Also for the day of November 19, the issue of Western long-range weapons dominated the flow of the social sphere dedicated to Russia and Ukraine, together with the signing of Putin’s decree for the change in the policy of deterrence on nuclear weapons.
The UN calls for the protection of civilians after the news that Biden has authorized attacks from Ukrainian territory towards Russia with ATACMS missiles. This was stated by the official representative of the secretary general of the world organization, Stephane Dujarric. The US Mission to the UN reported: “In the coming days we will send Ukraine a new package of military aid.”
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said that the West, when supplying weapons to Kiev, should not impose restrictions on their use. According to experts from NATO countries, the first launches of tactical ballistic missiles ATACMS in Russia, in the Bryansk and Kursk regions, were intended to identify the targets of NATO and Israeli satellites, with the approval of the Pentagon and the correction of NATO’s indications early warning and control of aircraft flying in the Black Sea. They themselves admitted: “This means worsening the energy shortage in Ukraine and strengthening Russia’s determination to carry out more extensive strategic bombing and push back the front line.”
Chaos in the official US communication regarding the green light to use long-range weapons by Ukraine against Russia. The State Department currently cannot confirm the change in US policy to allow Kiev to strike Russia with long-range weapons. And the US Department of Defense also said it “cannot confirm the participation of the DPRK armed forces in hostilities in Ukraine or their presence in the Kursk region,” a source said, Deputy Pentagon Representative Sabrina Singh.
The United States has notified South Korea of its decision to use its missiles against the Russian Federation, Yonhap writes. The South Korean side was only informed, as “this issue does not require the direct participation of the Republic of Korea,” the agency’s source noted. US presidential assistant for national security Jake Sullivan said: “In our opinion, Ukraine needs to make more efforts to strengthen its position with military personnel on the front lines,” he said in an interview with PBS News. Sullivan noted that this is more important than the weapons systems used by Kiev.
US President Joe Biden has authorized long-range strikes against Russia, US Under Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Brian Nichols said in an interview with Brazilian newspaper O Globo. “This decision will give Ukraine ‘more opportunities to defend itself’ and, as Washington believes, will push Russia into negotiations.” The United States does not see the need to change the readiness of its nuclear forces in response to changes in Russia’s nuclear doctrine Bloomberg source, citing the White House.
EU foreign ministers disagree on releasing European Peace Facility funds for Ukraine. Hungary has once again vetoed this decision, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said. According to Josep Borrell, the US administration has authorized the use of missiles with a range of up to 300 km for strikes on Russian territory, this was discussed at a meeting of EU foreign ministers. “The EU foreign ministers have not made a general decision on the lifting of restrictions on the use of Western weapons on the territory of the Russian Federation, each country decides for itself,” Borrell continued.
According to Borrell, the US permission to Kiev to strike deep into the Russian Federation “is in accordance with international law,” and he believes that all EU countries will follow it. In fact, Germany and Italy said no.
The promised million rounds of ammunition were transferred to Ukraine by the EU, but this is not enough, – Borrell. “We have fulfilled our commitment to supply Ukraine with one million rounds of ammunition, and by the end of winter we will train another 75 thousand Ukrainian soldiers… The EU has already transferred weapons worth 45 billion euros to Ukraine. But the current level of assistance is not enough to change the course of hostilities in favor of Ukraine,” the head of European diplomacy said.
French President Emmanuel Macron told reporters On the sidelines of the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, US leader Joe Biden made a “good decision” in allowing Ukraine to use US-made weapons to strike Russia, Reuters and Politico reported. France has a limited number of long-range SCALP missiles that it could supply to Ukraine after Biden approves deep-sea strikes into Russia, French daily Le Monde reported. The publication notes that France has already supplied Ukraine with 10 SCALP missiles in total, with Paris pledging to supply 40.
Europe must be ready to send military personnel to Ukraine, Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said. In his view, such a step will be necessary as part of any peace deal that Moscow and Kiev may conclude with the participation of US President-elect Donald Trump. The Estonian minister called Ukraine’s accession to NATO the best guarantee of security. “But it is impossible to make this decision without the United States. And then we need to talk about the possibilities of any form [of guarantee] in terms of the presence of troops on the ground,” he said.
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico complained about the US decision to allow Ukraine to launch American missiles deep into Russian territory: “An unprecedented escalation, it is clear that the decision was aimed at interrupting or postponing peace negotiations.”
In Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky was told that there will be no elections in Ukraine during the period of martial law. Defense Minister Rustem Umarov: “Ukraine has expanded the serial production of Neptune missiles, which can now hit targets at longer distances. This year, 100 missiles have been launched.” Zelensky said that he had set himself the “task of producing 3,000 cruise missiles.” “Next year, the state will produce at least 30,000 long-range drones. This year, more than 2.5 million rounds have been fired. We have produced “Long Neptune.” And there are already successes.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine has not confirmed the data that Ukraine has hit ATACMS missiles for the first time on Russian territory, over the Bryansk region, the Ukrainian channel 24 reports.
The authorities in Kremenchuk say that Kiev will begin to flood the surrounding territory if the local hydroelectric power plant is destroyed. According to local sources, the central and right-bank parts of the mountains fall into the zone of possible “catastrophic flooding”. And again, Ukrainian sources speak of the withdrawal of the Tavria OVSU from the Kurakhovsky reservoir and the northern shore of the Kurakhovsky reservoir, within 10 – 15 days, says Ukrainian military expert Kevlyuk. “The territory is absolutely unsuitable for defense, because the plain is covered by fire for a huge number of kilometers. We need to retreat to a more advantageous defense line before this group is isolated,” Kevlyuk believes.
On November 19, the Russian social sphere paid great attention to the decree signed by Vladimir Putin approving the updated nuclear doctrine: “Fundamentals of State Policy in the Field of Nuclear Deterrence”. The main points of which are: “The main principle of the doctrine: nuclear weapons (nuclear weapons) are an extreme measure to protect the country’s sovereignty. At the same time, due to the emergence of new military threats and risks, Russia had to clarify the parameters that allow the use of nuclear weapons”.
“In particular, the category of states and military alliances subject to nuclear deterrence has been expanded. The list of military threats that require such actions to be neutralized has been added”.
What should worry the West is the fourth point which reads: “Aggression by any non-nuclear state, but with the participation or support of a nuclear country, will be considered a joint attack on the Russian Federation. In addition, a nuclear response by Russia is possible in the event of a critical threat to its sovereignty, including with conventional weapons, in an attack on Belarus as a member of the Union State, in the event of a massive launch of military aircraft, cruise missiles, drones, other aircraft and their crossing the Russian border.”
The previous version of the Russian nuclear doctrine was approved in June 2020. It replaced a similar document adopted 10 years earlier.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “The SVO will continue until the goals set are achieved.” “The special military operation took longer because it started against the Kiev regime and continues in the form of a conflict with the participation of NATO.”
“When all this started, it started against the Kiev regime. And now it is continuing as a war between Russia and NATO. That is why it took a little longer and will last a little longer,” he told the Indian news agency ANI. And Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Medvedev in the 1000 days since the start of the conflict said: “It is not so important who and when decided to use NATO countries’ long-range tactical ballistic and cruise missiles “deep into the territory” of Russia, especially since there have already been attempts to use them in our country.”
Also from Russian sources it is learned that former PMC employees will be able to obtain the status of a veteran of special operations on the basis of eyewitness accounts.
On the morning of November 19, the editor-in-chief of Censor.net Yuri Butusov wrote: “Ukraine has already launched American ATACMS missiles on the territory of the Russian Federation today.” According to Butusov, it was these missiles that hit an ammunition depot in the Bryansk region. The Russian Defense Ministry also confirmed the use of the missiles, specifying: “Five missiles were shot down and one was damaged.” The debris caused a fire.
Lavrov described the results of the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro as positive and also stated: “The attacks on the Bryansk region with ATACMS missiles are a sign that the West wants an escalation.” And he added: “I hope that the West will fully read the updated nuclear doctrine of the Russian Federation.” “The Russian Federation is firmly committed to the position of preventing nuclear war,” Lavrov said, and concluded: “The updated version of the Fundamentals of the State Policy of the Russian Federation in the field of nuclear deterrence has been approved. An important change in the updated “Fundamentals…”: now a nuclear attack can also result from the use of weapons of mass destruction against Russian bases abroad, for example in Syria.”
And now a look at the front line updated as of 17:00 on November 19.
The Russian Armed Forces carried out strikes on the night of the 19th with Geranium UAVs on targets in the city of Zaporizhia for more than an hour. Power outages were reported in several areas of the city, but the times of the outages remained “family”: from 3 to 6 hours a day. Explosions were also reported in Vyshhorod and Bila Tserkva, Kiev region, Cherkasy, Kropyvnytsky and Sumy regions.
Ukrainian Armed Forces attacked Russian regions. During the night in the Rostov region, 11 UAVs were destroyed by air defense systems: near Taganrog in the Myasnikovsky, Kamensky, Krasnosulinsky, Oktyabrsky (s), Morozovsky and Belokalitvinsky districts. Due to the fall of UAVs, an explosion occurred on the highway in the Belokalitvinsky district one injured. At least 9 aerial drones were shot down in the Bryansk region. In the morning, a missile danger was declared in the Bryansk region, after which a powerful explosion was reported from Karachev. Later the channels wrote about new detonations. Officially: Five missiles were shot down and one was damaged.” This debris caused a fire.
From the Kursk region, the Sever group of troops reports progress in the Olgovka forest, where the garrison of the Ukrainian Armed Forces consisting of about 200 people continues to be surrounded. During the day, the Ukrainian Armed Forces made 1 attempt to break out of the encirclement of up to 30 people. Progress was recorded in the north and south of the Sudzhansky region, where fighting continues. At the same time, the Ukrainian Armed Forces conduct a maneuverable defense and maintain a high potential for counterattacks: 6 counterattacks were repelled by the Russians in the area of the Novoivanovka settlement and Daryino. In the Sumy area, OTRK launched a missile attack on a concentration of equipment and personnel of the 47th Infantry Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces using an Iskander-M. During the day, in the territory of the Bolshesoldatsky district of the Kursk region, a civilian was killed as a result of a Ukrainian drone attack on a car.
In the direction of Kharkiv near the settlement. Lyptsi and Russian armed forces are waging battles, repelling Ukrainian attacks. There are reports of battles for the dam on the approach to the village of Lipsy.
From Kupyansk, where Russian troops recently broke through and began heavy fighting, Zelensky posted a “motivational video” of his visit. At the same time, many channels noted the similarity of this recording with the Avdiivka footage of a year ago, which indicate the use of video editing. Russian forces are fighting battles in urban areas on the eastern outskirts of Kupyansk.
In the direction of Pokrovsk, the Russian army is attacking west and northwest of Selydove, creating conditions for further advance. After taking Hrodivka, Russian maneuver groups are advancing to the northern part of Novospaske. Many social media accounts are reporting direct clashes between Russian and Ukrainian troops in the center of Chasiv Yar. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the settlement of Novoselidivka is now flying the Russian flag.
In the south of the Kurachove direction, Russian forces are having success in the area of the Dal’nje settlement. This creates conditions for cutting the enemy’s defense “pocket” south of the reservoir. Ukrainian garrison discovered by Russians in a cascade of villages along the Sukhi Yaly River and was half-surrounded: the advanced units of Russian troops are approaching the development from different sides. North of the reservoir there are reports of battles for the Berestky settlement.
On the Zaporizhia front, units of the Russian Armed Forces are advancing towards Malaya Tokmachka, taking Ukrainian strongholds. In the area of the Novopokrovka settlement, with the support of aviation crews and cannon artillery, active assault operations by Russian fighters towards Bilohir’ya are noted.
Ukrainian authorities have admitted that at least seven police officers were killed on November 18 as a result of the attack in Odessa.
Graziella Giangiulio
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