Russia-Ukraine war: List of important events, day 998 | Russia-Ukraine war News

As the war enters its 998th day, these are the main events.

Here is the situation on Tuesday, November 19:

Fighting

• A Russian missile attack on a residential area has killed 10 people and injured 44 in the Ukrainian Black Sea port of Odesa. Four children were among the injured and three were in critical condition, according to local officials.
• Russia’s Defense Ministry said its troops had taken control of the village of Novooleksiivka in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region.
• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited the former eastern cities of Pokrovsk and Kupiansk as Kyiv marked 1,000 days since the full-scale Russian invasion began.
• The world’s chemical weapons watchdog said it found traces of tear gas in samples taken last month on the front line with Russia in Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region. The team was not given a mandate to blame, but Ukraine and the US say Russia illegally deployed tear gas to clear the trenches.
• Ukrainians in Odesa have been without power for 24 hours since Monday morning and more cuts are expected across the country after a Russian strike damaged the electricity infrastructure.

Long range missiles

• The United States has said Russia is escalating its war in Ukraine by sending North Korean troops after the Kremlin warned Washington that it was adding “fuel to the fire” by allowing Kiev’s forces to attack far into Russia with US-made weapons.
• The Russian Foreign Ministry reiterated that Ukraine’s use of long-range missiles to attack Russian territory would signal a major escalation of the conflict, which would prompt a “proper and concrete” response.
• Changes to Russia’s nuclear program are underway and need to be formalized, according to Dmitry Peskov, Kremlin press secretary.
• French President Emmanuel Macron said the administration of US President Joe Biden made a “good decision” to allow Ukraine to use US weapons to strike inside Russia.
• Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot also signaled that allowing Kyiv to fire weapons inside Russia remains an option for France, which has provided Ukraine with long-range missiles.
• Polish President Andrzej Duda said the decision to allow Ukraine to use US-made weapons to strike deep into Russia could be a defining moment in the war.
• A German government spokesman said that Berlin stuck to its decision not to provide long-range missiles to Ukraine despite Washington’s departure.
• Slovakia’s Prime Minister, Robert Fico, said he strongly opposes the US decision, calling it “unprecedented escalation” aimed at blocking peace talks.
• Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto also said the move was “incredibly dangerous”.
• EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said he hoped the bloc would agree to allow Ukraine to use weapons to attack inside Russia. He also expressed concern over reports that Iran, North Korea and China are producing and supplying weapons systems to Russia for its war in Ukraine.

International diplomacy

• Leaders of the Group of 20 major economies, meeting in Brazil this week, issued a joint statement highlighting the suffering caused by the conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine, reaching a narrow consensus on Russia’s escalating war focused on “human suffering” and its economic collapse.
• German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said he will discuss the delivery of dual-use goods with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G20, following reports that a Chinese industry is producing military drones for Russia. Scholz added that he will also tell Xi that it is unacceptable for North Korean troops to be deployed against Ukraine.
• Speaking at the G20 summit, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol called on North Korea and Russia to end what he called illegal military cooperation.
• Speaking on the sidelines of the G20 summit, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said support for Ukraine was “number one” on his agenda.
• US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said the US will announce more security assistance to Ukraine in the coming days.
• Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said Scholz’s call with Russian President Vladimir Putin was a “strategic mistake” that weakens European unity in the face of Moscow’s war with Ukraine.

Penalties

• The EU is increasing sanctions against Iran because of Tehran’s support for Russia in its war with Ukraine, the European Commission said, targeting the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines and its director Mohammad Reza Khiabani, among others.
• The United Kingdom imposed sanctions against Iran’s state-owned airline and shipping company in response to allegations that Iran had transferred Russian ballistic missiles for use in the war zone with Ukraine.