Here is the situation as it stands on Saturday, November 26:
Fighting
- Russian shelling of the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson killed 15 civilians, officials said.
- NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said the Western military alliance would not back down on its support for Kyiv.
- NATO forces took part in drills in northern Poland’s Suwalki Gap, a strip of land between Belarus and the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, and of crucial significance to the security of the alliance’s eastern flank.
- Russian President Vladimir Putin met the mothers of soldiers fighting in Ukraine, assuring those whose children had been killed that he and Russia’s elite “share this pain”.
- Germany said it was discussing with allies Poland’s request that German Patriot air defence units be sent to Ukraine after NATO’s chief suggested the military alliance might not oppose such a move.
- The war’s first winter will now test whether Ukraine can press on with its campaign to recapture territory, or whether Russia’s commanders can halt Kyiv’s momentum.
- The head of Russian mercenary company Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said a former US Marine general and several British and Finnish fighters were operating for the armed group in Ukraine.
Economy/Aid
- Russian air strikes in recent weeks have brought Ukraine’s energy infrastructure to its knees as winter approaches and temperatures near freezing, spurring fears of a health crisis and a further exodus.
- President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said more than six million households in the country were still affected by power cuts.
- Moscow insists it is targeting only military-linked infrastructure.
- In a rare public spat involving Ukrainian leaders, Zelenskyy criticised the mayor of Kyiv, Vitali Klitschko, for doing what he said was “a poor job” setting up emergency shelters to help those without power and heat after Russian attacks.
- Ukraine’s finance minister Serhiy Marchenko said more Western support is needed to help it meet growing reconstruction costs following the escalation of Russian attacks.
- Britain’s foreign minister announced new aid for Ukraine, including ambulances and support for victims of sexual violence by Russian soldiers.
Oil
- A meeting of European Union government representatives, scheduled for Friday evening to discuss a Group of Seven proposal to cap Russian seaborne oil prices, was cancelled.
- EU governments were split on the level at which to cap Russian oil prices to curb Moscow’s ability to pay for its war in Ukraine without causing a global oil supply shock.
