Faulty mines for Ukrainian Armed Forces, aid program for children: November 26 highlights

Faulty mines in the Ukrainian Armed Forces

The Ministry of Defense recalled domestic shells for 120 mm mortars. Before that, online reports indicated that these shells do not explode and do not reach the target.

Earlier, TSN journalists received videos of malfunctioning munitions from the military. According to their data, the problem concerned various areas of the front and thousands of shells. The first complaints, they say, began to appear at the beginning of November.

Censor.NET also published videos with low-quality shells. The day before, the editor-in-chief of the publication Yuriy Butusov said that 100,000 120 mm caliber shells were recalled from the front.

Meanwhile, the chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on National Security, Defense and Intelligence, Fedir Venislavskyi, said that according to the conclusions of the special commission, the reasons for the malfunction of the shells were high humidity and low temperature.

Children's aid program from the government

The Cabinet of Ministers announced the "Warm Winter" program: one-time financial assistance for children will be provided to pass the winter period.

Throughout December, children from low-income families, children, and people with Group 1 disabilities from among internally displaced persons will be able to receive a one-time monetary assistance from the state in the amount of 6,500 hryvnias ($157) (for each child).

Funds will be provided for the purchase of warm clothes, shoes and other things that children need in winter. This assistance is part of a comprehensive "winter support" package.

Attacks on Ukraine

Overnight, Russian troops attacked Ukraine with a record number of attack drones — 188, including Shahed suicide drones. 76 of them were shot down.

Ternopil came under fire. There, the Russians aimed at an important object of the electricity system, on which the power supply of virtually the entire region depends.

According to the Ternopil Oblast Military Administration, as a result of the attack, the centralized supply of water and heat in Ternopil was temporarily stopped. Immediately after the impact, about 70% of the entire territory was cut off. In the morning, before the start of the working day, they did everything possible to connect to other systems that pass through the region, so most of the power supply was restored.

The Russians also attacked Sumy and targeted a local service station. As a result of the enemy attack, two people were killed. Residential buildings, private cars, civil infrastructure objects, including a nearby kindergarten, were also damaged.

Should the minimum age for mobilization be lowered?

The Verkhovna Rada does not believe that the draft law, which proposes to lower the upper age limit for mobilization from 60 to 55, can be considered in the near future, said the head of the committee on national security, defense and intelligence Fedir Venislavskyi.

According to the parliamentarian, it is currently "very difficult" to talk about legislative initiatives that will lead to a decrease in the number of Ukrainian citizens who can be mobilized.

"The enemy, on the contrary, is stepping up its mobilization efforts and encouraging citizens both in monetary form and through the write-off of loan arrears. All this is aimed in Russia at increasing the number of citizens who are involved in the army of the aggressor state. Therefore, in Ukraine, this bill has not been considered even in the first reading," Venislavskyi stated.

A resolution on Umerov's dismissal appeared in the parliament

MP Oleksii Honcharenko registered in the Verkhovna Rada a draft resolution on the dismissal of Rustem Umerov from the position of Minister of Defense of Ukraine. The lawmaker claims that the Ministry of Defense under Umerov's leadership was unable to "normally produce ammunition."

"Umerov should resign. I registered the resolution on the dismissal of the Minister of Defense of Ukraine. After the dismissal, there should be criminal cases. And preferably specific sentences," Honcharenko wrote.

Other news

• The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland, Radoslaw Sikorski, following the meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart, Andrii Sybiha, said that there are no obstacles from Kyiv to the exhumation of the victims of the Volyn tragedy.
• A number of regions of Ukraine were again "mined" – courts and other institutions received a warning.
• If presidential elections were held in Ukraine now, the citizens would cast the majority of their votes for Valerii Zaluzhnyi, the former commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and Ukraine's ambassador to Britain. The current head of state, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, would come second.
• Germany provides another 65 million euros for the repair of Ukrainian energy infrastructure.