Ukraine has asked the United States to provide short-range Sentinel radars designed to track ballistic missiles, the Politico newspaper reported. The request is linked to Ukraine’s concerns over the accumulation of Russian attacks against Ukrainian energy infrastructure.
The European Parliament risked a diplomatic incident: it published a map with Crimea as part of the Russian Federation, then deleted it and apologized. The European Union has also formulated a strategy to guarantee Ukraine long-term security commitments. At the same time, the EU’s initial plan to allocate 20 billion euros for Ukraine’s military spending over four years may not be respected due to contradictions between the union’s member states, Bloomberg writes, citing a diplomat who has familiarity with the discussions.
The EU framework document talks about a predictable, effective, sustainable and long-term mechanism for the supply of military equipment to Ukraine, which mobilizes the European defense industry. Objective: provide training to the Armed Forces; Deepen cooperation with the Ukrainian Armed Forces to strengthen capacity and harmonize standards; Strengthen Ukraine’s ability to counter cyber and hybrid threats, as well as disinformation; Support Ukraine’s efforts to clear mines and overcome contamination caused by explosive residues; Assist Ukraine in implementing the reform program associated with the EU accession process, as well as in strengthening its capacity to control illicit trafficking in arms and ammunition; Support the country’s energy transition and nuclear safety efforts; Exchange of intelligence data and satellite images. The support, we read in the document, will continue to be provided through the so-called EMF.
Regarding Ukraine’s accession to the European Union, Slovakian Foreign Minister Juraj Blanar said: “The process of Ukraine’s accession to the European Union will actually take a long time.” Bratislava at the December summit will accept Ukraine’s accession to the European Union if Kiev fulfills all the necessary conditions for this purpose.
President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky admitted that the country’s armed forces are showing insufficient results in the counteroffensive and noted that the armed forces “is difficult to stay strong.” A Fox News reporter asked the president whether the failure of the troops to advance Ukrainians was a bad signal and a sign that the counteroffensive was not going according to plan. Zelensky responded that when the Ukrainian government talks “about results on the battlefield,” further results are needed. “This is not a good sign. It is true. But (…) staying strong is difficult for us. Yes, we need more positive results on the battlefield,” he said in an interview. The Ukrainian president recognized in the DPR the difficult situation of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in four directions.
Among the problems Ukraine is facing is an electricity shortage; Ukrainians are asked to save electricity. Due to the arrival of the cold, consumption has increased. Ukrenergo said the deficit was due to the increased accident rate of power plants and the insufficient volume of electricity imports from the European Union. Furthermore, we learn from Russian social sources that power unit no. 5 of the Zaporozhizhie nuclear power plant was switched to “cold shutdown” mode; power unit no. 4 – the station remains in “warm shutdown” mode.
Rodion Miroshnik, ambassador of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported that the Ukrainian armed forces carry out up to 300 attacks against Russian civilian infrastructure every day.” The Russian Defense Ministry said four Ukrainian unmanned vessels en route to Crimea were destroyed in the Black Sea.
And now a look at the front line:
Donetsk direction. The Ukrainian Armed Forces are actively attacking Donetsk, Gorlovka and Yasinovataya. Mainly 155 mm artillery. In the Petrovsky district of the DPR capital, six missiles were fired from the MLRS. There are injured.
Zapiorizhzhie Directorate. At night, the Ukrainians tried to displace the Russian positions using cluster munitions. The shelling continued throughout the morning. After aerial reconnaissance, Russian artillery fires from both sides. The 42nd motorized rifle division of the Red Banner Guard Evpatoria (PPD-Chechnya) is monitoring the results of Russian artillery. Ukrainian equipment continues to be destroyed in the Zaporoizhzhie steppes. Russian artillery is now firing 24 hours a day. According to the social sphere, the situation is difficult. A Russian soldier on his telegram channel writes: “The weather is terrible, muddy, light snow, yesterday there was a small hail, the equipment began to freeze. The enemy manages to send kamikaze drones towards Pologi; they have already been spotted in the rear of the front. More and more arrivals in the peaceful rear. Our aviation is working, hitting the concentration of enemy forces with FABs.”
The Ukrainians try to break through between Verbovoe and Novofedorovka, and the Russians repel the attacks and also manage to regain some of the previously lost positions. Breakthrough attempt at Novoprokopovka blocked. Battles reported in Rabotino: Special Forces and Airborne Forces repel attacks, destroying infantry on Zaporozhzhie front. Ukrainians do not stop attacks in the Orechiv direction on the Rabotino-Verbovove line. The command of the Ukrainian Armed Forces sends assault groups to the positions of the Russian military. Russian paratroopers and scouts meet the enemy with fire.
Bachmut management. Intensified Ukrainian shelling in the direction of Bachmut, Ukrainians actively use cannon artillery. The interaction forces between the 119th and 137th regiments successfully held back the pressure. On November 22, there was a strong onslaught of artillery attacks with cluster shells, as well as 155 mm barrel artillery from the Ukrainians. MLRS Grad, MLRS Uragan and self-propelled mortar Tyulpan were deployed for containment. Ukrainian Armed Forces have problems with ammunition components; about 10-15% of shells do not explode due to low-quality elements (fuses). The sky is clear, there is no precipitation, this creates a favorable environment for the work of both Ukrainian and Russian reconnaissance drones. The area of Vasyukovka and Razdolovka remains hot, reinforced by the direction of Seversk.
Direction Avdiiska south. Since last night and throughout the night the mutual attacks did not stop, the air defense worked. Starting at 07:00 in the morning the Russians began a dense aerial bombardment. The Russian Armed Forces continue to consolidate their success in the Avdiiska sector of the front. According to the NGP R channel, today on the southern flank, Russian assault units managed to take the Ukrainian military by surprise and quickly occupy five buildings in the industrial zone. The particular value of the advance in this area is due to the fact that the Ukrainian Armed Forces have been building fortifications here since 2014.
There was no counterattack in response to the surprise attack, as Ukrainian forces did not have time to call for reinforcements, which allowed Russian attack planes to successfully gain a foothold in new positions. However, we can expect that in the near future the Ukrainians will concentrate part of its reserves in this direction to slow down the advance of the Russian armed forces towards the west.
Also on the southern flank, in the area of the Khimik microdistrict, massive air strikes are reported against the facilities of the Ukrainian Armed Forces with RBK-500 cassette weapons, the use of which was previously tested in the Staromayorsky area.
Apparently the Russians are using RBK-500 cluster bombs towards the positions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Avdiivska direction. According to Bild, Russia has opened a third front in the battle for Avdiivka. In the new direction, the Russian Armed Forces managed to break through the city’s defenses, which they had held since 2014.
Kharkov direction (Kupyansk district) 22.11 16:00 It was reported that Russian units have once again deployed new attack drones and carried out targeted strikes on Ukrainian positions. The radar and engineering vehicle were disabled.
Kherson direction: There were explosions in the Kiev-controlled city of Kherson. This was announced by the head of the municipal administration, Roman Mrochko. There is also talk of destruction of an enemy vehicle by the airborne forces in the direction of Kherson.
The most difficult areas remain the urban ones. Floodplain, Podstepnoe, Krynki. In the area from Poyma to Podstepnoye, Russian armed forces are repelling Ukrainian attacks. In Krynki the Ukrainians continue to hold on to the central part of the village, but the Russians are applying pressure from the eastern side and manage to advance. Aviation of the Russian Aerospace Forces on the afternoon of the 22nd bombed the right bank of the DNPR. UVAB-250 and UVAB-500 destroyed several Ukrainian shelters. Following this, Russian units began assault operations to occupy previously lost territories.
Graziella Giangiulio
