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Ukraine Latest: Key Dnipro Bridge Hit as Kyiv’s Troops Advance
(Bloomberg) -- An attack damaged a key bridge over the Dnipro river in Ukraine’s southern Kherson region, and President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said his forces have liberated dozens of settlements in the country’s northeast and south.
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One of the main challenges facing Ukraine’s military now is clearing roughly 170,000 square kilometers (66,000 square miles) of retaken territory of Russian munitions, with Moscow’s forces mining everything from power lines, fields, forests and buildings, Zelenskiy said in an address late Thursday.
The US also announced it was sending an additional weapons package to Ukraine that includes Avenger anti-aircraft systems made by Boeing Co.. The Pentagon said the weapons, drawn from US stocks, are valued at as much as $400 million.
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Key Developments
South Korea Says Not Sending Ukraine Arms, Amid Artillery Report
US Adds Boeing Anti-Aircraft Missile System in New Ukraine Aid
Ukraine Cautious Over Russia’s Kherson Exit as Army Advances
Ukraine Wants Russia to Pay for Climate Damage Wreaked by War
Russia Quietly Checks Its Bomb Shelters as War Fears Spread
On the Ground
Ukrainian troops liberated 12 settlements in the southern Kherson region on Nov. 9, and the offensive is continuing, the Military Staff said. Russian troops appear to be withdrawing in an orderly fashion, and Kyiv’s forces have advanced as much as 7 kilometers in some areas but without routing Moscow’s forces, according to the Institute for the Study of War. Fighting will continue in the coming weeks as Russia completes its retreat and Ukrainian troops advance on its defensive lines around the city of Kherson. A Russian missile strike in the city of Mykolayiv killed five civilians, Zelenskiy’s office said.
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Russia Says Retreat From Kherson City, Surroundings Complete: Tass (11:20 a.m.)
Russia has removed its troops and military equipment from the city of Kherson and the surrounding areas on the west bank of the Dnipro River, completing a major retreat, the Defense Ministry said, according to the Tass newswire.
Russia announced plans for pulling out of the area on Wednesday after months of pressure from Ukrainian troops had cut off the garrison there from vital supplies and support. The pullout from Kherson, the only regional capital Russia took since the Feb. 24 invasion, is a highly symbolic setback for the Kremlin.
Ukrainian officials haven’t confirmed the retreat is complete, however, and warned that some Russian forces may remain in and around Kherson.
EU Probes Claims That Russia Is Getting Missiles From Iran (11:16 a.m.)
The EU is investigating claims that Iran is transferring ballistic missiles to Russia to aid its war in Ukraine, a senior EU official said, adding the bloc is deeply concerned about Tehran’s military support for Moscow and would impose serious sanctions if the reports proved accurate.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has repeatedly stressed to Iran that its military support for Russia is unacceptable, the official said. The bloc has already imposed sanctions on Iran over its transfers of drones to Russia, which have been used in Ukraine to conduct widespread attacks.
Iran’s military support for Russia will be discussed by the bloc’s foreign ministers when they meet in Brussels on Monday, the official said. They’ll also discuss Russia’s announced withdrawal of troops from the city of Kherson, the official said adding that the EU, like Ukraine, is prudent on the claims but added it was obvious that Putin was losing his war.
Kremlin Seeks to Distance Putin From Kherson Exit (10:51 a.m.)
Russia’s decision to pull its forces from the city of Kherson came from the defense minister, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, in his first public comments on the withdrawal from the only regional capital.
President Vladimir Putin hasn’t publicly commented on the retreat, which Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Gen. Sergei Surovikin, the commander of the operation in Ukraine, announced in televised comments Wednesday.
Kherson was part of the territory that Putin illegally annexed in September. He then said it would remain Russian forever.
Major Bridge South of Kherson Damaged in Attack (10:42 a.m.)
The Antonivskiy bridge spanning the Dnipro river near the city of Kherson was damaged in an attack Friday morning, the head of the region’s Kyiv appointed council, Oleksandr Samoilenko, said on television.
Samoilenko said it wasn’t clear who had conducted the attack. The bridge is a key artery across the Dnipro, a crucial geographic defensive feature that Russian forces have been crossing in their withdrawal from the city of Kherson and the surrounding region.
Russia and US to Resume Nuclear Talks in Cairo (10:25 a.m.)
Russia said it and the US will hold talks in late November-early December in Cairo about inspections of atomic weapons sites under the New START treaty, a step toward reviving broader arms-control talks suspended since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The talks in the Egyptian capital will last about a week, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said, according to state news service RIA Novosti.
Russia barred US inspectors from its nuclear weapons sites in August, citing visa and travel restrictions for Russians that it said made it impossible for them to reach the US. The two countries had suspended the on-site inspections in March 2020 because of the Covid-19 pandemic and were discussing how to restart them safely.
Ukrainian Power Grid implements Emergency Blackouts (10:10 a.m.)
Overnight attacks by Russia on Ukraine’s power infrastructure caused massive damage to power grids, prompting authorities to introduce emergency blackouts in four regions, including in the capital, utility Ukrenergo said in a statement.
The blackouts are currently being implemented in the city of Kyiv and its surrounding region, the northern Chernihiv region, central Cherkasy, and the Zytomyr region, the company said.
Poland Sends Ukraine Starlink Terminals for Use in Blackouts (8:40 a.m.)
Poland sent more than 1,570 Starlink satellite terminals to Ukraine, where authorities will create public wifi hotspots so that civilians can stay online during blackouts, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said on Twitter.
IMF Begins Virtual Mission to Ukraine Friday (8:38 a.m)
The International Monetary Fund began policy discussions with Ukrainian authorities Friday following Kyiv’s request for a new multi-billion dollar aid program, the Washington-based lender said in a statement.
The discussions will happen virtually. Central bank Governor Andriy Pyshnyi early said the talks will take place from Nov. 11 to 17. Kyiv is seeking a non-cash monitoring arrangement from the IMF as a bridge to a full-fledged aid deal.
Retaken Settlements Achieved Through ‘Pain and Loss,’ Zelenskiy Says (8:13 a.m.)
Ukraine has retaken more than 40 settlements from Russian forces in the country’s northeast and south during its autumn counteroffensive, Zelenskiy said.
“It was achieved through courage, pain, and loss,” he said in a nightly address on Thursday. “It’s not the enemy leaving. It is the Ukrainians who are driving the occupiers out at a heavy cost.”
He also said that estimates predicting that it will take decades to demine Ukrainian territories from Russian explosives are far too long: “We can’t wait that long. We have to do in years what elsewhere in the world could have taken decades after hostilities.”
Ukraine Expected to Secure ‘Major Victory’ in Kherson Region: ISW (8:06 a.m.)
Ukraine holds the initiative and is in the process of securing a major victory in the Kherson region, according to the Institute for The Study of War think tank.
Ukrainian strikes since August have successfully degraded Russian supply lines to force Putin’s troops to withdraw from Kherson, and Ukraine’s army will liberate the whole region to the Dnipro River in the coming days or weeks, they said in an assessment.
South Korea Says It Is Not Sending Arms to Ukraine (5:30 a.m.)
South Korea’s military said the country has maintained its position of not sending lethal arms to Ukraine, after the Wall Street Journal reported Seoul had struck a secret deal with the US that would supply Kyiv with artillery.
The Defense Ministry said in a text message to reporters on Friday that negotiations were underway between a South Korean company and the US to export arms to help Washington stock up on its inventory of 155 mm artillery rounds, under the premise the US would be the end-user of the shells.
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