Author: dmitriy.vasyura@gmail.com

Russia gave the U.S. a brief advance warning of the intermediate-range ballistic missile strike on Dnipro before the attack, according to comments a U.S. administration official made at a briefing on Nov. 21.

“The United States was pre-notified briefly before the launch, through nuclear risk reduction channels,” Defense Department Deputy Spokesperson Sabrina Singh said.

The warning, sent 30 minutes before the launch, was also confirmed by Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov.

The U.S. had previously alerted Ukraine and its allies that Russia might test such an experimental missile.

In the early hours of Nov. 21, a country-wide air raid alert sounded due to the threat of ballistic missiles, and later, the launch of several Russian Tu-95MS bomber aircraft.

According to Ukraine's Air Force, the attack targeted the city of Dnipro using a number of different missile types.

Late on Nov. 21, Putin said in a televised address that the attack was a test of Russia's "newest missile," an IRBM called "Oreshnik."

Russia regularly uses close, and short range ballistic missiles in aerial attacks against Ukraine, but IRBMs and ICBMs are far larger, can be equipped with nuclear payloads, and are designed to hit targets at far longer ranges.

Russia reportedly uses new ‘Oreshnik’ ballistic missile against Ukraine — what we know so farRussian President Vladimir Putin said in a televised address that the attack was a test of Russia’s “newest missile,” an IRBM called “Oreshnik.”The Kyiv IndependentChris York

The Verkhovna Rada canceled the session due to the possible threat of a Russian strike on the government quarter. The MPs left the parliamentary hall, even though the president had recently called on everyone to work for Ukraine.

The Verkhovna Rada has canceled a meeting scheduled for November 22, and MPs have been warned of a possible threat of a Russian strike on the government quarter. This was reported in social media by MPs Iryna Gerashchenko and Oleksiy Honcharenko, UNN reports .

Today, when the requests to the president were announced, the hall was already half empty,

– The MP noted.

According to Gerashchenko, it is difficult to explain why the meeting of the Verkhovna Rada, which was supposed to hear challenges in foreign policy, was canceled.

It is obvious that Putin is a serial maniac and is planning attacks on Ukraine. We have been living under attack in Kyiv for 2.5 years in Kyiv, and Russian shelling has been going on in the east for 10 years. But only on Tuesday did the president say that everyone should work for Ukraine. And here we have already had enough and gone home,

Russia’s missile strikes on Nov. 16-17 hit three of the five operational thermal power plants owned by Ukraine’s largest private energy company, DTEK, leaving one plant offline, Reuters reported on Nov. 21, citing unnamed sources.

The strikes targeted energy facilities across Ukraine in one of the heaviest assaults on the country’s power grid since the start of the full-scale war, with Russia launching approximately 120 missiles and 90 drones.

DTEK reported “heavy damage” to its equipment following the attack, marking the eighth mass assault on its energy plants this year. According to the source, two of the damaged facilities have resumed partial electricity production, while the third remains offline.

An unnamed official confirmed to Reuters that power plants and distribution stations were damaged during the Nov. 17 strikes but declined to provide specific figures on power losses, calling the information “too sensitive.”

Ukraine reintroduced rolling blackouts on Nov. 18, with outages lasting four to eight hours at a time and occurring multiple times daily.

Officials have warned that Russia may continue targeting the energy grid as winter approaches, repeating a strategy used during spring and summer and throughout the autumn-winter season of 2022-2023.

In September, President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russian attacks had destroyed all of Ukraine’s thermal power plants and most of its hydroelectric capacity. Ukrainian authorities and energy companies have been working to repair and reinforce the grid in anticipation of renewed attacks.

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), Ukraine’s electricity shortage could reach 6 gigawatts this winter—around one-third of peak demand. By comparison, the summer shortage was 2.5 GW, which already resulted in prolonged blackouts in Kyiv.

Deputy energy minister: How Ukraine’s energy infrastructure has endured over 1,000 attacks in 1,000 days of full-scale warOver nearly 1,000 days of full-scale war, Russia has attacked Ukraine’s energy system more than 1,000 times. Despite this relentless onslaught, Ukrainian power engineers have achieved a historic feat: maintaining energy supply stability by repeatedly repairing equipment, sometimes three or four time…The Kyiv IndependentMykola Kolisnyk

President Zelenskyy announces Russia's second step toward escalating the war after a new ballistic missile strike on the Dnipro River. The first step is the deployment of 11,000 North Korean soldiers.

With the ballistic missile strike on the Dnipro River, Kremlin dictator Vladimir Putin has admitted that he has taken the second step this year to escalate the war. The president said this in his evening address, UNN reports.

Today, Putin admitted that he has taken the second step this year to escalate, to expand this war. A new ballistic missile was used. Putin hit our city of Dnipro, one of the largest cities in Ukraine. This is a clear and serious increase in the scale and brutality of this war, a cynical violation of the UN Charter by Russia. And let me emphasize: this is Russia's second step towards escalation in a year. The first step was the involvement of North Korea in the war against Ukraine – a contingent of at least 11,000 soldiers

– the message says.

Zelenskyy noted that the Russian dictator took both of these steps, ignoring everyone in the world who calls for not expanding the war. He also added that the Russian dictator does not care what China, Brazil, European countries, America, and all other countries of the world are calling for. Putin is the only one who started this war, a completely unprovoked war, and who is doing everything to keep the war going for more than a thousand days.

Today's ballistic missile against Ukraine is yet another proof that Russia definitely does not want peace. And Putin is lying when he says that Ukraine's alleged use of long-range weapons is somehow a new step. This is not the first time we have used these weapons. And we have every right to do so under international law; our right to self-defense is the same as that of any other nation. And when Russian missiles are hitting our cities, when Iranian "shahids" are attacking Ukraine every night, when a contingent from North Korea is deployed on our border, Putin is not only making the war longer, he is simply spitting in the face of those in the world who really want peace to be restored,

– Zelensky emphasized.

The Ukrainian president said that the world should react to this. He emphasized that there is no strong reaction from the world right now. He also noted that Putin is very sensitive to this and he is testing European leaders.

It is obvious to everyone who is the only culprit in this war, who started this war on February 24 and is investing all his resources in keeping the war going. It must be stopped. If there is no tough reaction to Russia's actions, it means that they see that it is possible. That's what Putin is doing,

– Zelensky summarized.

Recall

Russia used an "advanced" intermediate-range ballistic missile during a strike on Ukraine.

Russian dictator Vladimir Putin is quoted by the Russian media as saying that Russia has attacked Ukraine by testing a "new" medium-range ballistic missile, the Oreshnik.