Here is the situation on Friday, November 8:
Fighting
- Russian forces have captured the village of Kreminna Balka in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, Russia’s Defence Ministry said.
- A Russian-guided bomb attack on Ukraine’s southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia has killed four people and wounded 33, destroying houses and damaging an oncology centre.
- Russia hit an energy facility in northern Ukraine’s Zhytomyr region during overnight drone strikes that injured at least three people across the country, Ukrainian officials said.
- Fragments from downed drones injured at least two people in Kyiv and damaged 10 buildings – including a medical facility, a business centre and apartment blocks – while a man was injured in the southern city of Odesa, where an 11-storey building, cars and a gas pipe were also damaged by the Russian drone attack.
- Overall, Ukraine’s air force said it downed 74 of 106 drones launched by Russia across the country and another 25 were “locationally lost”.
Rescuers work at a site of an apartment building hit by a Russian air strike in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, on November 7, 2024 [Reuters]
North Korean soldiers in Ukraine
- France’s Foreign Ministry has summoned North Korea’s general delegate in France to protest the deployment of his country’s troops to Russia for support in the war against Ukraine and warned there would be consequences.
- Strengthening ties between Russia and North Korea are not only a threat to European security but also to the United States, NATO’s Secretary-General Mark Rutte has said.
- Speaking at the European Political Community summit in Budapest, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said North Korea has already suffered casualties in combat with Kyiv’s forces and some of the 11,000 troops sent to Russia’s Kursk region had taken part in fighting.
- Zelenskyy said more North Korean troops would be deployed on Russia’s side unless action was taken.
Security
- At the European community summit, leaders agreed on the need to take more responsibility for their security and rely less on the US. “We cannot delegate our security to the Americans forever,” French President Emmanuel Macron told fellow leaders. “We need to be able to defend ourselves,” he said, warning that Europe must not become a weak “herbivore” surrounded by “carnivores”.
- Germany will be able to provide most of the 4 billion euros ($4.3bn) it has pledged to Ukraine even if the 2025 budget cannot be approved on time, following the collapse of the country’s coalition government, the Reuters news agency reports, citing sources from the budget committee.
- The British government said it imposed its biggest sanctions package against Russia for 18 months, targeting 56 bodies and individuals involved in the Ukraine war, Africa-based mercenary groups and a nerve agent attack on British soil. Among those sanctioned were 10 entities based in China said to be supplying components for the Russian military.
Russian affairs
- Russian President Vladimir Putin, setting out his worldview in a speech to a conference of Russia experts, said Ukraine should remain neutral – referring to their NATO membership request – for there to be any chance for peace.
- “If there is no neutrality, it is difficult to imagine the existence of any good neighbourly relations,” he said, adding that Ukraine’s borders should be in accordance with the wishes of the people living in Russian-claimed territory.
- Putin also described NATO as a “blatant anachronism”, which was needed by the US in order to dominate its zone of influence. He also suggested Russia could hold military drills with North Korea. “We’ll see. We could also conduct exercises. Why not?” he said.
Trump presidency
- Putin congratulated Trump on winning the US election, saying Moscow is ready for dialogue with the president-elect. He said he does not want Russia to go back to the path it was on until 2022 before the Ukraine war, when there was “veiled intervention” from other countries “aimed at subordinating it”.
- President Zelenskyy has said he is not aware of details of president-elect Donald Trump’s plan to end the Ukraine war and he is convinced a rapid end would entail major concessions for Kyiv. “If it’s just fast, it means losses for Ukraine. I just don’t yet understand how this could be in any other way,” he said.
- Zelenskyy also said talk of introducing a ceasefire without first agreeing on security guarantees for Ukraine was “very dangerous” and “preparation for the continuation of the occupation”.
- The White House has said the US will keep surging aid to Ukraine ahead of President Joe Biden’s transfer of power to Trump in January.
- Ukraine is not considering scenarios of the US cutting its military aid and welcomed the Biden administration’s efforts to use all allocated aid as fast as possible.
- “We don’t think it is in the best interest of the United States to take such a step,” Ukraine’s Foreign ministry spokesman Heorhii Tykhyi said. “There are voices around the world who suppose that if you cut military supplies to Ukraine, Ukraine will be forced to negotiate … This is not true,” Tykhyi said.
