This article was originally published by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and is reprinted with permission.
The Ukrainian military reported fierce battles near the industrial town of Kurakhove and acknowledged that Russian forces carried out over 100 assaults around a key Donbas village, though it did not comment on Moscow’s claim to have captured it.
The comments on November 3 follow a night in which Russia and Ukraine again launched drone attacks against each other, with Russian drones damaging buildings and power lines in Kyiv in the early morning hours.
Russia’s Defense Ministry, meanwhile, said Ukraine launched nearly 20 drones at targets in southern Russia, but it claimed all were intercepted.
The overnight mutual barrage comes as Russian forces accelerate their battlefield advances, pushing back Ukraine’s exhausted and outmanned defenses in the eastern Donbas region.
On November 3, Russian troops claimed to have captured a Donbas village located less than 6 kilometers from Pokrovsk, a major logistics hub.
Russian forces “liberated the settlement of Vyshneve following offensive operations,” the Russian Defense Ministry said.
Kyiv did not immediately comment on the claim, but Ukraine’s General Staff in its daily update acknowledged that Russian forces had launched 19 attacks on the Pokrovsk region.
“In containing the pressure, defense forces repelled enemy attacks. The occupiers are focusing their main efforts near [the villages] of Promin and Vyshneve.”
It added that the “hottest situation” was near the industrial town of Kurakhove.
A day earlier, Russian troops claimed to have taken Kurakhivka, another, larger village that is close Kurakhove, on a major reservoir.
“Currently, the enemy has attacked the positions of the defense forces 110 times. It is most active in the Kurakhove and Pokrovsk directions, where it carried out more than half of all attacks,” it said.
Capturing Pokrovsk, a key transit and supply point for Ukraine that connects several major outposts in the Donbas, is one of Russia’s main objectives in the region. It is also home to a major coke mine that is crucial to Ukraine’s steel production.
Ukraine has struggled with manpower as well as an equipment and weapons shortage, hindering its ability to withstand the Russian advances.
The U.S. Defense Department announced a new $425 million package of weapons and other equipment for Kyiv, though it’s unclear how soon the materiel will arrive or if it will make a difference on the battlefield.
The November 1 announcement was likely the last before U.S. Election Day, on November 5, which will prove pivotal to future Western support for Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has spent months urging Western suppliers to allow Kyiv to use their advanced weaponry to strike deeper inside Russia, and last week he accused them of inaction in response to Russia’s alleged plan to deploy thousands of North Korean troops to Ukraine.
The United States and allies have ruled out the use of Western weapons to strike deep in Russia over fears that it could result in a nuclear retaliation from Moscow.
Meanwhile, a report in The Washington Post said EU leaders were “bracing for a possible rupture of transatlantic relations in the event former President Donald Trump prevails” in the November 5 presidential election.
“What will happen if a president is elected for a second time in America who declares NATO obsolete and is no longer willing to keep security promises?” Friedrich Merz, leader of Germany’s conservative Christian Democrats, was quoted by the Post as having told supporters.
“Then we will be on our own. And by that, I don’t just mean us Germans, but we Europeans.”
Trump, who is in a tight battle with Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris, has expressed doubts about NATO’s viability and has favored what his critics say are pro-Russia policies. Harris has strongly supported continued assistance to Ukraine.
