As the war enters its 623rd day, these are the most important developments.
Here is the situation on Wednesday, November 8, 2023.
To fight
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine has deployed more Western air defense systems in preparation for an expected Russian attack on key energy infrastructure in winter, when temperatures drop below freezing. “Additional NASAMS systems from partners have been placed in combat service,” Zelenskyy said. “Timely reinforcement of our air defense before winter.”
- Denis Pushilin, the Moscow-appointed head of Ukraine’s Russian-occupied Donetsk region, said shelling by Ukrainian forces killed six people and wounded 11 others in the city of Donetsk.
- Russia’s Defense Ministry said its air defense systems destroyed and intercepted a total of 17 Ukrainian-launched drones over the Black Sea and Crimea, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014. It made no mention of any casualties.
- Vitaly Barabash, the head of the Avdiivka military administration, said Ukraine is bracing for a renewed Russian attack on the eastern city of Avdiivka, just 10 kilometers (6 miles) from Donetsk. “The third wave will definitely happen. The enemy is regrouping after a second wave of failed attacks,” Barabash said.
- A Moscow-installed court in Russian-occupied eastern Ukraine has sentenced four more Ukrainian soldiers captured in last year’s battle for Mariupol to long prison terms. Under international law, soldiers cannot be prosecuted for fighting for their country.
![Ukrainian soldiers prepare grenades in the southern Zaporizhia region. The shells are lined up in the front of the photo.](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/2023-11-07T151817Z_1282071193_RC2884ASX4J7_RTRMADP_3_UKRAINE-CRISIS-SOUTH-FRONTLINE-1699402723.jpg?w=770&resize=770%2C521)
- A Ukrainian football match in the central city of Dnipro lasted a record nearly five hours after players were forced to leave the field due to repeated warnings of airstrikes. Dnipro-1 came out on top by beating FC Oleksandriya 1-0.
Politics and diplomacy
- As foreign ministers of the Group of Seven (G7) prepared to meet in Tokyo, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa stressed that the group’s support for Ukraine in its war against Russia would not be affected by the increasing conflict in the Middle East. Kamikawa told a news conference that the group’s “strong support for Ukraine” had “not wavered at all.” During his meeting with Kamikawa, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken later said the G7’s “continued support” for Ukraine was a key agenda item for the talks.
- The US accused Russia of financing a Latin American disinformation campaign aimed at weakening support for Ukraine and stoking anti-American and anti-NATO sentiment. “The Kremlin’s ultimate goal appears to be to launder its propaganda and disinformation through local media in a way that feels organic to the Latin American public,” the State Department said in a statement.
- White House National Security Spokesman John Kirby said there was no way the US could remain committed to the Treaty on Conventional Forces in Europe, a key post-Cold War agreement after Russia formally withdrew. The CFE was signed by 22 countries in 1990 and sets equal limits on the amount of weapons, including tanks, heavy artillery and fighter planes, that NATO and the then Soviet-led Warsaw Pact could deploy between the Atlantic Ocean and the Ural Mountains.
- Russia has issued an arrest warrant for Sergio Gerardo Ugalde Godinez, judge at the International Criminal Court (ICC). Godinez issued an arrest warrant for President Vladimir Putin in March on war crimes charges related to the alleged forcible transfer of Ukrainian children to Russia. Moscow has already issued arrest warrants for other top officials at the ICC.
![Ukrainian soldiers lead a procession at the funeral of a fellow soldier. One soldier walks in front with a photo of the dead man, others walk behind with a cross. A priest walks in front of the coffin, covered with the Ukrainian flag.](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/342772P-highres-1699402711.jpg?w=770&resize=770%2C555)
Weapons
- The Netherlands said it has sent its first five F-16 fighter jets to Romania for use in training Ukrainian pilots. It will provide as many as 18 fighter jets for the training center and also supply F-16s to Ukraine for combat.