Ukraine war latest: Occupation of two villages highlights strain on Ukraine’s defenses as winter nears
This is Jared Goyette, reporting from Kyiv on a foggy November day. While news coverage and public discussion focus on the peace negotiations, the front lines continue to boil, as Russia's full-scale invasion enters its 1,372nd day.
The top story of the day so far:
Russian forces have completed the capture of two villages, Promin in Donetsk Oblast, and Vysoke in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, Ukrainian analytical and mapping group DeepState reported on Nov. 26.
Both villages sit on two of the most active and contested sectors of the front line, and their loss reflects steady Russian advances ahead of the winter fighting season
Promin is located near the city of Myrnohrad, which remains under Ukrainian control despite its near-complete encirclement over the last month as Russian forces continue to overrun the neighboring city of Pokrovsk.
Meanwhile, Vysoke lies just northeast of the small city of Huliaipole, which — despite being one of the most stable parts of the front line for most of the full-scale war — is now threatened by Russia's brisk push into eastern Zaporizhzhia Oblast.
Russia tightens grip on occupied Ukraine with illegal mobilization and child militarization, experts warn
Updated at 6:09 p.m. Kyiv time
While leaked reports of a U.S.-proposed peace plan have sparked international debates about the future of Ukraine`s occupied territories and the people who live there, Russia is forging ahead, entrenching its control on the ground by expanding illegal mobilization.
On the ground, that translates into forcing civilians and prisoners of war (POWs) to join its military and systematically preparing children for future service, experts said at a Nov. 25 roundtable in Kyiv organized by The Reckoning Project, a global war crimes documentation initiative that was initially created in response to Russia’s full.
Researchers with the initiative described how Moscow has built a full-scale system of militarization in occupied areas — from indoctrination in schools and youth camps to the coercion of men and Ukrainian POWs into combat. The researchers argue that these practices may constitute war crimes and could form the basis for international criminal charges against both individuals and the Russian state.
"Since 2015, Russia has been systematically preparing Ukrainian society under occupation for participation in hostilities. This includes children as young as preschool age," said Roman Avramenko, executive director of The Reckoning Project.
Ukraine denies encirclement of troops on southern front amid heavy Russian assaults
Updated at 3:05 p.m. Kyiv time
Ukrainian officials are pushing back against Russian claims and social media rumors that Ukrainian troops near Huliaipole in Zaporizhzhia Oblast are encircled: front-line units remain supplied, and medical evacuation routes continue to function despite heavy fighting, the Southern Defense Forces said in a statement on Nov. 26.
The command accused Moscow of exaggerating its “so-called successes” and magnifying problems in Ukraine’s ranks to sow panic.
The fighting remains heavy. Over the past day, Russian forces carried out more than 30 assaults, over 500 artillery strikes using more than 2,100 rounds, about a dozen airstrikes, 250 drone drops and nearly 2,000 kamikaze drone attacks in the Huliaipole sector, according to the statement. Ukrainian units are “holding the defense,” maintaining communications and logistics, the command added.
The update comes as Russian forces continue to press the front in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, where Ukrainian troops have pulled back from some positions amid intense fighting.
In a previous Kyiv Independent anlysis of the Zaporizhzhia front on Nov. 12, we reported that, according to figures published by the highly trusted Ukrainian mapping and analytical organization Deep State, 69% of all Russian territorial gains in October were made in the area around Huliaipole and in eastern Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovsk oblasts, even though the area saw only 16% of Russia’s total assault operations, based on General Staff data.
Drones strike Russia’s Cheboksary, military claims military electronics factory hit
Updated at 2:30 pm Kyiv time
Drones struck the Russian city of Cheboksary in the Chuvashia Republic in the early hours of Nov. 26, with Ukraine's General Staff claiming successful hits on a factory producing electronics for Russian weapons.
According to the Telegram channel SHOT, the first blast was heard at around 2:40 a.m. local time. Residents also reported additional explosions on the outskirts of the city and in the airspace near the village of Lapsary, roughly 10 kilometers (six miles) away. Footage circulating online shows fire and thick smoke rising from one of the districts following the reported drone attack.
In the afternoon, Ukraine's General Staff claimed to have struck the VNIIR-Progress factory in the city, which manufacturers navigation equipment and other electronics for an array of Russian weapons, including Shahed-style strike drones, cruise and ballistic missiles, and glide bomb kits.
According to the General Staff, the strikes led to a fire breaking out at the facility. The units or weapons involved in the deep strike operation were not disclosed.
At least one killed, 37 injured in Russian attacks on Ukraine over past day
At least one person has been killed and 37 others injured in Russian attacks against Ukraine over the past day, local authorities reported on Nov. 26.
Ukraine’s Air Force said Russia attacked overnight with two Iskander-M ballistic missiles launched from Russia’s Rostov Oblast and 90 attack drones of various types, including around 55 Shaheds. Ukrainian air defenses shot down or suppressed 72 of the drones, while missile and drone strikes were recorded at 10 locations, the Air Force said on Telegram.
In southern Zaporizhzhia Oblast, 19 people were injured when Russian forces carried out 11 airstrikes on the city of Zaporizhzhia and struck other parts of the region over the past day, Zaporizhzhia Governor Ivan Fedorov said on Telegram.
In eastern Donetsk Oblast, nine civilians were wounded on Nov. 25, including seven people in Sloviansk and two in Kostiantynivka, Governor Vadym Filashkin said on Telegram.
In southern Kherson Oblast, seven people, including a child, were injured over the past day as Russian forces hit at least four apartment blocks and 21 private houses in towns and villages across the region, Governor Oleksandr Prokudin said on his official Telegram channel
In a separate incident on Nov. 26, Russian forces attacked a house with a drone in the Korabelnyi district of Kherson city, wounding a 63-year-old man, the Kherson Oblast Military Administration and Kherson city authorities said on Telegram. Doctors are treating him for a concussion and blast-related head injuries.
In Sumy Oblast, a 45-year-old woman was wounded in the Velykopysarivska community as Russia carried out about 70 attacks on 34 settlements in 13 communities over the past day, Sumy Governor Oleg Hryhorov said on Telegram.
In Kharkiv Oblast, a 51-year-old man who had been injured in the Nov. 23 mass drone attack on Kharkiv died in hospital overnight, increasing the death toll from that strike to five, Kharkiv Governor Oleh Syniehubov said on Telegram.
Syniehubov separately reported that Russian forces attacked eight settlements in the region over the past day, but no new casualties were recorded from those strikes.
In Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, regional authorities reported overnight drone and missile attacks on a postal facility, homes, and administrative buildings, but said there was no information on casualties as of the morning of Nov. 26
General Staff: Russia has lost 1,168,550 troops in Ukraine since Feb. 24, 2022
Russia has lost around 1,168,550 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. 25.
The number includes 980 casualties that Russian forces suffered over the past day.
According to the report, Russia has also lost 11,372 (+4) tanks, 23,625 (+1) armored fighting vehicles, 68,242 (+124) vehicles and fuel tanks, 34,688 (+44) artillery systems, 1,549 multiple launch rocket systems, 1,252 (+2) air defense systems, 428 airplanes, 347 helicopters, 84,960 (+743) drones, 28 ships and boats, and one submarine.
