Saturday, November 9

Russia’s war against Ukraine

Evacuated residents of a 12-story residential building in Kharkiv’s Saltivskyi district stand near their building after it was heavily damaged by Russian bombs on Nov. 8, 2024. (Ivan Samoilov/Gwara Media/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)

North Korean troops taking casualties in Russia’s Kursk Oblast, Zelensky confirms. Kursk Oblast has seen heavy battles since Ukraine launched a cross-border offensive in early August.

Elon Musk joined recent Zelensky-Trump call, Axios reports. Elon Musk, who has extensive influence on American politics, reportedly was on the line during the recent conversation between President Volodymyr Zelensky and U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, saying he would continue to support Ukraine through his Starlink satellites.

US allows deploying its military contractors to Ukraine, Reuters reports. The “small numbers” of contractors will not participate in combat operations and will be stationed far from the front line, one of the unnamed American officials told Reuters.

Russian drone damages Estonian ambassador’s apartment building in Kyiv. “No one is safe in Ukraine until Russia stops its aggression,” Estonia’s Foreign Affairs Minister Margus Tsahkna said in a post on social media on Nov. 8.

Guardian: Frustration grows in Ukraine over delayed UK missile supplies. The relationship between the U.K. and Ukraine has worsened since the Labour party took power in July, according to Ukrainian officials, the Guardian reported on Nov. 7.

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Russia launches missile attack on Kyiv for first time since early October. Due to Russian drones approaching, the air raid alert in Kyiv sounded at around 9:30 p.m. local time on Nov. 7, and the all-clear wasn’t given until just after 7:30 a.m. the following morning.

Ukrainian drones hit oil refinery in Russia’s Saratov, HUR source confirms. The city hosts the Saratov Oil Refinery, formerly known as the Cracking Plant, which is part of Rosneft, the state-run oil company.

Russian army used chemical weapons 323 times in October, Ukraine’s General Staff says. The Russian army uses munitions such as K-51 and RG-VO, which are loaded with hazardous chemicals that are used for counter-riot operations and are prohibited as weapons of war, the General Staff’s report read.

Ukrainian, Russian ombudsmen meet in Belarus to address humanitarian issues amid war. Ukrainian Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets met with his Russian counterpart, Tatyana Moskalkova, in Belarus on Nov. 8 to discuss humanitarian issues related to Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine.

Russian general accused of running torture camps dies in Ukraine. General Pavel Klimenko, 47, led Russia’s 5th Donetsk Motorized Rifle Brigade. Members of this brigade were accused of torturing pro-Kremlin U.S. blogger Russell Bentley to death in April 2024.

Russian court sentences 2 soldiers to life in prison for killing entire Ukrainian family. Anton Sopov, 21, and Stanislav Rau, 28 were convicted of killing a family of nine, including two children, in occupied Donetsk Oblast. The case marks a rare instance of Russian authorities holding its own troops accountable for war crimes perpetrated in Ukraine.

Read our exclusives

Biden has 6 weeks left to help Ukraine — here’s what he could do

U.S. President Joe Biden this week became a “lame duck,” entering the period between White House administrations traditionally seen as one of waning influence, increasing irrelevance, and menial administrative preparation for the successor. But it can also be a period of opportunity.

Photo: Saul Loeb / AFP via Getty Images

Russian drone strikes surge, passing air defenses even into downtown Kyiv

While hearing explosions from drones being intercepted or hitting targets on city outskirts has been a common overnight occurrence, hearing their buzzing sound in downtown Kyiv is a sign that they — by their sheer higher numbers — are now getting through multiple layers of air defenses.

Photo: Oleksii Filippov / AFP via Getty Images

Ukraine war latest: Ukrainian drones hit oil refinery in Russia’s Saratov, HUR source says

Overnight, a total of 17 Ukrainian drones were “destroyed and intercepted,” according to a report by the Russian Defense Ministry. Six drones were reportedly shot down over Saratov Oblast.

Photo: Yan Dobronosov/Global Images Ukraine

Human cost of war

Russian attacks on Sumy Oblast injure 8. Russia attacked 12 communities in Sumy Oblast on Nov. 8, injuring eight people, the Sumy Oblast Military Administration reported.

Russian attacks across Ukraine kill 14, injure 88 over 1 day. Russian forces killed nine people and injured over 40 in a single attack against Zaporizhzhia.

Ukraine retrieves bodies of 563 fallen soldiers. The bodies of 320 soldiers were recovered from Donetsk Oblast, while 89 were brought back from Zaporizhzhia Oblast. Another 154 bodies were repatriated from morgues in Russia.

General Staff: Russia has lost 705,880 troops in Ukraine since Feb. 24, 2022. This number includes 1,580 casualties Russian forces suffered just over the past day.

Opinions and insights

Kuleba: 5 lessons for Ukrainians from Trump’s victory

“In 2016, Trump’s first term began with fears that he would abandon Ukraine. During his time in office, he made statements that frustrated Ukrainians and met with Russian President Vladimir Putin. But he also sold Ukraine its first American weapons and opposed Putin’s project, Nord Stream 2. This didn’t happen out of love for Ukraine, nor did it fall from the sky — it was the result of complex, multi-layered work,” former Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba writes.

Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Rudenko: Trump won’t be my president, but he may decide my future

“You probably already know that Russia’s war against Ukraine should have stopped this week. That is, if we were to take seriously the self-imposed deadline U.S. President-elect Donald Trump advertised during the campaign. Sitting here in Kyiv, we know better than to expect a magical overnight resolution of the war that has been raging since 2014, with a new, bloodier stage since 2022,” writes Olga Rudenko, chief editor for the Kyiv Independent.

Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Opinion: While the US counts votes, Russia counts on global complacency

“On Nov. 5, everything changed —and yet, nothing changed. As Americans cast ballots in what many called the most consequential election of our time, Nov. 5 was predictably horrifically marked by the death and devastation Russia brought to Ukraine — largely unseen, unheard, and unnoticed in the most powerful country on Earth,” writes Andrew Chakhoyan, academic director at the University of Amsterdam.

Photo: Olga Maltseva / AFP via Getty Images

International response

US will support Zelensky if he decides to negotiate with Putin, State Department says. “It’s not something that it is appropriate for us or for any other country to push him into,” U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said.

World Bank announces $750 million support package for Ukraine. Since February 2022, Ukraine has received over $37 billion in budget support through World Bank partnerships.

EU officials explore options for supporting Ukraine if Trump halts aid, Bloomberg reports. European officials met in Budapest on Nov. 7 to discuss whether the European Union would be willing to continue funding support for Ukraine if U.S. President-elect Donald Trump halts U.S. assistance, Bloomberg reported Nov. 8, citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter.

Estonia to provide Ukraine with air defense missiles for testing. The missiles to be trialed by Ukraine are designed to counter drones, and can shoot down targets at an altitude of up to 2 kilometers.

Europe won’t be able to finance Ukraine’s defense without US support, Orban says. “The Americans are going to get out of this war,” Viktor Orban said, adding: “Europe can’t finance this war on its own.”

Von der Leyen suggests replacing Russian LNG with US supplies in phone call with Trump. “We still get a whole lot of LNG via Russia, from Russia,” she said in a phone call with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump. “And why not replace it with American LNG, which is cheaper, and brings down our energy prices?”

Ukrainian troops overstretched as Russia picks up speed on battlefield

In other news

Lviv-born pediatrician living in Russia may face 6-year prison sentence after criticizing war. Russian authorities are seeking a six-year prison sentence for Dr. Nadezhda Buyanova, a pediatrician originally from Lviv, Ukraine, accused of criticizing Russia’s actions in Ukraine during a private appointment.

Ukraine breaks air service agreement with Iran. Since the start of the full-scale invasion in February 2022, Ukraine’s airspace has been closed to all flights due to the risk of Russian attacks. Once air service is restored, flights with Iran will not be resumed.

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Today’s Ukraine Daily was brought to you by Kateryna Denisova, Teah Pelechaty, Chris York, Kateryna Hodunova, Sonya Bandouil, and Abbey Fenbert.

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