November 20, 2024 - Russia-Ukraine news | CNN

November 20, 2024 - Russia-Ukraine news

Antoinette Radford

Elise Hammond

By Edward Szekeres, Deva Lee, Christian Edwards, Antoinette Radford and Elise Hammond, CNN

Updated 4:40 PM EST, Wed November 20, 2024

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Satellite images show how war in Ukraine has altered the landscape

01:51 • Source: CNN

Satellite images show how war in Ukraine has altered the landscape

01:51

What we covered here

• Some Western embassies in Ukraine’s capital Kyiv closed today after the US received “specific information of a potential significant air attack.”

• Ukraine later said Russia had staged an “information and psychological attack” by spreading a fake warning of a massive air attack on Kyiv, purporting to be from Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence, but reminded residents that the threat of air raids remained.

• Ukraine launched UK-made Storm Shadow missiles at targets in Russia, according to reports, a day after the country fired US-made longer-range missiles into Russian territory.

• In another major policy shift, the United States approved sending anti-personnel mines to Ukraine for the first time. The White House also announced it will send Ukraine more military equipment as a part of an additional $275 million of funding.

28 Posts

Our live coverage for the day has ended. Follow the latest Ukraine news or read through the updates below.

US embassy in Kyiv resumes services, US ambassador to Ukraine says

From CNN’s Michael Rios

A woman walks past the US Embassy in Kyiv on November 20.

A woman walks past the US Embassy in Kyiv on November 20.

Tanya Dzafarowa/AFP/Getty Images

The United States embassy in Kyiv has “resumed services,” according to a Wednesday post on X from Bridget A. Brink, the US ambassador to Ukraine.

The embassy closed earlier due to a “possible threat of a significant attack” on the Ukrainian capital.

Earlier on Wednesday, Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence said Russia had staged an “information and psychological attack” by spreading a fake warning of a massive attack on Kyiv, purporting to be from Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence.

State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller said earlier that the embassy was expected to reopen on Thursday. He said he was “not aware of any significant strikes” in the Ukrainian capital, and he would not go into detail about the specifics of the threat that led the embassy to shut down.

Ukraine reportedly fires UK-French-made missiles into Russia. Catch up on the latest developments

From CNN's Elise Hammond

Ukraine launched British-French-made Storm Shadow missiles at targets inside Russia for the first time on Wednesday, according to reports. It follows Ukraine launching US-made ballistic missile into Russia for the first time earlier this week.

Meantime, several embassies in Kyiv closed Wednesday after receiving information about a possible major airstrike. The sound of drones and activated air defenses could be heard across the capital overnight, including the city center, according to a CNN team in Kyiv.

Ukraine later said Russia had staged an “information and psychological attack” by spreading a fake warning of a massive attack, purporting to be from Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence.

Here are the latest updates:

Storm Shadow missiles: Ukraine’s Defense Minister Rustem Umerov refused to confirm or deny the use of the the United Kingdom-supplied missiles on Wednesday, but a Russian military blogger posted photos on Telegram of a Storm Shadow missile fragment. A separate video on Telegram shows explosions in Marino where the blog said the fragment was photographed. The UK and France have previously supplied the long-range Storm Shadow missiles for Ukraine to use inside its own borders.
US assistance: The United States will send Ukraine more military equipment as part of an additional $275 million assistance package, the Department of Defense said in a statement. The funding is a part of a surge in military support ordered by President Joe Biden in late September. The department said on Wednesday that it is the country’s “seventieth tranche of equipment” provided from US military supplies since August 2021
US sends mines to Ukraine: The US has also approved sending anti-personnel mines to Ukraine for the first time, according to two US officials — another major policy shift. Human rights groups have long criticized use of the weapons because they can kill indiscriminately and can remain armed for years.
US-Russian tension: The hotline set up to defuse crises between the Kremlin and the White House is not currently in use, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told Russian state media TASS. The Kremlin comment comes a day after President Vladimir Putin updated Russia’s nuclear doctrine, lowering the threshold under which it would consider using nuclear weapons, and after President Joe Biden gave Ukraine permission to fire US-made missile into Russia.