Phone conversations with Putin and attempts to appease Russia have failed; hopes for peace in Ukraine are fading; and Russian troops are pouring deadly strikes on Ukrainian cities, killing Ukrainian kids.
Russian troops struck residential buildings in Ukrainian cities, killing children
Russian troops have launched a series of devastating and deadly attacks on residential buildings in several Ukrainian cities and massive missile strikes on energy infrastructure. Eight people, including a child, were killed in a Russian strike on a dormitory in Hlukhiv, Sumy region, north of Ukraine, in the evening of November 18, local media reported.
“The enemy attacked one of the dormitories in Hlukhiv, directing two Shahed-type attack UAVs at civilians,” the regional authorities stated.
The State Emergency Service reported that 8 people were killed. According to preliminary data, another 5 people may be under the rubble. The Sumy regional prosecutor’s office clarified that an 8-year-old boy died.
Russian missile struck residential buildings in Sumy and Odesa
A day earlier, Russian troops struck another residential building in Sumy, killing civilians, including children. On November 17, the enemy hit a residential high-rise building in Sumy with rockets. 11 people were killed, including two children: 9-year-old Ilya and 14-year-old Anastasia.
Russia has been conducting air strikes in all regions of Ukraine, from Sumy in the north to Odesa in the south. The Russian army launched a devastating missile strike on Odesa on Monday afternoon. 10 people were killed. Among them are seven police officers, a medic, and two local residents.
“These strikes are Russia’s response to those who have recently called and visited Putin” – Sybiha
At a UN Security Council meeting, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha said that Russia’s recent massive shelling of Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure is a demonstrative response by Russian president Vladimir Putin to all those who have tried to negotiate peace with him.
“These strikes are Russia’s response to all those who have recently called and visited Putin, asking him for peace. Putin wants war, not peace. We must increase the price of war for him,” Sybiha stated.
Sibiha recalled that November 18 marks the 1000th day since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion, although in general, Russian aggression against Ukraine has been going on for more than 10 years. The minister also drew attention to Russia’s deepening military alliances with rogue states such as Iran and North Korea.
Duda slammed Scholz’s call to Putin
Polish President Andrzej Duda critisized Scholz’s call to Putin and accused German Chancellor Olaf Scholz of trying to remove US President-elect Donald Trump from negotiations on Ukraine’s future. Duda said this in an interview with Bloomberg.
The Polish president asserts that Scholz, contrary to his own claims, did not intend for his call to Kremlin master Vladimir Putin to pressure him into negotiating an end to the war in Ukraine.
“I believe it was an attempt to achieve a ceasefire in Ukraine before Donald Trump takes office,” Duda said.
At the same time, Duda called ridiculous the assumption that the US president-elect would abandon support for Ukraine, recalling the military assistance that Kyiv received during his first administration.
Borrell: “Putin is not ready for peace talks”
EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell believes that Russian leader Vladimir Putin is not ready for peace talks after 4,000 days of war against Ukraine.
Borrell mentioned the massive air attack that Russia launched on Ukraine on Sunday night and the deadly shelling of Odesa on Monday.
“What does this mean? It means that Putin is not ready for negotiations but is ready to escalate the war to realize his goals. And their goals were clear from the beginning (of the war): to conquer and occupy Ukraine,” Borrell said.
“That was his plan: in a few weeks—in Kyiv. After 1000 days, he is still fighting in Donbas. But we are not even talking about 1000 days; we are talking about 4000 days since Putin attacked Ukraine for the first time in 2014,” Borrell said.
Borrell acknowledged that the EU’s initial response should have been stronger. He warned against letting Russia’s new escalatory actions go unanswered.
Josep Borrell also said that the European Union had handed over the promised one million large-caliber artillery shells to Ukraine, which it expected to deliver by spring.
Calls to Putin and authorization for Ukraine to strike Russia with ATACMS
Reports surfaced on November 15 that Olaf Scholz had spoken to the Kremlin leader for the first time in two years. At the time, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the call a “Pandora’s Box.”
“This is Pandora’s box. Now there may be other conversations, other calls. Just a lot of words. This is precisely what Putin has been seeking for a considerable amount of time: it is crucial for him to lessen his own isolation, as well as Russia’s, and to engage in routine negotiations that yield no results.”
Earlier, many politicians and observers said that the Russian dictator understands only the language of force and that Western countries should lift restrictions on the use of long-range missiles to strike military targets in Russia, as well as increase support for Ukraine to counter the Kremlin’s military aggression.
Earlier, the media reported that US President Joe Biden for the first time authorized Ukraine to use long-range American weapons—ATACMS missiles—in the territory of the Russian Federation. The Axios portal states that this is currently the Kursk region’s territory, and the decision is a response to North Korean troops’ involvement in the war.
The White House refused to directly confirm Ukraine’s permission to use long-range missiles against military targets located in Russia but mentioned that they were developing a response to the DPRK’s involvement in the war.
