‘Withdraw Troops Now’ – Ukraine Counteroffensive Update for Nov 23 (Europe Edition)

Overview:

• Berlin lays out specifics of $1.3B military assistance to Kyiv
• On video call, German Chancellor tells Putin to withdraw from Ukraine
• Weather improves near Avdiivka as Moscow’s aerial assaults ramp up
• Sustained fighting but no reported gains along left bank of Dnipro
• Russian troops make minor gains along Kupyansk-Svatove-Kreminna line
• Minister outlines Ukraine Defense Contact Group’s latest contributions

Germany and Italy call on Putin to get his troops out of Ukraine

On a video call with other G20 world leaders, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Wednesday that he had called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to withdraw his troops from Ukraine, “so this war can finally end.”

It was the first G20 video call in which Putin had participated since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began, AFP reported.

“I called on President Putin to end his attack on Ukraine and withdraw troops from Ukraine's territory so that this war can finally end,” Scholz told journalists at a press conference in Berlin, alongside Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

Said Meloni, who also participated in the virtual meeting, “We must not forget that in Ukraine there is an aggressor and a [party that was] attacked... It is simply enough for Russia to withdraw its troops from the invaded territory.”

In Wednesday’s video call, Putin said that “Moscow has never refused peace talks,” a statement that stands in stark contrast to earlier remarks this week by the Kremlin that Kyiv’s administration was too “toxic” for Russia to entertain negotiations.

AFP noted that Putin did not attend the last two G20 summits in person, which took place in India in September and in Indonesia last year. In his place, Putin had sent Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov both times.

Putin has hesitated from traveling very far outside the Russian Federation ever since the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued a warrant for his arrest, stemming from the deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia over the course of the war.

Other Topics of Interest

Kremlin Blasts 'Dangerous' Macron Comments on Troops to Ukraine

In an interview with The Economist, Macron said the question of sending Western troops to Ukraine would "legitimately" arise if Russia broke through Ukrainian front lines and Kyiv made such a request.

Meloni and Scholz were meeting in Berlin to discuss many bilateral agreements between Italy and Germany, but the topic of Ukraine dominated much of the press conference:

German Defense Ministry details contents of new aid package

After this week’s announcement of a new $1.3 billion military aid package from Berlin, Germany’s defense ministry published the first packing list on Wednesday. The tranche of weapons, ammunition and equipment (among many other supplies) includes:

• 80 MARDER infantry fighting vehicles with ammunition (previously, the number of such vehicles was 60)
• Patriot Missile System with spare parts and Patriot missiles
• 21,910 rounds of 155mm ammunition (previously 19,530)
• 12 WISENT 1 mine clearing tanks (previously 11)
• 2,667 crypto phones (previously 239)
• 81 truck tractor trains and 76 semi-trailers (previously 79/74)
• 309 vehicles: trucks, minibuses, all-terrain vehicles (previously 300)
• 10 All Terrain Tracked Carrier Warthog Ambulances (previously 5)
• 49 ambulances (previously 47)

Operations: Kupyansk

Russian forces made some minor gains along the Kupyansk-Svatove-Kreminna line, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reported. Geolocated footage published on Wednesday seems to show that Russian troops made a limited push just east of Synkivka (8 km northeast of Kupyansk):

Other unverified Russian advances were reported online in the contested Serebryanske forest area (10 km southwest of Kreminna), while the Ukrainian General Staff reported that Russian forces unsuccessfully attacked near Synkivka and Ivanivka (20 km southeast of Kupyansk), northeast and east of Petropavlivka (7 km east of Kupyansk), and in the vicinity of Siversk (19 km south of Kreminna).

Ukrainian military observer Kostyantyn Mashovets posited that Moscow’s forces are likely regrouping and “may soon increase the pace of offensive operations in the area.”

Operations: Avdiivka

Russian forces intensified attacks near Avdiivka and reportedly advanced in the city’s southeastern suburbs on Wednesday, ISW analysts wrote.

Ukrainian Tavriisk Group of Forces Spokesperson Colonel Oleksandr Shtupun “noted a 25 to 30 percent increase in Russian assaults over the past day”, observing Russia’s mechanized assaults with around a dozen armored vehicles in the Avdiivka area, but he said they were all repelled by Ukraine’s troops, destroying two tanks and seven armored fighting vehicles in the process.

Meanwhile, Russian bloggers claimed that invading forces conducted a successful surprise attack and quickly occupied five buildings in the southeast of the city, and took over one of the Ukrainian Armed Forces (AFU) defensive fortifications in the area as well.

Shtupun said that Russian aerial assaults have intensified near Avdiivka, noting that weather conditions are “not currently impacting the tempo of hostilities in the Avdiivka direction and that reduced foliage in the area due to cold weather is improving Ukrainian visibility,” ISW reported.

Operations: Dnipro River

Soldiers of the AFU have held down their positions on the frequently shelled left bank of the Dnipro River, according to reports, despite being attacked in the area again on Wednesday.

According to the ISW, Russian military bloggers “widely acknowledged the continued Ukrainian presence in Krynky” (two kilometers from the river) and “claimed that Ukrainian forces also maintain positions and attacked near Poyma, about four kilometers inland, as well as in Pishchanivka (3 km from the Dnipro River), Pidstepne (4 km from the Dnipro River), and the Antonivsky Roadway and Railway Bridges.”

Defense Minister describes UDCG meeting: Patriots, IRIS-Ts, etc. “by mid-December”

Following the 17th meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group (Ramstein Group), Defense Minister Rustem Umerov announced on Facebook on Wednesday that 20 countries have joined a new Ground-Based Air Defense coalition, Ukrinform reported.

After the virtual meeting, the US Department of Defense summed up on its website:  “Collectively, the countries that comprise the group have committed more than $80 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since Russia launched its unprovoked invasion and will remain steadfast in their support ‘for as long as it takes,’ [Defense Secretary Lloyd] Austin said. 

“After yesterday’s visit by the Minister of Defense of Germany, they have already announced $1.4 billion in aid - this includes IRIS-T systems with guided missiles, 8,000 new anti-tank mines, a Patriot system, and additional 155mm artillery ammunition. We should get everything by mid-December,” Umerov posted.

“The Netherlands has allocated about [$2.2 billion] in military aid to Ukraine. An IT coalition leader - Estonia – is providing $500,000 in funding for the IT coalition’s activities in addition to Luxembourg’s [$11 million] commitment. Britain and Norway as part of a maritime coalition will look for ways to strengthen security in the Black Sea,” the ministry said.