Adoption of state budget, first ATACMS strike on Russian soil, presentation of 'resilience plan': November 19 highlights

Ukraine attacked Russia for the first time using ATACMS

The arsenal near the city of Karachev in Bryansk Oblast, which was attacked by the Ukrainian military overnight on November 19, was struck with ATACMS long-range missiles. This happened for the first time after the USA gave permission for it, wrote RBC-Ukraine and Censor.NET.

Later, Russia recognized the ATACMS attack, and this was unofficially confirmed by American officials.

Zelenskyy presented an internal "resilience plan"

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy presented an internal "resilience plan", which contains tasks for Ukraine itself during the war. It comprises 10 points: unity, front, weapons, money, energy, security, communities, human capital, cultural sovereignty and heroes policy.

However, the full plan with addendums will be presented only in December.

The parliament adopted the 2025 state budget

Ukrainian MPs adopted the draft law on the state budget for 2025 in the second reading and as a whole .

The document envisages record expenditures at the level of 3.94 trillion hryvnias ($95. billion), of which defense expenditures amount to 2.22 trillion hryvnias ($53.8 billion). Income is expected at the level of 2.3 trillion hryvnias ($55.7 billion).

The court remanded Serhiy Hnezdilov, who went into public AWOL

On November 19, the Kyiv Court of Appeals kept Serhiy Hnezdilov, a soldier of the 56th Brigade, in custody. He is suspected of desertion. Earlier, the Pecherskyi District Court confined the serviceman to custody until December 12.

Help from Denmark

On the 1000th day of Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen came to Kyiv for a visit.

There she announced that the Ukrainian defense-industrial complex will receive 130 million euros from Denmark. In addition, Copenhagen has already sent six F-16 fighter jets and will soon send two more batches of aircraft.

US official says that mobilization is more important for Ukraine than new weapons

White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan believes that the situation on the battlefield primarily depends on the number of manpower, so Washington advises Kyiv to do more in this matter.

“Our view has been that there's not one weapon system that makes a difference in this battle. It's about manpower, and Ukraine needs to do more, in our view, to firm up its lines in terms of the number of forces it has on the front lines," he said.

In Sumy Oblast, a Russian Shahed hit a dormitory

Late in the evening of November 18, Russian troops struck a high-rise building in Hlukhiv, Sumy Oblast, with their drone. The building turned out to be a dormitory.

The number of dead reached 12 people, including a 7-year-old boy. Another 11 people were injured.

Other news

• In Georgia, in the morning, the police dispersed the tent city of the opposition, which demanded new elections, and detained 16 people. Already in the evening, the demonstrators came out again for the protest and started setting up tents. They plan to be at the rally all night.
• NABU is investigating the possible illegal enrichment of the Minister of Agrarian Policy Vitaliy Koval. Earlier, journalists discovered that he lives in a premium-class apartment that belongs to his mother-in-law.
• The EU belatedly delivered 1 million artillery shells for Ukraine, as promised.
• The so-called president of the self-proclaimed republic of Abkhazia, Aslan Bzhaniya, resigned. In exchange for this, protesters against the investment agreement with Russia must leave the territory of the government buildings where they broke through.
• The court confined former soldier Vladyslav Sord to night house arrest with the obligation to wear an electronic tag. He is suspected of fraud.
• For several months, a team has been working at the Ministry of Defense to write a draft law on the military ombudsman. It is almost at the final stage.