"If the Russians are using this level of specialists in urban combat, they are probably facing some difficulties," Ivan Petrychak, spokesperson for the 24th Separate Mechanized Brigade, said.
Previously, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk accused the Russian intelligence services of orchestrating a May 2024 arson attack on the Marywilska shopping centre in Warsaw.
"Perhaps in some areas, the intensity decreased slightly to create an image of compliance with their own announcement. But in reality, (Russia) continued attacks every day, using all available weapons — including aircraft to drop guided bombs on Ukraine," Andrii Demchenko, spokesperson for Ukraine’s State Border Guard Service, said.
Beijing supports all efforts toward achieving peace in Ukraine, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said on May 12 when asked about Kyiv and Europe's proposal for a 30-day truce.
"I invited His Holiness to make an apostolic visit to Ukraine. Such a visit would bring real hope to all believers and to all our people," Zelensky said.
Presidential Office chief Andriy Yermak voiced doubt about leading negotiations with anyone from Russia except President Vladimir Putin, implying only the Russian leader can make real decisions.
This includes at least seven people injured in drone attacks overnight on May 12, a date from which Kyiv and its allies put forward a demand for a 30-day unconditional truce, a step that Moscow continues to reject.
"When European unity becomes inconvenient, disinformation goes so far as to make a simple tissue look like drugs," the Elysee Palace reacted to a fake story pushed by Russia.
The comments came after Trump urged Ukraine to agree to direct negotiations with Russia, which has invited Kyiv to peace talks in Istanbul on May 15, without first agreeing to halt military operations.
A Russian drone hit a civilian freight train in Donetsk Oblast on May 12 and injured its driver, Ukrainian Railways said amid Kyiv's calls for a ceasefire.
Moscow and Hanoi agreed to negotiate and sign agreements to construct nuclear power plants in Vietnam, the two countries said in a joint statement on May 11.
A local resident waves a Ukrainian flag at a former Russian checkpoint at the entrance of Kherson as local residents celebrate the liberation of the city, on Nov. 13, 2022, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine. (AFP/Getty Images)
Key developments on Nov. 12-13:
Ukrainian flag reportedly raised over Antonivsky Bridge connecting Kherson with Dnipro River’s east bank
Military training program for Russian schools to be drafted by end of 2022, says UK Defense Ministry
Ukrainian Armed Forces liberate almost 180 settlements in the south within a week.
Following the liberation of the southern city of Kherson on Nov. 11, Yaroslav Yanushevych, the oblast governor, asked people to avoid gathering in the central part of the liberated city as sappers need to demine it first.
"The enemy has mined nearly everything (in Kherson)," Yanushevych said. One Ukrainian deminer was killed and several wounded in Kherson Oblast on Nov. 13.
Despite the warning, photos from Kherson showed locals holding an impromptu rally to celebrate the liberation of the city that had spent eight months in Russian occupation. The city hasn’t been officially opened to the press yet.
The Institute for the Study of War said in its latest report that Russia's withdrawal from Kherson was eroding confidence in Vladimir Putin's commitment and ability to deliver his war promises. A day earlier, a pro-war Russian ideologist Alexander Dugin openly criticized Putin for surrendering Kherson, breaking the unspoken rule among top pro-Kremlin media personalities that criticisms about the war can’t be aimed at Putin himself.
"Direct criticism of Putin within the pro-war community is almost unprecedented, and Dugin's high-profile and unhinged attack on Putin may indicate a shift among the Russian nationalist ideologues," the ISW concluded.
On the battlefield
Ukraine's Southern Operational Command reported that the Ukrainian military liberated nearly 180 settlements in the south of the country within a week.
According to the report, from Nov. 7 to Nov. 13, Ukrainian troops liberated 179 towns and villages in southern Mykolaiv and Kherson oblasts and 4,500 square kilometers of formerly Russian-occupied territories.
Soon, Ukrainian authorities also reported that Makiivka village in Luhansk Oblast was liberated. The eastern oblast has most of its territory occupied by Russia.
The General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces reported on Nov. 13 that Russia has lost 650 troops in the past day, bringing the total number of Russian soldiers killed since the start of the full-scale invasion to 80,860.
The Ukrainian military also said that Russia amassed troops near Melitopol in Zaporizhzhia Oblast. Russian forces are bringing more troops and building fortifications around Melitopol, according to the report.
Russia decreased the number of its troops in occupied Kakhovka, Tavriysk, and Nova Kakhovka in Kherson Oblast, according to Ukraine's Armed Forces. The three towns stand on the east bank of the Dnipro River, upstream from the liberated Kherson on the west bank.
The military also said it hit a building where up to 500 Russian troops were located in the village of Dnipriany, Kherson Oblast. At least two trucks carrying bodies were reportedly taken to the occupied town of Tavriisk, 80 kilometers northeast of Kherson.
According to the General Staff, 56 badly wounded Russian soldiers were taken to the hospital after the attack.
Russia is currently drafting a military training program to be introduced in schools in a government-run initiative to improve the quality of conscripts, the U.K. Defense Ministry said in its daily intelligence update on Nov. 13.
The Russian Defense Ministry insists on at least 140 hours per academic year being devoted to training. Typically, an academic year averages 800 hours for children worldwide.
Russia has long aspired to improve the quality of its conscripts. Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2014, Moscow tried to bring back military programs to schools, but much remains unchanged eight years later, according to the U.K. Defense Ministry.
"The quality of Russian conscripts remains poor, with low morale and limited training," the report said.
A statistical analysis by Russian independent media outlet Mediazona suggests that by late October around 492,000 men have likely been conscripted into the army since Putin's announcement of a "partial mobilization" on Sept. 21.
Meanwhile, Putin said that Russia had conscripted 318,000 citizens, 49,000 of which are already fighting in Ukraine, according to the Russian state-controlled news agency TASS.
Putin has also signed a law allowing citizens with convictions for serious crimes to be called up for military service, TASS reported. Even before this law, Russia was continuously conscripting convicts to fight against Ukraine.
Attacks and casualties
Sumy Oblast Governor Dmytro Zhyvytsky reported that Russian forces targeted the border region with 15 unguided missiles on Nov. 12. There were no casualties, according to the official.
In the south of the country, a village in Kherson Oblast was shelled.
The village of Hornostaivka came under fire from Grad multiple rocket launchers, according to Kherson Oblast Governor Yaroslav Yanushevych. Two women were killed, and six houses were destroyed, he reported.
Overnight on Nov. 13, Russia shelled the city of Nikopol as well as the Marhanets district, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Governor Valentyn Reznichenko reported. Two women, aged 46 and 82 were injured in the attack and have been hospitalized.
In the city, over 40 high-rise and private buildings, more than two dozen commercial buildings, and several gas pipelines and power lines are damaged as a result of constant attacks, according to Reznichenko.
In Donetsk Oblast, the fighting killed two civilians in Bakhmut, one in Kurakove, and wounded one civilian in the southwestern part of the region over the past day, said Pavlo Kyrylenko, the oblast governor.
Additionally, two bodies of civilians were discovered in the liberated settlements in the northern part of the region, according to him. They had been killed during the Russian occupation.
