Here is the situation on Monday, November 25:
Fighting
- Russia’s air defence systems destroyed seven Ukrainian missiles overnight over the Kursk region, Kursk regional governor Alexei Smirnov wrote on his Telegram channel.
- Falling debris from destroyed Ukrainian drones sparked a fire at an industrial facility in Russia’s Kaluga, according to regional governor Vladislav Shapsha. He said there were no injuries and that three drones were destroyed.
- Russian forces captured a British mercenary, who identified himself as James Scott Rhys, who is fighting with the Ukrainian army in Russia’s Kursk region, a security source told Russia’s RIA Novosti state news agency.
- Air defences were in operation in Kyiv in response to a new Russian drone attack, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram.
- Ukraine’s air defences had earlier downed 50 of 73 Russian drones launched on various targets, the Ukrainian military said.
Politics and diplomacy
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called on its Western partners to concentrate their efforts on helping provide an air defence system to protect people.
- Russia will soon name Alexander Darchiev, currently head of the Foreign Ministry’s North American department, as its new ambassador to Washington, the Kommersant newspaper reported.
- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has slammed the “renewed threat” of antipersonnel landmines, days after the US said it would supply the weapons to Ukrainian forces battling Russia’s invasion.
- Ukraine has shown journalists fragments of the Russian missile used to strike the city of Dnipro last week, after Moscow said it had tested its new Oreshnik hypersonic intermediate-range ballistic missile.
- Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a law that allows those who sign up to fight in Ukraine to write off unpaid debts worth almost $100,000, the government announced.
