Ukraine War – Voices and Developments: Apocalyptic scenes: Video shows tank battle around Avdiivka.
In addition to the defensive fight against Russia, Ukraine is also carrying out reforms. That’s why she hopes for early negotiations about joining the EU. All news about the war in Ukraine in the ticker.
What will be important on Sunday
In eastern Ukraine, fighting continues over the industrial city of Avdiivka. Russian troops expect to soon be able to occupy the heavily destroyed city. The Russian-controlled regional capital Donetsk is just a few kilometers south of Avdiivka.
Zelensky does not see a stalemate in the war with Russia
Sunday, November 5th, 5:00 a.m.: President Zelensky, however, dismissed Army Commander-in-Chief Valery Zalushny’s fears that the war could get bogged down at this stage. “Today people are tired, everyone is getting tired, and there are different opinions. That is clear, but there is no stalemate,” Zelensky said. In an article for the British magazine The Economist, General Zalushnyj declared that Ukraine was trapped in a trench warfare.
Because of Russian air superiority, the Ukrainians are more cautious about deploying their soldiers, Zelensky explained. The F-16 fighter jets expected next year and stronger air defense would change the situation in Ukraine’s favor.
Ukraine is defending itself against the Russian invasion with massive Western aid. The major counteroffensive to liberate their Russian-occupied territories has fallen far short of the goals they set themselves. In his article, Saluzhnyj admitted mistakes in the planning. The West must enable Ukraine to change this situation with new arms deliveries. He also called for greater mobilization to expand the number of men subject to military service in order to catch up with the numerically superior Russian enemy.
Ukrainian army reports “successful” attacks on shipyard in Crimea
9:16 p.m.: Ukrainian forces attacked a shipyard in the port city of Kerch in the east of the Russian-annexed Crimean peninsula on Saturday. The Ukrainian army said in the evening that the “successful” attacks were aimed at the Saliv shipyard “in the temporarily occupied city” of Kerch.
Russian-appointed governor Sergei Aksyonov said Ukraine fired missiles at a shipyard in Kerch, but they were shot down. “Some of the debris from the rockets that were fired fell on the site of one of the dry docks.” There were no injuries, he wrote in online services.
The nearby Crimean bridge to the Russian mainland, which has previously come under fire from Ukrainian forces, was temporarily closed on Saturday for undisclosed reasons.
Zelensky expects EU accession negotiations to take place this year
7:45 p.m.: After the visit of the President of the EU Commission Ursula von der Leyen In Kiev, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expects EU accession negotiations to begin this year. “Today I heard positive signals from the President of the EU Commission regarding our progress towards starting negotiations,” said Zelensky in his evening video message broadcast on Saturday. Von der Leyen had previously certified successes for Ukraine, which has been defending itself against the Russian war of aggression for more than 20 months.
The EU heads of state and government are due to decide on the start of accession negotiations in December. In his speech, Zelensky emphasized that Ukrainians should get used to integrating into the EU. The time is approaching when the Ukrainian flag will fly in Brussels with the flags of other EU states. “I would like to thank President von der Leyen for her strong and fundamental support.”
It is not about the EU telling Ukraine anything, emphasized Zelensky, with a view to the fight against corruption that Brussels has repeatedly called for. “The transformation of our country is something that we ourselves need,” he said. Despite the war, Ukraine received EU candidate status at record speed and has now created the conditions for the start of negotiations on accession.
Von der Leyen to talks about EU enlargement in Kiev
Saturday, November 4th, 9:29 a.m.: EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen traveled to Kiev for talks about expanding the European Union. “I am here to discuss Ukraine’s path to the EU,” she said on Saturday on the online service X (formerly Twitter) after her arrival at the train station in Kiev. Talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky should also focus on “building Ukraine as a modern and flourishing democracy”.
The presentation of this year’s EU enlargement report is planned for next Wednesday. In it, the EU could recommend starting accession talks with Ukraine. However, this would not necessarily mean that the country would eventually become a member of the EU.
Zelensky appoints new head of Ukrainian special forces
7:44 p.m.: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky appointed Colonel Serhiy Lupanchuk as the new commander of the special operations forces by presidential decree on Friday. In his video speech, Zelensky later described Lupanchuk as an experienced officer with combat experience who could help the special forces become more effective. It is the second personnel change in this position of the Kiev military leadership since the beginning of the Russian invasion.
According to Zelensky, the previous head of the special operations forces, General Viktor Horenko, will now carry out special tasks within the HUR military intelligence service. Horenko had held the post since the end of July 2022. According to Ukrainian media, there was no publicly available information about his successor Lupanchuk.
Ukraine has been defending itself against a Russian war of aggression for more than 20 months. After a Ukrainian counter-offensive that fell short of Western expectations, military experts see Kiev currently trapped in trench warfare against Russia.
Video shows Ukrainian troops destroying several Russian tanks
4 p.m.: A video published on In the clip, Kremlin tanks can be seen running into minefields and exploding. Air strikes can also be seen.
Russian soldiers have been trying to take the city near Donetsk for weeks. British intelligence believes that Russia has suffered its highest losses in this region this year. Ukraine is now backing this up and reporting that the Ukrainian military was able to destroy up to 150 tanks in 24 hours at times. However, these numbers cannot be independently verified.
The Bundeswehr has trained more than 8,000 Ukrainian soldiers since the start of the war
Friday, November 3rd, 1:02 a.m.: Since the beginning of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, thousands of Ukrainian soldiers have been trained in Germany. “The Bundeswehr, together with our partners, has already trained over 8,000 Ukrainian soldiers in Germany,” said the head of the Ukraine Special Staff in the Defense Ministry, Major General Christian Freuding, to the “Stuttgarter Zeitung” and the “Stuttgarter Nachrichten” (Friday). In July, the Bundeswehr put the number of Ukrainian soldiers it trained at 5,000.
According to Freuding, there is positive feedback on the training: “The feedback we get is always very appreciative,” he said. This also applies to the material delivered to Ukraine. “If you ask the Ukrainian soldiers what they would like more of, German weapon systems are mentioned above all,” he explained.
Freuding emphasized that Germany would help Ukraine in the long term. “Military support for Ukraine is a task until the end of the decade – and beyond.” Funds have already been planned in the budget until 2032. “We must help Ukraine develop capabilities so that it can remain a free state that can defend itself and deter attackers,” emphasized Freuding.
Lindner assures Ukraine of further support
4:11 p.m.: During a visit to Latvia, Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) assured Ukraine of continued support. “We are both on the side of the Ukrainian people – and Ukraine must be supported in its efforts to defend itself. Russia must not achieve its war goals,” said Lindner on Thursday after a meeting with his Latvian colleague Arvils Aseradens in Riga.
The security situation in Europe has fundamentally changed after Russia’s “terrible unprovoked attack on Ukraine, which violates international law.” “In Ukraine, not only Ukraine itself is defended, but the European order of life and freedom as a whole,” said Lindner.
This geopolitical situation would result in major tasks for finance ministers, as their own military capabilities would have to be improved. “We have to set a priority now. “This is to strengthen our ability to defend our alliance and our country,” emphasized Lindner. Aseradens also pointed to the importance of higher defense spending.
Latvia was the first stop on a two-day visit to the Baltics, which also takes Lindner to Estonia and Lithuania. He wants to talk about financial policy issues and the political situation in the three EU and NATO countries that border Russia and partly Belarus.
