missiles;
  
  
• 22 (+0) ships and boats;
  
  
• 1 (+0) submarines;
  
  
• 10,259 (+29) vehicles and tankers;
  
  
• 1,112 (+4) special vehicles and other equipment.
  

Russia's 'third wave' of assaults on Avdiivka faces problems

Russia's "third wave" of assaults on the eastern Donetsk town of Avdiivka is unlikely to lead to a rapid Russian advance in the area, a think tank has said.

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) a U.S.-based independent think tank, made the assessment in its latest analysis of the conflict in Ukraine on Friday. Ukrainian officials had said that Russian forces began a renewed offensive effort towards Avdiivka on November 22.
Clashes have been increasing in intensity near the town of Avdiivka, which has been described as the gateway to the city of Donetsk. Russia has poured in thousands of troops since October 10, as well as tanks and armored vehicles, in an attempt to seize Avdiivka. Moscow's forces have reportedly suffered high losses of troops and equipment. Newsweek has contacted Russia's Defense Ministry via email for comment.
Ukrainian commander Oleksandr Tarnavskyi said on his Telegram channel Thursday that Russian troops began a third wave of assaults on Avdiivka, and Tavriisk Group of Forces Commander Brigadier General Oleksandr Shtupun added that this "third wave" started on November 22.
The ISW said Russian forces likely renewed its push on the town with weaker mechanized capabilities than in the previous offensive waves that occurred in October.


A Ukrainian artilleryman carries a case for the propellant charge after firing a 2A36 Giatsint-B field gun toward Russian positions near Avdiivka in the Donetsk region on June 23, 2023. Russia has launched a “third wave” of assaults on Avdiivka, Ukrainian officials said. GENYA SAVILOV/AFP/Getty Images

The ISW added that Shtupun said that Ukrainian forces destroyed three Russian tanks and seven armored fighting vehicles on November 22.
This suggests that Russian forces are "currently conducting a smaller set of mechanized assaults than in October," the ISW said.
"Russian forces have lost a confirmed 197 damaged and destroyed vehicles in offensive operations near Avdiivka since October 9, and the Russian military appeared to spend the end of October and all of November preparing for a wave of highly attritional infantry-led ground assaults to compensate for these heavy-equipment losses," the think tank added.
The ISW said that large infantry-led ground assaults will likely pose a significant threat to Ukrainian forces defending in the Avdiivka direction but "will not lead to a rapid Russian advance in the area."
A Russian military officer also gave an interview to Russian media outlet RTVI this week, and said Ukraine is so far successfully repelling Russia's offensive on Avdiivka.
"They are completely holding back our offensive on Avdiivka," said military officer Roman Saponkov in the interview that was published on Thursday.
Independent Russian news website Pravda reported on Thursday that Russian forces detonated a 500-kilogram (about 1,100lb) explosive charge in a tunnel under a Ukrainian position. It said the powerful blast left Kyiv's military with no opportunity to push back against the advance, "and all the defensive fortifications of the Ukrainian Armed Forces were quickly captured by a Russian attack aircraft."
It is reportedly a new tactic recently adopted by Russia to get close to Ukrainian positions in Avdiivka.
"As for the Russians' tactics. Our war is often compared to World War I. On the Avdiivka front [the Russians] have started using the tactic of digging tunnels. They're digging them close to our positions. First, [this aids with] concealment. Second, they can then unexpectedly emerge close to our positions," Anton Kotsukon, spokesperson for Ukraine's 110th separate mechanized brigade, was quoted by Ukrainska Pravda, a Ukrainian online newspaper, as saying.

Power supply resumed in Kyiv after Russian attack overnight

DTEK repair crews have resumed power supply in Kyiv after Russian strikes overnight.

The Swiss president, Alain Berset, arrived in Kyiv on Saturday to meet his Ukrainian counterpart and attend an international summit on food security, he said in a post on X.

Russia lost 76 passenger aircraft due to sanctions

Russian Transport Minister Vitaly Savelyev has revealed that Russia has lost 76 passenger planes under sanctions imposed on the aviation industry.

• In October, Russia filed a complaint with the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) alleging violations of air traffic rules by Western countries.
  
  
• With Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, comprehensive sanctions were imposed on the Russian aviation industry, closing the airspace over many countries to Russian aircraft.
  
  
• However, the sanctions have had a more sensitive impact on the state of the aviation industry. Russian aircraft became unsafe to fly in 2023. Aviation incidents occur regularly.
  
  
• Nevertheless, most aircraft continue to fly, although they are cut off from essential software updates and maintenance necessary to guarantee their airworthiness.
  
  
• Meanwhile, Russia has resorted to concealing aircraft malfunctions.
  
  
• In particular, the Russian airline Aeroflot has issued an internal regulation requiring senior flight attendants to enter data on technical failures and malfunctions related to cabin equipment in the Cabin Log Book only if approved by the aircraft captain. The same policy exists at other Russian airlines.
  

Explosions heard near Kryvyi Rih

Explosions were heard in the suburbs of the city of Kryvyi Rih on the afternoon of 25 November.

Pictures show a school that was hit by Russia’s drone attack on Kyiv last night:

Ukraine said the overnight drone attack was the largest of the war so far.

Ukraine’s air force said it downed 74 of the 75 Russian attack drones that hit the country overnight

Russians launch 520 shells into Kherson region, casualty and wounded reported

The UK’s Ministry of Defence reports that Russia’s Black Sea fleet is facing issues reloading its vessels with cruise missiles.

 Traditionally, BSF has reloaded cruise missiles at Sevastopol in Crimea. With that facility increasingly held at risk by Ukrainian long range strikes, Russia will highly likely see Novorossiysk as the best alternative site.
However, relocating and reloading the missiles would require new delivery, storage, handling and loading processes.
On 13 November 2023, the Ukrainian military claimed that Russia has paused firing maritime cruise missiles because of ‘logistical problems’ at Novorossiysk.

Russia says it was 'caught off guard' after country 'loses' 76 planes

Ukraine now in full control of Kherson Oblast’s left bank, forcing Russians to flee from reinforced ‘Surovikin

Closing summary

• Ukraine faced its biggest drone attack of the war so far last night, according to Kyiv. Five people were wounded by falling debris in the capital city, including an 11-year-old child, and the attack led to power cuts.
  
  
• Ukraine’s air force said it shot down 71 of the 75 drones launched in the attack. “The enemy launched a record number of attack drones at Ukraine! The main direction of the attack is Kyiv,” the commander of Ukraine’s air force, Gen Mykola Oleshchuk, said.
  
  
• The former Russian prime minister turned Kremlin critic Mikhail Kasyanov has been added to a list of “foreign agents”, Russia’s justice ministry has announced. Kasyanov, who was the first head of Putin’s government in the early 2000s, now appears in the justice ministry’s register of foreign agents, a term reminiscent of the Soviet-era “enemy of the people”.
  
  
• The UK Ministry of Defence reported that Russia’s Black Sea fleet is facing issues reloading its vessels with cruise missiles. Russia will, the MoD said, need to overcome such issues “in time for maritime cruise missiles to be included in any winter campaign of strikes against Ukraine”.
  
  
• The Swiss president, Alain Berset, was in Kyiv to meet his Ukrainian counterpart and attend an international summit on food security. Latvia’s president, Edgars Rinkēvičs, was also in Ukraine – he met the country’s prime minister, Denys Shmyhal, and they discussed the progress of Ukraine’s integration into the EU.