WAR IN UKRAINE: November 16, 2022
Smoke rises over the city of Lviv in western Ukraine after Russian launched a barrage of missile strikes on the country on November 15.
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: Day 266
While the origin of the explosions caused by a missile that landed in eastern Poland on Tuesday has not been confirmed, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said a Ukrainian air defense missile attempting to intercept a Russian missile likely hit Poland. "But I want to clearly state that this is not Ukraine's fault. Russia bears full responsibility as it continues the illegal war against Ukraine," he said.
Ukraine’s military has informed the U.S. and its allies that it tried to intercept a Russian missile near and during the timeframe of the missile strike in Poland on Nov. 15, CNN reported, citing an unnamed U.S. official. It is currently unclear as to whether the missile that hit Poland was the same missile that Ukraine’s military attempted to intercept. Earlier, U.S. President Joe Biden said it is “unlikely in the lines of the trajectory that it [the missile] was fired from Russia, but we’ll see.”
National Security and Defense Council Secretary Oleksii Danilov said Ukraine is “ready to hand over evidence of the Russian trace” regarding the explosions reported in Poland on Nov. 15. Ukraine is “expecting information from our partners, based on which a conclusion was made that it’s a [Ukrainian] air defense missile,” Danilov said - Kyiv Indepndent
On Tuesday, Russia launched one of its biggest barrages of missiles yet against Ukraine. The capital Kyiv was among the cities hit, with officials saying at least one person was found dead. There were strikes across the country, from Lviv in the west to Chernihiv in the north. "It's clear what the enemy wants," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said. "They will not get it." Air raid alerts sounded across the country on Tuesday, and Kyrylo Tymoshenko, the deputy head of Mr Zelensky's office, said Russia fired over 90 missiles. "Our air defences shot down 70," he added in a post on the messaging app Telegram.There were also reports of power outages affecting millions of homes in several cities, as well as neighbouring Moldova. Describing the situation as critical, Mr Tymoshenko accused Russia of carrying out "another planned attack on energy infrastructure facilities", saying 15 such sites had been damaged - BBC
On Wednesday, one day after that massive Russian missile attack on Ukraine, hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians were still without power. However, several regions, including Kyiv, had their power restored. More outages were expected today.
NATO and G7 leaders released a joint statement following their emergency meeting on the margins of the G20, condemning the “barbaric missile attacks that Russia perpetrated on Ukrainian cities and civilian infrastructure on Tuesday.” The leaders also offered "full support" for Poland following an explosion in the country's east and said they would "remain in close touch" to determine the appropriate next steps. "We all express our condolences to the families of the victims in Poland and Ukraine," the joint statement said - CNN
Gen. Mark Milley, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, spoke with his Ukrainian counterpart earlier Tuesday, according to a readout provided by the Pentagon, CNN reported. Milley discussed the Russian invasion and "exchanged perspectives and assessments" with Ukrainian Armed Forces Gen. Valery Zaluzhny, it said. The chairman also reaffirmed US support for Ukraine, the readout added. Milley also spoke with his Polish counterpart, Chief of the General Staff Gen. Rajmund Andrzejczak, according to a readout: “The two leaders discussed Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine and the loss of life near Poland’s border, and agreed to remain in touch as the investigation proceeds."
On Thursday a Dutch court will deliver a verdict on the mass murder trial of the 298 people who died when Flight MH17 was shot down over Ukraine in 2014. Four suspects have been charged and face a life sentence. However, as they are in Russia or in Russian-occupied lands, it is doubtful they will ever face justice. But as I told CBC News, criminals can get careless and once they set foot outside of Russia they can be nabbed and jailed. Prosecutors have demanded life sentences for the four accused of suppling the missile system that Russian-backed separatists used to fire a rocket at the Malaysia Airlines passenger jet traveling from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur. It could be the first time a court rules on Russia's role in fighting in Ukraine since its invasion of Crimea in 2014. If it does implicate Russia, that could impact other cases, including one in the United Nation's top court, the International Court of Justice, a legal expert told Reuters.
A team from the International Committee of the Red Cross composed of medical personnel, water engineers and specialists on risks associated with explosive ordnance and mines delivered aid to Kherson on Tuesday and assessed the humanitarian situation. "There are immense needs in Kherson, but we also saw incredible resilience from the people, volunteers and health professionals who have persevered through great difficulty and are facing very harsh conditions,” Stephan Sakalian, the head of the ICRC’s delegation in Ukraine, said during the visit.