As the war enters its 994th day, these are the main developments.Here is the situation on Friday, November 15:
Fighting
A Russian air attack struck a residential building and power installations in and near Ukraine’s Black Sea port of Odesa, killing one person, injuring eight and knocking out a boiler plant used for heating, Ukrainian officials have said.
A small Russian assault group briefly broke through to the outskirts of Ukraine’s northeastern city of Kupiansk for the first time since September 2022, in a sign of mounting pressure on the Ukrainian outpost. Ukraine’s military said its troops were still in full control of the rail hub and their forces had stopped the Russian advance.
Russian forces have captured the village of Voznesenka in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, according to Russia’s Ministry of Defence.
The Ukrainian military has said it shot down 21 out of 59 Russian attack drones launched overnight on Thursday.
A mother and her child are evacuated by the Vostok SOS organisation from Kostiantynivka in the Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine, to safer areas on Thursday [Diego Herrera Carcedo/Anadolu]
Russian affairs
International affairs
Russia is open to negotiations to end the Ukraine war if initiated by United States President-elect Donald Trump, but any talks need to be based on the realities of Russian advances in the conflict, according to Gennady Gatilov, Moscow’s ambassador to the UN in Geneva.
Trump has chosen Tulsi Gabbard, a former Democratic congresswoman who lacks security and intelligence experience and is seen as soft on Russia and Syria, as the US’s new director of national intelligence. The decision has sent shockwaves through the national security establishment given the 43-yea …