War

One thousand seventh day. Russia attacked Ukraine with a record number of drones. Ukrainian Defense Minister will go to South Korea to discuss arms supplies

Timofey Melnikov Consequences of the attack on Odessa on November 25, 2024. According to the Odessa regional administration, 11 people were injured as a result of the attack. Odessa Mayor Gennady Trukhanov reported that, preliminary, as a result of the morning attack in Odessa, 25 residential apartment buildings were damaged.

Since February 24, 2022, Meduza has been broadcasting live about the Russian-Ukrainian war. We recently changed the format of our daily chronicle. Now published once a day, we take a closer look at several key stories that are affecting the course of the war right now. We also publish your letters in these materials, because we are sure that we need to continue talking about the war. Please tell us how you have received the very disturbing news of the last few days - about the shelling of Russian territory by ATACMS missiles and the strike by the Russian Oreshnik missile on the Dnieper. Find the feedback form at the end of this article. You can read the previous day's review here .

World

Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov will travel to South Korea to discuss arms supplies

Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov will visit South Korea to ask for help in providing weapons, the Hong Kong edition of the South China Morning Post writes , citing an unnamed source.

The Ukrainian delegation, according to the publication, is going to provide Seoul with a list of weapons that Kyiv would like to receive. It includes anti-aircraft missiles and artillery installations. Ukrayinska Pravda also notes that South Korea has huge stocks of 155-mm artillery shells, which Ukraine is actively using.

Analysts surveyed by the South China Morning Post said South Korea was likely to remain cautious for now and unlikely to announce supplies immediately. “The government is expected to take a wait-and-see approach, monitoring Russia's military cooperation with North Korea before deciding on its next steps,” said Doo Jin-ho, a researcher at the Korea Institute for Defense Analyzes.

Since the beginning of a full-scale war, South Korea has refused to supply lethal weapons to Ukraine. However, after reports appeared that soldiers from the DPRK would fight on the side of Russia, Seoul admitted the possibility of revising its position.

In South Korea, in particular, they did not rule out direct supplies of weapons to Ukraine if North Korea received technology from the Russian Federation that would enhance its ability to produce weapons of mass destruction. Seoul is also considering the possibility of sending a group of military observers to Ukraine.

Bloomberg wrote in early November that the export of lethal weapons to Ukraine by South Korea under current conditions would be a “signal of strong support” for Kiev. This assistance could also benefit South Korean businesses, which could take part in Ukraine's post-war reconstruction.

Russia

The commander of the "South" group has changed

Lieutenant General Alexander Sanchik was appointed acting commander of the South group, RBC writes , citing sources. Until recently, 58-year-old Sanchik served as commander of the Eastern Military District.

RBC sources reported on the dismissal of the previous commander of the “South”, Gennady Anashkin, a few days ago; this information was also disseminated by pro-war telegram channels.

RBC sources associated Anashkin’s dismissal with a “planned rotation,” noting that there were no complaints against him in the Ministry of Defense. At the same time, pro-war blogger Yuri Podolyaka, one of the first to report his resignation, wrote that Gennady Anashkin lost his post “for systematically deceiving the command of the Russian Armed Forces and the country’s political leadership.” In particular, according to the blogger, the group’s command had previously reported non-existent victories in the Seversk direction.

Officially, the Russian military department did not comment on the change of command of the group.

In the first days of the full-scale war, military bloggers criticized Sanchik for “incompetence” when the 35th Combined Arms Army of the Eastern Military District, led by him, suffered heavy losses near Izyum. Soldiers were reportedly sent into battle without equipment, communications, or even shovels to dig trenches.

The “South” group is currently fighting in the Donetsk region. In particular, the group’s units are advancing on Kurakhovo in the Donetsk region, which is one of the key points of the Ukrainian defense in the region. In recent days, fighting has been taking place within the city itself.

Ukraine

Russian troops launched a record number of drones across Ukraine overnight

The Russian military launched 188 drones across Ukraine on the night of November 26, the Air Force of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said . The military noted that this is a record number of drones launched in one single day.

The Ukrainian Armed Forces claim that 76 aircraft were shot down over the territory of 17 regions. Another 95 drones were lost in location, five flew towards Belarus.

As a result of the attack, the Ukrainian Armed Forces said, critical infrastructure facilities, as well as residential buildings, were damaged. There are no reports of dead or injured.

Russia has increased the number of drone attacks on Ukraine in recent months. This happened against the backdrop of the launch of mass production of “shaheds” at a plant in Yelabuga in Tatarstan. As The Wall Street Journal wrote in the spring, this plant plans to produce six thousand attack drones per year.

The Ukrainian military is also increasingly using drones for attacks. September marked the first month of the war in which drone attacks outside the front on both sides occurred daily. In September, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported 886 downed Ukrainian drones. According to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the Russian military launched 1,331 suicide bombers across Ukraine in September.

War through the eyes of Meduza readers

Nikita, Czech Republic (about the threat of nuclear escalation from the Russian Federation) . This is chatter, Putin continues to intimidate Europe and the United States with a nuclear baton, escalating the situation. He has done nothing in almost three years of war, and he will not do anything further.

Why did this section appear?

Meduza talks about the war every day - but we are sure that reports from the front, photographs of destruction, reports of shelling and news about politicians’ attempts to agree on something alone are not enough. The story of the war is incomplete without the stories of the people whose destinies it affected, and without their opinions about what was happening.

Tell us and our readers what you think about the latest events unfolding in and around the war. We will publish some of your letters.

Please also share with us your thoughts about our new format of military chronicles. Tell us what topics you think are especially important right now. Explain what journalists don't see and what gets lost in the news. Thank you!

"Jellyfish"