WAR IN UKRAINE: November 15, 2022
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: Day 265
In London today, an expert on European borders, Attila Demko, told the 55th World Conference of the International Association on Political Consultants that he fears what Russia’s response might be should Ukraine attempt to reclaim the Crimean peninsula. Ukraine President Volodomyr Zelensky is indicating that victory for Ukraine means reclaiming Crimea and the occupied Donbas. Demko said that Crimea relies very heavily on Ukraine for water and energy. He said the border with Ukraine is very short but heavily defended by Russia
Russian-occupied Melitopol was rocked by a large explosion Tuesday morning, according to the exiled mayor of the southern Ukrainian city. “Loud explosion in a residential area in the north of Melitopol, near the 24th lyceum, where another occupiers' nest is concentrated,” Ivan Fedorov said on Telegram. “According to preliminary information, the blast wave in a neighboring house broke the windows up to the 4th floor.”
President Volodymyr Zelensky presented a 10-point peace plan to end Russia's invasion of Ukraine in a video speech to G20 leaders. The steps includes a path to nuclear safety, food security and a special tribunal for alleged Russian war crimes. He said that the time to end Russia's war in Ukraine is "now" and called for the extension of a grain-export deal due to expire shortly.
CIA Director Bill Burns met in Turkey on with Russian counterpart Sergei Naryshkin, to underscore the consequences if Russia were to deploy a nuclear weapon in Ukraine, not discussing settlement of the war," the White House said.
Ombudsman calls for returning accreditations to journalists reporting from liberated Kherson. The General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces canceled accreditation for a number of journalists for violating the rules by reporting from the liberated area before it was allowed, meaning before the "stabilization works" were over. CNN and SKY News reportedly had their accreditations pulled, according to the Kyiv Independent.
The West and its allies have provoked Russia's actions in Ukraine, and not vice versa, said Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, using a familiar justification for Moscow's invasion. "The more they [the West and allies] talk about unprovoked aggression, the more everybody is convinced it was provoked by them," Lavrov told reporters on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Bali on Tuesday. "And it is not aggression, it is [an] operation to defend the legitimate interests of Russian security because of threats on Russia's borders and to defend the Russian population in Donbas," he added, using one of the Kremlin's common propaganda lines. Lavrov also accused NATO and the European Union of interfering in the war in Ukraine. "I believe NATO and the European Union have long been participants in a hybrid war in Ukraine, hybrid conflict with their arms supplies and training servicemen, and helping with a large amount of intelligence, helping with targeting," he said - CNN
Russia must “undergo political transformation” and "cannot continue existence in its current form," a Ukrainian presidential adviser has said. “No need to be afraid of the truth,” Mykhailo Podolyak said on Twitter Tuesday. “Russia cannot continue existence in its current form and ruling elites. Russia must lose, be punished for neglecting international law and undergo political transformation. The sooner everyone understands this, the fewer victims there will be.”