Ukraine Breaking News Today Live on 11-16-2024

On Nov. 16, 1994, Ukraine adopted the draft law by which Ukraine would sign the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of nuclear weapons, the first step that made it vulnerable to Russian aggression.

When Ukraine finally gained its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, it held the world’s third largest nuclear arsenal - an estimated 1,900 strategic warheads, 176 intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), 44 strategic bombers and almost 3,000 tactical nuclear warheads.

The build-up to nuclear disarmament

Ukraine may need to bring in labor from countries with large labor pools.

As Ukraine nears the fourth year of conflict following Russia’s full-scale invasion, the scale of devastation extends far beyond physical damage.

Beyond the staggering decline in economic indicators year-over-year in 2022 —GDP down by 28.2%, inflation at 20.6%, consumer spending down by 16.9%, and investments shrinking by 33.9%—Ukraine faces a monumental humanitarian crisis.

Reflecting on President Biden’s stance towards Ukraine – the good and the not so good – as Ukrainian braces itself for a change of the guard in Washington.

Joe Biden has always been a friend of the American-Ukrainian community and Ukraine. He has always said the right things even when he didn’t express himself well. His friendship with John McCain went a long way in this regard and was sincere. Joe Biden as a Senator, Vice President and President displayed an affection for a moral component. That was the essence of support for Ukraine. He would never side with thugs or autocrats.

There were many reasons for his positions, most importantly his values. The McCain connection helped as well. Biden will be remembered because he was a good man, who genuinely believed what he said when confronting evil within his own country: “This is not who we are!” And also around the world.

Some basic facts about Ukraine’s natural wealth, all too often overlooked, help to explain what makes the country such a coveted prize.

This is for all those who still haven’t understood that this war is not about NATO, protecting the Russian-speaking population, fighting against fascists, protecting Christian values or whatever other blather Putin has come up with.

It’s about wealth and who gets to have it. And the newly elected American oligarchs plan to get involved in this soon, that will be part of the “peace” settlement – perhaps not as crudely as Russian oligarchs, as individuals, but through investor/corporate structures.

Latest from the British Defence Intelligence.

• On 6 November 2024 Ukraine almost certainly targeted the Caspian port of Kaspiysk in Russia with an Uncrewed Aerial Vehicle (UAV). The port highly likely hosted multiple Russian Navy vessels at the time, with at least two likely Gepard-Class frigates sustaining damage. The extent of this damage is currently unknown however any damage to the vessels will highly likely be quickly repaired.
• The Russian Caspian Flotilla was likely used to launch mass attacks against Ukraine in 2022 and has continued to be used to launch infrequent attacks through 2023-2024. Ukraine likely attacked the Caspian Flotilla in retaliation for these strikes on its territory. It is, however, unlikely that the Russian vessels damaged in this strike had been used to launch direct strikes on Ukrainian territory.
• Whilst the current operational tempo in the Black Sea remains low, the attack demonstrates that Ukraine retains the ability to strike Russian targets in areas previously viewed as safe for operations. Prior to the strike, the Ukrainian UAV highly likely traversed a large area of Russian territory without being intercepted. This will highly likely cause concern to Russian political and military leaders.

The world in focus, as seen by a Canadian leading global affairs analyst, writer and speaker, in his review of international media.

Iran sent a message to the Biden administration in October saying that it was not trying to kill Donald J. Trump, as Tehran attempted to ease rising tensions with Washington, according to U.S. officials, as well as an Iranian official and an analyst. The message, sent to Washington through an intermediary, came after a note from the Biden administration in September that warned that the United States would consider any Iranian attempt on the life of Mr. Trump, then the Republican candidate for president, to be “an act of war.” Since Mr. Trump won the Nov. 5 election, many Iranian former officials, pundits and media outlets have been have been publicly advocating for Tehran to try to engage with the president-elect and pursue a more conciliatory approach, despite vows from Mr. Trump’s allies to renew a high-pressure campaign against Iran. U.S. officials have said that Iran sought to kill Mr. Trump in revenge for ordering the 2020 drone strike that killed Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani, the commander who directed Iran’s militias and proxy forces. The Department of Justice has issued two indictments that officials said were related to Iranian plotting against Mr. Trump - NYT

Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin by telephone on November 15, urging the Kremlin leader to end the war against Ukraine and negotiate with Kyiv. With some saying the call was done for domestic political reasons, Scholz said in a tweet that he called on Putin to “end the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine and to withdraw his troops. Russia must show willingness to negotiate with Ukraine - with the aim of achieving a just and lasting peace.” A Kremlin readout of the call claimed it took place on the initiative of Berlin and that it served as “a detailed and frank exchange of views about the situation in Ukraine. Officials added the two leaders agreed to stay in touch.

Is loyalty to the US President-elect the only requirement for a cabinet job? What if your views contradict the consensus? Do you just want to stay out of jail? Or do you tend to side with global foes?

Donald Trump’s latest cabinet appointments are likely the most controversial: he has picked anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as health secretary and Matt Gaetz, who supports the conspiracy theory that Trump’s 2020 election was stolen, as attorney general.

Tulsi Gabbard, who accuses the Biden administration of disregarding Russia’s “legitimate security interests” in Ukraine, is to head the intelligence services. Commentators assess the risks.

While Ukraine can’t compromise on core sovereignty and territorial issues, it should consider engaging Trump in discussions about potential diplomatic solutions

The recent challenge of shifting a dialogue with the West into a more pragmatic mode has reached its climax for Ukraine after Donald Trump has sealed victory in US presidential elections.

Changes in the White House have been expected to become one of the crucial game-changers in the Russo-Ukrainian war. For Ukraine, it is also a moment of truth in securing Western support and consolidating chances in a battle for survival.

South Korea’s President called on Beijing to help put an end to the North’s assistance in Moscow’s War in Ukraine

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol asked Chinese President Xi Jinping to help stop the DPRK’s provocations, Pyongyang’s deepening military cooperation with Moscow, and North Korea’s support for Russia’s war against Ukraine.

South Korea’s Principal Deputy National Security Adviser Kim Tae-hyo said this at a briefing, Ukrinform reports citing Yonhap.

An official report from Poland details the scale of assistance the country has provided to Ukraine in various fields: military, humanitarian, and political.

In recent years, relations between Ukraine and Poland have been on a seesaw of sorts. At one end of the scale, Warsaw has demonstrated world leadership in providing assistance to Ukrainians, whilst on the other hand it has blocked the borders and threatened to freeze Ukraine’s accession to the EU over historical issues.

Amidst the ups and downs, Poland is a world leader when it comes to aid to Ukraine, having spent almost 5 percent of its gross domestic product on military, humanitarian and material support for Ukrainians.

The Polish shareholder acquired Andrii Borovyk’s stake in the companies in a $7.6 million M&A deal, while other buyers are co-founders of Ukraine’s largest job website competitors.

The Poland-based company Grupa Pracuj is increasing its stake in the Ukrainian job search websites Work.ua and Robota.ua by acquiring shares from co-founder Andriy Borovyk, Forbes Ukraine wrote referring to the company’s press release.

Work.ua and Robota.ua are among Ukraine’s largest job search websites. Over four million users visited Work.ua in October 2024, and almost seven million were reported by the website’s statistics in February 2020.

Ukraine is now in the throes of a full range of traumatic stress and the attendant disorders. Australia’s experience in dealing with mental health issues can help Ukrainians heal.

In wartime situations, it’s one thing to rebuild damaged buildings – it’s another thing to rebuild a damaged society’s well-being.

As the war on Ukraine approaches its 1,000th day, there are robust and hopeful discussions underway about Ukraine’s recovery and reconstruction, which the World Bank has estimated at some $700 billion. Under consideration are important questions about how to finance the huge cost involved, including leveraging seized Russian assets, and which infrastructure to prioritize, including the some 2,000 health and educational institutions destroyed or damaged. These discussions are, of course, important and not before their time.

In an exclusive interview with Kyiv Post, Latvia’s former Finance Minister Vjačeslavs Dombrovskis noted his country’s support for Ukraine and the similar past – maybe future – between the two.

“Latvia was, is, and will be a staunch supporter of Ukraine. Trump or not,” former Latvian Finance Minister Vjačeslavs Dombrovskis told Kyiv Post.

Journalist and former activist Volodymyr Fomichov told the Kyiv Post about the horrors of Russian captivity, the difficulties of returning to civilian life, and his attempts to volunteer to serve.

31-year-old Volodymyr Fomichov met us in the center of Kyiv and spoke about the two years he spent in Russian captivity in his native Donetsk in 2016 and 2017. But he was not a soldier - he was captured as a civilian - effectively a hostage. He had participated in the Euromaidan protests; he wanted a European future for his city and country. For this, he paid with torture and imprisonment.

The gun, if fielded, probably won’t shift the balance against Ukrainian forces decisively. But it’s another escalation and defiance of the West by the Kremlin, and North Korea too.

Rare North Korean long-range cannon geo-located to flatcars heading west in Siberia may be Pyonyang’s latest arms reinforcement to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, news reports and open source researchers said on Friday.

The popular pro-Russia Telegram channel Vodevoda Veshchaet (150,000+ subscribers) was the first to publish images of heavy artillery pieces on flatcars. The single photograph was cropped in a possible attempt to conceal the location.

The German chancellor spoke with Ukraine’s President before and after the call, but his message to Putin was not “coordinated” with Ukraine and its allies. Zelensky said Scholz opened “Pandora’s Box.”

President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Germany’s Olaf Scholz on Friday of playing into the hands of Russian President Vladimir Putin after the chancellor spoke by phone to the Kremlin chief for the first time in almost two years.

In the call, Scholz “condemned Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and called on President Putin to end it and withdraw troops,” the chancellor’s spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said.