Sitrep for November 22–23 (as of 15:00)
The situation on the frontline
Due to the muddy season, the frontline remains virtually unchanged, but both sides continue strikes.
- On November 22, the cities of Toretsk and Chasiv Yar, Donetsk region, were hit. In Chasiv Yar, 4 houses were damaged, and 2 people were wounded as a result of strikes. Fortunately, there were no casualties in Toretsk.
- On the night of November 23, Russian troops hit the maternity ward of a hospital in Vilnyansk with cruise missiles. According to the head of the administration of the Zaporizhzhia region Oleksandr Starukh, a baby was killed as a result of the strikes.
- On the night of November 23, Russian forces also hit the town of Kupiansk, Kharkiv region. According to the deputy head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Kyrylo Tymoshenko, a residential building and a clinic were hit, two people were killed.
According to the governor of the Belgorod region Vyacheslav Gladkov, on November 22, a woman was killed as a result of Ukrainian strikes on the town of Shebekino.
On November 22, a Volkswagen Polo car was blown up in the Belgorod region. According to preliminary information, it had hit a mine or a shell. Both the driver and the female passenger were killed.
The governor of Sevastopol Mikhail Razvozzhaev said that on November 22, Russian air defense forces shot down Ukrainian drones over the city. According to him, two drones tried to attack the Balaklava Thermal Power Plant, and three more drone attacks were repelled over the Black Sea. Civilian infrastructure was not damaged, and there were no casualties.
A contract serviceman from the 155th Marine Brigade contacted Mediazona [independent Russian media outlet] and reported that on November 14, the command decided to withdraw the marines from Pavlivka. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, Pavlivka has come under Russian control. Our team believes that Pavlivka is still only half controlled by Russian forces.
The withdrawal will not affect those marines who were openly outraged by the situation, complained about their commanders, and refused to participate in the assault. They will remain on the front line. Soldiers who did not conflict with the command will be sent to the rear.
The most intense fighting took place on November 9 and 10, and about 450-500 Russian servicemen were killed during the entire battle for Pavlivka, according to the interviewed serviceman.
According to Volodymyr Kudrytskyi, the head of the national electric utility company Ukrenergo, Russia has already damaged almost all thermal and hydroelectric power plants in Ukraine.
In case of prolonged power outages, the Ukrainian authorities have set up more than 4000 "Points of Invincibility" throughout the country and continue to work on increasing their number. Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his address that at these points, residents of Ukraine would have access to electricity, communications, heat, water and medication for free and around the clock.
Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine Iryna Vereshchuk urges residents of Kherson to evacuate to safer regions of the country for the winter period. The government will provide evacuation to Kryvyi Rih, Mykolaiv, and Odesa, with possible further relocation to the Kirovohrad and Khmelnytskyi regions or to the Western Ukraine.
Kherson is being constantly shelled, and electricity is often out, therefore, a place was equipped at the city railway station, where Ukrainians can warm up, have a cup of tea, get access to electricity, and find out the latest news.
The Prosecutor's Office of Ukraine has opened an investigation following the video showing captive Russian soldiers allegedly shot dead. According to Gyunduz Mamedov, the former Deputy Prosecutor General of Ukraine, the nature of a crime is determined as "a perfidy committed by Russian servicemen during their surrender."
Also, a video of another execution of Russian soldiers filmed in spring or summer is spreading. The quality of the video and the selected angles do not allow us to see the shooters.
A few days ago, the Oryx project announced the supply of TRGL-230 MLRS systems by Turkey to Ukraine. The system uses precision-guided munitions and can be paired with the Bayraktar TB2 UAV.
Evidence of the use by the Ukrainian Forces of an FIM-92 Stinger DMS MANPADS launcher, transferred by Lithuania, has been published.
Unfortunately, the United States transferred a significant part of the stock of Stinger missiles to Ukraine long ago. Since this is a fairly outdated weapon, the American army has not ordered it over the past 18 years, and now, it is necessary to restore its production in order to continue supporting Ukraine.
During the first six months of the current invasion, Ukraine received 806,000 artillery shells of 155mm caliber (134,000 shells per month) from the United States. And over the past three months, Ukraine has received 98,000 artillery shells, that is, 33,000 shells per month (four times less than it was received before).
According to US officials, Russia continues to fire 20,000 artillery shells (of all calibers) per day in Ukraine, while Ukraine uses 4000 to 7000 shells per day (four times less).
Artillery shells produced in 2022 were found at positions abandoned by the Russian Forces in the Kherson region.
Bridges are gradually being restored on the right bank of the Dnipro river.
Mobilization update
The Military Ombudsman Telegram channel published and later deleted the internal order of Rosgvardia [the National Guard of Russia] (the photo of this order is still stored on other channels). It follows from the order that the mobilization announced on September 21 did not end, and servicing soldiers may not wait for discharge.
Mobilized soldiers, pointedly detained in the Belgorod region for failure to comply, were released after interrogations and returned to their unit under the obligation to appear before the investigator.
A video has been published showing the departure of mobilized soldiers from the 331st Kostroma Regiment to Ukraine. In the video, they appear to be properly equipped.
The pro-Russian LostArmour project reports on an active recruitment of workers for the construction of fortifications in the occupied territories. Together with a large number of concrete obstacles being delivered to every region where Russian troops are present, this may indicate that Russia is trying to protract the war as long as possible and therefore is now mostly engaged in defense and not in a large-scale offensive.
iStories, an independent Russian investigative media outlet, tells the story of ex-convict Konstantin Kiselev, who was serving a sentence for a double murder, joined the Wagner group in the first half of September, and in November received the Order of Courage and was promoted to the rank of commander for being the only survivor of an attack.
On November 21, Politico published a letter signed by MEPs from different parties on November 11, calling on the European Union to list the Wagner group as a terrorist organization.
On November 23, the European Parliament recognized Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism.
A video has been published showing a Ukrainian tank stuck in deep mud, which showcases the impassibility of roads in certain regions of Ukraine at this time of year.
