Dispatches from Ukraine. Day 624.
Local news.
Kherson region. Russian forces shelled the Korabelnyy district of Kherson on November 3, killing a 72-year-old man and wounding two others. The attack also damaged cars, gas pipes and the electricity grid.
Donetsk region. Russian rocket fire on villages in the Donetsk province on November 8 killed two women and resulted in damage to a local school and garages.
Two families safely returned today from occupied areas of Kherson province. The Ukrainian Ministry of Reintegration and the Save Ukraine organization played crucial roles in their repatriation. “Parents and their children are presently receiving both psychological and medical assistance,” said Oleksandr Prokudin, head of the Kherson regional administration. “A warm welcome back! I want you to swiftly adapt to a new place as soon as possible, and we stand by your side throughout every stage of this journey.” Ukraine has brought home 146 children held in occupied areas of the Kherson region this year.
A Russian missile struck a Liberian-flagged freighter in the Ukrainian port of Odesa yesterday, killing a port worker and wounding another, as well as three citizens of the Philippines. The ship reportedly was carrying ore to China. The Odesa port and others in the region provide Ukraine economically vital outlets to the Black Sea and world markets beyond. Russia has attacked Odesa port facilities 21 times since declining to renew a deal allowing Ukraine to export grain via the Black Sea.
World.
The European Commission, an executive branch of the EU, has recommended that the Council open admission negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova within the framework of the 2023 Enlargement Package. Ukraine has fulfilled 90% of the EU’s membership application requirements and is making “substantial progress” across seven membership steps: it has established a transparent pre-selection system for Constitutional Court judges and reforms in judicial governance bodies, improved efforts against high-level corruption and strengthened its institutional framework. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba declared that his people’s “fight and sacrifices were not in vain…. What got us through the most difficult time any European nation has faced in modern history was historical justice for the European nation of Ukraine and a European future for our children.”
The French government has pledged to provide Kyiv €200 million of additional assistance. This funding is intended to help Ukrainian industries continue purchasing military equipment from French suppliers.
Culture.
The European Film Academy has nominated “La Palisiada,” a Ukrainian feature film, for consideration in the European Discovery category. The winners of this prestigious award are set to be unveiled during the Academy’s 36th opening ceremony in Berlin on December 9. “This is the third film in the history of Ukrainian cinema that will compete for an honorary international award in this category,” the crew states on Facebook. “La Palisiada,” presented in post-Soviet noir style, recounts the story of a forensic psychiatrist investigating the murder of a colleague several months before the European Convention on Human Rights abolished the death penalty in 1996.
By Daria Dzysiuk, Alan Sacks
