Situation as of 8:00 a.m. on November 06, 2023
- Heavy fighting continues on the front line. The Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Valerii Zaluzhnyi in an article for The Economist explained that the war with Russia is moving to a new stage of positional warfare. Ukraine needs additional means to achieve air superiority, break through minefields, and build up capabilities for electronic warfare in order to achieve success.
- On November 4, the Armed Forces of Ukraine launched a missile attack on a shipyard in Kerch. A Russian small missile ship that was being completed at this facility was probably damaged as a result of the attack.
- Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that he does not consider the situation on the front lines to be in a ‘stalemate’ and that he is not under pressure from EU or US leaders to engage in negotiations with Russia. Earlier, NBC News released an article suggesting that officials from the United States and the European Union have started discussing the possibility of peace talks with Russia.
- President Putin, signed a law withdrawing Russia’s ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty.
- According to the OCHA’s Director of the Coordination Division Ramesh Rajasingham, currently, approximately 18 million people – over 40 percent of Ukraine’s total population – are in need of some form of humanitarian assistance.
OPERATIONAL SITUATION
Russian troops continue attempts to break through the defense line of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Kupyansk and Avdiivka directions. Ukrainian forces are holding the line and continuing limited active operations in various areas of the front.
In general, heavy positional battles continue at the front, in which neither side can achieve a large-scale breakthrough of the enemy’s defense. This was noted by the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valerii Zaluzhnyi. In an article for The Economist, he explained that the war with Russia is moving to a new stage of positional warfare, which includes static and exhausting battles. To resume rapid maneuver warfare, Ukraine needs air superiority, means to break through minefields, build up capabilities for electronic warfare and prepare the necessary reserves.
Under these conditions, personnel reshuffles are taking place in the military command of Ukraine. On November 3, the change of the commander of the Special Operations Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine was announced.
The Armed Forces of Ukraine and Russian troops continue to exchange strikes, using various means of destruction.
On the evening of October 31, the Ukrainian military hit railway tanks with fuel in Donetsk. On November 4, they launched a missile attack on a shipyard in Kerch. The small missile ship “Askold”, which was being completed on the territory of the plant, was probably damaged as a result of the attack.
On November 3, the Russian military launched a missile attack on a unit of the 128th Mountain Assault Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as a result of which more than 20 Ukrainian servicemen were killed. In addition, during the week, strikes were carried out on a shipyard in the Odesa region, an oil refinery in the Poltava region, a military facility in the Ivano-Frankivsk region, a critical infrastructure facility in the Lviv region, an infrastructure facility near the Dnipro and the territory of the Kharkiv region. An attempt was made to hit the bases of Ukrainian aircraft in the Khmelnytskyi region. On the night of November 6, the Russian Federation launched an attack on the southern regions of Ukraine using drones and various types of missiles, including targeting the port infrastructure of Odesa region.
The losses of civilians as a result of Russian shelling during the week in the Donetsk region amounted to at least 2 people killed and 12 people wounded. On the territory of the Kherson region the losses of civilians during the week amounted to at least 8 people killed and 50 people wounded. In Kharkiv region 1 person was killed and 13 people were injured as a result of the actions of the Russian military. In Dnipropetrovsk region 1 person was killed and 4 people were injured as a result of shelling. In Poltava region 1 person was killed and several people were injured. 8 people were injured in Odesa region.
HUMANITARIAN SITUATION, POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTS
According to the OCHA’s Director of the Coordination Division Ramesh Rajasingham, currently, approximately 18 million people – over 40 percent of Ukraine’s total population – are in need of some form of humanitarian assistance. Ten million people also remain internally displaced within the country or as refugees in other countries. One of the most significant challenges is the lack of humanitarian access to the areas of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk, and Zaporizhia regions under temporary military control of the Russian Federation, affecting nearly four million people, especially with the approach of winter.
In the report from the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, it was confirmed that the rocket strike on the village of Groza in the Kharkiv region on October 5th was carried out by the Russian army, and all 59 casualties were civilians.
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dmytro Kuleba, stated that President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky is considering the possibility of holding presidential elections in the spring of 2024. Currently, conducting elections during a state of war is prohibited by Ukrainian legislation. The election process will be complicated by security issues, the inability for people in the occupied territories to vote, and the situation of refugees abroad.
The International Court of Arbitration in The Hague has fully satisfied the lawsuit of Rinat Akhmetov’s DTEK company against Russia for seized assets in the unlawfully annexed Crimea. The arbitration demands Russia to pay the Ukrainian company compensation for damages in the amount of $267 million.
FOREIGN POLICY AND INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT
The President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy had meetings with the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, who was visiting Kyiv. The leaders discussed Ukraine’s accession to the EU, the implementation of the recommendations of the European Commission, the introduction of necessary reforms, as well as the introduction of a new EU sanctions package against Russia, strengthening defense and financial support.
During a press conference following the meeting, Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that he does not consider the situation on the front lines to be deadlocked and that he is not under pressure from the leaders of the European Union or the United States to bring Ukraine to the negotiating table with Russia. Earlier, NBC News released an article in which officials from the United States and the European Union began discussing the possibility of peaceful negotiations with Ukraine and Russia.
In addition, during the week, Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with the Minister of Defense of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Kajsa Ollongren, and received a bipartisan delegation from the United States Congress, including James French Hill, Michael Quigley, and Stephen Lynch, who were visiting Ukraine. Also, the President of Ukraine had telephone conversations during the week with the Prime Minister of Bulgaria, Nikolay Denkov, with the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, and with the Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Mark Rutte.
The Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Valeriy Zaluzhnyy, explained in an article for The Economist that the war with Russia is entering a new phase of positional warfare. To address the situation, Ukraine needs the means to gain an advantage in the air, break through minefields, and enhance its capabilities in electronic warfare.
International partners continue to strengthen Ukraine’s capabilities in its fight against Russia, providing new packages of military and defense assistance. The United States government is allocating a new security and defense assistance package to Ukraine with a total amount of $425 million, including additional ammunition for NASAMS and HIMARS anti-aircraft missile systems, artillery shells, TOW anti-tank missiles, Javelin anti-tank systems, AT-4, ammunition, and other weapons to strengthen Ukraine’s air defense system in the long term. Germany has provided Ukraine with a new package of military assistance to combat Russian aggression, including armored personnel carriers, Primoco ONE 150 reconnaissance drones, search radar detection and correction stations TRML-4D, AMAP missile defense systems, and more. Sweden has provided self-propelled artillery units Archer. In turn, the Netherlands will provide Ukraine with a new package of military assistance worth 500 million euros, including artillery and tank ammunition.
In addition, the European Investment Bank (EIB) will allocate 450 million euros to Ukraine for the restoration of critical social and urban infrastructure and investments in critical water infrastructure in war-affected areas.
Cyprus has become the 30th country to join the Vilnius Declaration of the Group of Seven on security guarantees for Ukraine.
On November 2, a conference “A Wider, Stronger Union – Preparing the EU for Enlargement and Candidate Countries” was held in Berlin, attended by foreign ministers of EU member states and candidate countries. During the event, the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Dmytro Kuleba, emphasized the importance of EU enlargement, including granting membership to Ukraine, which will only strengthen the capabilities of the Union.
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law on the withdrawal of ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty. This step, along with new tests of nuclear weapon delivery systems, once again confirms the Kremlin’s plans to use nuclear weapons as a means of international relations, posing a threat of nuclear escalation.
On November 2, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) imposed new sanctions against hundreds of individuals and entities in Russia, China, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates involved in the production of Russian weapons used against Ukraine.
The information in the newsletter 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.