19.11.2023

NBC News: Congressional leaders are hoping to muster a supplemental package to aid the war efforts in Ukraine and Israel, as well as make improvements to the U.S. immigration system, by the end of the year, according to multiple people involved in discussions.

Ukrainska Pravda: Emilian Gebrev, a Bulgarian arms magnate who survived two Russian assassination attempts, is warning of a sabotage campaign aimed at obstructing vital arms supplies to Ukraine.

RFE/RL: More than 400 applications are still being processed through a controversial passport-for-pay scheme in Montenegro that, after pressure from the EU, officials said had been shut down.

Reuters: About 3,000 mostly Ukrainian trucks, including those carrying fuel and humanitarian aid, were stuck on the Polish side of the border on Sunday due to a more than 10-day blockade by Polish truckers.

The Moscow Times: Putin will take part in a virtual G20 leaders' summit on Wednesday, after skipping the flagship in-person meeting in New Delhi in September.

AP News: Russian drones targeted Kyiv Sunday as the British Defense Ministry said there were “few immediate prospects” for major change along the Ukrainian front line as the war enters its second winter.

Sky News: Ukrainian officials fear the country could come under intense attack during the winter months, claiming Russia could target energy infrastructure to keep the lights off.

AFP: The Ukrainian army said Sunday that it has pushed Russian forces back "three to eight kilometres" from the banks of Dnipro river, which if confirmed would be the first meaningful advance by Kyiv's forces months into the counteroffensive.

Reuters: Pro-war Russian nationalist Igor Girkin, who is in custody awaiting trial for inciting extremism, said on Sunday he wanted to run for president even though he understood the March election would be "sham" with the winner already clear.

BBC News: Snitching, or reporting neighbours, colleagues and even strangers to the authorities, was common in Russia's Soviet era. Now, as the government cracks down on critics of the Ukraine war, people with personal grudges and political ideals are denouncing others once again.

18.11.2023

POLITICO: The Ukrainian government has collected evidence of around 109,000 alleged Russian war crimes, including physical and cyberattacks, according to Ukrainian Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin.

Le Monde: Nine months after the end of French operations in the West African country, military cooperation between Ouagadougou and Moscow is accelerating and entering a 'practical phase.' Some 20 Russian military personnel have arrived in the capital.

The Kyiv Independent: Kazakh authorities have blocked Russia's Sputnik24 service, which broadcasts Russian state-controlled television channels in Kazakhstan, Kazakh media outlet Arbat Media reported.

RFE/RL: More than 100 Russian doctors have signed an open letter to Putin calling for him to release a woman jailed for making a supermarket protest over Russia’s offensive against Ukraine.

Reuters: Russia's justice ministry has filed a motion with the country's Supreme Court to label what it called the "international LGBT public movement" as extremist and to ban its operation within Russia.

The Kyiv Independent: Russian forces prepare the third wave of Avdiivka offensive in Donetsk Oblast, the Ukrainian army's Tavria group spokesperson Oleksandr Shtupun said.

DW: According to Kyiv, drone production in Ukraine has increased more than one-hundredfold since the start of the Russian invasion. The country is developing its own models, but there are challenges.

Reuters: Russia carried out a major drone attack on Ukraine overnight, hitting infrastructure facilities and causing power outages in more than 400 towns and villages in the south, southeast, and north of the country, Ukrainian officials said on Saturday.

Meduza: The Russian government has granted the country’s federal censorship agency, Roskomnadzor, permission to restrict access to websites that contain information about circumventing Internet censorship.

17.11.2023

Reuters: Ukraine and the United States will hold a military industry conference in Washington on Dec. 6 and 7, Ukrainian and U.S. officials said on Friday.

Meduza: The Estonian authorities have sent “dragon’s teeth” anti-tank barriers to the bridge between the Estonian town of Narva and the Russian town of Ivangorod.

POLITICO: Bulgaria will scrap its exemption to EU sanctions against Russia six months earlier than planned — just days after POLITICO revealed the loophole had allowed the Kremlin to rake in an extra €1 billion for its war effort in Ukraine.

Reuters: Ukraine's military said on Friday its operations had resulted in the destruction of a total of 15 Russian naval vessels in the Black Sea since the start of Russia's invasion and that 12 other vessels had been damaged.

The Moscow Times: The European Union on Friday accused Russia of making a "shameful" use of migrants to put pressure on other countries, saying it had noted an increased number of undocumented asylum seekers crossing Russia's border to Finland.

Reuters: Finland will erect barriers at four crossings on its border with Russia from midnight, officials said on Friday, in a bid to stem an increase in migrants that Helsinki says has been orchestrated by Moscow.

AP News: The lower house of Russia’s parliament approved a federal budget Friday that increases spending by around 25% in 2024 and devotes a record amount to defense. Under the spending plan, the country’s largest ever, defense spending is expected to overtake social spending next year for the first time in modern Russian history.

Reuters: Hungary's government sent out a survey to its citizens on Friday questioning whether the European Union should allocate more funds to Ukraine or grant it membership, in a move analysts said was an attempt by Orban to boost support.

Reuters: The European Commission is proposing to ban the sale of tankers for crude oil and petroleum products to Russia to prevent Moscow bypassing western sanctions on Russian oil with a shadow fleet of ships.

Reuters: Faced with the constant threat of Russian air strikes, officials in eastern Ukraine's Kharkiv region have begun building heavily fortified underground schools that will allow children to safely return to in-person studies as Moscow's invasion grinds on.

Reuters: Putin waited three days before commenting on Hamas' massacre of Israelis, which happened to take place on his 71st birthday. When he did, he blamed the United States, not Hamas.

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