A residential building damaged by a Russian strike on the Dnipropetrovsk region in south-central Ukraine, November 30, 2024

Saturday’s Coverage: Zelensky — Ceasefire in Return for NATO Protection

Map: Institute for the Study of War

UPDATE 1813 GMT:

In his nightly address to the nation, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has spoken about his discussions in Kyiv with European Union leaders.

Zelensky wrote of his session with the EU’s foreign policy head Kaja Kallas: “Europe has no alternative but unity. Only coordinated efforts will bring the whole Europe greater security, economic growth, and leadership on the global stage.”

And he posted about his meeting with European Commission President António Costa:

We discussed our vision for European and global affairs — current challenges and prospects.

This symbolic start to the new leadership’s work reflects the key priorities for all of us in Europe. Peace is the foundation, and we will continue to do everything possible to end this war, which Russia has unleashed not only against Ukraine but also against a united Europe, as soon as possible.

UPDATE 1340 GMT:

The UN Population Fund, reporting on
sexual violence against hundreds of Ukrainian men in Russian detention, says the war crime is significantly underreported because of “stigma and perceived emasculation”.

The Ukraine Prosecutor General’s office has officially declared sexual violence against 114 men, as well as 202 women, during Russia’s 33-month invasion.

But the UNFPA says it is likely that for each recorded incident, 10 to 20 cases went unreported.

In September the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine, established by the UN Human Rights Council, documented the systematic use of sexual violence as a method of torture by Russian troops and officials.

UPDATE 1017 GMT:

The European Union’s new foreign policy head Kaja Kallas, European Council President António Costa, and and EU enlargement chief Marta Kos are visiting Kyiv.

Costa told reporters, “We came to give a clear message that we stand with Ukraine, and we continue to give our full support.”

Kallas posted:

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Russia killed 11 civilians and wounded at least 51 across Ukraine on Saturday and early Sunday.

Four of the fatalities and at least 24 wounded were from a Russian missile strike on the village of Tsarychanka in the Dnipropetrovsk region on Saturday morning.

Eighteen people, including an 11-year-old boy are in hospital, seven in serious condition.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky responded, “And so almost every day Ukraine defends itself against this absolutely inhuman pressure.”

In the Kherson region in the south, two civilians were killed and 15 injured by attacks on 14 settlements including Kherson city on Saturday.

A drone strike early Sunday on public transport killed at least three more people and wounded at least seven.

Two civilians were slain and four injured in the Donetsk region in the east.

And in the Zaporizhzhia region in the south, a 50-year-old man was hospitalized with shrapnel wounds after a drone attack.

Air defenses downed 32 of 78 drones fired overnight. Another 45 were lost to electronic counter-measures.

Around a dozen drones were downed over Kyiv.