Dispatches from Ukraine. Day 995.
POKROVSK FRONTLINE, UKRAINE – NOVEMBER 14: The police evacuation unit “White Angels” is evacuating a … [+] large family with five children from the village of Yelyzavetivka in the Donetsk region, in the Kurakhove direction on November 14, 2024 in Pokrovsk district, Ukraine. Yelyzavetivka is a village in the Grodovka settlement community of Pokrovsk district of Donetsk region, Ukraine. The village had a population of 113 people. The village is under active shelling by Russian artillery and FPV drones, with no electricity or water, so they decided to evacuate. (Photo by Liberova Vlada/ Libkos/Getty Images)
Dnipropetrovsk region. A Russian attack on Kryvyi Rih, the region’s second-largest city (and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s hometown), on November 11 killed four people, including three children, with 14 others wounded.
As of November, 2024, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has resulted in the deaths of 589 children, with more than 1,680 others wounded.
Kyiv. On November 13, Russia launched the first combined attack in more than two months, involving air-launched cruise missiles, ballistic missiles and Shahed drones.
The European Commission has approved $4.25 billion in grants and loans under the Ukraine Facility program, part of a broader $50 billion package.
Ursula von der Leyen, head of the European Commission, announced the disbursement, reaffirming support as Ukraine approaches 1,000 days of Russian aggression. The funds likely will be allocated to Ukraine by the end of the year, increasing the total financing for 2024 to approximately $16 billion. The EU Council must approve the funds, with future assistance tied to Ukraine’s reform progress. The EC approved a similar allocation in August.
Ukraine has secured a $1.35 billion grant from the United States to support essential social and humanitarian needs and core government functions. The funding, part of $28.2 billion in direct U.S. budget support provided since early 2022, was allocated through the World Bank’s Public Expenditures for Administrative Capacity Endurance (PEACE) Project, with oversight from USAID, the U.S. Treasury, and the State Department. In 2024 alone, the U.S. committed $7.8 billion in budget support to Ukraine, with more than two-thirds already disbursed.
According to the Minister of Strategic Industries of Ukraine, Herman Smetanin, Ukraine is set to allocate $1.3 billion next year for weapons production. This sum represents an increase of nearly $85 million compared to this year. Additionally, the government will support affordable loans for defense companies as part of the country’s broader defense spending of $53 billion, which accounts for more than one quarter of Ukraine’s projected GDP.
A survey commissioned by the International Republican Institute reveals that 58% of Ukrainians speak Ukrainian daily, 9% speak Russian and 31% are bilingual. Regional differences are notable: 90% of people speak Ukrainian in the western parts of the country while only 24% do so in the eastern regions.
The same survey shows that 29% of Ukrainians support holding a national referendum on ending the war while 25% lean toward approval and 25% outright oppose the idea. Only 22% of Ukrainians favor holding presidential elections during the war, with nearly half of the respondents expressing general support for President Zelenskyy’s leadership, although 17% do not.
Moscow carried out its largest missile launch drill in recent months, involving twelve strategic bomber jets. Russia has relied heavily on its strategic aircraft to hit targets of paramount importance and create terror on a vast scale across Ukraine. The recent exercise comes after a two-month lull in large-scale missile strikes, during which Russia is believed to have accumulated a significant missile stockpile. While estimates vary as to the exact number of missiles available to the Kremlin, it likely now possesses up to 1,850 missiles, including various types of cruise and ballistic projectiles, ready for deployment at any time.
In response, Ukraine has been strengthening its air defense capabilities with U.S. aid, including 500 missiles for the NASAMS and Patriot systems. While these systems provide critical defense against cruise and ballistic missiles, no such defense is perfect.
Using plutonium from its nuclear reactors, Ukraine now has the capacity to develop nuclear weapons within months. Ukraine, which gave up its nuclear arsenal in 1996, has denied any intent to build such weapons. The possibility of a new nuclear arsenal might depend on the extent of American support under the incoming Trump administration.
By Danylo Nosov, Alan Sacks.
