[Politics] Russia continues to pummel Avdiivka; four killed in southern shelling

[Desire-]

Russian forces continued to bombard the eastern Ukrainian city of Avdiivka on Thursday night while shelling killed four in the southern region of Kherson, according to local officials.

Since mid-October, Russia has been trying to encircle and capture the town of Avdiivka, home to a massive coking plant and close to the Russian-held regional hub of Donetsk.

The head of Avdiivka’s military administration, Vitaliy Barabash, told Ukraine’s Channel 24 on Thursday that Russian forces had launched their “fiercest” attacks yet on the embattled down. According to Reuters, Barabash said Russia was unleashing up to 18 air attacks per day, sometimes more.

In the southern region of Kherson, prosecutors said Russian shelling had killed three men and a woman, according to Reuters, as Ukrainian forces continue to mount a counteroffensive in the east and south of the country.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s comments on Wednesday — in which he blamed Ukraine for the lack of peace talks and claimed Russia was ready for discussions to resume — were designed to pile pressure on the West to push Ukraine back to the negotiating table, analysts said.

They noted that Putin and other Russian officials have routinely claimed the Kremlin is ready to negotiate to end the war while signaling that the Kremlin maintains its key objectives, including territorial claims and regime change in Ukraine.

Ukraine fuel stations face LPG shortages as Polish supplies blocked

The ongoing blockade of Ukrainian border crossings by Polish drivers has led to a sharp drop in deliveries of motor vehicle gas (LPG) to Ukrainian petrol stations, many of which are experiencing fuel shortages, analysts said on Friday.

Around a million Ukrainian cars use LPG as a cheaper alternative to petrol.

Farmers and households use the fuel for drying grain and heating homes and Ukraine consumed about 1.1 million metric tons of LPG in 2022.

Polish truckers earlier this month blocked roads to three border crossings to Ukraine to protest against what they see as government inaction over a loss of business to foreign competitors since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

LPG shortages and rising prices were among the most visible consequences of the protests at the Polish border.

-Reuters

FRI, NOV 24 20237:39 AM EST

Armenia says Russia has not delivered weapons it has paid for

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Friday said that Russia has yet to deliver weapons that the former Soviet republic has paid for, according to a Reuters report citing Russian state news agency Tass, which said talks to find a solution were ongoing.

Moscow is supplying Armenia in its conflict with neighboring Azerbaijan over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh. However, relations between the traditional allies have frayed in recent months, as Pashinyan has accused the Kremlin of failing to adequately support his country.

- Elliot Smith

FRI, NOV 24 20235:38 AM EST

Norway says no irregularities at Russian border

Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere told a press conference in Tallinn, Estonia on Friday that no irregularities had been observed at Norway’s border with Russia, after Finland closed all but one of its entry points following an influx of migrant crossings in recent weeks.

- Elliot Smith

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/11/24/russia-ukraine-live-updates.html