Victory Chronicles-DAY 1367

Ukrainian Air Assault Forces say their 7th Rapid Response Corps is holding defensive lines in the northern part of Pokrovsk in the Donetsk region and has  and prevented repeated Russian attempts to cross the city’s railway line, which is a  a key objective for Moscow as it tries to expand its foothold inside the city.

Pokrovsk is a key logistical supply node for military units, especially in the nearby town of Myrnohrad. Losing Pokrovsk could put Ukrainian defenders at risk of encirclement in Myrnohrad.

Ukrainian troops say they maintain control of positions south of the tracks, which commanders describe as vital for any future liberation effort. Russian units inside Pokrovsk are being steadily worn down, forcing Moscow to send in fresh reserves, including elements of the 76th Air Assault Division from Russia’s Central Military Grouping.

To counter the pressure, Ukraine is swarming the invading Russian forces with drones and reinforcing its own grouping in the city, using both tactical and army aviation to choke off Russian logistics routes into Pokrovsk.

In nearby Myrnohrad, Ukrainian forces are completing clearing operations on the town’s northern outskirts, where small Russian groups tried to hold ground. Additional assets are being deployed to track and eliminate Russian infantry moving in the southern part of the city.

The military also reported that several Russian groups attempted to infiltrate Hryshyne northwest of Pokrovsk but were detected and eliminated.

Number of civilians killed in Russian missile strike on Ternopil rises to 31 after three more bodies found. Rescuers in Ternopil have pulled the bodies of a woman and her two young children from the rubble of a high-rise that was destroyed in Russia’s Nov. 19 bloody strike, bringing the confirmed death toll to 31, Ukrainian officials said Nov. 21.

The State Emergency Service said the latest victims were a mother and her children, ages 5 and 1½. Their bodies were identified at the scene by the children’s father. Six children are now among the dead. Nearly 100 civilians have been injured, including 18 children.

Search teams continue working through layers of shattered concrete and twisted metal, with 13 residents still listed as missing. Photos released by police and emergency crews show firefighters and investigators navigating debris piles several stories high as they look for survivors and recover remains.

The Russian strike tore through the upper floors of a residential building, collapsing apartments and sparking fires that burned for hours. It was one of the deadliest attacks on a western Ukrainian city since the start of the war in February 2022, hitting a neighborhood far from the front lines where families had long felt relatively safe.

Officials say search operations will continue around the clock until everyone is accounted for.

Russian drone strike destroys UN food warehouse in Dnipro. A Russian drone attack on Nov. 19 severely damaged a World Food Program warehouse in the southeastern city of Dnipro, destroying thousands of emergency food parcels that were intended for civilians who live near the front line, local officials said.

Public broadcaster Suspilne reported that the strike ignited a fire inside the facility, which stored humanitarian food supplies for some of the region’s most vulnerable residents. At least 10,000 ready-to-deliver food kits were destroyed, along with additional bulk food stocks that had not yet been packaged. Pictures showed smoke rising from the warehouse and charred wooden pallets of aid.

Ground drone reaches 45 miles of speed while rescuing wounded Ukrainian soldier under fire. A Ukrainian medical team used a ground-based robotic vehicle to evacuate a severely wounded soldier, reaching speeds of up to 72 kilometers (45 miles) per hour as it dodged Russian first-person view (FPV)drones, the First Medical Battalion said on Nov. 21.

The mission, called Operation “Vohnyk”(Spark), involved recovering a soldier who was trapped in a position that was already infiltrated by Russian forces. He could not walk, and a conventional evacuation was impossible. The round-trip route stretched 68 kilometers (42 miles).

On the first attempt, the unmanned vehicle came under pursuit from a Russian FPV drone just 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) from the casualty. The team aborted and returned, deciding to rely on sheer speed to outrun enemy drones on the second run.

Russian operators made four attack runs, but the Ukrainian drone managed to break contact by accelerating to 72 kilometers per hour. The entire mission lasted 3 hours and 15 minutes at an average speed of 38 km/h, and the robot returned undamaged. The wounded soldier was successfully evacuated, stabilized and moved to a medical facility for further treatment. 

Key Takeaways

1. All available reporting continues to indicate that the stipulations of the reported 28-point Russia-U.S. peace plan amount to Ukraine’s full capitulation to Russia’s original war demands.
2. There are no provisions in the reported peace plan in which Russia makes any concessions, and ISW continues to assess that accepting Russian demands would set conditions for renewed Russian aggression against Ukraine.
3. Russian officials continue to react to the reported 28-point peace plan by reiterating their commitment to Russia’s original war aims and blaming Ukraine for Russia’s own unwillingness to compromise.
4. The Kremlin continues to use a combination of economic incentives and nuclear saber-rattling to extract concessions from the United States to normalize U.S.-Russian relations without making reciprocal concessions to end the war.
5. Russian forces operating in the Hulyaipole direction continue to employ their new offensive template that relies on a combination of a prolonged battlefield air interdiction (BAI) campaign, tactical interdiction efforts, infiltration missions, and mass small group assaults to advance.
6. Ukrainian forces recently advanced in the Kostyantynivka-Druzhkivka tactical area. Russian forces recently advanced near Hulyaipole.

• Sky News: White House confirms Rubio and Witkoff have been preparing ‘peace plan’ for Ukraine
• Axios reveals text of ’peace plan’: Ukraine to relinquish its territories permanently, Russia to receive amnesty
• FT: US presses Ukraine to accept Witkoff-Dmitriev ‘peace plan
•  by 27 November
• Sky News: Zelenskyy and Trump may discuss peace plan next week
• Bloomberg: European leaders talk with Zelenskyy about US-Russian plan
• WSJ: European leaders draft fairer alternative peace plan for Ukraine
• Axios: Trump ‘peace plan’ offers Article 5-style security guarantees in exchange for territory
• CNN: US says some points of newly proposed ‘peace plan’ will ’almost certainly’ be changed
• European diplomat says new US ‘peace plan’ resembles the film Groundhog Day
• Zelenskyy: Ukraine and US teams will work on points of plan to end the war
• Minister of Foreign Affairs of Italy: Europe must have role in Ukraine peace process
• Lithuanian president Gitanas Nausėda says reduction of Ukraine’s army under US ‘peace plan’ is unacceptable
• Reuters: India’s reliance stops importing Russian crude for refinery operations
• ‘Our land is not for sale’: Ukraine states red lines for peace talks at UN Security Council
• US ambassador to UN threatens new sanctions and promises Ukraine weapons if Russia does not stop war
• Bloomberg: US sanctions on Russian oil will not have significant impact, it will still be bought 
• Bloomberg: EU to discuss new sanctions for Russia’s shadow fleet
• Top Swedish general: Russia ‘prepared to take enormous strategic risks’ to test NATO
• EU chief diplomat: Reparations-based loan is the best way to support Ukraine’s defense