Ukrainians bracing for new Russian assault on Avdiivka; US Congress wrangles over aid to Kyiv

Ukraine’s military said its troops had repelled Russian assaults in widely separated sectors of the war and were braced for a fresh attempt to capture the key frontline eastern town of Avdiivka. Russia is engaged in a slow-moving campaign in eastern areas of the 1,000km frontline. Ukraine has registered limited progress in a counteroffensive launched in the east and south in June.

Ukraine’s general staff, in its Tuesday evening report, said its forces had beaten back 15 attacks near Kupiansk in the north-east and 18 attacks near Maryinka. Nine attacks were repelled in and near Avdiivka, where Moscow launched the latest of several drives in mid-October.

“The third wave [attack on Avdiivka] will definitely happen. The enemy is regrouping after a second wave of unsuccessful attacks,” said Vitaliy Barabash, head of the Avdiivka military administration.

There was a powerful explosion on Tuesday at Taganrog airport in Russia’s Rostov oblast which houses military aircraft, Ukrainian news sources, Russian officials and online observers said.

The heads of the US treasury, defence and state departments have called on Congress to fund $11.8bn in Ukraine aid as part of President Joe Biden’s supplemental spending request, according to a letter released on Tuesday. Senate Democrats blocked a Republican effort to win quick approval for a bill providing emergency aid to Israel that passed the US House of Representatives last week but provides no assistance for Ukraine.

The EU is expected to fire the starting gun on the process of Ukraine becoming a member state, with a report expected to recommend formal negotiations on accession on Wednesday. Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said that his country was “preparing our next steps” to join the bloc, including by strengthening its institutions, although he acknowledged that this would require work by Kyiv to “adapt to EU standards”.

A newly built Russian naval corvette was “almost certainly” damaged after being struck in Crimea, the UK’s Ministry of Defence said in an intelligence update. The Ukrainian attack on 4 November hit the Askold cruise missile ship, which had not yet entered service. “Ukraine’s capability to hit Crimean shipbuilding infrastructure will likely cause Russia to consider relocating farther from the frontline, delaying the delivery of new vessels,” the update said.

The Netherlands sent its first five F-16 fighter jets to Romania on Tuesday for use in the training of Ukrainian pilots, Reuters reported.

Russia formally withdrew from a security treaty that limited key categories of conventional armed forces, blaming the US for undermining post-cold war security with the enlargement of the Nato military alliance. Nato allies said that as a consequence, they intended to suspend the operation of the treaty as long as necessary.

The US army needs Congress to approve $3.1bn to buy 155mm artillery rounds and expand production to quickly replace stocks depleted by shipments to Ukraine and now Israel, an army official said.

The US has accused Russia of financing a Latin America-wide disinformation campaign that feeds media contacts with propaganda aimed at weakening support for Ukraine and boosting anti-American and anti-Nato sentiments, Reuters reported.

Ukrainian President Zelenskiy was quoted as saying that Ukraine has deployed more western air defence systems, as it braces for a second full winter of Russian attacks on energy facilities.

G7 support for Ukraine in its war with Russia will not be affected by the intensifying Middle East conflict, Japan said as the group’s foreign ministers prepared to hold virtual talks with Kyiv during a meeting in Tokyo.

Ukrainian drones attacked over the Black Sea and the annexed Crimean peninsula on Tuesday, Moscow’s defence ministry said.