Key developments for November 4:
Zelensky: Artillery supplies to Ukraine from partners have increased
* Ukraine says there are no ongoing talks with Russia about energy security and is open to Qatar mediating this.
Zelensky: North Korean troops in Kursk Oblast now number 11,000
Survey shows 63% of Ukrainians are willing to endure war for as long as it takes.
Canada sends first NASAMS System to Ukraine
On Nov. 4, President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that Ukraine is receiving more and more military aid from international partners. This includes artillery.
“We are recording a higher supply of defense assistance packages.” Zelensky posted on Telegram that the situation with artillery had improved after a meeting of Supreme Commander-in Chief’s Staff.
Zelensky had complained about Kyiv receiving only a small percentage of the military assistance approved by Congress in April.
The U.S. announced several large-scale assistance packages for Ukraine recently, including $425 million worth in ammunition, arms, vehicles and other support, which was revealed on Nov. 1.
The Pentagon wants to ship defense aid before U.S. president Joe Biden leaves his office in January. Washington is worried that if former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, defeats Vice President Kamala Harris in the Nov. 5, 2018 election, it will reduce its support for Kyiv.
Ukraine is in a difficult situation on the front lines, as it faces shortages of both manpower and material.
Zelensky received a briefing on the “destruction” of Russian forces near the Ukrainian border, in the Russian Kursk Oblast.
The president said that “approved supply plans” are being implemented. He also discussed drones for the military with Defense minister Rustem Umerov.
Zelensky said, “I instructed the Defense Minister to increase orders for Ukrainian drones further.”
Ukraine says there are no ongoing talks with Russia about energy security and is open to Qatar mediating.
In a television interview on November 4, Andriy Yeromak, head of Ukraine’s Presidential Office said that Ukraine does not hold direct talks with Russia about an energy ceasefire, but is open to the idea of a third party mediating the implementation talks of the peace formula.
The official made this statement in response to media reports that Kyiv and Moscow were holding preliminary discussions about mutually stopping strikes against energy facilities.
The Financial Times reported that on October 29, after the Qatar-mediated discussions allegedly failed in August due to the Kursk incursion the parties were considering resuming their discussions. In a statement released on October 30, the Kremlin denied that talks had resumed.
Yermak denied any direct negotiations with Moscow in Montreal, Canada. He also said that an online thematic conference, coorganized by Qatar, about implementing the security aspects of Ukraine’s peace formulation, took place in August without Russian involvement.
The official stated that Kyiv wouldn’t rule out the possibility that an agreement could be reached based on the conference by intermediaries. He named Qatar or “anyother country” who would help the parties to implement the conclusions.
“After that, if Qatar or any other nation is ready today to implement these agreements individually with Ukraine and separately, please do,” Yermak stated.
The third point in the Ukraine peace formula denounces Russian attacks against the Ukrainian grid and calls for tougher sanctions so as to undermine Moscow’s ability to sustain these strikes.
According to President Volodymyr Zelensky, the idea to implement this goal through a mutual cessation in energy strikes was first proposed at the first global summit for peace in Switzerland in June. He said that Russia’s willingness to stop the strikes could signal a willingness for broader peace negotiations.
The agreement would be the most significant deescalation since Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a full-scale invasion in Ukraine early in 2022.
Yermak emphasized that such an agreement is not currently being discussed with Russia.
Zelensky: North Korean troops in Kursk Oblast increased to 11,000
Volodymyr Zelensky, citing a Ukrainian intelligence report, said that North Korea had already deployed 11,000 soldiers in Russia’s Kursk Oblast.
Zelensky, in his evening speech, said: “We are seeing an increase in North Koreans. We do not see a rise in the reaction from our partners.”
Ukraine’s military intelligence reported Nov. 2, that Russia had deployed more than 7,500 North Korean troops closer to the Ukrainian border from Primorsky Krai in Russia.
These numbers are almost identical to those released by Washington earlier this week. U.S. Secretary Antony Blinken stated that 8,000 North Korean soldiers are gathered in Russia’s Kursk Oblast. This is where Ukraine began an incursion across the border in August, and still holds large swathes.
Survey shows 63% of Ukrainians are willing to endure war for as long as it takes.
A survey conducted by the Kyiv Institute of Sociology (KIIS), on Nov. 4, showed that almost two-thirds Ukrainians are willing to endure the war for as long as necessary.
Another 15% of respondents said that they would be willing to endure the war for several more months. 4% of respondents said that they could tolerate it for six months. 6% of respondents said they were willing to endure the war for a full year. 12% couldn’t answer.
According to the poll results, the positions on this issue have remained largely stable since the start of the full-scale war in 2022. There was a slight decline in those who were willing to endure war as long as necessary-from 73% December 2023 and Febraury 2024 to 63% October.
The number of people who support continuing the resistance for a shorter time period has also increased. This trend was most noticeable in the east and south, where the number of respondents who were willing to endure war for an additional year dropped from 71% to only 57%, and 73% to just 48%.
The population of central and western Ukraine has expressed their confidence and support for the resistance.
The survey was conducted from Sept. 20 to Oct. 3 on a representative sample consisting of 989 people. The poll excluded those who had fled abroad or were living in Russian-occupied territory.
Ukraine is in a more difficult position in the war. The Russian forces continue to advance in the east, at a pace not seen since 2024. Meanwhile, Ukraine braces itself for possible blackouts and new strikes on its energy grid.
Canada sends first NASAMS System to Ukraine
Justin Trudeau, Canadian Prime Minister, told President Volodymyr Zelensky on November 4 that Canada had sent the first National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System made in the United States to Ukraine.
Zelensky stated after the phone call that “we expect to receive the document by the end this year.”
Trudeau announced that Canada would purchase the NASAMS system for Kyiv worth $406 million in January 2023. Ottawa paid for the system in the spring but delivery has been delayed.
Zelensky had earlier in the day said that Ukraine was receiving more and more military assistance, specifically in the form of artillery, from its partners.
The NASAMS systems are in service with Ukrainian forces as of November 2022 when the U.S. provided the first batteries during the escalating Russian strikes.
Ukraine has asked international partners to increase their air defense capabilities following the intensification of Russian attacks on energy infrastructure.
Since the beginning of Russia’s war, Canada has provided 4.5 billion Canadian Dollars ($3.2 billion) as military aid to Kyiv.
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