The situation as of 8:00 a.m. on November 17, 2022
OPERATIONAL SITUATION
On November 15, Russian troops launched the most massive missile attack on the territory of Ukraine since the beginning of the full-scale invasion (96 missiles in total). Despite the successful work of air defense, the scope of the attack allowed to cause significant damage to the Ukrainian energy system. Two Ukrainian nuclear power plants, Khmelnytskyi and Rivne NPPs, lost access to power supply for a while. As a result of a rocket explosion in the border region of Poland 2 civilians were killed. Part of Moldova was also left without electricity due to Russian military shelling.
At the frontline Russian troops are trying to prevent the continuation of the counteroffensive of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the south and intensify attacks in Donetsk region. The most active fighting is taking place near Bakhmut and Avdiivka.
Luhansk direction
Positional fighting continues in the Luhansk direction. Russian troops are trying to prevent further advance of the Ukrainian Armed Forces towards Svatove and Kreminna.
Donetsk direction
Russian troops continue attacks near Bakhmut, Avdiivka and Vuhledar. According to the Institute for the Study of War, it is likely that the personnel reserves that became available after the retreat from the bridgehead on the right bank of the Dnipro will be redeployed to this direction. It is expected that they will be involved in operations around Bakhmut, Donetsk and in the west of Donetsk region.
Shelling of civilian infrastructure in Donetsk region continues, including in the cities that have recently been liberated from occupation. During November 14–16 at least 2 people were killed and 12 people were wounded in the region.
Ukrainian Armed Forces strike at the positions of Russian troops and their logistics facilities. For example, on November 14, the control point of one of the Russian units in Horlivka was hit.
Zaporizhzhia direction
Russian military continue to strengthen their positions on the temporarily occupied territory of Zaporizhzhia region. They also carry out missile attacks on Zaporizhzhia and its suburbs. On November 15, the headquarters of a Russian unit was destroyed in Melitopol.
Kherson direction
Ukrainian Armed Forces maintain fire control over logistics and military facilities on the left bank of Dnipro River in Kherson region. In particular, only on November 14, Ukrainian military destroyed an ammunition depot, air defense systems and surface-to-air missile systems near Oleshky. Therefore, there is evidence that the main forces of the Russian troops are withdrawing 15-20 km away from the Dnipro bank to protect themselves from the shelling of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
Shelling of Ukrainian territory
On the afternoon of November 15, Russia launched the most massive missile attack against Ukraine since the beginning of the full-scale invasion. It targeted critical infrastructure facilities. The Air Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine state that the Russian Federation attacked Ukraine with 96 cruise and aviation missiles, Iranian Shahed attack drones and other drones. The Ukrainian air defense system demonstrated high efficiency, destroying 80% of the missiles.
However, some missiles hit targets on the territory of Ukraine. As a result, 30 infrastructure facilities, including energy infrastructure, were damaged; several nuclear power units at Khmelnytskyi and Rivne NPPs were shut down due to the missile strike and the resulting power outages. A number of cities were left without heating, electricity and water supply. In his evening address, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi said that about 10 million Ukrainians were left without electricity due to Russian shelling. According to Energy Minister Herman Galushchenko, the massive shelling of the energy infrastructure by Russian troops may also affect the energy systems of some neighboring countries—it is reported that part of Moldova was left without electricity.
In addition to missile attacks, Russian troops continue artillery shelling of the border and frontline territories of Ukraine. Mortar and artillery attacks on Chernihiv and Sumy regions from the territory of the Russian Federation are ongoing. In particular, on November 14, Russian troops struck at critical infrastructure in Sumy region; according to preliminary information, at least 3 people were injured. The shelling of Nikopol and Marhanets in Dnipropetrovsk region continues. The shelling of Kharkiv region does not stop, with at least 2 people wounded in recent days.
HUMANITARIAN SITUATION
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights updated the data on civilian casualties as a result of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. As of November 14, the confirmed casualties amount to 16,631 people (6,557 killed, 10,074 wounded). According to the Prosecutor General’s Office, as of the morning of November 16, the number of children in Ukraine affected by the full-scale Russian invasion has increased to 1,266 (431 children killed, 835 injured). According to the governmental platform Children of War, as of November 13, 11129 children were deported, 280 went missing. So far, 103 children have been returned to Ukraine.
Ukrainian investigators discovered a torture chamber in the recently liberated city of Kherson. During the occupation, the Russian military kept there dozens of people who refused to cooperate with them or were accused of partisan activities. According to the Security Service of Ukraine, during the inspection of the torture chamber, law enforcement officers found items that directly indicate signs of torture. Another torture chamber was found on the territory of a farm in Kharkiv region.
Also, law enforcement officers continue exhumation actions in the liberated territories of Ukraine. In Kherson region, the bodies of a local farming couple, who were allegedly killed by the Russian military in August 2022, were found. In the Kharkiv region, the bodies of at least 4 people have been found in recent days, one of them has signs of torture. They have now been sent for forensic medical examinations.
Ukrainian Deminers Association reported that Kherson region can potentially be the most mined region in the country, and Ukraine can take the first place in the world in terms of the number of victims of mines. In liberated Kherson, roads, bridges and buildings are mined; it may take years to clear them. In the city, one of the buildings of the Main Police Department of the region had to be blown up because it was impossible to demine it. The mine threat is also relevant in Kharkiv region, where at least 4 people have exploded on mines in recent days.
The Russian occupation administration reported that it continues the so-called “evacuation” which is the illegal deportation of local residents from Kherson region. Currently, people are being evacuated from the settlements on the left bank of the Dnipro River, located near the defense line of Russian troops.
Advisor to the mayor of the temporarily occupied Mariupol Petro Andriushchenko stated that the city is facing an acute problem with the lack of heat supply. Civilians leave inscriptions on the buildings of the city asking to save them from the cold.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi informed about the devastating consequences of Russian aggression for the ecosystem. He noted that, according to official data, the Russian invasion has damaged the environment, polluted thousands of hectares of fertile soil with harmful substances and the atmosphere by burning oil depots, killed 6 million livestock, destroyed at least 50 thousand dolphins in the Black Sea. In addition, millions of hectares of forests have been burned by shelling, almost 200 thousand hectares of land are contaminated with mines and unexploded ordnance.
Resistance
On November 14, the car of the head of one of the local occupation administrations Maksym Zubarev was blown up in the temporarily occupied territory of Zaporizhzhia region. However, Russian sources later denied his death.
In addition, an explosion occurred in the temporarily occupied Melitopol (Zaporizhzhia region) near the entrance of one of the houses where a representative of the occupation administration lives.
ECONOMIC SITUATION
Ukraine launches the humanitarian food program Grain from Ukraine, which envisages providing grain to at least 5 million people by the end of spring 2023. According to the program, Ukraine decided to direct part of the harvested wheat, which was going for export, to purchase for those African countries where there are already problems of hunger.
Ukraine resumed pumping Russian oil through the Druzhba pipeline in the direction of Hungary after technical works to repair the damage caused by the Russian missile strike on November 15.
On November 16, the Pechersk District Court of Kyiv arrested shares in strategic Ukrainian enterprises (in particular, Zhytomyroblenergo, Khersonoblenergo, Kirovohradoblenergo, Chernivtsioblenergo and Rivneoblenergo) and securities, the ultimate owners of which are Russian citizens—State Duma deputy Alexander Babakov, member of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs Yevgeny Giner and the so-called “thief in law” Mikhail Voevodin. Such actions are aimed at countering Russian subversive activities, which for years have been part of the strategy of hybrid aggression against Ukraine.
POLITICAL AND DIPLOMATIC EVENTS
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi visited Kherson on November 14. He took part in the official ceremony of raising the State Flag in the recently liberated city and presented awards to the Ukrainian military.
On November 15, an explosion occurred in the Polish village of Przewodów, located near the border with Ukraine, killing 2 people. The Polish Foreign Ministry stated that a Russian-made missile fell on Polish territory. However, after consultations with international partners, Poland stressed that there is no concrete evidence that the missile was launched by the Russian military. The North Atlantic Alliance noted that a Ukrainian air defense missile, fired as part of repelling a massive Russian missile attack, probably fell in Poland. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg stressed that this incident is not Ukraine’s fault and emphasized that the Alliance will continue to assist in the creation of a multi-level air defense system of our country. During July 16, most NATO countries voiced a similar position. The U.S. considers Russia responsible for the explosion in Poland regardless of the ownership of the missile, as it was Russian troops who carried out a massive missile attack on Ukraine. Similar statements in support of Ukraine were made by Federal Chancellor of Germany Olaf Scholz and Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Rishi Sunak, Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell. Former Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevičius emphasized that Russia was responsible for the incident and must pay for its actions. The Ukrainian side demands to join the investigation of the incident, as it assumes that the missile that fell in Poland was fired by the Russian military.
On November 14, the UN General Assembly adopted the Resolution “Furtherance of remedy and reparation for aggression against Ukraine”, in which it called on Russia to pay reparations. The document was supported by 94 countries, only 13 states voted against it.
On November 15-16, the G20 leaders’ summit took place in Bali, Indonesia. President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi participated in the summit online. In his speech, the Head of State proposed a peace plan “10 Steps to Peace”, which primarily provides for the restoration of the territorial integrity of Ukraine. G20 leaders approved a joint declaration in which most of them reaffirmed their condemnation of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and expressed inadmissibility of the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons. They concluded that although the G20 is not a forum for solving security problems, these problems can have significant consequences for the global economy.
On the eve of the summit, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine appealed to the G20 countries to exclude Russia from its membership. Deputies note that Russia’s actions do not meet the goals and principles of the G20. Russian troops are exterminating the population of Ukraine, that has all the signs of genocide, as well as carrying out indiscriminate strikes on the Ukrainian energy infrastructure, which have an exclusively terrorist purpose. The Verkhovna Rada also called on the G20 countries to increase sanctions pressure on Russia, to step up economic, financial and security assistance to Ukraine, to support the aspirations of Ukraine, Türkiye and the UN to continue the Black Sea Grain Initiative.
On November 15, the Lower House of the Czech Parliament adopted a resolution calling the regime in Russia “terrorist”. The document condemns Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in particular attacks on energy infrastructure, and does not recognize the results of the pseudo-referendums, on the basis of which the Russian authorities attempted to annex part of Ukrainian territory. The deputies supported the initiative to establish a special international tribunal to prosecute crimes during the war and to conduct an investigation by the International Criminal Court.
Partners continue to provide military support to Ukraine. On November 16, a regular meeting in the Ramstein format was held. It confirmed the intentions of certain states to send additional weapons and ammunition to Ukraine. In particular, Canada announced the allocation of additional military assistance to Ukraine in the amount of $500 million. Sweden plans to provide Ukraine with a new package of military aid worth 3 billion kronor ($287 million), including an air defense system, off-road vehicles, winter equipment and protective gear, as well as tents.
The Croatian government is planning to approve the decision to transfer 14 Soviet Mi-8 helicopters of various modifications to Ukraine, in return for which it expects to receive more modern Black Hawk helicopters from the United States. Lithuania confirmed the transfer to Ukraine of a batch of M113 armored personnel carriers for various purposes (including those armed with 120-mm mortars).
On November 14, the U.S. expanded sanctions against Russia. New restrictions apply to a number of Russian oligarchs and companies involved in the procurement of Russian defense industry.
On November 16, the Competition Commission announced the start of the competition for the position of the head of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine. The launch of the process of electing a new head of the NABU is an important element of the implementation of anti-corruption reforms in Ukraine.
The information in the digest is collected from official sources—reports of state authorities of Ukraine, Ukrainian and international news agencies. The accuracy of the data is carefully checked by the project team and corrected in case of fake news.