Ukraine war latest: Kyiv denies Pokrovsk encirclement, 7th Rapid Response Corps releases drone strike footage
Hello, this is Asami Terajima reporting from Kyiv on day 1,355 of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Today's top story:
The Ukrainian military denied once again on Nov. 10 that Russian troops had managed to encircle the embattled city of Pokrovsk in eastern Donetsk Oblast, but admitted that logistics to keep supplying troops there are difficult.
Major Andrii Kovalev, a spokesman for Ukraine's General Staff, told Ukrainian media outlet Ukrainska Pravda that logistics to Pokrovsk still exist, and the troops, including wounded soldiers, are being rotated in and out.
The military's comment comes as Russian troops close in on the Ukrainian pocket that includes Pokrovsk and some areas south of it, including the neighboring town of Myrnohrad.
Nearly encircled, Ukrainian troops have less than 10 kilometers to keep logistics flowing into the pocket, according to the Ukrainian battlefield monitoring website DeepState.
Kovalev denied to Ukrainska Pravda that the last remaining supply routes are all in the Russian artillery and drones' control, which would mean they can strike any targets moving by.
The 7th Rapid Response Corps said on Nov. 10 that Russian troops launched 132 assaults in the Pokrovsk sector over the past week, which is "almost 20% more than the previous week."
The fiercest fighting is raging in the northern part of Pokrovsk, with the city's industrial zone being under the heaviest fire.
'Gift for Putin' — Czech public raises money for 1 Flamingo missile for Ukraine, Fire Point to provide 2
Last updated 9:05 p.m. Kyiv time.
A Czech crowdfunding campaign has raised 16,1 million crowns ($756,700) for the production of a Flamingo missile for Ukraine, Czech media Idnes reported on Nov. 10.
The Flamingo is a domestically produced missile which was described by President Zelensky as "the most successful" missile Ukraine currently has. It has a claimed range of 3,000 kilometers (1,864 miles) and a 1,150 kilogram warhead.
The organisation "Darek pro Putina" (Gift for Putin) intended to collect 12,5 million crowns ($595,000) for one Flamingo missile, but fundraised 16,1 million in less than two days, spokesperson Martin Ondracek told Idnes.
According to Ondracek, the missile manufacturer, Fire Point, will provide two missiles, doubling the value of the donation.
‘Destroying our memory’ YouTube wipes Ukrainian memorial channel, erasing stories of the fallen
Last updated 5:29 p.m. Kyiv time.
Memorial of Heroes, a Ukrainian memorialization and documentary project that records the stories of those killed by Russia's war against Ukraine, has had its YouTube channel deleted without the right to appeal.
"Five times this month, our channel has been deleted," the project's deputy editor, Kateryna Maiboroda, wrote on Instagram on Nov. 10.
"The formal reason — 'spam and fraud.' Without a single example, without any sense."
According to Maiboroda, after the sixth and most recent deletion, the appeal option —previously followed by quick restoration — was withheld, with no immediate explanation.
The Memorial of Heroes' channel, part of a larger project that includes a website, social media pages, and an event, hosted 18 documentary films and over 100 profiles in memory of fallen Ukrainian soldiers.
Maiboroda said the accusations behind the mass reports, which are unrelated to the channel's actual content, indicate a coordinated Russian operation.
"They are not only destroying our cities, but our memory, too," she said in an Instagram story in connection to the deletion.
Ukraine says oil depot near Simferopol hit in Russian-occupied Crimea
Last updated 5:20 p.m. Kyiv time.
Ukraine's Special Operations Forces (SSO) said on Nov. 10 that they conducted what they described as "a successful" drone attack on a pumping station at an oil depot near the city of Simferopol in Russian-occupied Crimea.
The SSO said that the Nov. 10 overnight drone attack marked the third hit on the same target in a month. It stressed the importance of such attacks, explaining that the Hvardiiske oil depot, named after a village just 20 kilometers north of Simferopol, is "an important element of the fuel and logistics system" in Crimea that Moscow then supplies to military facilities and its army.
Russian occupational administration head in Simferopol, Mikhail Afanasyev, has not commented on the drone attack or the SSO's claim. The Kyiv Independent couldn't independently verify the claim.
Earlier on Nov. 7, the SSO also reported hitting the same oil depot.
Zaluzhnyi reiterates peace deal 'premature' in his latest opinion piece
Last updated 4:34 p.m. Kyiv time.
Ukraine's former military chief and incumbent ambassador to the U.K., Valerii Zaluzhnyi, wrote in an opinion piece published on Nov. 10 that a peace deal to end the war in Ukraine at all costs is "premature."
Zaluzhnyi stressed in the lengthy article published on Ukrainian news outlet Ukrainska Pravda that a comprehensive peace deal could take months, if not years, of tough negotiations.
"It's hard to say whether those who try to push us to make certain decisions understand this," Zaluzhnyi wrote in his opinion piece, where he delved into diplomacy tactics that Ukraine and Russia are using.
"However, it's perfectly clear that our fate is in our own hands."
Explosion in Russian Black Sea port of Tuapse amid reported sea drone attack
Last updated 12:40 p.m. Kyiv time.
Russia's port town of Tuapse on the Black Sea was rocked by explosions overnight on Nov. 10, as local Telegram channels reported an attack by Ukrainian sea drones.
Photos and videos uploaded by locals in the town and later published by major Telegram channel Astra show explosions and a resulting fire in the area of the town's port.
Tuapse is located in Russia's Krasnodar Krai, around 75 kilometers northwest of the major city of Sochi.
The coastal town is home to a major oil terminal and refinery, and has been the target of Ukrainian strikes as recently as Nov. 2, when fuel exports out of the port were halted by drone attacks, as reported at the time by Reuters.
At least 1 killed, 15 injured in Russian attacks on Ukraine over past day
Last updated 1:20 p.m. Kyiv time.
At least one person have been killed and 15 others injured in Russian attacks against Ukraine over the past day, local authorities reported on Nov. 10.
Russian troops launched 74 missiles and drones against Ukraine overnight, which included around 40 Shahed-type drones and two aeroballistic Kinzhal missiles, the Air Force reported on Nov. 10. It said it had intercepted 52 drones of various types in the eastern, southern, and central parts of Ukraine.
In eastern Donetsk Oblast, regional governor Vadym Filashkin said that at least two people were wounded by Russian attacks over the past day.
In northeastern Kharkiv Oblast, regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said that two women, aged 55 and 75, were wounded by Russian attacks over the past day.
In northeastern Sumy Oblast, the regional military administration said that 45-year-old and 89-year-old women were injured in the Russian attacks over the past day.
In central-eastern Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, regional governor Vladyslav Haivanenko said an 83-year-old woman was injured by a Russian attack that involved heavy artillery and first-person view (FPV) drones over the past day.
In southern Kherson Oblast, one person was killed and eight were wounded by Russian attacks over the past day, according to regional governor Oleksandr Prokudin and his regional military administration.
General Staff: Russia has lost 1,152,160 troops in Ukraine since Feb. 24, 2022
Russia has lost around 1,152,160 troops in Ukraine since the beginning of its full-scale invasion on Feb. 24, 2022, the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces reported on Nov. 10.
The number includes 1,090 casualties that Russian forces suffered over the past day.
According to the report, Russia has also lost 23,552 (+7) armored fighting vehicles, 66,957 (+77) vehicles and fuel tanks, 34,349 (+9) artillery systems, 79,425 (+57) drones, and 3,993 (+0) units of special equipment.
