WAR IN UKRAINE: November 19, 2022
Passenger train to Kherson departs from Kyiv train station on Nov. 18, 2022 in Ukraine. The first passenger train departed from Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, where the war against Russia continue, to the city of Kherson, which was again under the control of the Ukrainian armed forces, about 8 months later. (Photo by Metin Aktas/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: Day 269
Power has been restored nearly everywhere in Ukraine after more than 10 million customers lost service Thursday, a utility official said. But President Volodymyr Zelensky said supply issues persist in many areas, including Kyiv.
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak met with Zelensky in Kyiv on Saturday, in his first visit to Ukraine since becoming British leader. He announced a $60 billion air defense package for Ukraine. Sunak "confirmed that the UK will provide a major new package of air defense to help protect Ukrainian civilians and critical national infrastructure from an intense barrage of Russian strikes," according to a Downing Street press release. "The £50 million package of defense aid comprises 125 anti-aircraft guns and technology to counter deadly Iranian-supplied drones, including dozens of radars and anti-drone electronic warfare capability," the statement continued.
Ukrainian experts are working at the site of a blast in Poland where a missile killed two people on Tuesday, according to a senior government minister.
In a bold move for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), chairman-in-office Poland has barred member state Russia from attending the Council of Foreign Ministers, scheduled for Dec. 1 and Dec. 2 in Lodz, Poland. On Saturday, Russia's Foreign Ministry called Poland's decision "unprecedented and provocative." In the statement, the foreign ministry called for the OSCE to have a "rules-based order." Earlier this year, Russia blocked extension of the OSCE’s two missions in Ukraine - the Special Monitoring Mission and Project Coordination office. Russian-backed fighters in Donetsk are holding national staff of the now-suspended SMM.
Required reading…
CNN Opinion: I was one of the first people at the MH17 crash site. This is what I saw…
Chișinău, Moldova (CNN) — On July 17, 2014, several weeks after “little green men” had started to occupy Donetsk in eastern Ukraine, I rushed into the management offices of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, located in Kyiv, as word spread over social media that the unthinkable had happened.
A passenger plane – Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 – enroute from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur had been shot down over the territory controlled by Russian-backed separatists.
As the OSCE’s spokesperson in Ukraine at the time, I quickly realized that because we were the only international entity with access to the area, we would soon be tasked with rushing to the crash site – and reporting to the world what was transpiring.
Read my full CNN Op-Ed here