Key developments on Nov. 29:
- Zelensky suggests ending ‘hot phase’ of war in exchange for NATO membership without occupied territories
- Ukraine hits oil depot in Rostov Oblast, destroys Buk radar station in Russian-occupied territory, Kyiv claims
- Syrskyi orders deployment of more reserves to Pokrovsk, Kurakhove directions in Donetsk Oblast
- Zelensky appoints new Ground Forces of Ukraine commander
- Russia reportedly loses a record 2,030 troops in one day in Ukraine
To end the “hot phase of the war,” NATO would have to offer membership to Ukrainian territory under government control, with the invitation recognizing the country’s internationally recognized borders, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview with Sky News
“If we want to stop the hot stage of the war, we should quickly take under NATO umbrella the territory of Ukraine that we have under our control. That’s what we need to do first, and then Ukraine can get back the other parts of its territory in a diplomatic way,” Zelensky said during the interview, which was published on Nov. 29.
According to the president, Kyiv has never considered such a proposal, since “no one has ever offered that to us officially.”
Donald Trump’s election has intensified uncertainty around Ukraine’s war effort. He criticized U.S. military support provided to Ukraine by Joe Biden’s administration. Some reports also indicate this would entail forcing Ukraine to cede territory and at least temporarily give up on its NATO accession plans.
Zelensky’s latest remarks are somewhat at odds with his previous statements. He said that the signals of Ukraine’s accession to NATO in parts is “nonsense,” and Ukraine “will never exchange any status for any of our territories.”
The president’s comments to Sky News imply that territories currently occupied by Russia would not fall under the “NATO umbrella” in this scenario.
Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts are partially controlled by Russian troops. Russia claims to have annexed the whole territory of those regions in 2022 despite not controlling two regional capitals — Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. Moscow also controls all of Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula.
Ukraine hits oil depot in Rostov Oblast, destroys Buk radar station in Russian-occupied territory, Kyiv claims
Ukrainian forces reportedly struck an oil depot in Russia’s Rostov Oblast, and destroyed a Buk-M3 radar station in Russian-occupied territories in Zaporizhzhia Oblast overnight, Ukraine’s General Staff said on Nov. 29.
Outmanned and outgunned on the battlefield, Ukraine has turned to homemade drones to try to exhaust Russian combat capabilities as much as possible from afar, targeting Russian military-industrial complex facilities, airbases, and oil refineries.
The Ukrainian military said that on the night of Nov. 29, they struck the Atlas oil depot in Rostov Oblast. As a result of the strike, fires broke out on the territory of the facility, the statement said.
According to the General Staff, Atlas is part of the Russian military-industrial complex, and supplies petroleum products to the Russian army. The oil depot was previously targeted in the summer of 2024.
Elsewhere, a radar station of the Buk-M3 anti-aircraft missile system was destroyed in the Russian-held part of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia Oblast, the General Staff reported.
The Kyiv Independent could not verify these claims.
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Syrskyi orders deployment of more reserves to Pokrovsk, Kurakhove directions in Donetsk Oblast
Ukrainian forces stationed near the towns of Pokrovsk and Kurakhove in Donetsk Oblast will be additionally supplied with reserves, ammunition, weapons, and military equipment, Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said on Nov. 29.
Prior to the statement, Syrskyi visited Ukrainian units in the Pokrovsk and Kurakhove directions of the front line.
“The main goal is to personally talk to the commanders who are directly engaged in combat, to solve problematic issues, and provide comprehensive assistance,” Syrskyi wrote on his Telegram channel.
“We continue to deter the enemy and inflict heavy losses in manpower and equipment. I am grateful to our soldiers for their resilience and bravery in the fight against the Russian aggressor.”
Ukrainian officials have increasingly raised concerns about a possible new Russian push in Zaporizhzhia Oblast in the south, just as Russian forces continue to advance in the east, focusing their efforts near Pokrovsk and Kurakhove.
Russia has captured 234.79 square kilometers (90 square miles) in the past week, which is the highest number in 2024, according to the independent Russian outlet Agentstvo.
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Zelensky appoints new Ground Forces of Ukraine commander
President Volodymyr Zelensky appointed General Mykhailo Drapatyi as Ukraine’s Ground Forces commander, the president announced on Nov. 29.
Drapatyi replaced Oleksandr Pavliuk who has served in the position since Feb. 11, 2024 after then Ground Forces Commander Oleksandr Syrskyi had been appointed commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s Armed Forces.
“Major General Mykhailo Drapatyi successfully organized the defense in the Kharkiv sector and disrupted the Russian offensive,” Zelensky said on social media, without elaborating on the reason for the reshuffle.
Drapatyi, 42, served as a commander of Ukraine’s 58th Separate Motorized Infantry Brigade from 2016 to 2019. He also played one of the key roles in the liberation of Mariupol in Donetsk Oblast in 2014.
Drapatyi has headed the “Kharkiv” operational grouping of troops since this May and “Luhansk” operational and tactical group of forces since September. In February, Drapatyi was appointed as deputy chief of the General Staff.
Zelensky also appointed Oleh Apostol, the commander of Ukraine’s 95th Separate Air Assault Brigade, as deputy commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s Armed Forces.
Apostol, 37, participated in combat operations in Ukraine’s east after Russia’s invasion in 2014 and liberated settlements in southern Mykolaiv Oblast after the beginning of the all-out war in 2022. He is a holder of the Hero of Ukraine award.
“Both have proven their effectiveness in combat,” the president said.
The reshuffle came at a critical time for Ukraine, as Moscow’s forces make their fastest gains in months and North Korean troops are stationed in Russia’s Kursk Oblast.
“The Ukrainian army needs internal changes to fully achieve the goals of our state,” Zelensky added.
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Russia reportedly loses a record 2,030 troops in one day in Ukraine
Russia’s daily losses in Ukraine surpassed 2,000 for the first time, according to figures released by Kyiv on Nov. 29.
According to the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces, Moscow’s troops lost 2,030 men over the preceding day.
This surpasses the previous record of 1,950 set on Nov. 12. The total figure stands at 738,660.
The figures do not specify killed or wounded, though the overall consensus is that it includes dead, wounded, missing, and captured. They are broadly in line with estimates from Western nations.
Ukraine has largely avoided revealing the full extent of its military casualties. Â President Volodymyr Zelensky acknowleded only in February that 31,000 Ukrainian fighters have been killed.
But estimates by The Economist published on Nov. 26 said between 60,000 to 100,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed in the full-scale war, and 400,000 more are too injured to fight on.
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