Ukrainian troops have liberated Makiivka in the Luhansk region, the Luhansk Regional Military Administration (OVA) has said. The report says that after the retreat, the Russian troops are shelling the settlement from all types of artillery. An anonymous WarMonitor OSINT investigator claims that Russian units continue to be hit by artillery in the Svatovo region of the Lugansk region.
Otherwise, the situation at the front remains unchanged, according to published maps. At the same time, the attention of the public and world leaders is focused on the missiles that fell in Poland during the massive shelling of Ukraine.
The WarGonzo propaganda project reported on the eve that the Armed Forces of Ukraine are trying to attack the Russian Federation from the Makeevka side and aim to break through to the highway. At the same time, on the Donetsk front, Russian troops "conducted assault operations in the direction of Nevelsky and Peromaisky," WarGonzo claims. According to him, in the Luhansk direction, the Armed Forces of Ukraine tried to advance towards Kremennaya from the south and north, but so far the situation has not changed. The propagandists also published maps.
Before the retreat from Kherson, the Russian military mined the building of the Main Police Department of the Kherson region, so it had to be blown up. This was announced by the head of the National Police of Ukraine Igor Klymenko on Facebook.
“Why should we be extremely careful and not rush to return to the recently de-occupied settlements? Video answer. Previously, it was one of the buildings of the Main Police Department of the Kherson region. And today it has become a pile of stones. The Russian occupiers disguised the explosives in the room. It was impossible to escape the explosion. Thanks to the ingenuity and skill of our explosives, no one was hurt. This is the main thing. We'll build the walls."
Now the Armed Forces of Ukraine are establishing tight fire control over the logistical routes and basing points of the Russian troops on the left bank of the Dnieper, Natalya Gumenyuk, a representative of OK Yug, said on the air of the Espresso channel. As a result, the Russian group moves further from the left bank.
“I want to remind you that we had preliminary information that the enemy had mined the front line on the left bank of the Dnieper. That is, the approaches from the water to the left bank are mined.”
The Ukrainian command is strengthening the grouping of troops in the Zaporozhye region against the backdrop of a lull and fighting in certain sectors of the front, the Rybar propaganda Telegram channel claims. According to the channel, reinforcements arrived at the forward positions of the 1st battalion of the 65th separate mechanized brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Preobrazhenka, and a group of special operations forces of Ukraine was transferred to Volnyanka in the Orekhovsky sector, according to the channel.
Also, the Armed Forces of Ukraine are pulling together armored vehicles and weapons in the vicinity of Orekhov, a strike force is being formed there. At the turn of Vasinovka – Omelnik – Yegorovka, the positions of the 16th battalion of the 58th separate mechanized brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are deployed. In addition, the transfer of several units from the Kherson direction continues, now at least two battalions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are moving to the combat area.
The 110th Territorial Defense Brigade of Ukraine claims to have destroyed two Russian 2S4 Tyulpan mortars of 240 mm caliber, which were used to destroy fortifications, with artillery fire. Where and when the video was filmed is not specified.
Reaction to the fall of missiles in Poland
US President Joe Biden told NATO and G7 partners that the explosion in Poland is the result of Ukrainian air defense. He considers it unlikely that the missile was launched by Russia. The Russian Defense Ministry also claims that the missile belonged to the Ukrainian S-300 air defense system. Igor Konashenkov, a spokesman for the department, said that Russia carried out “precision strikes” on November 15 only against targets in Ukraine “at a distance no closer than 35 km from the Ukrainian-Polish border.” Dobrotvorskaya TPP is located 35 kilometers from the border, there is also a power line to Zamosc (Poland). Probably, the reason for the shelling of the thermal power plant was the desire to prevent the possible transmission of electricity from Poland to Ukraine.
The White House said it agreed with Poland's assessment that it was the work of the Ukrainian air defense system. However, the administration places the blame for what happened on Russia.
“Whatever the final conclusions, it is clear that the party ultimately responsible for this tragic incident is Russia, which fired missiles specifically designed to hit civilian infrastructure in Ukraine. Ukraine had and has the right to self-defense.”
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that there are no signs that Russia is preparing offensive military operations against NATO. According to him, the projectile that fell in Przevoduv was fired by the Ukrainian air defense system. Stoltenberg added that while it is too early to draw conclusions, the investigation into the incident has not yet ended. However, the alliance does not intend to use the fourth article of the treaty, he assured. On the night of November 16, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that a Russian missile had hit Poland.
Arms expert, rocket engineer Oleksandr Kochetkov told The Insider that it is not clear which missile hit Poland, most likely the Ukrainian air defense system went off. He explained the incident, among other things, by obsolete air defense systems of Ukraine and inaccurate strikes by the Russian Federation due to the inability to purchase military chips.
“When the mass missile attack took place, the air defense systems worked with an overload – there may be a human factor, but, above all, it is a technological factor. The C-300 missiles, which form the basis of Ukrainian air defense, are still quite outdated. The following can be said about Russian missiles: if earlier they hit targets in Ukraine with an accuracy of 3-5 meters, which is a fairly accurate strike, now we see plus or minus 300 meters, and even then not always. This is due to the fact that Russia used to buy military chips for the control system, protected from overloads and temperature extremes, and now, according to gray schemes, it buys and pulls them out of household appliances like massagers and breast pumps.
From the point of view of computational ability, they solve the problem of controlling a cruise missile, but from the point of view of reliability, they do not meet the technical requirements. The reliability of rockets has been significantly reduced, a recent example is when an Iskander rocket fell in Zaporozhye and did not explode. As a rocket engineer, I would not be surprised if one missile could lose its target, and a Ukrainian missile could go after it. This is the most rational technological explanation. It is not so important whose rocket it was. According to all international standards, the responsibility for all the events that took place within the framework of the unleashed aggressive war lies with the side that unleashed it. A Ukrainian rocket, a Polish one or some other one, fell and caused destruction – the aggressor who unleashed the war is responsible for this. Everything is clear here both to European leaders and to all sane people in general, and they emphasize this position.
The leadership of Ukraine calls for closing the skies over the country: this, of course, will not happen, because this implies the participation of fighter aircraft, in particular, moving closer to the anti-missile defense combat zone. Then there is a high probability of direct military contacts between representatives of NATO and Russia, which NATO would like to avoid. But Poland, which has a sad precedent, will take steps to preventively protect its border, including air. I would not be at all surprised if the anti-missile defense of Poland, with the support of the United States, takes over the interception of missiles flying towards Poland, at a distance of 100-150 kilometers from the border. They will not protect Ukraine, but themselves from the possible hit of such missiles on their territory.
This element does not involve the transfer of the armed forces of a NATO country to the territory of Ukraine, nor direct contact in the air with Russian aircraft or air defense. This option is possible and obvious – Ukraine will be reinforced in the very near future with additional air defense systems. Sweden, a high-tech country, has already responded and urgently supplies us with complexes. It can be assumed that these are complexes of medium and short range. And other countries will orient themselves and speed up the delivery of equipment that will help protect the sky from Russian missiles. The next stage is more serious support for Ukraine after the missiles fall on the territory of a NATO country.”
During the massive shelling of the territory of Ukraine on November 15, Russia spent $700-900 million on launching 90 missiles, Ukrainian Forbes calculated . About 70 winged X-101 / X-555, about 20 naval "Caliber", as well as 10 kamikaze drones were produced in Ukraine.
See also The Insider's military report for November 15: “Massive Russian missile attack on Ukraine, Russian grouping in a trap on the Kinburn Spit. What's happening on the front line .