Did you miss the latest events on the war in Ukraine? 20 minutes takes stock for you every evening at 7:30 p.m. Between the strong declarations, the advances on the front and the results of the battles, here are the main points of the day.
The fact of the day
Russian troops have further stepped up their assaults on the town of Avdiivka, in eastern Ukraine, local authorities reported on Monday. The Russian army has been trying to seize this fortified industrial city in Donbass for almost two months, so much so that Avdiivka has become the main hot spot on the front since the failure of the Ukrainian summer counter-offensive.
According to its mayor, Vitaly Barabach, Russian assaults have been “much more numerous” in the last two days, as have artillery bombardments. “The third wave of enemy attacks differs from the previous two in that it is launched from two new directions,” the Ukrainian official further explained. According to him, these assaults aim to “divert the attention as much as possible” of the Ukrainian soldiers, while the Russian forces continue in parallel their attempts to encircle Avdiïvka from the South and the North. “The launch of new directions proves that the enemy has received the order to seize the city at all costs,” he estimated, specifying that 1,295 civilians were still there.
Sentence of the day
“I am convinced that the name of Vladimir Zavadsky, a courageous officer, a true general and a worthy man, will forever remain in the annals of the glory of our homeland. »
These are the words of Governor Alexander Gusev who, on Telegram, announced the death of Brigadier General Vladimir Zavadsky, whose “loyalty” he praised as “deputy commander of the 14th Army Corps of the Northern Fleet, has died to a combat post in the special operation zone. According to Russian Telegram channels close to the army, the officer died on November 28 by jumping on a mine, behind the front.
The number of the day
18. This is the number of Russian drones that Ukrainian anti-aircraft defenses said they had shot down during the night from Sunday to Monday. “Eighteen attack drones and one Kh-59 missile were shot down,” the Ukrainian Air Force said in its morning statement.
The southern regions of Kherson and Mykolaiv were targeted, as well as Ivanov-Frankivsk, Khmelnytsky and Lviv (west), according to the Ukrainian army. She specifies that drones managed to strike the districts of Kherson and Beryslav (south), on the banks of the Dnieper River, damaging a cultural center and a DIY store.
Today’s trend
“We are running out of money and soon to run out of time. » Through the voice of its White House Budget Director Shalanda Young, the White House sounded the alarm on American military aid to Ukraine, threatened if Congress does not vote before the end of the year. new financing. At stake: an exceptional envelope of more than 100 billion dollars requested by Democratic President Joe Biden on October 20 from Congress to respond to the major emergencies of the moment, namely helping Israel and Ukraine, standing up to China and responding to arrivals of migrants at the southern border.
The United States, the main supplier of military aid to Ukraine, has been in the greatest budgetary limbo for months, due to endless parliamentary turbulence. The Congress of the world’s leading power has still not voted on a final budget for the fiscal year that began on October 1. The federal government is currently functioning thanks to an emergency extension which will expire in mid-January.
When Joe Biden very solemnly requested his enormous budget package, including $60 billion for Ukraine, the House of Representatives found itself in chaos due to dissension within the Republican Party. It has since acquired a leader, or “speaker”, Mike Johnson, which has allowed the resumption of budgetary debates. Which promises to be difficult: a handful of right-wing elected officials in the House of Representatives, although they are very favorable to supporting Israel, want to cut military assistance to kyiv.