Russia launches overnight missile and drone attacks on Odesa and Kherson. Ukraine hits a shipyard in Crimea’s Kerch. Ukraine is bracing for the “worst winter in history,” the country’s foreign minister says.
Russia launches overnight missile, drone attacks on Odesa, Kherson
Russia launched a drone and missile attack on Odesa late on Sunday, targeting the central part of the city and its port infrastructure. The strike left eight people injured, five of them were taken to hospital, head of the Odesa regional military administration, Oleh Kiper said. Ukraine’s air defenses shot down most of the air targets, but a few evaded the defenses, Ukraine’s Operational Command South said.
Odesa’s National Art Museum was damaged by the Russian strike. Footage showed damaged walls and shattered windows. The museum that stands in a part of the city that is a UNESCO world heritage site was inspected to document the damages, head of the Odesa regional military administration, Oleh Kiper said.
Air defences shot down 15 out of 22 incoming Iranian-made Shahed drones and an X-59 missile, Ukraine’s Air Force said. Russia also launched an Onyx and Iskander-M missiles at Ukraine last night, the air force added.
Warehouses, forklifts, and trucks carrying grain were also damaged.
Overnight on Monday, Russian forces carried out several artillery strikes at the central part of Kherson from the occupied left bank of the Dnipro. The shelling damaged apartment buildings and private houses, head of the Kherson regional military administration, Roman Mrochko said. Also, a Russian Kh-31P guided missile launched late on Sunday hit a five-story apartment building in Kherson, the Operational Command South said.
Ukraine hits shipyard in Crimea’s Kerch
Ukraine’s Air Force carried out a missile strike on a shipyard in the Crimean city of Kerch on Saturday, November 4. The missiles struck a Kalibr cruise missile carrier.
While official confirmation had yet to arrive, at the time of the attack “one of the most advanced ships of the Russian Black Sea fleet” was at the shipyard — the Kalibr cruise missile carrier, Commander of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Lieutenant General Mykola Oleshchuk said on Telegram. The Air Force Commander hinted that the strike was carried out with French-made SCALP cruise missiles.
“The vessel had not been deployed to sail or for combat operations. It was undergoing final testing before setting sail and fighting against our country,” spokesperson for Ukraine’s Air Force Command, Colonel Yuriy Ihnat said on national television.
The Russian defense ministry said late on Saturday that Ukrainian forces fired 15 cruise missiles at a shipyard in Kerch, with at least two striking a ship and the shipyard. They did not specify the vessel’s name. Head of the joint press center of the Defense Forces of Southern Ukraine, Captain Natalia Humenyuk said that Russian air defenses “worked persistently, but our work yielded better results.”
Online observers named the ship as the Askold.
The Askold was floated out in occupied Kerch in September 2021. The Project 22800 Karakurt-class missile corvette was designed by Russia’s Almaz bureau. The vessel has a length of 60 meters, a beam of 10 meters, and a draught of four meters. It can reach a maximum speed of 30 knots with a cruising range of 2,500 miles and a sea endurance of 15 days. The corvette is fitted with a modernized АК-176МА 76.2mm automatic dual-purpose gun, two АК-630М anti-aircraft artillery systems and a Kalibr-NK missile system.
Ukraine bracing for “worst winter in history,” country’s foreign minister says
Talks over the possible supply of German-made Taurus long-range missiles to Ukraine continue, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said in an interview with Die Welt.
“I don’t think the Chancellor is afraid of Putin. We have not given up on Taurus [missiles], we continue to work on it. Germany always upholds high moral standards, but let’s not forget a huge turnaround it has already made. If we go back to before February 24, 2022, people only talked about friendship with Russia. Today, no one does this anymore,” Kuleba said.
Ukraine is preparing “for the worst winter in history” as it tries to protect its energy system from Russian attacks, he said.
“We will turn a blind eye [on the situation] if we don’t get Taurus missiles as long as we continue to get air defense systems. We try to protect our power plants as best as we can. But the Russians are learning. They will once again test our tenacity with their missiles. But we will win,” Kuleba said.
He also said that he was in the room many times when German Chancellor Olaf Scholz spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi. He said he is “convinced that Scholz firmly believes in us.”
“Germany is the second largest aid provider [to Ukraine]. This speaks for itself,” Kuleba said.
Ukrainian Elections During Martial Law – a Reality Check. Ukraine in Flames #528
In this episode of Ukraine in flames we explore the viability of conducting elections in Ukraine amidst a state of armed conflict. Ukrainian authorities are currently grappling with the challenge of reconciling the expeditious implementation of elections, as urged by Western entities, with the intricate practicalities associated with this endeavor. Nevertheless, the conduction of elections in Ukraine amidst a state of war is confronted by noteworthy obstacles such as legal limitations, safety considerations, obsolete voter registries, impaired infrastructure, and constraints on political competition and the dissemination of information. There have been suggestions put forth regarding the amendment of laws to enable elections. However, the Constitution presents challenges, specifically in the context of parliamentary elections. These challenges are further compounded by the ongoing war, the displacement of voters, and the technological barriers associated with engaging Ukrainians residing abroad. Take a watch of UIF #528 to learn more!
Guests:
- Olha Aivazovska, Head of the Board, Coordinator of Electoral and Parliamentary Programmes, Civil Network “OPORA”
- Andriy Mahera, Honored Lawyer of Ukraine, former Deputy Head of the CEC
- Oleksandr Chernenko, Former MP, election expert