UAF – Ukrainian Forces
RF – Russian Forces
Summary of the Events
UAF continue to clean up the region of Kherson they liberated last week while RF unsuccessfully continue to attempt to retake areas of Donetsk and Luhansk which were recently liberated by UAF.
Luhansk Front
RF reached the outskirts of Novoselivske which is now contested. They also attempted to move towards Stelmakhivka but were repelled by UAF. They are trying to push UAF back from their assault towards Svatove.
RF also attempted to push UAF back from taking Kreminna by gaining new grounds in the direction of Torske, but this was also repelled.
UAF are also threatening to move towards Lysychansk, so RF attacked UAF positions around Bilohorivka, Luhansk without success.
Donetsk Front
Fighting continues in the areas of Bakhmut, Bakhmutske, and Soledar. RF managed to capture the small settlement of Mayorsk, but when they tried to progress towards Toretsk, they were repulsed. UAF also repelled an assault towards Kurdyumivka.
RF increased their activity around Bilohorivka, Donetsk, but were unable to advance any further.
RF attempted to take new positions on their drive to take Avdiivka but without success. They attacked UAF around Krasnohorivka, Vodiane, Pervomaiskyi, and Nevelske.
RF have also reached Marinka and Pavlivka with both towns under contest. RF were not successful in their attempt to reach Novomykhailivka though.
Zaporizhia Front
There was no change on the ground.
Kherson Front
There are unconfirmed rumors that UAF have begun crossing the Dnipro River to Eastern Kherson region.
Other News
Investigators have uncovered more than 400 war crimes carried out by RF during their occupation of Kherson. Bodies of civilians continue to be unearthed and torture chambers have been found. One survivor found in a torture chamber had been arrested because he stood up to Russian soldiers stealing trucks from his factory. He shared about the constant beatings, electrocutions, drownings, and cuttings. Another resident nearby shared how he could hear screams daily. Some were girls being raped.
President Zelensky visited the liberated city of Kherson and officiated over the raising of the Ukrainian flag.
In a conversation with French President Emmanuel Macron, Russian President Vladimir Putin noted that a lesson from the Japanese surrender during World War II was the result of a nuclear bomb being dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Putin added that such a nuclear attack was not made against a major Japanese city hinting that he was considering nuking a target in Ukraine, but not necessarily one of the major cities.
In a meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang called Russia’s rhetoric of a nuclear threat to be “irresponsible”.
Russia has chosen Henichesk as their new temporary capital of Kherson which they have annexed. The choosing of the city on the Sea of Azov over Melitopol may hint that Russia is worried that Melitopol will fall next. Henichesk is positioned to guard Russia’s land bridge to Crimea in that event.
The leaders of the G20 nations, the twenty largest economies in the world, were unanimous in their condemnation of the effects of the war between Russia and Ukraine but fell short on placing blame for the conflict.
In retaliation for Ukraine liberating western Kherson, Russia launched a massive missile strike against Ukraine knocking out much of its energy infrastructure as winter approaches. 90 missiles and 11 drones were launched against Ukraine. Ukraine was able to shoot down 75 of the missiles and destroy ten of the drones before they hit their targets. But those 15 missiles did immense damage to Ukraine’s electrical grid which will result in many freezing this winter. Missiles hit Kyiv, Kharkiv, Dnipro, Zhytomyr, and Lviv.
Two Russian-made missiles hit a border community in Poland killing two people. But it has yet to be determined who fired those missiles as Ukraine also has Russian-made missiles in their arsenal. NATO and Poland concluded that the missiles were fired by Ukraine to strike incoming Russian missiles but missed and landed in Poland. But they were quick to add that Russia still is responsible as they were in response to their massive missile strike. But Ukraine insists they have evidence that the two missiles were fired by Russia. NATO convened to decide their response and decided not to invoke a declaration of war against Russia as they were convinced, that whoever fired those missiles, they were not intended to strike Polish targets. NATO did discuss enforcing a no-fly zone over Ukraine to force Russia to stop bombing Ukrainian cities as it now impacted a NATO country, but that proposal was vetoed by Germany afraid of an escalation of the war.
International Support
Canada has doubled its military support to Ukraine to $750 million. Sweden announced a $350 million military and humanitarian aid package to Ukraine.
The UN General Assembly adopted a resolution supporting a mechanism for Russia to pay reparations for human and property destruction due to their invasion of Ukraine. It is a non-binding resolution which Russia can ignore.
Germany and Spain have joined a growing list of European countries that are opening their military training bases to Ukrainian conscripts.
CIA Director William Burns met with President Zelensky in Kyiv to brief him on the U.S. warning to Russia against using nuclear weapons the day before in Ankara, Turkey.