Ukrainian forces successfully struck a Russian shipyard in Kerch, occupied Crimea on November 4, possibly damaging a naval vessel. The Center for Strategic Communications of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said that Ukrainian forces carried out successful strikes against Russian maritime and port infrastructure at the Zalyv Shipyard in Kerch on the evening of November 4.
Satellite images from November 4 show that the strike damaged a Caliber-class guided-missile corvette from project 22800 in the shipyard, although the extent of the ship’s damage is currently unclear. Russia’s Defense Ministry (MoD) said Russian forces intercepted 13 of 15 Ukrainian missiles aimed at the shipyard, and acknowledged that two missiles damaged an unspecified vessel. Ukrainian officials said Ukrainian cruise missiles damaged the Askold missile carrier, a Karakurt-class corvette that the Russian Black Sea Fleet (Black Sea Fleet) launched in 2021.
Russia confirmed that a Russian warship was damaged in Kerch
The strike likely used SCALP missiles supplied by Kiev’s Western allies
The extent of damage to repair facilities at the shipyard is unclear, although available satellite imagery suggests the Ukrainian strike likely has not caused damage that would disrupt its operations in the medium to long term, unlike the previous strike on the Sevmorzavod facility on September 13 this year. Radio Free Europe reported that Russian forces have three operational shipyards, including the Zaliv facility, in occupied Crimea.
This is stated in the daily analysis of the situation on the front in Ukraine, prepared by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
ISW believes that Ukrainian forces have conducted a campaign to block Russian military infrastructure in occupied Crimea, mostly BSF assets, from June 2023 to reduce the ability of the Russian military to use Crimea as a staging area and rear area for Russian operations in southern Ukraine.
It is reported that Ukrainian forces have intensified strikes on rear Russian areas in southern Ukraine on November 5. Russian sources claim that Ukrainian forces struck Skadovsk, in the occupied Kherson region, on the night of November 4-5.
Russian sources said Russian forces also disabled Ukrainian drones targeting a railway line at an oil refinery in Jankoy, occupied Crimea on November 5. A Russian blogger claims that Ukrainian forces carried out a Storm Shadow missile strike on Berdyansk, Zaporozhye region on 5 November. Ukrainian Berdyansk The head of the city’s military administration, Viktoria Khalytsina, said that locals had reported two explosions in the city, but the Ukrainian General Staff was clarifying the information.
The Ukrainian head of the Main Directorate of Missile Forces and Artillery and Unmanned Systems, Brigadier General Sergey Baranov, in particular, said in an interview with the Independent published on November 4 that Ukrainian forces intend toand “capitalize” on their scientific experience and carry out large-scale drone strikes on Russian targetswhen the battle slows down in the winter.
The Independent reported that Baranov stated that Ukraine intends to build on its “significant successes” with recent drone strikes, targeting critical Russian military assets and naval facilities.
Zelensky demands more help from the US and invites Trump to Ukraine
The president of Ukraine does not believe that Trump could stop the war
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky gave an interview to NBC and reiterated that the war is not at a stalemate. Zelensky stressed that the situation on the battlefield remains very challenging, but noted that he does not believe the war is at a “standstill.” Instead, he described it as a “check by the Russian military,” suggesting that Ukraine could resume significant progress when it resolves military parity with Russian forces, described by Ukrainian commander-in-chief General Valery Zaluzhny.
Zelensky noted that Ukraine continues to destroy Russian Black Sea Fleet assets and continued to reiterate Ukraine’s urgent need to obtain air defense systems from Western partners. In addition, Zelensky noted that Ukraine will not negotiate with Russia until or unless Russia fully withdraws from Ukrainian territories.
ISW continues to appreciate that external pressures forcing Ukraine to negotiate with Russia is harmful and counterproductivewhile Putin maintains his maximalist goals and believes he can achieve them on the battlefield.
Ukrainian forces continued offensive operations near Bakhmut and achieved confirmed successes in western Zaporozhye Oblast and on the eastern (left) bank of Kherson Oblast on 5 November. The Ukrainian General Staff reported that Ukrainian forces continued offensive operations south of Bakhmut and in Melitopol (western Zaporozhye region).
Geolocated footage shows that Ukrainian forces have made limited progress west of Verbove (10 km east of Robotyne in the western Zaporozhye Region), as well as on the eastern coast of Kherson Region near Pidstepne (12 km east of the city of Kherson and 3 km from the Dnieper River) and in Krinki (30 km east of the city of Kherson and 2 km from the Dnieper River).
Kadyrov’s son awarded an important post in Chechnya after beating a prisoner
Adam, 15, was not convicted because he is a minor
Chechen officials have announced that the head of the Chechen Republic, Ramzan Kadyrov, has appointed his 15-year-old son Adam to a prominent position in the Chechen security service, although there is confusion over Adam Kadyrov’s exact position. The Chairman of the Chechen Duma Magomed Daudov, the press of the Chechen Republic Akhmed Dudayev and the deputy of the Russian State Duma Adam Delimkhanov stated that Adam occupies an unspecified “important position” in the security service of the head of the Chechen Republic.
The commander of the special regiment of the Chechen Ministry of Internal Affairs, Zamid Chalaev, and the Minister of Health, Adam Alkhanov, claim that Adam Kadyrov was appointed head of this security service.
Ramzan Kadyrov has not yet commented on his son’s appointment. Ramzan Kadyrov headed the security service of his father, the former president of the Chechen Republic, Akhmat Kadyrov, until Akhmat Kadyrov’s death in 2004. Adam Kadyrov will turn 16 on November 24, 2023.
It is reported that the courts in the Republic Dagestan has charged the participants in the anti-Semitic riots on October 29 with minor crimes and have imposed limited penalties. Russian authorities have reportedly accused many of the anti-Semitic rioters of using foul language, disobeying police orders, petty hooliganism and violating rally procedures.
Over 200 detained for the unrest in Makhachkala
Administrative acts were drawn up against 155 of them
Dagestan courts convicted the rebels to six to ten days of arrest or compulsory labor. ISW has previously assessed that the Russian leadership is likely avoiding wider punishments for anti-Semitism in the North Caucasus out of concern that they will inflame resentment towards the Kremlin.
Russian blogger calls out Russian “propagandists” to increase the use of Russian propaganda against Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) held in currently in Russia, in an attempt to increase the number of “volunteers” in the Russian army.
The blogger suggested that Russian prisons housing Ukrainian prisoners of war broadcast almost constantly broadcasts of state television and radio programs such as Rossiya-24, Radio Mayak and Radio Rossiya. The blogger also suggested that specially created “propaganda lectures” about the Russian way of life be shown in prisons and that Russian political scientists and economists be brought in to give talks in prisons. Russian state media reported earlier that the Russian volunteer battalion “Bohdan Khmelnitsky” has “recruited” Ukrainian prisoners of war from various Russian penal colonies.
Forcing prisoners of war into combat however, it is a violation of the Geneva Convention on Prisoners of War.
Russia’s Ministry of Defense (MoD) has released footage of what it claims is a successful test-fire of an RSM-56 Bulava submarine-launched ballistic missile from the Borei-A-class Emperor Alexander III nuclear-powered strategic submarine cruiser in the White Sea near to the Kamchatka Peninsula on November 5.
The Russian Ministry of Defense claims that the launch of the ballistic missile is the last step before the Russian Navy decides whether to accept the missile into service. The Russian Defense Ministry claims that the Russian Navy has three Borei-A class submarines in service, another is completing trials and three are under construction. Ukraine’s main military intelligence agency said on November 4 that Russian forces conducted a failed test of the Bulava missile on October 25 and that Russia is struggling to improve its strategic nuclear forces. ISW consistently appreciates that Russia often mentions Russia’s nuclear capability in an attempt to dissuade the West to provide Ukraine with materials.
Russian defense manufacturer Kalashnikov is reportedly upgrading the Cube drone based on the experience of Russian forces in the war in Ukraine.
London: Russia is changing its drone warfare strategy
The Lancet kamikaze drones are one of Moscow’s most effective new capabilities in Ukraine
The president of the Kalashnikov concern Alan Lushnikov stated that the company has successfully completed the tests and that the updated drone “Cube” will have increased power and a larger warhead. Lushnikov also said the company is working on increasing the drone’s range and navigation systems.
The Kremlin-appointed Commissioner for Children’s Rights, Maria Lvova-Belova, continues to encourage the illegal deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia under the guise of vacations. Lvova-Belova said on November 5 that she met with children from occupied Ukraine at the Artek children’s camp in occupied Crimea.
The Russian information space continues to discuss the official Russian response to internal inter-ethnic tension. A prominent Russian blogger has complained that some Azerbaijani and Turkish migrants in Putilkovo, Moscow Oblast, are linked to various nationalist groups and are “terrorizing” ethnic Russians in the town.
The blogger complained that “not a day goes by without incidents” in Russia’s ethnic diasporas and migrants, and that the government has repeatedly failed to respond adequately. The head of the Jewish Autonomous District Rostislav Goldstein said the county was ready to accept refugees from the Israel-Hamas war in under Russia’s Far East resettlement program, and an inside Kremlin source expanded on comments from local Christian, Jewish and Muslim religious leaders in support of Goldstein’s proposal.
