WESTERN PERSPECTIVE
Five injured, arts museum damaged in Russian strikes on Odesa, Ukraine officials say
Five people were injured in Odesa and one of the city's principal art galleries was damaged in Russian strikes late on Sunday, Ukrainian officials in the Black Sea port said.
"On November 6, the Odesa National Art Museum turns 124 years old," Oleh Kiper, governor of the Odesa region, of which the Odesa city is the administrative centre, said on the Telegram messaging app. "On the eve of November 6, the Russians 'congratulated' our architectural monument with a missile that hit nearby."
The walls of the building were damaged, some windows and glass were broken, he said.
The museum, in one of the oldest palaces of Odesa, housed before the war more than 10,000 pieces of art, including paintings by some of the best-known Russian and Ukrainian artists of late 19th and early 20th century.
The Odesa city council published a video showing blown out windows and debris inside what it said was the Odesa National Art Museum, where paintings hang on walls.
"The situation is under control, but everything will have to be examined thoroughly so that we are sure that everything is fine," Odesa Mayor Henadii Trukhanov told the Suspilne media outlet.
On the street near the museum, the attack left a several-meter hole. According to the city authorities, one person was injured there.
Kiper said that all five of the injured, from throughout the city, were hospitalised.
** Near Donetsk front line, Ukraine artillery crew face intensifying fire
In Ukraine's war-ravaged Donetsk region, soldiers dug in near the front line described how Russian artillery had intensified significantly in recent weeks, but said it remains below peaks seen a year ago as both sides struggle to advance.
With the sound of outgoing and incoming artillery crashing in the distance around him, one of three artillerymen operating a Hiatsynt howitzer, 22-year-old Vitaliy, said he had felt the increase after coming back from leave last month.
"Probably about a month ago, that's when you started feeling it everywhere," Vitaliy said.
Reuters was asked not to reveal their exact location or name their brigade due to the recent outbreak of intense fighting on their part of the frontline.
All three crew members operating the howitzer, captured from Russia last year and still showing a "Made in Russia" tag on its tyres, said they had noticed the increase.
However, the crew of the Hiatsynt, as well as other Ukrainian soldiers on different parts of the front, told Reuters that the longer-term trend has been a significant decrease in Russian artillery shelling from a year ago.
The crew's commander, a straight-talking, gold-toothed 45-year-old named Oleksandr, said they could only guess where Russia had sourced the additional shells.
"I don't know where these shells are coming from, but they are flying in," he said, gesturing in the direction of several recent craters near his position.
The intelligence service of South Korea said on Wednesday that its neighbour North Korea has supplied over a million shells to Russia since August.
Moscow and Pyongyang have denied that arms are being transferred from the North for use in Russia's war against Ukraine.
"The fact that, if true, they received quite a few shells from (North) Korea, we definitely feel it," said Vitaliy.
Despite the increase, there has been very little movement in the front lines.
"The war became more positional than before, everybody stands on their positions, there's no movement," said Volodymyr, 43. "Neither we advance anywhere, nor do they."
** Zelenskiy pushes US for more aid, invites Trump to Ukraine
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called on the U.S. to provide more funding to help his forces counter Russia, and invited former U.S. President Donald Trump to fly in to see the scale of the conflict for himself.
Zelenskiy said American soldiers could eventually be pulled into a greater European conflict with Russia if Washington did not step up support.
"If Russia will kill all of us, they will attack NATO countries and you will send your sons and daughters [to fight]," Zelenskiy said according to a transcript of an interview with NBC's 'Meet the Press' airing on Sunday.
U.S. President Joe Biden, a Democrat, has pressed the U.S. Congress to pass a $106 billion supplemental spending bill, with the bulk of the money going to bolster Ukraine's defenses and the remainder split among Israel, the Indo-Pacific and border enforcement.
The Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives has instead put forward its own funding plan. It passed a bill last week to provide $14.3 billion in aid to Israel, but did not include any increase in aid for Ukraine.
U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer, majority leader of the Democratic-controlled Senate, said he would not bring the House bill to a vote and Biden has vowed to veto it.
In the interview that aired on Sunday, Zelenskiy invited former U.S. President Donald Trump, a Republican, to visit Ukraine and see the fallout of the conflict initiated by Russia's President Vladimir Putin in February 2022.
Trump, who is seeking reelection in 2024 and is the leading candidate for his party's presidential nomination, has been sharply critical of U.S. support for Kyiv and has said he could end the war in 24 hours if reelected.
"If he can come here, I will need ... 24 minutes to explain to President Trump that he can't manage this war," Zelenskiy said. "He can’t bring peace because of Putin."
RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE
Western leaders know Ukrainians steal their money – Kremlin
Western countries have come to realize that Ukrainian officials are using the funds they receive from their supporters to line their own pockets, Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov has said.
In an interview with Russian journalist Pavel Zarubin released on Sunday, Peskov claimed that Western leaders “understand that a certain part of the money they give to Ukraine is, simply put, stolen,” adding that this reality is recognized by US policymakers at various levels.
According to Peskov, when confronted with rampant corruption in Ukraine, American lawmakers “have to explain to their constituents why there is no proper mechanism [to oversee] the fund disbursement [and] why they turn a blind eye to this” while debating further aid packages.
He went on to add that both the US and Kiev’s backers in Europe are “getting tired of the Ukrainian topic, the Kiev regime, and the burden that they have put on their shoulders,” referring to the massive military and financial assistance Ukraine receives from the West.
“Even such extremely powerful economies as the United States can’t do this indefinitely. They have a lot of problems of their own… At some point, all this will become an excessive burden that they can no longer bear,” he stressed.
Peskov’s comments come after Politico reported in early October that the administration of US President Joe Biden was “far more worried about corruption in Ukraine than they publicly admit.” A sensitive document cited by the magazine stressed that the widespread graft in Ukraine could force Western allies to abandon Kiev in its fight with Russia.
The Politico article was echoed by a CNN report, which was released around the same time, alleging that US officials were pushing Kiev to do more to fight corruption, with a State Department diplomatic note compiled this summer linking anti-graft efforts to continued direct budget support.
Meanwhile, the Biden administration’s request for Congress to approve a new security package, which included more than $60 billion for Ukraine, met with strong opposition from the Republicans. Some GOP lawmakers called on the president for more accountability and to clarify what he thinks the endgame in the conflict would look like.
** Russian Armed Forces intercept 9 HIMARS shells, shoot down 43 Ukrainian drones
The Russian Armed Forces intercepted 9 HIMARS missiles and shot down 43 Ukrainian drones over the past 24 hours, according to the Russian Ministry of Defense.
"Nine HIMARS missiles were intercepted by air defense systems during the day. In addition, 43 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles were shot down in the areas of the settlements of Tavolzhanka in the Kharkov region, Verkhnekamenka in the Lugansk People’s Republic, Kyryllovka, Yalynskoye in the Donetsk People’s Republic, Sladkaya Balka, Novofedorovka and Pshenichnoye in the Zaporozhye region," the ministry said.
The Russian Armed Forces struck an arsenal of missiles and ammunition of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Chernigov region, the ministry reported. "An arsenal of missile weapons and ammunition of the Ukrainian Armed Forces was hit in the area of the settlement of Priluki in the Chernigov region. A command and observation post was hit in the area of the settlement of Serebryanka in the Donetsk People’s Republic," the ministry said.
The losses of the Ukrainian Armed Forces per day in the Donetsk direction reached up to 140 military personnel, a Leopard tank and two armored vehicles. "In the Donetsk direction, units of the Southern Group of Forces, in cooperation with aviation and artillery, defeated the manpower and equipment of the 42nd mechanized brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the areas of the settlements of Kurdyumovka and Kleshcheevka of the Donetsk People’s Republic. Enemy losses in this direction amounted to up to 140 military personnel, a Leopard tank, two armored combat vehicles, three cars," the ministry said.
The Armed Forces of Ukraine also lost more than 55 personnel in the South Donetsk direction. "In the South Donetsk direction, units of the Vostok group of forces, in collaboration with army aviation and artillery, repelled an attack by the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ 102nd territorial defense brigade in the area of the settlement of Marfopol, Zaporozhye region," the ministry said.
Reuters/RT/Tass
