U.S. President Joe Biden has reversed key policies on providing advanced weapons to Ukraine, including longer-range missiles and antipersonnel land mines, as Kyiv faces mounting pressure on the battlefield and a potential need to negotiate with Russia.
Many U.S. officials now acknowledge that Ukraine could be pushed into talks within months and might be forced to cede territory to end the war, the Washington Post (WP) reported on Nov. 26.
In mid-November, Biden authorized Ukraine to use the ATACMS to strike deeper inside Russia, a decision aiming at strengthening Ukraine’s negotiating position. His administration previously resisted supplying such weapons over concerns of escalating tensions with Russia.
The changes come amid significant challenges for Ukraine, including battlefield losses, reports of North Korea sending troops to support Russia, and Donald Trump taking office in January. Trump has vowed to end the war within 24 hours, but officials worry his administration would cut off aid to Ukraine, undermining its ability to resist Russian aggression.
Biden’s aides argue that evolving conditions on the ground have driven his decisions to provide weapons, but critics, including former U.S. ambassador to NATO Kurt Volker, say the delays emboldened Moscow. "It gives Russia a sense of impunity," Volker told the WP, adding that earlier support could have bolstered Ukraine’s position. "They know they have a sanctuary. They know we don’t want to escalate, and they can go ahead and carry out the war, conduct strikes and do outrageous things."
European allies, while welcoming the recent weapons transfers, have expressed frustration that the assistance did not come earlier when Ukraine’s position was stronger. Many now believe that peace talks may involve territorial concessions, and discussions have begun on potential security guarantees for Ukraine to deter future Russian aggression, according to the WP.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken has urged NATO allies to increase support for Ukraine ahead of Trump’s return to office, emphasizing the need to reinforce Kyiv before the U.S. political landscape shifts further.
"We will continue to shore up everything we’re doing for Ukraine to ensure it can effectively defend itself," Blinken said during his one-day emergency visit to Brussels on Nov. 13.
In Kiev, an Air Alert was declared due to the approach of an enemy drone from the South. The population is urged to urgently go to the shelter of civil protection, air defense is working.
An Air Alert has been issued again in Kiev. This is reported by The Kiev City State Administration, reports UNN.
Attention! An Air Alert has been declared in Kiev! we ask everyone to immediately follow them to the civil protection shelter
– the message says.
In Kiev, an Air Alert was declared due to the approach of an enemy drone from the South: Air defense system is workingNov 26 2024, 11:45 PM • 5740 views
A Russian missile attack on Nov. 26 struck a residential building and kindergarten in the city of Sumy, leaving at least two people dead, the Sumy Oblast Military Administration reported.
The Russian missile, which was reportedly launched at a vehicle service station, also struck a nearby multi-story residential building and caused damage inside a nearby kindergarten, President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
One more person may still be trapped under the ruble at the site of the attack as emergency services continue their work.
The attack on the city also damaged 13 cars, Suspilne reported.
The attack on the regional capital comes as Russia shelled Sumy Oblast 120 times on Nov. 26 in 21 attacks on the region, according to the regional military administration. An explosive dropped from a Russian drone also injured one person in the town of Velyka Pysarivka.
Shelling is a daily occurrence for the communities near Ukraine's northeastern border with Russia, with residents in the region's vulnerable border settlements experiencing multiple attacks per day.
A Russian missile strike on a residential building in Sumy on Nov. 17 killed 11 people and injured another 89.
A source in Ukraine's General Staff said on Nov. 23 that nearly 60,000 Russian army personnel are currently stationed in Kursk Oblast, planning to reach the border with Sumy Oblast in an attempt to create a "buffer zone" there — as Ukraine looked to do with its surprise incursion into neighboring Kursk Oblast in August.
Russia continues its onslaught of drone and missile attacks ahead of an expected harsh winter amid Russia strike on energy infrastructure. Overnight on Nov. 25, Russia launched a record 188 drones at Ukraine, with Ukrainian air defenses reportedly being able to down 76 drones across 17 oblasts.
Ukraine has successfully tested a new American UAV system with a Hitchhiker interceptor drone from IronNet and Astrion. The drone is designed to effectively destroy enemy drones, in particular Iranian Shahed.
Ukraine has successfully tested a new American UAV system, the main element of which is the Hitchhiker interceptor drone. This is reported, Reports UNN.
Details
It was called a real "game changer" that will change the way you protect yourself from drone attacks.
This new product was developed by two leading American technology companies – IronNet and Astrion. Revolutionary anti-drone technology has demonstrated impressive potential for drone combat in real-world combat situations and increasing the level of intelligence on the battlefield.
Hitchhiker is a high-speed, electric-powered interceptor drone designed to destroy enemy drones like Iran's Shahed, more cost-effective than traditional defense systems like expensive Patriot missiles
– the publication writes.
recall
Earlier, UNN reported that the Ukrainian military is testing a new jet drone of domestic design.
Ukrainian military is testing a new jet-powered unmanned aerial vehicleJan 17 2024, 10:01 PM • 111212 views
KUPIANSK — Volodymyr paused his Sunday stroll from a shopping center in Kupiansk to take pictures of rubble from a Russian strike that almost killed his wife late last month.
"It was broad daylight when they struck," he said. "Our only luck was that my wife was in the kitchen, so the flying glass did not hit her," Volodymyr said, who lives with his wife only a few meters from the epicenter of the explosion.
Fearing a return of Russian occupation to his increasingly bombed-out front-line city in Ukraine's northeastern Kharkiv Oblast, Volodymyr refused to provide his full name.
The 1.5-ton thermobaric bomb that Russian troops dropped next to the shopping center at the edge of the city killed a 73-year-old woman and injured others.
The use of such destructive weapons against civilians marks the Russian army's upscaled push to occupy the latest Ukrainian city, enduring more suffering and uncertain prospects.
One recent Russian strike on Kupiansk disrupted central water supplies throughout the city, forcing the people left in the city, most of them retirees, to roam streets carrying buckets from wells to their homes.
"There has been no water for two days now, and we're afraid that soon there will be no electricity and (natural) gas," said Ivana in early November, a retiree who glanced into the sky nervously, fearing the possibility of Russian drone strikes from above.
"We feel abandoned," she added as Russia's army sped up a grinding advance towards Kupiansk.
People carry belongings in wheelbarrows as authorities in Ukraine's Kharkiv Oblast have announced the start of a mandatory evacuation for the key front-line city of Kupiansk, Ukraine on Oct. 16, 2024. (Fermin Torrano/Anadolu via Getty Images)A view of a monument opposite the damaged buildings as authorities in Ukraine's Kharkiv Oblast have announced the start of a mandatory evacuation for the key front-line city of Kupiansk, Ukraine on Oct. 16, 2024. (Fermin Torrano/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Russian troops ramped up their efforts near Kupiansk in early September and approached the city's industrial outskirts in the northeast. Earlier in November, Ukrainian forces successfully repelled Russian attempts to break into the city.
The crowd-sourced monitoring website DeepState also reported on Nov. 26 that Ukrainian forces had completed clearing Kupiansk of Russian soldiers. The pressure on the city remains, with Russian troops geared up to try again in the near future.
Divided by the Oskil River, Kupiansk lies at a critical junction between the Russian-occupied Luhansk Oblast and the adjacent Kharkiv Oblast, which Ukraine largely liberated during a surprise counteroffensive in autumn 2022.
Now, with Russia's increasing offensives across the entire front and the U.S. support for Ukraine in the long run remaining uncertain, residents of Kupiansk are expecting the worst to come.
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump had promised to end Russia's war swiftly, without providing a clear scenario on how he plans to achieve such a result. The president-elect's inner circle has also been vocal, floating the idea of freezing the war along the current front lines leaving cities like Kupiansk and the residents that remain on the edge or in Russia grip indefinitely.
Frozen front lines could leave more Ukrainian towns smoldering in limbo
Russia has a poor record of keeping to ceasefire agreements that predate its full-blown invasion of Ukraine by almost a decade.
"We already went through this during the first and second Minsk agreements, through various truces, freezes, but in all cases, Russia always violated these agreements," Serhiy Kuzan, chairman of the Ukrainian Security and Cooperation Center, told the Kyiv Independent.
His comments refer to two ceasefire agreements, one in 2014 and another in 2015 brokered by the West, that froze front lines in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts after Russia occupied part of those regions.
A number of towns and villages were left on the front lines, experiencing occasional shelling, lack of basic necessities, and lacking the ability to escape the years-long war.
A visit to Kupiansk today largely mirrors the devastation brought to the towns left on the front lines. Kupiansk is an increasingly abandoned city.
Despite a mandatory evacuation order for all citizens announced in mid-October, locals estimate several thousand residents remain despite the mounting risks.
The city is experiencing the third siege in three years after it was briefly occupied by Russian forces in 2022, then liberated during the successful Ukrainian counteroffensive in the autumn of the same year.
Back then, the Ukrainian army's surprise counterattack pushed the Russian troops to about a dozen kilometers from the city's outskirts.
Two years after the retreat, Russia's army has doubled its efforts to recapture it. Since early September, they have advanced several kilometers, approaching the city's eastern outskirts. Earlier this month, Ukraine's army said it was repelling enemy attempts to enter the city.
Kuzan, a native of Kharkiv Oblast, said Ukraine's army is in a good position to hold the city's eastern outskirts against Russian incursions "provided that there is a sufficient amount of ammunition and materiel."
However, that remains in doubt as President-elect Trump vows to end the war quickly, pulling the plug on future military aid to Ukraine.
Increasingly uncertain future of US military aid
One of the possible scenarios to follow up on Trump's promise is reducing military aid to Ukraine, forcing the country into giving up territory for peace.
Yet Trump, who has in the past expressed a fancy for Russian President Vladimir Putin, has also said he could boost Ukrainian weapons supplies to pressure Russia into a peace agreement.
"I believe that what he (Trump) has said about the tools is what he intends to do," former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine John E. Herbst told the Kyiv Independent.
People from Kupiansk arrive at an evacuation point as mandatory evacuation from four communities in the Kharkiv Oblast kicks off due to hostilities in the region on Oct. 17, 2024. (Ukrinform/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
"It's not clear (how Trump would achieve peace). I do think that there is going to be some form of cut in aid. It may also be that American military assistance will move from a straight aid program to a loan program," said Herbst, now serving as senior director of the Washington, D.C.-based Atlantic Council's Eurasia Center.
The former ambassador is skeptical about a lasting agreement between Ukraine and Russia should the front line be frozen.
"It would not surprise me if Putin were to agree to negotiate along those lines, maybe even reach an agreement. And then, of course, work immediately to undermine that agreement and continue his aggression against Ukraine," Herbst added.
In Kupiansk, the last bridge connecting the two sides of the Oskil River remained open to civilian traffic in late October.
"The Russians are striking the industrial complex on the left not only with glide bombs and FPV drones now, but with artillery and tanks too," a soldier on the ground with the military, call sign Riaba, told the Kyiv Independent. He spoke amid the relentless sound of various calibers crackling and booming in the background without revealing his real name due to security concerns.
"The Russians are attempting to break into the (eastern) part of the city in small units, but so far we repelled them," he said. "They need it because of the railway, if they take it, we'll be in a very, very bad position."
Kuzan estimates that Kupiansk holds value to the Russian army due to its highways and railway lines. If captured, it could serve as a springboard for continued north-to-south offensive operations into the heart of the last remaining densely populated urban areas of Donetsk Oblast still held by Ukraine — the cities and agglomerations of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk.
"The city is a large railway hub, and the Russian army's logistics is built around railway transportation, not road," Kuzan said.
Although the Russian military has not yet been able to get a foothold, the city remains under indiscriminate bombardment.
"The Russians are on the attack, they are not trying to freeze the front line," Kuzan added.
If Russian forces capture Kupiansk before a ceasefire, they will be in pole position to retake all eastern bank territory south of the city along the Oskil River stretching south to the Donetsk Oblast front lines.
In the unlikely event of a frozen front line, Kuzan sees little chance for Kupiansk to live in peace due to the constant threat of Russian attacks after a ceasefire.
"Both for Kupiansk and our other cities to be able to live and function, it is necessary, first of all, to quickly reduce the strike capabilities of the Russian army," said Kuzan.
A view of the enterence to Kupiansk, Ukraine on Oct. 16, 2024. (Fermin Torrano/Anadolu via Getty Images)
His comments echo President Volodymyr Zelensky's repeated calls for allies to boost firepower supplies, including the provision of more long-range missiles capable of hindering Russian logistics.
"Only in this case can we talk about some kind of stabilization in these cities, having removed their instrument for terror," Kuzan said.
Back in Kupiansk, the scene in early November was nerve-racking.
"We trust God will help us," said Svitlana, a resident selling military chevrons in the middle of the city, despite the sound of small arms fire in the background.
Some people motivated to help feed Ukrainian soldiers protecting the city remained reluctant to evacuate.
"Other than the fact that we were born here, who would sell these boys (the soldiers) hotdogs if we fled?" asked Viktoria, a shopkeeper at the bombed-out shopping center that nearly killed Volodymyr's wife.
As her colleague repaired a damaged roof, Viktoria served customers.
"We remained open that day and will be open for the guys (Ukrainian soldiers) in the future," she added.
The Kyiv Independent reporter Dinara Khalilova contributed to this report.
An Air Alert has been declared in the capital of Ukraine, and the population is being urged to go to shelters. According to the KCMA, an enemy attack drone is approaching the city from the southern direction.
An Air Alert has been issued in the capital. This is reported by The Kiev City State Administration, reports UNN.
Attention! An Air Alert has been declared in Kiev! we ask everyone to immediately follow them to the civil protection shelter
– the message says.
Add
According to information from the Kyiv City Military Administration, an enemy strike UAV is approaching the capital from the south. It was then informed that air defense forces have intensified their work.
Joe Rogan, one of the world's most popular podcasters, has sparked outrage in Ukraine, after claiming that Kyiv and its Western allies, rather than Russia, "are about to start World War III."
In an episode of The Joe Rogan Experience last Friday, the U.S. host criticized the outgoing President Joe Biden’s administration for allowing Ukraine to strike with Storm Shadow and ATACMS long-range missiles deep into Russian territory.
In response to their use, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a "test" of a nuclear-capable intermediate-range ballistic missile, carried out in a strike on the city of Dnipro, central Ukraine on Nov. 21.
Despite the long-running nuclear rhetoric emanating from the Kremlin, and the fact Moscow launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in the first place, Rogan pinned all the blame for the escalation of international tensions on Biden and President Volodymyr Zelensky.
"How are you allowed to (authorize strikes inside Russia) when you are on your way out? Like, people don’t want you to be there anymore," Rogan said. “There should be some sort of pause for significant actions that could potentially start World War III.”
"Zelensky says Putin is terrified. F**k you, man. You f**king people are about to start World War III," Rogan said, adding that negotiations with Moscow should be the path Kyiv pursues over military action.
Rogan also repeated unfounded stories that Zelensky uses drugs.
"This is cocaine-like behavior. ‘Putin’s f**king scared, man, Putin’s terrified. We got him. We got him, man, we got him.’
"Like, what are you talking about? He has nuclear missiles. You f**king monkeys," Rogan said.
Prominent Ukrainians including former professional boxer Wladimir Klitschko, and former Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba have publicly condemned Rogan's statements.
On Nov. 26, the Kyiv Independent went out on the streets of Kyiv to see what people thought about them.
Natalia Romanets, purchasing manager
Natalia Romanets, purchasing manager in Kyiv, Ukraine on Nov. 26, 2024. (The Kyiv Independent)
Let him come to Kyiv, let him come to Ukraine, see everything with his own eyes, and then make some conclusions. Because it's hard to assess the situation from so many thousands of kilometers away. I think he just doesn't feel or understand what is happening in the world.
It's strange. I thought Americans were polite, well-mannered people but what he is saying about us is simply offensive.
If he were attacked somewhere in America, at a gas station, for example, and they put a knife to his throat, how would he negotiate?
Maybe he knows some formula or scenarios for negotiating in such circumstances with a knife pressing on an artery. It’s hard to talk when you're being killed.
Albina Volobuieva, sales worker
Albina Volobuueva, sales worker in Kyiv, Ukraine on Nov. 26, 2024. (The Kyiv Independent)
(Rogan) does not live in Ukraine, so he cannot comment on it. He has nothing to do with us. This war already feels like World War III to me — many countries are already involved, they help us in various ways, and they also suffer because of it.
So, to me, World War III has already begun — and has been going for quite some time now.
I would be glad if this were over because I can't handle the constant deaths, explosions, people being taken away, and men going to war anymore. Life in the country is really tense right now. But if there were negotiations, they should be for the benefit of our country and our people.
This person's words are very strange and incorrect.
Yelyzaveta Kovalenko, social media manager
Yelyzaveta Kovalenko, social media manager in Kyiv, Ukraine on Nov. 26, 2024. (The Kyiv Independent)
We are now simply hostages of Russia, which has come to our land.
We didn't call them, we didn't start this war, and we didn't want it. We were living peaceful lives in Ukraine, and they just invaded us. We have nothing else left to defend ourselves with.
Putin will never be satisfied. Therefore, negotiations should only end with the recognition that we are a sovereign entity that no one else should touch.
(Rogan) has never been in a state of war for three years, like our president. Considering how tired he already is, how he has no strength left, one could think all kinds of things about him.
But our president still addresses the Ukrainian people daily and supports us by doing that.
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Liudmyla Kushnir, on maternity leave
I would say this podcaster transfers the responsibility of the Russians onto us. But that’s not right. We did not start the war.
The responsibility is absolutely on them (Russians) for the possible start of World War III. We are being killed, and we have nothing left to do, only fight.
Who even said that Russia wants negotiations?
Oksana Hres, sales worker
Oksana Hres, sales worker in Kyiv, Ukraine on Nov. 26, 2024. (The Kyiv Independent)
Stop Putin, and then there will be no World War III.
Tell the mothers, children, and wives of tortured people about negotiations, about how you can somehow reach an agreement when you can't return the children who were tortured to death.
Viktor, programmer
As for his last words about World War III, I think he should remember the words of (Ukraine's former Commander-in-Chief Valerii) Zaluzhnyi about the fact that World War III has already begun, and so it makes sense to figure out what side he wants to be on.
To start negotiations, both sides need to want to do it. Unfortunately, no one is willing to make concessions right now.
Olha Serova, fashion industry manager
Olha Serova, fashion industry manager in Kyiv, Ukraine on Nov. 26, 2024. (The Kyiv Independent)
If I were to comment on this situation, I'd probably say “f*ck you.” What else can I say?
I think that advising to enter negotiations means he's only superficially observing the situation. Because if a person delves deeper into it, he will understand that negotiating with (Putin) is impossible.
Yuliia-Mariia Pismeniuk, economics student
The fact that Russia launches a bunch of missiles at Ukraine – is that normal? Should we feel safe?
We did not start this war. And in fact, the greater responsibility lies with Russia, with Putin, for starting World War III.
Mykola Korotkyi, video producer
Mykola Korotkyi, video producer in Kyiv, Ukraine on Nov. 26, 2024. (The Kyiv Independent)
Honestly, go f**k yourself. Come here, live here, and truly understand what’s happening instead of making assumptions with your headlines.
We would then look at you as if you were actually experiencing what’s happening in Ukraine every night. I'm not just talking about Kyiv, but places where glide bombs and other (weapons) are dropped. That's why someone like you, such a d*ckhead, shouldn’t open your mouth.
If the U.S. had fulfilled their international agreements on time, supported Ukraine, and taken a proper stance on what was happening, there would be no World War III.
Ukrainian forces have pushed back Russian troops from Kupiansk in Kharkiv Oblast and maintain control over the situation on the town’s outskirts, Nazar Voloshyn, the spokesperson for the Khortytsia group of forces, said on Nov. 26.
Russian troops ramped up their efforts near Kupiansk in early September and approached the city’s industrial outskirts in the northeast. Earlier in November, Ukrainian forces successfully repelled Russian attempts to break into the city.
The crowd-sourced monitoring website DeepState also reported on Nov. 26 that Ukrainian forces had completed clearing Kupiansk of Russian soldiers.
Speaking on national television, Voloshyn said that Russia uses small groups in an attempt to cross to the right bank of the Oskil River.
"Even if groups of eight to ten people manage to cross, only two or three from each group reach the (right) bank. The enemy has been eliminated there as well," he said.
"Everything there (in Kupiansk) is under the control of our Defense Forces."
The estimated advance of Russian forces in Kharkiv Oblast as of Nov. 25, 2024, according to DeepState. (DeepState/OpenStreetMaps)
Kupiansk is a key logistics and railway hub in the eastern part of Kharkiv Oblast. With several highways and five railway lines running through it, the town was briefly occupied by Russian forces before it was liberated during a successful Ukrainian counteroffensive in the autumn of 2022.
Capturing the city would widen the north-to-south supply route from Russia’s Belgorod Oblast, fuelling their attempt to take the entire Donbas region.
G7 ministers have condemned Russia's use of a ballistic missile and cooperation with North Korea. The group reaffirmed its unwavering support for Ukraine and expressed concern about the possible transfer of nuclear technology.
The group of seven foreign ministers strongly condemned Russia's use of a medium-range ballistic missile, saying it was evidence of reckless and escalating behavior, and stressed its unwavering support for Ukraine. This is stated in a joint statement of the G7, reports UNN.
"Russia's use of a medium-range ballistic missile on November 21 is further evidence of its reckless and escalating behavior on the part of the Russian Federation. Our support for the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine will remain unwavering," the statement reads.
The ministers also condemned Russia's takeover and subsequent control and militarization of ZAES, which poses serious risks to nuclear safety, Russia's increased attacks on commercial shipping and civilian port infrastructure in the Black Sea, and "strongly" condemned Russia's "irresponsible and threatening nuclear rhetoric.
"We will never put up with threats of the use of nuclear weapons, let alone any use of nuclear weapons, by Russia in the context of its aggressive war against Ukraine," the statement said.
The foreign minister also condemned Russia's "large-scale and systematic" torture and ill-treatment of Ukrainian prisoners of war and civilian detainees, including the use of sexual violence.
In addition, the ministers are concerned about the deployment of North Korean troops on the territory of Russia and their use on the battlefield against Ukraine.
"North Korea's direct support for Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, in addition to demonstrating Russia's desperate efforts to compensate for its losses, marks a dangerous expansion of the conflict with serious consequences for European security. We are working with our international partners to respond in a coordinated manner to this development. We are also deeply concerned about the possibility of any transfer of technologies related to nuclear weapons or ballistic missiles to the DPRK," the statement said.
Recall
The group of Seven foreign ministers condemned Russia's nuclear rhetoric and its strategy of intimidation, saying they would not "tolerate" it.
The Kyiv IndependentOlena Goncharova
