UKRAINE: THE SITUATION 276 - NOVEMBER 23, 2022

The Russian military has once again conducted a series of massive, coordinated missile attacks on critical Ukrainian infrastructure in an attempt to weaken Ukrainian morale. The Ukrainian Air Force Command reported on November 23 that the Russian forces fired 70 cruise missiles and five drones at Ukrainian targets. The Ukrainian Air Force Command also reported that the Ukrainian air defense shot down 51 of the Russian cruise missiles and all five drones. The Ukrainian General Staff reported that the Russian forces targeted residential buildings, thermal power plants, and substations in the city of Kyiv, as well as in the Kyiv, Vinnytsia, Lviv, and Zaporizhzhia oblasts. Ukrainian and Russian sources, as well as social media, reported that the Russian forces also attacked targets in the Ivano-Frankivsk, Odessa, Mykolaiv, Kherson, Cherkasy, Dnipropetrovsk, Sumy, Poltava, Kirovohrad, and Kharkiv oblasts.

Ukrainian officials reported widespread disruptions to energy, heating, and water supplies as a result of the Russian attacks. The ISW has previously noted that the Russian military is still capable of attacking critical Ukrainian infrastructure on a large scale in the near future, even though it continues to reduce its arsenal of precision-guided weapon systems. Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar commented that the Russian military mistakenly believes that destroying the energy infrastructure will divert Ukrainian efforts to protect rear areas and distract Ukrainian attention from the front lines in eastern and southern Ukraine. Malyar stated that Russia's campaign against critical infrastructure will not weaken the motivation of the Ukrainian civilian population, and Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council Secretary Oleksiy Danilov assured that Russian missile and drone attacks will not force Ukraine into negotiations.

The full Russian Offensive Update 276 is available directly from UNDERSTANDING WAR.

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