Ukraine Breaking News Today Live on 11-18-2024

The RU foreign minister has made more threats against Ukraine and allies for allowing the use of ATACMS and other US-made long-range weapons to strike inside Russia after months of lobbying by Kyiv.

The Kremlin accused US President Joe Biden on Monday of escalating the war in Ukraine, promising to respond to his decision to allow Kyiv to use long-range missiles supplied by Washington to strike targets inside Russia.

Biden, who in January hands over the White House to Donald Trump, a skeptic of US support for Ukraine, urged a gathering of world leaders – attended by Russia's foreign minister – to follow the US lead in backing Ukraine.

The German chancellor changed course a day after the US president finally announced permission for Ukraine to use long-range missiles in Russia on Sunday.

Germany on Monday said that it was delivering 4,000 AI-guided drones to Ukraine, as Chancellor Olaf Scholz stood by a decision not to send Kyiv long-range Taurus missiles.

Scholz has faced renewed pressure to hand the weapons system over to Ukraine, after US President Joe Biden gave Kyiv the green light to use US missiles against military targets in Russia itself.

US officials only hinted at a “significant” number of these long-range missiles transferred, but one can speculate how many based on existing information.

Ukraine likely received fewer than 50 US-made Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) from the US – though how many are left is a more nuanced question.

Kyiv and Washington never confirmed the official number of missiles transferred. In addition, to date, there are only two known deliveries – one in late 2023 with the older short-range versions (up to 160 km, or 100 miles) and one secretly delivered in March this year with longer-range versions (up to 300 km, or 190 miles).

The Ukrainians have always used powerful ATACMS to blow up airplanes and airfields. Even if Ukraine gets more – which is far from sure – their target priorities aren’t likely to change.

The White House’s recent 180-degree reversal of a longstanding ban on Ukrainian strikes deep into Russia using American ATACMS missiles is unlikely to affect the course of the war, but it probably will degrade the Russian air force’s ability to bomb Ukrainian civilian and military targets somewhat, a Monday Kyiv Post review of Kyiv’s past use of the weapon found.

Based on the track record of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) use of the weapon so far, the AFU is most likely to use new deliveries of ATACMS missiles – always provided the US actually delivers them – to strike at Russian military aircraft, air bases, and air defense systems, Kyiv Post researchers found.

The latest change to allow Ukraine to strike Russia with the US’s long-range weaponry opens up hundreds of targets inside Russia.

Biden administration’s latest approval for Kyiv to strike deep inside Russia with US weaponry could put hundreds of Russian military objects at risk.

According to an August analysis by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), allowing Ukraine to strike Russian territories with the US-made Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) – the newer versions capable of reaching targets within 300 km (190 miles) – could allow Ukraine to hit at least 245 Russian military objects, including 15 airbases.

On Romania’s critical role in European security against the backdrop of two transformative events: the war in Ukraine and the recent US presidential election.

Romania today stands at a pivotal moment, where global and regional challenges demand clarity of purpose and decisive action.

The war in Ukraine has brought the horrors of conflict to our doorstep, reshaping the geopolitical dynamics of Eastern Europe. At the same time, the recent election of Donald Trump in the United States has reawakened questions about transatlantic relations and the long-term security of NATO’s eastern flank.

Since the start of the war, Stockholm has repeatedly urged Swedes to prepare both mentally and logistically for the possibility of war, citing the serious security situation in its vicinity.

Sweden on Monday began sending some five million pamphlets to residents urging them to prepare for the possibility of war, as neighbouring Finland launched a new preparedness website.

Both Sweden and Finland dropped decades of military non-alignment to join the US-led military alliance NATO in the wake of Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Franka Viacorka, the chief political advisor to Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who leads the Belarusian government in exile spoke, among other things, about how Ukraine and Belarus must find common cause.

Ukraine has long sought authorization from Washington to use ATACMS to hit military installations – in particular airfields – inside Russia.

The Kremlin accused US President Joe Biden on Monday of escalating the war in Ukraine by allowing Kyiv to use long-range missiles supplied by Washington to strike targets inside Russia.

The comments from Moscow came as Ukraine said a fresh Russian strike on the Black Sea port city of Odesa had killed at least eight people and wounded 18, following a massive weekend attack on the country’s creaking energy infrastructure.

Le Figaro revised its text, replacing claims that Britain and France allowed Ukraine to strike Russia with SCALP/Storm Shadow missiles.

The French newspaper Le Figaro has updated its Sunday report on claims that France and Britain permitted Ukraine to use SCALP/Storm Shadow long-range missiles to strike Russian territory.

The article, now marked as “updated,” replaces the earlier assertion with the statement: “Debates are already raging in the offices about allowing the use of Western missiles against Russian territory.”

Erdogan’s initiative reportedly includes Ukraine delaying discussions on NATO membership for at least a decade, a move described as a "concession to Putin."

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has prepared a proposal to freeze the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, Bloomberg reported, citing informed sources. The plan will supposedly be presented at the G20 leaders' meeting in Rio de Janeiro.

Erdogan's initiative reportedly includes Ukraine delaying discussions on NATO membership for at least a decade, a move described as a "concession to Putin."

President Zelensky called these strikes not random, but demonstration attacks, adding: “Russia is showing its true intentions: only war.”

This is a developing story, and updates are expected.

Russian missiles struck residential buildings in Odesa on Monday noon, Nov. 18, killing at least 10 people and injuring 18, as local authorities reported.

Finance Ministry pauses offering of reserve bonds, Eurobond rally suspends and the central bank slashes interventions. Weekly Insight for Nov. 18

Ukraine’s Ministry of Finance pauses offering of reserve bonds

Despite elevated demand for reserve bonds, the Ministry of Finance (MoF) postponed their further offering until December.

Last week, the MoF primarily sold military and reserve bonds. Demand declined compared with the previous auction, but exceeded the caps for most offered bonds. The MoF sold military and three-year regular bonds without changes in interest rates.

The Americans want a quick end to the war. The Ukrainians want to be sure Russian missiles, bombs and drones won’t be able to hit Ukrainian homes ever again. That’s a problem.

Iron-clad protection of Ukrainian homes and businesses against future Russian bomber, missile and kamikaze drone strikes will be politically possible for the West to provide, and will likely become a major stumbling block to US President-elect Donald Trump’s bid to end the Russia-Ukraine War in a matter of days, regional security experts told Kyiv Post in interviews.

The Kremlin after invading Ukraine unleashed the most punishing sustained aerial bombardment of a nation, by any country, since the Vietnam War. According to end-of-September Ukrainian government counts, since July 24 Russian forces had launched 9,627 missiles of all types and 13,997 kamikaze drones at targets across Ukraine.

Biden allows Ukraine to strike inside Russia with US-supplied missiles. Comments after Scholz–Putin phone call.

Unfortunately, the West, fearing "escalation," is not taking the needed actions to stop Putin who is now rapidly expanding his global war.

The sequel, called S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl, was first announced in 2010 and postponed several times.

Ukrainian studio GSC will on Wednesday release a long-awaited sequel to its hit S.T.A.L.K.E.R. video game, fine tuned during the Russian invasion which forced many of its staff to leave the country.

The post-Apocalyptic first-person shooter game is set in a fictional version of the exclusion zone around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant that was hit by a deadly accident in 1986.

Seoul and Washington have earlier accused the nuclear-armed North of sending more than 10,000 soldiers to help Russia fight Ukraine.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said the United States and the West are using the Ukrainian military as "shock troops" to fight Russia and risk triggering a global conflict, state media reported Monday.

Seoul and Washington have accused the nuclear-armed North of sending more than 10,000 soldiers to help Russia fight Ukraine, with experts saying Kim was eager for Moscow's advanced technology, plus battle experience for his troops, in return.

A rocket strike on a Sumy apartment building killed 11, including children. Russian forces later targeted the city’s infrastructure, causing power outages. Sumy declared two days of mourning

A ballistic missile struck a nine-story apartment building in Sumy on the evening of Sunday, Nov.17, killing 11 people, including a 9-year-old boy and a 14-year-old girl, city authorities reported. The attack also injured 84 people, among them 11 children.

Some Ukrainian Americans came to the conclusion during the US presidential election that a win by the former president would be good for Ukraine as he is a serial “winner.”

During the 2024 U.S. presidential election, several Ukrainian Americans said they  believed former President Donald Trump would be a good option for both the US and Ukraine. They argued that Trump would be tough on Russian President Vladimir Putin and could negotiate a deal with Putin because the former president is a “winner.”

Some members of the Ukrainian American community went as far as to say that there was no war in Ukraine during Trump’s first term blaming former President Barack Obama for the illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014 and President Joe Biden as being responsible for the current invasion of Ukraine.

Three years ago, Natalia Hrabarchuk was a preschool teacher but on the morning of Sunday, Nov. 17 she took out a Kh-101 missile with an “Igla” MANPADS missile.

A video, posted on the Facebook page of Ukraine’s Western Air Command on Sunday, showed Natalia Hrabarchuk, a former kindergarten teacher now a volunteer member of the command’s air defense forces, using a 9K38 Igla (NATO: SA-18 Grouse) Man-portable air defense system (MANPADS) launcher to bring down an incoming Russian cruise missile.

On the morning of Sunday, Nov. 17 Russian forces launched a massive 120-missile and 90-Shahed attack drone assault on Ukraine, one of the largest since the 2022 full-scale invasion according to President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Latest from the Institute for the Study of War.

Key Takeaways from the ISW:

• The New York Times (NYT) and Washington Post reported that US President Joe Biden has authorized Ukrainian forces to use US-provided ATACMS in limited strikes against Russian and North Korean military targets within Kursk Oblast.
• Russian forces damaged Ukrainian energy infrastructure during the largest missile and drone strike since August 2024 on the night of November 16 to 17.
• Russian forces continue to innovate their long-range strike packages and likely included relatively ineffective sea-launched Kalibr cruise missiles in the November 16 to 17 strike package as decoys to distract and exhaust Ukrainian air defenses.
• Ukrainian forces struck a defense industrial factory in the Udmurt Republic for the first time on the morning of November 17.
• North Korea reportedly continues to provide military support to Russia, including the provision of rocket and artillery systems and potential additional troop deployments, which is likely to impact Russia's military operations in the short term, but its long-term benefits likely remain limited.
• Russian forces will likely focus on seizing frontline Ukrainian towns and cities during Winter 2024-2025 through urban combat amid efforts to offset Ukrainian drone advantages and possible Russian armored vehicle constraints.
• Russian President Vladimir Putin's maximalist objectives demanding full Ukrainian capitulation remain unchanged, but a prominent Kremlin-affiliated milblogger appears to be trying to repackage longstanding Kremlin territorial claims to southern Ukraine as less severe "peace proposals" that would actually militarily threaten Ukraine, Moldova, and NATO.
• Abkhazian oppositionists continued protests on November 17 calling for the resignation of the de facto Abkhazian President Aslan Bzhania.
• Russian forces recently advanced near Kupyansk, Chasiv Yar, Kurakhove, and Vuhledar.
• Russian milbloggers continued to applaud their reported role in removing frontline 3rd Combined Arms Army (CAA, formerly 2nd Luhansk People's Republic Army Corps [LNR AC]) commanders after the commanders submitted false reports about Russian advances in the Siversk direction.