Nov 22 Buonasera Mag
Day 272: Kherson Crimea Lavra EU gas ZNPP Iran Kazakhstan NATO HUN LUX RU terrorist state Canada bonds-A&Ps-Bondarenko Zelensky Carretta Zabrinsky Insider Sandu Satter Karnitschnig
Catching up…
EA Worldview’s Ukraine Up-date- hop over to Scott’s amazing hourly Ukraine up-date page. I’ll fill in with some bits and bobs.
Stories we’re following…
Official: Russian forces strike civilian infrastructure overnight in Kherson. There were no casualties due to Russian attacks on Kherson overnight on Nov. 21 and on the morning of Nov. 22, according to Deputy Head of the Kherson Oblast Council Yurii Sobolevskyi. “That is, in order for you to understand the scale and what we have to work with, almost all thermal and hydropower generation, if we are talking about large objects, were hit by rockets" , - said Volodymyr Kudrytskyi.
Missile strikes of the Russian Federation in Ukraine damaged almost all thermal power plants and large hydroelectric power stations, - reported the head of "Ukrenergo". "After the last attack, we have almost no thermal and hydropower plants left undamaged.
The Ukrainian government has been offering people from liberated Kherson free evacuations to regions with better infrastructure, as well as free accommodation. “Given the difficult security situation in the city and infrastructure problems, you can evacuate for the winter to safer regions of the country,” the deputy prime minister, Iryna Vereshchuk, said on the Telegram messaging app.
The head of the press center of the Defense Forces of the South of Ukraine, Natalia Gumenyuk, said that fighting was underway on the Kinburn Spit, and it was in the gray zone, but due to operational silence, it was not possible to reveal more details.
General Staff: Russia continues covert mobilization in occupied Crimea. In occupied Simferopol, the Russian-imposed administration continues to conscript people to meet quantitative mobilization indicators determined by the Kremlin, Ukraine's General Staff reported on Nov. 21.
Reznikov: Russia has used most of its high-precision missile arsenal in Ukraine. According to the data published by Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov, Russia has 119 Iskander missiles left in stock compared to 900 before the start of the all-out war.
Bloomberg: Russia has lost over 90% of its market in northern Europe. Russia has already lost the vast majority of its market in the European Union’s northern countries even before an EU embargo on Russian oil is set to take effect on Dec. 5, Bloomberg reported.
The SBU, Ukraine’s domestic intelligence service, today raided the Lavra, one of the most holiest sites of Ukrainian and Russian orthodoxy. Investigators are searching the premises for weapons, and hints of hidden subversive and intelligence groups, including foreign citizens. SBU and national police also raided the Koretsky Holy Trinity Monastery and the premises of the Sarnensko-Polyska eparchy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchy in the Rivne region.
The SSU services in Ukraine are also rounding up a collaborators to the Russian forces in the Kherson oblast.
The Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine confirmed the initiation of a criminal case over a video of the alleged execution of Russian soldiers. Those who were shot because of the imitation of surrender are accused of treachery - an act that violates the laws of war.
This year, New Year's eve will be different for Ukrainians. Ukrainians deliberately refused to celebrate New Year. People think that amid current circumstances when Ukrainians are dying under Russian attacks, it would be disrespectful and inhumane to have mass celebrations.
Pro-Russian milblogger GREY ZONE is hinting towards the fact that Russia will transfer control over the Zaporizhia NPP to the IAEA and then to Ukraine. For what it's worth, but he was quite right in terms of timing on recent withdrawals also.
Putin will meet the mothers of soldiers amid fierce fighting in Ukraine, Vedomosti reported, citing three unidentified sources in the presidential administration. Russia celebrates Mother’s Day on 27 November. The Kremlin has not officially announced any Putin meeting with soldiers’ mothers.
Russian commentator Dmitry Drobnitsky calls Kazakhstan Russia's "next problem" and warns that the same Nazi practices that developed in Ukraine could spread to Kazakhstan. This reflects Russia's rising discontent with Kazakhstan's independent policy towards Ukraine, which was reflected in the luke-warm to critical responses to Tokayev's re-election on Russian Telegram channels and media outlets.
Iran will not be able to make thousands of drones for the Russian Federation. The Kremlin is waiting for the delivery of more than 2,500 Shaheds, but the ex-pilot of the Iranian Air Force, Babak Tagwai, dashed Russia's hopes
NATO member countries conduct audits and revisions of all weapons and ammunition to find remnants in warehouses that can be transferred to Ukraine. This was announced by the head of the permanent delegation of Ukraine to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly Yehor Chernev.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke today with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg ahead of the November 29-30 NATO Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Bucharest, Romania. Secretary Blinken and Secretary General Stoltenberg discussed priorities for the meeting, including continued support to Ukraine, strengthening the Alliance’s deterrence and defense, and enhancing resilience. They also expressed continued support for Finland and Sweden’s NATO Accession process.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine summons the ambassador of Hungary. The reason for this was the prank of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who was scandalized because of a scarf with a hint of the annexation of Ukrainian territory, announced by the spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Oleh Nikolenko, on Facebook.
Luxembourg to supply off-road vehicles to Ukrainian military. Luxembourg will send additional High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles (HMMWV) to “strengthen Ukraine in exercising its right to self-defense,” the country’s Defense Minister Francois Bausch said on Nov. 21.
Russians have murdered, tortured and kidnapped Ukrainians in a systematic pattern that could implicate top officials in war crimes, the US state department’s ambassador for global criminal justice said Monday. There is mounting evidence that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine “has been accompanied by systemic war crimes committed in every region where Russian forces have been deployed”, said ambassador at large Beth Van Schaack.
Olena Halushka: “Tomorrow European Parliament will vote for the recognition of russia as a state sponsor of terrorism. I urge all MEPs to vote in favor of this resolution. That's the first step for bringing #terrorussia to accountability. It will boost the work on confiscation of russian assets.”
Gazprom has threatened to cut its gas flows to Europe via Ukraine as early as next week. In a statement, the Russian state-owned energy giant said some gas flows being kept in Ukraine were actually meant for Moldova, and accused Kyiv of obstructing the delivery of 52.52m cubic metres from transiting to Moldova.
WSJ: Senators urge Biden Administration to provide Ukraine with Grey Eagle drones that counter Russia’s use of Iranian drones.
US to provide Ukraine with $4.5 billion as direct budget support. The U.S. will start disbursing the funds in the next few weeks, which will help Ukraine improve economic stability and support critical government services, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Nov. 22.
The Government of Canada, on its own behalf, issued government bonds, the proceeds from the sale of which will be transferred to Ukraine. This was announced by the Canadian Ministry of Finance.
Canada has announced new sanctions against president Lukashenko’s administration for supporting Russia’s war in Ukraine. The foreign ministry said it would sanction 22 more Belarusian officials as well as 16 Belarusian companies involved in military manufacturing, technology, engineering, banking and railway transportation.
Ursula von der Leyen: The EU Commission is disbursing a further €2.5 billion for Ukraine. We are planning €18 billion for 2023, with funding disbursed regularly. For urgent repairs and fast recovery leading to a successful reconstruction. We will keep on supporting Ukraine for as long as it takes.
New arrests in Sweden this morning, two individuals have been apprehended. One is suspected of gross illicit intelligence collection targeting both Sweden and an unnamed foreign power, the other is suspected of aiding and abetting this. According to the Swedish Security Service, there was a need to arrest these two individuals swiftly and to secure compromising equipment. The arrests went according to plan.
Near Kherson, orphanage staff hid Ukrainian children from Russian occupiers- WaPo
The Russians had first shown up at the orphanage here months earlier, in armored military vehicles with 15 children in tow — Ukrainian orphans they had whisked away from the village of Novopetrivka in the previously-occupied Mykolaiv region, about 35 miles north.
The 15 children had lived here since then, under the care of the orphanage’s headmaster, Volodymyr Sahaidak, 61, and under the supervision of Russian soldiers.
But the Russians didn’t know that about a dozen other local children — including Katia — were also living in the same quarters. Each time the Russians came, the teachers would hide the children in their rooms, Katia recalled, “for nap time.”
Bad Russians. Who organizes rallies in support of Putin in Europe, and what do Rossotrudnichestvo and neo-Nazis have to do with it?- Insider
Using compatriots abroad has become a workable option under sanctions. This part of soft power has proven to be the most resistant to economic and visa sanctions. European laws protect emigrants who have settled in EU countries. It is possible not to issue an entry visa to a tourist, but it is extremely difficult to expel immigrants for their views or deprive them of a residence permit for supporting Russia. After February 24, the Kremlin began to use this skillfully. Most of Putin's supporters in EU countries are not tourists, but Russians who moved there a long time ago. Even before Russia's invasion of Ukraine, such events were regularly held in EU countries and, as a rule, did not arouse much emotion among Europeans. The situation changed after February 24. Russia's national symbols - the flag, coat of arms, and St. George ribbon - turned into symbols of the aggressor state. Many compatriots living abroad refused to participate in such rallies, but part of the community continues to attend them and defend the values of the “Russian world.”
Karnitschnig & Kosc, Meet Europe’s coming military superpower: Poland- Politico
Poland’s paranoia about Russia prompted it to eschew the prevailing Zeitgeist across much of Europe that conventional warfare was a thing of the past. Instead, it is building what are now on track to become the EU’s heftiest land forces.
“The Polish army must be so powerful that it does not have to fight due to its strength alone,” Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on the eve of Poland’s independence day.
It’s a shift that has resonated with Poland’s indispensable ally.
“Poland has become our most important partner in continental Europe,” a senior U.S. Army official in Europe said, citing the crucial role Poland has played in supporting Ukraine and in shoring up NATO defenses in the Baltics.
Programming note:
Explainer: What are the key outcomes of Cop27 climate summit?- The Guardian
Loss and damage
Developing countries have been seeking financial assistance for loss and damage – money needed to rescue and rebuild the physical and social infrastructure of countries devastated by extreme weather – for nearly three decades. Finally achieving agreement on a fund is a major milestone. Now comes the difficult part – the fund must be set up, and filled with cash. There is no agreement yet on how the finance should be provided and where it should come from.