This Sunday, November 12, Russia accused Ukraine of having carried out a series of attacks in the border regions of Bryansk and Belgorod, leaving one person injured and damaging a train. The Investigative Committee announced the opening of an investigation into a Ukrainian strike that injured a civilian in a village very close to the Ukrainian border, in the Bryansk region, without however indicating when this attack occurred.
The governor of the Belgorod region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, for his part affirmed that drones and missiles had targeted several areas of his region on Saturday, damaging “five wagons of a train”, in the town of Valouïki, around thirty kilometers from the Ukrainian border, as well as three houses. The Russian Defense Ministry also claimed during the night to have destroyed two Ukrainian drones in the Belgorod region, during the night and then at midday. Ukrainian strikes against Russian territory have increased in recent months, in the context of a counter-offensive launched by kyiv at the beginning of June.
Ukrainian commander behind Nord Stream sabotage
At the same time, a joint investigation by Washington Post and Spiegel, broadcast on Saturday November 11, indicates that a Ukrainian special forces commander would have played a key role in the sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines in September 2022 in the Baltic Sea. Roman Tchervinsky, 48, was the “coordinator” of the sabotage, according to the American daily and the German magazine. They cited officials in Ukraine and elsewhere in Europe, as well as others with knowledge of the operation, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
kyiv fears an amplification of attacks before winter
For its part, Ukraine, which announced on Saturday that it had shot down a missile targeting the capital kyiv, fears an increase in attacks with the arrival of cold weather. Indeed, last winter, Russia shelled the Ukrainian energy network, leaving thousands of people without heat or electricity. “After a long break of 52 days, the enemy has resumed its missile attacks on Kiev!” declared the head of the military administration of the Ukrainian capital, Sergiï Popko, on the Telegram messaging service.
No casualties or material damage were reported, but two other missiles hit a field between two residential areas in the Kiev region, head of the regional military administration Ruslan Kravchenko said.
Zelensky highlights army’s “heroism” in Kherson
This round of strikes occurred on the first anniversary of the liberation of Kherson by the Ukrainian army. A date which also marks the last major evolution of the front, kyiv’s ambitious counter-offensive has since come up against Russian defenses. Bombings remain almost daily in this city, a year after the end of its occupation by the Russians. On Saturday, President Volodymyr Zelensky paid tribute to this “city synonymous with hope”, praising its “heroism”. “This day is one of the anniversaries that strengthen the confidence of Ukrainians in their abilities,” he assured in a video posted on his Telegram channel.
Port infrastructure targeted in Odessa
In the southwest this time, in the Odessa region, three people were injured by a Russian strike, according to the local governor, Oleg Kiper. These attacks also affected port infrastructure, important for Ukraine’s exports and therefore favored targets for Moscow, he said.