THE RUSSO-UKRAINE WAR BRIEF
For: 2024-11-29
Slava Ukraini! In early 2022 I began a Telegram channel aggregating news from a number of sources daily on the war in Ukraine. In June 2023 I began providing a daily draft for the Ukraine War Brief Podcast collecting news from over 70 sources daily, which formed the basis of the script. While the Podcast no longer exists I have continued to make this Brief available for my followers here on Substack for those who wish to keep up with the news from the war. A version of this Brief will also be made available on The People’s Media Substack for those who should choose to subscribe there.
All the latest news on the Russo-Ukraine War 6 days per week
ALONG THE CONTACT LINE
GSAFU Morning Report
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in its Operational Information update at 22:00 on Nov 28 stated that day 1010 of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation against Ukraine was about to begin.
During the past day, 188 combat engagements took place. Over the past 24 hours, the enemy carried out 2 missile strikes, 23 air strikes, 700 drone strikes and more than 3,900 artillery strikes across the positions of Ukrainian forces.
At the same time, Ukrainian soldiers continue to inflict losses in manpower and equipment on the occupying troops, exhausting the enemy along the entire front line and continue to disrupt the plans of Russian occupiers to advance deeper into the territory of Ukraine.
Syrskyi orders deployment of more reserves to Pokrovsk, Kurakhove directions in Donetsk Oblast
Ukrainian forces stationed near the towns of Pokrovsk and Kurakhove in Donetsk Oblast will be additionally supplied with reserves, ammunition, weapons, and military equipment, Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said on Nov. 29. The Kyiv Independent reports.
Prior to the statement, Syrskyi visited Ukrainian units in the Pokrovsk and Kurakhove directions of the front line.
"The main goal is to personally talk to the commanders who are directly engaged in combat, to solve problematic issues, and provide comprehensive assistance," Syrskyi wrote on his Telegram channel.
"We continue to deter the enemy and inflict heavy losses in manpower and equipment. I am grateful to our soldiers for their resilience and bravery in the fight against the Russian aggressor."
Ukrainian officials have increasingly raised concerns about a possible new Russian push in Zaporizhzhia Oblast in the south, just as Russian forces continue to advance in the east, focusing their efforts near Pokrovsk and Kurakhove.
Russia has captured 234.79 square kilometers (90 square miles) in the past week, which is the highest number in 2024, according to the independent Russian outlet Agentstvo.
Russia's advance has picked up pace over the past months as Ukraine's military struggles to replenish its ranks, and Western arms are not flowing in as fast as Kyiv has hoped.
The outgoing Biden administration seeks to speed up materiel deliveries before Trump takes office.
Washington has provided Ukraine's forces with new capabilities to stall the Russian advance, such as long-range strikes on Russian territory or anti-personnel mines.
Air Force Daily Report
88 ENEMY UAVS WERE SHOT DOWN, 41 LOST IN LOCATION, ONE - RETURNED TO RUSSIA
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On the night of November 29, 2024 (from 18:30 on November 28), the enemy attacked Ukraine with 132 attack UAVs of the "Shahed" type and unmanned aerial vehicles of an unknown type from the directions - Orel, Millerovo, Kursk, Primorsko-Akhtarsk - Russian Federation.
Aviation, anti-aircraft missile units, electronic warfare equipment and mobile fire groups of the Air Force and the Defense Forces of Ukraine were involved in repelling the attack.
As of 09:00, anti-aircraft defense shot down 88 enemy drones in Kyiv, Chernihiv, Cherkasy, Sumy, Kharkiv, Poltava, Zhytomyr, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhia and Odesa regions.
41 UAVs — lost in location, presumably due to active anti-aircraft defense of the Defense Forces, 1 UAV returned to Russia.
As a result of the Russian attack, infrastructure, cars, private and apartment buildings were damaged in several regions of Ukraine, and the victims are being provided with assistance.
The Russian Border Incursion
The Armed Forces of Ukraine continued offensive operations in the Kursk region of Russia, over the last day Russian aviation conducted 12 air strikes on Ukrainian positions.
The Khortytsia operational-strategic group
(Responsible for the northeastern part of Ukraine. )
Kharkiv Sector: Over the last day Ukrainian Defense Forces repelled 11 Russian attacks in the area of Hlyboke, Vovchansk and Tykhe.
Kupyansk Sector: Russian Forces carried out 24 offensive actions against Ukrainian defensive positions near Fyholivka, Kindrashivka, Holubivka, Radivka, Kolisynivka, Kruhlyakivka, Zahryzove, Lozova and Zelenyi Hai. 3 engagements are ongoing.
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Lyman Sector: Russian Forces carried out 7 offensive actions against Ukrainian defensive positions near Pershotravneve, Tverdokhlibove, Hrekivka, Terny, Yampolivka and Torske.
Siversk Sector: In this sector, over the last day, there has been no significant change in the combat environment.
Kramatorsk Sector: Russian forces carried out 5 offensive actions against Ukrainian defences in the vicinity of Chasiv Yar, Stupochky and Bila Hora.
Toretsk Sector: Over the last day Russian forces carried out 5 offensive actions with air support near Dyliivka and Toretsk.
The Tavria operational-strategic group
(Responsible for the central-eastern and southeastern part of Ukraine.)
Pokrovsk Sector : Over the last day in this sector, Russian Forces carried out 50 offensive actions against Ukrainian defensive positions in the vicinity of Mykolaivka Myrolyubivka, Promin, Krutyi Yar, Lysivka, Dachenske, Zhovte and Pustynka. 18 engagements are ongoing.
Kurakhove Sector: Over the last day in this district Russia conducted 42 offensive actions in the vicinity of Novodmytrivka, Sontsivka, Berestky, Dachne, Kurakhove, Dalnje, Uspenivka, Hannivka, Romanivka and Yelyzavetivka.
Vremivka Sector: Russian forces made 20 attempts to break through Ukrainian defences in the vicinity of Novopil, Novodarivka, Rozdolne, Rozlyvl, Sukhi Yaly, Kostiantynopolske and Trudove and Veselyi Hai [not shown on map]. 4 engagements are ongoing.
Orikhiv Sector: In this sector, over the last day, there has been no significant change in the combat environment.
The Odesa operational-strategic group
(Responsible for Kherson, Qırım, (also known as Crimea) and the Black Sea.)
Prydniprovsk Sector: In this sector, over the last day, there has been no significant change in the combat environment. Russian forces made 3 unsuccessful attempts to dislodge Ukrainian units from their positions.
TEMPORARILY OCCUPIED TERRITORIES
Nothing major to report.
THE HOME FRONT
Russian attacks across Ukraine kill 1, injure 22 over past day
Russian strikes against Ukraine killed at least one civilian, and injured at least 22 over the past day, regional authorities reported on Nov. 29.
Russian forces launched 132 drones at Ukraine overnight from the Russian cities of Orel, Millerovo, Kursk, and Primosk-Akhtarsk, according to a report from Ukraine's Air Force.
Ukrainian anti-aircraft missile units, electronic warfare units, mobile firing groups, and aviation shot down 88 drones in Kyiv, Chernihiv, Cherkasy, Sumy, Kharkiv, Poltava, Zhytomyr, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Odesa oblasts.
Forty-one drones were lost allegedly due to electronic warfare countermeasures. Another drone returned to Russia.
In Kherson Oblast, Russia targeted 15 settlements, including the regional center of Kherson. As a result of the attacks, one person was killed, and another nine were injured, Governor Oleksandr Prokudin reported.
In Odesa Oblast, Russia attacked the region with several drones, injuring seven people. Four victims were hospitalized, with one woman in a severe condition, Governor Oleh Kiper reported.
In three settlements of the Odesa district, 13 residential and country houses, garages, railway infrastructure, outbuildings, a gas pipe, and a car were damaged.
In Donetsk Oblast, Russian strikes injured two people in the town of Kurakhove and one person in the town of Toretsk, according to Governor Vadym Filashkin.
In Dnipropetrovsk Oblast's Nikopol district, a 33-year-old man suffered injuries. He was hospitalized with moderately severe injuries, Governor Serhii Lysak said.
Drone attacks and artillery shelling damaged 11 houses, six outbuildings, a garage, and a utility company. Strikes damaged power lines and a gas pipeline as well, he added.
In Sumy Oblast, one person suffered injuries because of an air strike in the Esman community, the local military administration reported.
In Kyiv, the debris of the downed drones fell in three districts of the city, causing a polyclinic in the Dniprovskyi district to catch fire. A security guard at the medical facility was injured and hospitalized, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko reported.
HUR Chief Budanov calls rumours of his dismissal Russian propaganda.
The head of Ukraine's military intelligence (HUR) has dismissed fresh rumours of his imminent firing, describing them on Nov. 29 as "rumors and disinformation" spread by Russian propaganda. The Kyiv Independent reports.
Earlier in the week, New Voice of Ukraine reported that the Ukrainian President's Office wanted to replace Kyrylo Budanov with a "a person more loyal to the authorities."
"Unfortunately, at a certain point, these narratives were spread in the Ukrainian information space, many of them were replicated by Russian propaganda," Budanov told BBC Ukraine.
"But there is nothing surprising in this. Throwing out rumors and disinformation is what they do to destabilize the country, and to destabilize the team," he added.
Budanov insisted he had "normal working relations" with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his team.
It's not the first time in recent months that rumors of Budanov's imminent dismissal have circulated.
Zelenskyy on Oct. 21 denied similar rumors. "I wasn't going to do that. I was not going to replace Budanov. This information was circulating, yes. There was no such question about (Defense Minister Rustem) Umerov either," Zelensky said during a meeting with journalists.
Zelenskyy's statement followed media speculation that Budanov was in line for dismissal. Budanov, 38, has been the head of Ukraine's military intelligence since August 2020.
In late September, Umerov dismissed two of Budanov's deputies, Viktor Zaitsev and Ihor Ostapenko. The decision was not made in cooperation with Budanov, Ukrainska Pravda reported, citing an undisclosed source.
RUSSIAN WORLD
Absolutely no reason for panic: As ruble falls, Putin says situation is ‘under control’
The ruble’s exchange rate is “generally” under control, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a press conference in Astana, Kazakhstan. Meduza reports.
“There is absolutely reason for panic. Yes, the processes are complex both in our country and in neighboring states, but they are under control, and everything is proceeding according to plan,” Putin stated.
The Russian president attributed fluctuations in the ruble’s exchange rate to several factors, including budgetary payments and oil prices. He noted that tools exist to combat inflation without raising the key interest rate, but emphasized that final decisions rest with the Central Bank.
Over the past week, the ruble has sharply declined. By Wednesday, November 27, its exchange rate against the dollar on the Forex market had approached 115 rubles, while the euro surpassed 120 rubles. On November 28, the Central Bank set the official rate at 108 rubles, a level last seen in March 2022.
Ukraine strikes Russian Oil Depot, Radar Station
Ukrainian forces reportedly struck an oil depot in Russia's Rostov Oblast, and destroyed a Buk-M3 radar station in Russian-occupied territories in Zaporizhzhia Oblast overnight, The Kyiv Independent reported citing Ukraine's General Staff on Nov. 29.
Outmanned and outgunned on the battlefield, Ukraine has turned to homemade drones to try to exhaust Russian combat capabilities as much as possible from afar, targeting Russian military-industrial complex facilities, airbases, and oil refineries.
The Ukrainian military said that on the night of Nov. 29, they struck the Atlas oil depot in Rostov Oblast. As a result of the strike, fires broke out on the territory of the facility, the statement said.
According to the General Staff, Atlas is part of the Russian military-industrial complex, and supplies petroleum products to the Russian army. The oil depot was previously targeted in the summer of 2024.
Elsewhere, a radar station of the Buk-M3 anti-aircraft missile system was destroyed in the Russian-held part of Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia Oblast, the General Staff reported.
The combat mission was carried out by units of the Unmanned Systems Forces, the Special Operations Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, and Ukraine's military intelligence (HUR) in cooperation with other units of the Defense Forces.
On Nov. 16, a drone unit in the National Guard's 27th Pechersk Brigade destroyed another Russian anti-aircraft missile Buk-M1 system worth $10 million.
On the morning of Nov. 29, the General Staff reported that Russia had lost 1,006 air defense systems since the start of its full-scale invasion.
Moscow Politician Jailed for Denouncing War Sentenced to 3 More Years
Jailed Moscow politician and war critic Alexei Gorinov was on Friday sentenced to three more years in prison for “justifying terrorism” in private conversations with inmates at a prison hospital. The Moscow Times reports.
Alexei Gorinov, a former Moscow councilor, was already serving a seven-year prison sentence as the first known Russian to be jailed under wartime censorship laws that criminalize anti-war protests.
Gorinov went on trial again this week on accusations based on testimony from fellow prisoners that he had justified Ukrainian attacks on the Crimean Bridge and the actions of Ukrainian military units banned as “terrorists” in Russia.
Gorinov denied the charges and accused the witnesses of provoking him into discussing the Russian invasion of Ukraine while secretly recording their conversations.
A military court in the city of Vladimir found Gorinov, 63, guilty of “justifying terrorism” and handed him a three-year prison sentence, according to the independent news website Mediazona.
Gorinov’s lawyer explained that her client would end up spending eight years in prison under the combined sentences of “spreading war fakes” and “justifying terrorism.”
Prosecutors had asked the court to sentence Gorinov to three years and six months in prison.
“I’m for peace, and you love war,” Mediazona quoted Gorinov as saying to the judge from the defendant’s cage after the verdict.
In July 2022, Gorinov was sentenced to seven years in jail after chiding colleagues at a council meeting for planning a children's drawing competition while the invasion of Ukraine was underway.
He was found guilty of "knowingly spreading false information about the actions of the Russian army," becoming the first person to be sentenced for this new offense.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
UK spy chief says Russia behind 'staggeringly reckless' sabotage in Europe.
Britain's foreign spy chief accused Russia on Friday of waging a "staggeringly reckless campaign" of sabotage in Europe while also stepping up its nuclear sabre-rattling to scare other countries off from backing Ukraine. Reuters reports.
Richard Moore, head of Britain's Secret Intelligence Service known as MI6, said during a speech in Paris on Friday that any softening in support for Ukraine against Russia's 2022 full-scale invasion would embolden Russian President Vladimir Putin and his allies.
In what appeared a message to incoming U.S. President Donald Trump's administration and some European allies that have questioned continued support for Ukraine in the grinding war, Moore argued that Europe and its transatlantic partners must hold firm in the face of what he said was growing aggression.
"We have recently uncovered a staggeringly reckless campaign of Russian sabotage in Europe, even as Putin and his acolytes resort to nuclear sabre-rattling to sow fear about the consequences of aiding Ukraine," he said in a speech in Paris.
"The cost of supporting Ukraine is well known but the cost of not doing so would be infinitely higher. If Putin succeeds China would weigh the implications, North Korea would be emboldened and Iran would become still more dangerous."
In September, Moore said Russia's intelligence services had gone "a bit feral" in the latest warning by NATO and other Western spy chiefs about what they call hostile Russian actions, ranging from repeated cyber attacks to Moscow-linked arson.
Moscow has denied responsibility for all such incidents. The Russian embassy in London did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on Moore's remarks.
Last month the UK's domestic spy chief said Russia's GRU military intelligence service was seeking to cause "mayhem". Sources familiar with U.S. intelligence have told Reuters Moscow is likely to step up its campaign against European targets to increase pressure on the West over its support for Kyiv.
Much of Moore's speech was focused on the importance of Western solidarity, saying the collective strength of Britain's allies would outmatch Putin who, he said, was becoming increasingly in hock to China, North Korea and Iran.
Trump, who has vowed to quickly end the war in Ukraine, without saying how, and other Republicans in the U.S. have expressed reservations about Washington's strong strategic support and heavy weapons supplies for Kyiv.
"If Putin is allowed to succeed in reducing Ukraine to a vassal state he will not stop there. Our security - British, French, European and transatlantic - will be jeopardised," Moore said.
In general terms, Moore said the world was in its most dangerous state in his 37 years working in the intelligence world, with Islamic State on the rise again, Iran's nuclear ambitions a continued threat, and the radicalising impact of the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attacks on Israel not yet fully known.
MILITARY & TECH
The face of modern warfare Multi million dollar radar destroyed by cheap drones.
A unit of the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine (HUR), have successfully neutralized a Russian 1L219 Zoopark-1 radar system. This high-value target, priced at approximately $24 million USD, was destroyed using an innovative and cost-effective approach involving the FPV drones.
The operation utilized four long-range FPV drones, each costing $1000, for a total expense of less than $4000. This creates a striking cost ratio of 1:10,000, the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine reports.
The Zoopark-1 radar is a sophisticated artillery reconnaissance system designed to locate enemy firing positions and guide counter-battery fire. Its destruction represents a significant blow to the Russian military’s operational capabilities.
This successful strike highlights the effectiveness of modern drone warfare and the resourcefulness of Ukrainian forces in countering advanced enemy equipment.
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