Intercontinental ballistic missile attack, long-range weapon strikes on the Russian Federation and STALKER 2. Weekly digest

During the past week, according to the media, Ukraine struck the Russian Federation with long-range missiles for the first time. Russia attacked Dnipro with an intercontinental ballistic missile (according to preliminary data) — for the first time in the world. The president signed a number of important laws and presented the Fortitude Plan, parliamentarians adopted the state budget for 2025. And the game STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl was released.

Babel has collected the most important news of the week to keep you up to date.

Long-Range Strikes of Ukraine

This week, the US Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Brian Nichols confirmed that President Joe Biden allowed Ukraine to fire the US missiles deep into Russia. This is the first confirmation of permission to strike from the American side.

On the same day, a number of media reported that Ukraine had used American long-range ATACMS missiles for the first time to strike Russia — at a warehouse with ammunition in the Bryansk region.

The Ukrainian side does not confirm this, but neither does it deny it.

The very next day, Bloomberg, with reference to a Western official, wrote that Ukraine attacked Russia for the first time with long-range Storm Shadow missiles. Presumably, it is about the Kursk region.

And only on November 23, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of France Jean-Noel Barrot confirmed that his country had given permission to the Armed Forces of Ukraine to use French long-range missiles in the Russian Federation. According to him, this should be done "for the purpose of self-defense".

The Worldʼs First Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Strike

The Russians hit Dnipro on November 21 with an intercontinental ballistic missile, the Air Force of the Ukrainian Armed Forces reported. According to Zelensky, all the characteristics — speed and altitude — points on the fact it was an intercontinental ballistic missile. However, the examination is still ongoing.

The US Defense Ministry confirmed that Russia struck Ukraine with an experimental medium-range ballistic missile, which was created on the basis of the RS-26 “Rubizh” intercontinental ballistic missile.

Putin said that the Russian Federation struck Dnipro with an alleged "newest medium-range system" called Oreshnik. GUR believes that it could be a missile from the "Kedr" complex.

On November 24, SBU showed for the first time the wreckage of a new ballistic missile that the Russian Federation used to hit Dnipro.

The Fortitude Plan was Presented in Ukraine

On November 19, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky presented the 10-point Internal Fortitude Plan to the Verkhovna Rada (the Ukrainian Parliament).

In particular, it is said that the elections in the country will be held after the victory, and the lowering of the mobilization age will not be implemented.

According to Zelensky, Ukraine plans to produce at least 30 000 long-range drones next year. Also among the tasks is to make 3 thousand cruise missiles.

I wrote about each point of the Babel plan in detail here.

Draft Laws Signed by the President

On November 18, Volodymyr Zelensky signed draft law No. 11225 on the improvement of the medical and social expert commission (MSEC).

The document modernizes the MSEC procedure through:

• the possibility of online participation of people in the MSEC meetings, which will reduce the cost of time and money for patients;
• changes in the procedure for determining disability: it is suggested that instead of peopleʼs personal presence, their documents should be examined for examination;
• entering information about the results of the MSEC into the electronic health care system (EHS) to simplify doctorsʼ access to data, speed up decision-making and transparency.

On November 20, the President signed draft law No. 11410 on the deprivation of state awards for traitors to Ukraine.

And already on November 22, Zelensky signed a decree, which put into effect the decision of the National Security Council on new sanctions and the deprivation of state awards for state traitors. Among them are former government officials, peopleʼs deputies, heads of SBU and the Prosecutor Generalʼs Office, prosecutors, artists, Russian political, religious and cultural figures.

Decision of the MPs

On November 19, the Verkhovna Rada approved the state budget for 2025 as a whole.

The state budget for 2025 included record expenditures at the level of 3.94 trillion hryvnias. Of these, defense expenditures amount to 2.22 trillion hryvnias.

The draft state budget states that the stateʼs income will amount to 2.3 trillion hryvnias. Here, 141 billion hryvnias from the draft tax law 11416-d on the historic tax increase in Ukraine, which was approved by the Rada back in October and which has not yet been signed by President Volodymyr Zelensky, were taken into account.

Also this week, the Verkhovna Rada supported in two readings the bill No. 12104, which gives the right to postpone mobilization to people whose relatives died or went missing in the war.

The Verkhovna Rada adopted in its entirety Law No. 12095 on voluntary return to service for those who voluntarily left the military unit or deserted for the first time.

Military Aid to Ukraine

On November 20, the USA allocated a new $275 million aid package to Ukraine. It contains various weapons.

On the same day, it was declared that Denmark would allocate one billion Danish kroner (thatʼs approximately €130 million) to Ukraine for the military-industrial complex.

Also this week it became known that the European Union handed over the promised million ammunition to Ukraine.

Trumpʼs Appointment Regarding Ukraine

The US President-elect Donald Trump may create the position of special envoy on the Russian-Ukrainian war and appoint former US ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell to it.

Reuters wrote that not everyone may like his views on Ukraine. At a Bloomberg roundtable in July 2024, Grenell advocated the creation of "autonomous zones" as a means of resolving the Russian-Ukrainian war. He also said that he would not support Ukraine joining NATO in the "near future".

STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl was released

After 15 years of development, the creators officially presented the Ukrainian game STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl.

Journalists of The Gamer Guide have already rated the game. With a score of 9/10, they note that STALKER 2 has an exciting atmosphere and story, stunning visuals and gameplay that invites players to accept the challenge.

The Ukrainian company GSC Game World has already sold one million copies of STALKER 2.

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