Landing boats destroyed, cars blown up, officers killed: Russia’s weekly losses

Read more about the explosions in Russia and the temporarily occupied territories in Espreso's weekly review.

Russian air defense had to work hard this week to fight off drones

• This week in Russia has been restless. In the capital of Buryatia, Ulan-Ude, a shopping center caught fire, spreading over an area of 10,000 square meters.
• Throughout the week, Russians actively claimed to have shot down Ukrainian drones. In particular, on Thursday, November 9, Ukrainian drones dropped three cluster munitions on a butter plant in the Kursk region. Two munitions exploded and damaged production barrels and an underground storage facility.
• The next day, on November 10, another allegedly Ukrainian drone was destroyed by Russian air defense over the territory of the Tula region.
• On the night of November 11, explosions were heard in the city of Kolomna, Moscow region, near the local Design Bureau of Mechanical Engineering. Also on that day, a drone was found in the Smolensk region.
• And on the morning of Saturday, November 11, Russia said that the air defense allegedly shot down four Ukrainian drones over the Bryansk region.
• In addition, on Sunday, November 12, the Russian Ministry of Defense said that its air defense had allegedly shot down a Ukrainian drone over the territory of the Belgorod region at night.

A burning factory, a blown up car and a derailed railroad car

• On Thursday, November 9, unidentified persons shot at a border guard car in Russia’s Bryansk region. As a result, a Russian FSB lieutenant colonel was killed.
• Also this week, a "fire party" was organized at a Russian factory. A massive fire broke out around midnight at the Kotovsk Gunpowder Plant in the city of Tambov. Ukrainian media wrote that representatives of the Ukrainian intelligence may have been involved, but this information was neither confirmed nor denied. 
• In addition, on November 11, an explosion occurred on a railroad in Russia’s Ryazan region
• , after which a freight train with 19 cars derailed. Russia claimed "unauthorized interference," while the Ukrainian media again reported a special operation by intelligence officers.

In Crimea, the Ukrainian military hit fast landing boats, and a base in the Kherson region. In Melitopol, the resistance movement eliminated Russian officers

• On the morning of November 7, explosions were heard in the temporarily occupied Sevastopol. Russia reported that an air defense system was working. According to them, nine Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles were destroyed and eight intercepted over the Black Sea and the territory of Crimea.
• On November 7, explosions were also heard in the temporarily occupied Donetsk. Local residents recorded strikes on the city center.
• On Wednesday, November 8, a car explosion in the temporarily occupied Luhansk claimed the life of Mikhail Filipenko, the former head of the "LPR people's police." Subsequent investigations revealed that the incident was, in fact, a special operation carried out by Ukrainian intelligence in collaboration with representatives of the resistance movement.
• On Thursday, November 9, the city of Skadovsk, temporarily occupied by Russia, was restless. A Russian base was hit, likely with HIMARS. At the time, there were many Russian soldiers there. 
• Meanwhile, the next day, on November 10, it became known that 2 Russian fast landing boats were hit in the village of Chornomorske in the temporarily occupied Crimea. They were actively used by the aggressor state during the occupation of Zmiinyi Island to transfer military equipment and troops.
• Also, in the morning of November 10, an explosion occurred in the temporarily occupied Mariupol, Donetsk region. According to preliminary data, the car of a Russian-backed police officer was blown up. Russia said that the car burned down "due to a malfunction." Subsequently, local MP Dmytro Zabavin suggested that the explosion was caused by internal quarrels between Russians over money.
• And on the morning of November 11, loud explosions were heard in the temporarily occupied Zaporizhzhia region where Russian terrorists are trying to hide equipment and personnel.
• In addition, on November 11, an explosion occurred in the temporarily occupied Melitopol, which was caused by local resistance - at least three Russian officers were killed in the operation.

Expert opinions

The representative of the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine, Andriy Yusov, said that preparations are underway for a number of operations in Crimea similar to the events in Kerch.

Yusov also stated that the operation to eliminate Luhansk collaborator Mikhail Filipenko had been prepared for a very long time. This should be "a signal to all war criminals.”

"Despite the fact that he did not formally hold any key positions in the occupation administrations, he was an important figure in that Ruscist ecosystem. The operation was prepared for a long time, carefully, and the security factor for the performers was also taken into account," Yusov noted.

In his column, Vitaliy Portnikov noted that the HIMARS strike on the base in occupied Skadovsk is a real blow to the heart of the Russian FSB.

"The importance of this strike is that it reminds us that the occupiers cannot feel safe in the occupied territory of Ukraine."

Valeriy Romanenko, aviation expert and leading researcher at the National Aviation University, noted that the Storm Shadow cruise missile can be used to strike at military targets in Crimea.

Vladyslav Seleznov, a military expert and spokesman for the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces (2014-2017), said that the nighttime explosions in Crimea on November 10 shocked Russian forces.

Ukraine’s Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko said that Ukraine could attack Russian oil and gas infrastructure in response to the winter attacks on the Ukrainian energy system.

Analysts at the Institute for the Study of War reported that the Ukrainian intelligence agency was involved in at least one of the three strikes on Russian territory between November 10 and 11.