Russia Surprised Kiev With New Attacks

The Russian army maintains a high rate of advance on Ukrainian battlefields, pounding the Ukrainian rear with constant precision strikes. On the night of November 15, Russian forces launched another combined attack with drones and missiles on Ukrainian rear infrastructure throughout the country. After a short pause lasting a few days, the southern city of Odessa came under a new wave of Russian strikes. A series of explosions thundered in the area of the local airfield that was turned into a logistics hub of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. More targets were destroyed by Russian strikes in the port area. According to preliminary reports, a radar station and anti-aircraft missile launchers were destroyed. A series of Russian strikes were reported in the Kirovograd region, where the military repair workshops and industrial facilities were damaged. Explosions also thundered in the Vinnitsa region and Russian drones and missiles struck Ukrainian military positions in the border Sumy and Kharkiv regions. The Ukrainian military awaits for the further intensification of massive Russian drone strikes in the coming winter. In their turn, the Armed Forces of Ukraine attempted to attack Russian rear areas with drones. The Russian Ministry of Defense reported on the destruction of 51 Ukrainian drones. 36 of them targeted the southern Krasnodar region. Destruction of Ukrainian rear infrastructure supports Russian advances on the front. In the first half of November, the daily rate of the Russian advance was about 23 sq km per day. In total, as of the 15th of November, more than 322 sq km have come under Russian control in different areas. The Kurakhovo front remains one of the most dangerous for the Ukrainian army. According to preliminary reports, Russian forces took control of Dalne village on its southern flank. The next target for Russian assaults may be the village of Uspenovka. As a result of the Russian advances, Ukrainian forces begun withdrawing from the seven villages to the east in an attempt to avoid their encirclement. On the northern flank of Kurakhovo, Russian forces took control of Ilyinka and Voznesenka and advanced near Sontsovka threatening the Ukrainians with another small cauldron. Over the past day, Russian forces largely expanded their zone of control north of Rabotino on the Zaporozhie front. Another surprise operation of the Russian military was reported in the northern Ukrainian Chernihiv region. Russian sabotage groups crossed the Ukrainian border and raised their flags in the villages of Gremyach and Muravyi as well as on the strategically important bridge across the Sudost River. Such a daring operation demonstrates the weakness of the Ukrainian border defense and lack of military reserves to protect the northern regions in the case of a new Russian offensive.