Ukraine Breaking News Today Live on 11-25-2024

The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) said CS riot gas had been discovered in shell and soil samples, given to it by Kyiv.

Western countries and Russia crossed swords on Monday at a chemical arms control meeting, with a US official saying it was "appalled" by Moscow's alleged use of a banned riot control gas in Ukraine.

The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) a week ago said CS riot gas had been discovered in shell and soil samples, given to it by Kyiv. The samples were taken from the zone where Ukraine was battling Russian forces.

Central bank weakens hryvnia gradually, Eurobond investors are not afraid of Russia’s missile and Ukraine offered new 3.5-year UAH bonds. Weekly Insight for Nov. 25

Ministry of Finance offers new UAH-denominated notes

Last week, most of the bonds sold by the Ministry of Finance (MoF) were military bonds. Tomorrow, the MoF will offer new 3.5-year UAH notes.

Last week's proceeds amounted to UAH13.7bn, and most of that amount was from military bonds: above UAH5bn from each of the two UAH military bills and almost US$60m from FX-denominated paper. However, demand for regular notes due in February 2028 was low, at just 1/5 of the offer.

A clash over Russian missile strikes and World War III is pitting US super-influencer and jujitsu black belt Joe Rogan against Ukrainian heavyweight boxer Wladimir Klitschko

Ukrainian heavyweight boxer Wladimir Klitschko on Sunday called out hugely popular entertainer and commentator Joe Rogan for, Klitschko said, broadcasting Kremlin narratives and factual errors about Ukraine to America’s biggest podcast audience.

Kyiv Post fact-checkers found that, by and large, Rogan was wrong and Klitschko was right.

The vessels, often carrying Russian oil and gasoline but flying the flag of another country, allow the Kremlin to keep exporting despite sanctions on exports and an oil price cap on its global sales.

The British government on Monday announced sanctions on 30 ships that it says are part of Russia's "shadow fleet", taking to 73 the number of vessels under restrictions by London.

Foreign Secretary David Lammy called the measures the UK's "biggest sanctions package" yet against tankers and cargo ships used by Moscow to circumvent export and oil embargoes to fund its war against Ukraine.

The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed the incident in its daily briefing but did not specify the missile type or exact location of the interception.

Russia announced on Monday, Nov. 25, that its air defense systems intercepted and shot down eight ballistic missiles fired by Ukraine. The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed the incident in its daily briefing but did not specify the missile type or exact location of the interception.

This attack might mark the second time Ukraine has deployed Western-supplied long-range weapons on Russian soil.

According to Ukrainian media outlet Militarnyi, citing the Ukrainian GEOINT - project  Cyberboroshno, Kyiv has reportedly used ATACMS ballistic missiles with cluster warheads to strike a tactical aviation airfield in Russia's Kursk region.

The Pentagon confirmed on Thursday that anti-personnel landmines would be included in the $275 million worth of military equipment for Kyiv without specifying the type or quantity.

The US announced on Nov. 20 that approval had been given for a further $275 million worth of military equipment under a Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA) Package. On the following day, the US Department of Defense made it clear that this would include anti-personnel landmines (APL) for the first time, even though they were not explicitly included in the list of weapons included in the PDA.

As Kyiv Post reported on Wednesday, officials said, in response to humanitarian concerns, the APL for Ukraine would be “nonpersistent,” which indicates that they would self-deactivate or self-destruct after a certain time interval to minimize the risks posed to civilians by those that remain “in the ground” after combat.

For instance, the Russian Z-Telegram channel “Romanov Light” reported that the plant was not damaged at all after the Russian missile strike.

Russian Telegram channels have published satellite images of the aftermath of a recent strike by Russia’s new intermediate-range ballistic missile, Oreshnik, on Ukraine’s Dnipro city, showing no significant destruction.

A dispute between foreign students in Russia’s Tatarstan turned into a punch-up on Friday which Russian police dispersed in their usual heavy-handed fashion leading to protests by Iranian diplomats.

Iran’s top diplomats to Russia protested on Saturday against the use of excessive force by Russian police in breaking up a fracas in Kazan on Friday between foreign students including several Iranian students.

A local Kazan Telegram channel said the fight broke out on Friday when a few foreign students tried to jump the queue in front of those who had waited in line for hours to receive official documents. A fight broke out to which the police responded with force and arrested two students of unspecified nationality.

Born this day in 1900, she painted flowers all her unhappy life, bringing out the unfading beauty of the generous Ukrainian land, and her name stands out among the best Ukrainian folk artists.

Flowers filled all her big heart and all her dismal life. She must have had the soul of a bee, seeing the world in different, brighter colors and flying from flower to flower to partake of their divine gift. She painted flowers as long as she lived, bringing out the unfading beauty of the generous Ukrainian land, and her name – Kateryna Bilokur – stands out like a beautiful flower among the best Ukrainian folk artists.

When Pablo Picasso saw her paintings at the international exhibition in Paris in 1954, he said in fascination, “If we had such a masterful painter, we would have the whole world talking about her!”

HUR drones hit a fuel depot in Kaluga, Russia, sparking massive explosions and fire. Local videos show air defenses failing to stop the precision strikes.

Drones operated by Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate (HUR) struck a fuel and energy facility in Russia’s Kaluga region – over 500 kilometers (311 miles) northeast of Ukraine, Kyiv Post intelligence sources reported.

According to military intelligence sources, around 12:30 a.m. on Monday, Nov. 25, a series of explosions and a subsequent fire occurred following kamikaze drone strikes on the facility.

A conversation with global affairs analyst Michael Bociurkiw and Analisa Bottani about the new international political scenario after the American elections.

Russia’s armed forces have recruited hundreds of Yemeni men to fight in Ukraine, brought by a shadowy trafficking operation that highlights the growing links between Moscow and the Houthi rebel group. Yemeni recruits who travelled to Russia told the Financial Times they were promised high salaried employment and even Russian citizenship. When they arrived with the help of a Houthi-linked company, they were then forcibly inducted into the Russian army and sent to the front lines in Ukraine. The appearance of the rag tag group of — mainly involuntary — Yemeni mercenaries in Ukraine shows how the conflict is increasingly sucking in soldiers from abroad as casualties rise and the Kremlin tries to avoid a full mobilisation. They include mercenaries from Nepal and India and some 12,000 North Korean regular army troops who arrived to take part in combat against Ukrainian forces in the Russian province of Kursk. The Yemeni recruitment effort also underscores how Russia, driven by its confrontation with the west, is growing closer to Iran and allied militant groups in the Middle East. The Houthis, a militant group backed by Tehran, disrupted global supply chains with a missile campaign targeting shipping in the Red Sea after the start of the war in Gaza last year. US diplomats say the entente between the Kremlin and the Houthis, unimaginable before the war in Ukraine, is a sign of how far Russia is willing to go to extend that conflict into new theatres including the Middle East - Financial Times

Ukraine has been hit by a surge in Russian ballistic missile attacks, about a third of which used North Korean weapons that can only fly because they run on Western circuitry, obtained despite sanctions, according to Ukrainian military officials. Russia has fired about 60 North Korean KN-23 missiles at Ukraine this year, according to a Ukrainian defense official. That accounts for nearly one in three of the 194 ballistic missiles fired so far in 2024, a CNN tally of attacks publicly acknowledged by Ukraine’s air force shows. August and September saw a spike in ballistic missile attacks, when Ukraine first publicly detailed the use of the KN-23. These less-sophisticated missiles are part of North Korea’s growing support to Moscow, which also includes about 11,000 North Korean soldiers deployed to Russia’s Kursk region. “Everything that works to guide the missile, to make it fly, is all foreign components. All the electronics are foreign. There is nothing Korean in it,” said Andriy Kulchytskyi, head of the Military Research Laboratory of Kyiv’s Scientific Research Institute of Forensic Expertise. “The only thing Korean is the metal, which quickly rusts and corrodes,” he added. - CNN

Lithuanian officials, who in the past weeks have been probing alleged acts of sending incendiary devices on Western-bound cargo planes, stopped short of linking the crash with that investigation.

A DHL cargo plane crashed early Monday near the airport in Lithuania's capital, killing one person, authorities said as they searched for clues to what caused the tragedy.

Lithuanian officials, who in the past weeks have been probing alleged acts of sending incendiary devices on Western-bound cargo planes, stopped short of linking the crash with that investigation.

Upset in Romanian presidential election as pro-Russian candidate surges ahead.

Romania’s pro-Russian candidate Calin Georgescu knocked out pro-Western Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu, once considered a favorite in the presidential race, in Romania’s Sunday presidential election.

With more than 99% of the votes counted, Georgescu is leading by garnering 22.95% of the votes, followed by Elena Lasconi, the center-right mayor of a small town, in second place with 19.17% of the votes, as per a polling site.

The court case concerns an incident in December 2023 when the local politician entered the room where a village council meeting was being held and threw three grenades into the gathering.

Serhiy Batrin, a Ukrainian lawmaker has been sentenced to life in prison for detonating three grenades during a village council meeting in December 2023 that killed two and injured 24.

According to Friday’s press release by Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU), the incident was categorized as a “terrorist attack,” and Batrin was found guilty of committing a “terrorist act that led to the death of people” and “the unlawful carrying, storage, acquisition of explosive devices.”

Local authorities report damage to civilian infrastructure, including residential buildings.

News is being updated

[Updated at 14:15]: The National Police report that the number of people injured in the missile attack on Odesa has risen to 11.

Russia has ramped up its offensive in the Donetsk region, moving faster than at any point this year, according to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

Russia has heavily ramped up its military efforts in Ukraine, focusing on its long-standing goal of taking complete control of the Donetsk region, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reported in its recent assessment for Nov. 24.

Analysts say this marks a departure from the stalemate that has characterized much of the hostilities over the past year.

Washington’s announcement last week that it would send anti-personnel landmines to Kyiv was immediately criticised by human rights campaigners.

The UN Secretary-General on Monday slammed the "renewed threat" of anti-personnel landmines, days after the United States said it would supply the weapons to Ukrainian forces battling Russia's invasion.

In remarks sent to a conference in Cambodia to review progress on the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Treaty, UN chief Antonio Guterres hailed the work of clearing and destroying landmines across the world.

The number of mercenaries is in the hundreds, though many of them claimed they were duped into fighting after being lured by high salaries.

Russia has reportedly recruited hundreds of Yemeni mercenaries for its war in Ukraine – some of them under false pretenses – through a company linked with the Houthi armed group.

Financial Times (FT), citing comments from the Yemeni mercenaries, reported Sunday that they were promised high salaries and even Russian citizenship before being forcibly inducted into the Russian military to fight in Ukraine.

In urgent situations, indecisive behavior can often be worse than making a mistaken or misguided decision. For Ukraine, a Trump tenure may turn out not as bad as expected.

As Ukraine continues to fight for its sovereignty, the prospect of Donald Trump returning to the White House has triggered mixed feelings. However, instead of fearing what lies ahead Ukraine might benefit from looking at Trump’s arrival as an opportunity for clarity. Whatever stance Trump brings to the conflict, it will be decisive – sadly, a rare and valuable trait in global politics these days.

Under Trump Ukraine will quickly understand where it stands. If allegations of Russian influence over him, whether through kompromat or other leverage, prove true, Ukraine will face hard truths sooner rather than later. However, if Trump is his own man, he could emerge as the ally Ukraine always hoped for. Trump and Putin are not natural bedfellows – both possess outsized egos and neither will want to appear weaker than the other. If Trump’s ego drives him to outshine Putin, Ukraine could see stronger support than under the current administration.

Latest from the Institute for the Study of War.

Key Takeaways from the ISW:

• Russian forces’ recent confirmed battlefield gains near Vuhledar and Velyka Novosilka demonstrate that the war in Ukraine is not stalemated. The frontline in Donetsk Oblast is becoming increasingly fluid as Russian forces recently have been advancing at a significantly quicker rate than they did in the entirety of 2023.
• Russian advances in the Pokrovsk, Kurakhove, Vuhledar, and Velyka Novosilka directions present the Russian military command with several courses of action (COAs) that the Russian command may attempt in the coming weeks and months.
• COA 1: Russian forces advance southwest, east, and northeast of Velyka Novosilka to envelop the settlement from its flanks, bypassing the area immediately south of Velyka Novosilka.
• COA 2: Russian forces advance to Andriivka (along the H15 highway and west of Kurakhove) from the south in support of Russian efforts to close the Ukrainian pockets near Kurakhove and level the frontline.
• COA 3: Russian forces advance west and southwest from Selydove along the Pustynka-Sontsivka line in the direction of Andriivka to collapse the Ukrainian pocket north of Kurakhove and threaten Ukrainian egress routes.
• The Russian military command is likely planning on how to advance into the southeasternmost part of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast in support of Russia's longstanding objective to seize all of Donetsk Oblast.
• Elements of the Russian Central, Eastern, and Southern military districts (CMD, EMD, and SMD) are conducting simultaneous, mutually supportive offensive operations in Donetsk Oblast and have recently made relatively rapid tactical advances. The Russian military command may be learning from some battlefield mistakes after three years of war, but the extent of this learning is currently unclear.
• The Russian military command appears to be planning more complex operations, but Russian forces have yet to be able to restore operational maneuver to the battlefield and are instead still relying on their ability to identify and exploit vulnerabilities in the Ukrainian defensive lines to make gradual, tactical advances.
• Ukrainian forces struck a Russian S-400 air defense system radar in an unspecified area in Kursk Oblast on the night of November 23 to 24.
• Russia reportedly recruited hundreds of Yemeni nationals to fight in the Russian military amid growing cooperation between Russia, Iran, and Iran-backed Houthi movement.
• Ukrainian and Russian forces recently advanced in the main Ukrainian salient in Kursk Oblast.
• Russian forces recently advanced near Kupyansk, Pokrovsk, Vuhledar, and Velyka Novosilka.