While the world awaited the results of the U.S. election, Russia’s war on Ukraine continued.
Donald Trump’s sweeping win is a sign of an uncertain future for a country that has been under siege.
No matter who delivered a victory speech on the other side of the Atlantic, Russia’s relentless advances in Donbas, drone strikes, and more allegations of war crime committed by Moscow’s troops continued.
We bring you five stories that you may have missed about Russia’s conflict in Ukraine in the wake of the U.S. Presidential election.
First time, Ukraine attacks Russian naval base in Dagestan
A source at the agency told The Kyiv Independent that Ukraine’s military intelligence had been behind a drone strike against the city Kaspiysk, in Russia’s Dagestan Republic. The attack was targeting a Russian navy base.
Sources said that at least two ships – Gepard class missile ships Tatarstan, and Dagestan – were damaged, as well as possibly several smaller Project 21631 Buyan M corvettes.
Dagestan authorities reported intercepting an attack by a drone over Kaspiysk on Nov. 6, a port town at the Caspian Sea, about 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) from the frontline.
Andrii Kovalenko, a representative of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, said that Russian Navy ships were stationed at Kaspiysk. The base is home of the Russian Caspian Flotilla as well as Russian Marines, Coastal Troops and Russian Marines.
Open-source intelligence analysts (OSINT) said that satellite imagery showed at least eight ships at the naval base following the attack. According to some reports, Ukraine may have targeted the supply route of Iranian weapons flowing into Russia via the Caspian Sea.
Mash, a Ukrainian A-22 Flying Fox, was identified as the drone used in the strike. Local authorities have announced that the Makhachkala Airport has suspended operations indefinitely due to this incident.
Prosecutors claim that Russia has executed at the very least 124 Ukrainian prisoners of war on the battlefield during the full-scale conflict.
A senior representative of the Prosecutor’s Office stated on Nov. 6 that Kyiv is aware of 124 Ukrainian POWs who were executed on the battlefield by Russian forces throughout the full-scale conflict.
Ukrainian authorities receive regular reports of murders, torture and ill treatment of Ukrainian prisoners of War. These reports have increased in recent months. The majority of cases were reported in the Donetsk Oblast, which is currently under siege.
Denyslysenko, head of the war crimes department, told national television that 49 criminal investigations are underway in relation to the execution of Ukrainian prisoners of war.
Prosecutors reported on November 5 that the most recent cases included the killing of six captured Ukrainians near Pokrovsk, in Donetsk Oblast.
“We are now analysing all these cases and looking for patterns… We consider all these cases comprehensively and the involvement by a particular armed units is, of course analyzed in every case,” Lysenko stated.
Former Prosecutor-General Andrii Kostin described the killing of Ukrainians in captivity as a “deliberate Russian policy”.
In 2024, about 80% of the cases involving the execution of Ukrainian POWs have been recorded. However, the trend started to emerge in November 2023 when “there was a change in attitude of Russian military staff towards our prisoners of warfare for the worse,” Yurii Belousov said, a senior official of the Prosecutor General’s Office.
The Russian drone attack on Kyiv damages and causes fires in five districts
The Kyiv City Administration reported that Russia launched a drone strike on Kyiv over night on Nov. 7. It struck a residential building and injured at least one person.
According to Kyiv’s military administration the drone strike caused “significant damage” to an apartment in the Holosiivskyi District of the city.
The administration also reported that drone debris had caused a large fire at a nearby car repair shop.
According to a Kyiv Independent reporter on the ground, multiple explosions were heard around 1 a.m. local.
Ukraine’s Air Force warned all night long that Russian attack drones are in the vicinity of the City.
Around 6 am local time, Vitali Klitschko, the mayor of Kyiv, posted on Telegram about the fire that broke out on the 33rd level of a residential apartment building. The fire was put out shortly after.
The ongoing attack has also left wreckage in the Podil District, where a two story house caught fire. In the Obolon District, a business centre caught fire in the upper floors. And in the Solomianskyi District, where debris fell in a yard and onto a private facility.
The collapse of Germany’s ruling coalition has brought uncertainty to Ukraine’s support
Germany’s three party governing coalition collapsed Nov. 6, after German Chancellor Olaf Scholz declared that he had dismissed Christian Lindner as Finance Minister. This could have a profound impact on the country’s support of Ukraine.
The decision to fire Lindner due to economic disagreements is likely to lead to a snap election for the country in the near future, as Scholz’s Social Democratic Party will not have enough votes to pass a budget for 2025.
Berlin allocated 8,2 billion euros (7,6 billion euros) to Kyiv’s budget in 2024 under the current ruling coalition. The budget for the following year allocated about half of that amount.
Scholz said that Lindner had blocked laws inappropriately too many times. “He has too often used petty, party-political tactics.” “Too often, he has violated my trust.”
German media reported that Lindner’s policy paper proposed significant changes to the economic policy of the country, including reducing regulations regarding climate policy in order to stimulate economic growth and proposing tax reductions — in stark contrast to Scholz.
The rise of the far right Alternative for Germany (AfD), a party known for its amicable views towards the Kremlin, may spell trouble for Kyiv.
A snap election may not be a disaster for Ukraine. Current polls show the AfD is second in the current polls, but behind the center-right Conservative Christian Union/Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU), led by Friedrich Merz. Merz has called for more decisive actions to support Ukraine, including the delivery Taurus missiles.
Scholz said that he would ask Merz to get the support of the parliament for the budget.
President says South Korea is ‘not ruling out the possibility’ of supplying arms to Ukraine
South Korea has not ruled out the possibility of providing arms to Ukraine, given the growing cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang. This was stated by South Korean President Yoon suk Yeol at a news conference on November 7.
Yoon told media that, “Depending on the level of North Korean engagement, we will gradually adapt our support strategy in phases.”
“This means that we do not rule out the possibility of supplying weapons.”
The Russian-North Korean relationship reached a new high when Pyongyang sent around 12,000 soldiers to join Russia in its war against Ukraine.
Yoon had previously said that Seoul could revise its prohibition on providing direct military assistance to war zones in response.
South Korea has provided Ukraine humanitarian and non-lethal assistance but has refused to provide arms, citing legal restrictions. Several media reports from last summer claimed that South Korea secretly provided artillery shells via the U.S. to Ukraine, but the South Korean government denied these reports.
South Korea, which is constantly at odds with its North Korean neighbours, has a strong military and a robust defense industry. This makes it a major arms supplier.
Yoon said that “defensive weaponry” would be South Korea’s priority, but it is unclear which weapons systems the country is considering. According to a source at the South Korean Presidential Office, a direct supply 155 mm artillery rounds is not currently on the table.
Experts told Kyiv Independent South Korea could provide Ukraine with the most significant support through ammunition supplies. South Korea not only has 155 mm artillery, but also 3.4 million 105-mm rounds that are compatible with some Ukrainian guns.
Ukrainian officials stated that just to hold the front against Russian forces, 75,000 shells are needed each month. Moscow’s troops are able to fire many times more shells than Ukraine. Approximately half of these shells are reportedly supplied by North Korea.
We are the Kyiv Independent’s news team. We want to ensure that our readers receive timely, essential updates on the events in Ukraine. Please contact us by email with any feedback or news alerts.
Read More @ kyivindependent.com