153 battles recorded over the past day – frontline update
Source: Ukraine’s General Staff
One hundred fifty three combat engagements were reported over November 20, according to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Russian forces carried out a missile strike, 83 airstrikes, and dropped 138 guided bombs on Ukrainian positions and communities. They also conducted over 4,000 shelling attacks, including 92 using MLRS, and deployed 1,380 kamikaze drones.
Ukrainian rocket forces and artillery hit back carrying out 12 strikes on areas of enemy personnel and equipment concentration, as well as targeting a command post and a field ammunition depot.
- Kharkiv Front: Russian troops attempted four unsuccessful assaults near Vovchansk and Starytsia.
- Kupyansk Front: Seven combat engagements took place over Tuesday with Ukrainian forces repelling attacks near Kolisnykivka, Zahrizove, Kucherivka, Kruhliaikivka, and Zelenyi Hai.
- Lyman Front: Ukrainian troops stopped ten enemy assaults launched toward Cherneshchyna, Zarichne, Hryhorivka, Serebrianka, and Terny.
- Siversk and Kramatorsk Fronts: No offensive actions by the enemy, though airstrikes targeted Siversk, Chasiv Yar, and Lypivka.
- Toretsk Front: Russian forces conducted seven bombing attempts and advanced near Toretsk and Shcherbynivka.
- Pokrovske Front: Ukrainian defenders repelled 34 attacks, with enemy forces attempting advances near Myroliubivka, Pustynka, Promin, Krutyi Yar, Krasnyi Yar, Lyskivka, Yurivka, Zhovte, Petrivka, Dachenke, Novooleksiivka, Hryhorivka, and Pushkyne.
- Kurakhove Front: Ukrainian troops resisted 29 breakthrough attempts in areas around Berestky, Zorya, Sontsivka, Maksymilianivka, Katerynivka, Yelyzavetivka, and Antonivka.
- Vremivka Front: Similar resistance thwarted 29 enemy attacks near Trudove, Kostiantynopilske, Rozdolne, Velyka Novosilka, and Novodarivka.
- Orikhiv and Hulyaipole Fronts: No active enemy offensives have been recorded.
- Prydniprovskyi Front: Ukrainian forces repelled six enemy attempts to advance.
- Volyn and Polissya Fronts: The operational situation remained stable without significant changes or signs of enemy offensive group formation.
Along the borders of Chernihiv and Sumy regions, the enemy maintained its military presence, conducted reconnaissance activities, and carried out artillery shelling.
In 2025, the deadliest year yet for civilians, Ukraine’s three largest charitable foundations raised a record 105.9 billion hryvnias. It is more than the years 2022–2024 combined. According to the UN, humanitarian aid in Ukraine was delivered by more than 450 organisations, reaching five million people over the course of the year. Civic foundations hold licences to purchase lethal weapons, which is a function states have monopolised for centuries. These record sums were underwritten by international government grants, which means foreign states now channel billions directly through Ukrainian civic funds, bypassing inter-state channels. It is hard to imagine a stronger institutional trust in civil society.
During the GLOBSEC Defence Forum 2026 in Prague, representatives of “Steel Front”, an initiative by Rinat Akhmetov, discussed with NATO delegations, military officials, and representatives of the European defense industry the lessons learned from Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine.
After the start of the full-scale invasion in February 2022, Ukraine witnessed an unprecedented wave of private support for the army. Citizens, big businesses, charitable foundations, and international philanthropists began financing the country’s defense alongside state assistance provided by international partners. Estimates of total private contributions range from tens to hundreds of billions of hryvnias. However, determining the exact amount remains difficult. In many cases, companies combine military aid, humanitarian programs, tax payments, social spending, and employee support in their reporting.
Rinat Akhmetov’s military initiative, “Steel Front”, has delivered a batch of drones worth UAH 214 million to the 1st “Azov” Corps of the National Guard of Ukraine. This shipment is part of the Metinvest Group’s ongoing support for the unit in 2025.
On October 6, the Administrative Cassation Court within the Supreme Court of Ukraine continued hearing case No. 990/80/25, in which the fifth President and leader of the party “European Solidarity”, Petro Poroshenko, seeks to have Presidential Decree No. 81/2025 from February 12, 2025 — enacting sanctions by the decision of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) — declared illegal and annulled. The plaintiff claims the document was falsified and that the sanctions are a tool of political persecution of the opposition, contrary to international norms. Government representatives deny the allegations and insist their actions were lawful. Journalists of Bukvy were present at the hearing.