Russia killed eight people in Ukraine on November 20; among the wounded are children, a volunteer from the US and a journalist
The National Police reported that Russian shelling on November 20, 2025, killed eight civilians across the Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk, and Chernihiv regions, and at least 25 others sustained various injuries in the Donetsk, Kherson, and Kharkiv regions.
A house in the Chernihiv region shelled by Russian forces on November 20, 2025The highest number of fatalities that day was in Zaporizhzhia. Russian forces struck the regional center with a high-explosive aerial bomb in the evening, killing five people, including two women and two men. The identity of the fifth victim will be determined in a lab.
Two elderly women were killed in the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast — one died after Russians dropped a guided aerial bomb (KAB) on the Pokrovska hromada around 11 a.m., and the second was killed closer to midnight by a drone.
The other fatality was a 56-year-old woman, a resident of the Chernihiv region, who worked in a store hit by a Russian strike in the Pornotsnytska hromada.
A rescuer extinguishes a fire in a damaged house in the Donetsk region that was shelled by Russian forces on November 20, 2025In addition to the fatalities, 10 civilians were injured in the Zaporizhzhia Oblast. Another three people were wounded in the Dnipropetrovsk region, including a seriously injured 33-year-old man.
At least nine wounded people were included in the daily report from the Kherson region. Only three were injured the day before: a woman from Molodizhne, a pensioner, and a teenager from Kherson city. Six injured individuals from previous days were also included: a Kherson resident, four Bilozerka residents, and a woman from Komyshany.
November 20 passed without fatalities in the Donetsk Oblast, but four people were wounded: a woman from Kramatorsk, U.S. volunteer and journalist Serhiy Horbatenko from Lyman, and the driver of a drone-shelled car from Kostiantynivka.
Two more people were injured in the Kharkiv region: a woman who survived a Russian airstrike on the Velykyi Burluk hromada, and a man from the Lozivskyi District.
A damaged table in an building in the Kherson region that was hit by one of the Russian shellings on November 20, 2025By way of background, work continues at the sites of Russian strikes on two apartment buildings in Ternopil. As of the evening of November 21, 31 people were known dead, including six children, and nearly 100 were wounded, including many children.
Since last year, civilian casualties from Russian shelling in Ukraine have increased by over one quarter. Furthermore, last year also ended with a significant rise in fatalities, and child deaths increased by half. Prior to this, so many children were killed only in the first months of the full-scale invasion.
By way of background, Ukrainian experts point out that China, North Korea, Iran, and Brazil assist Moscow in killing citizens of Ukraine in Russia’s war, including funding the Russian budget through trade.
Previously, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that Ukraine would close its embassy in Cuba and downgrade ties over Havana’s complicity in Russian aggression.
Newly appointed Ukrainian Ambassador to the UN Andriy Melnyk stated in an interview with Suspilne broadcaster that Brazil paid Russia almost $10 billion for 6.5 million tons of diesel.
Over the last three and a half years, China has become a critically important partner for the Russian Federation. While Beijing officially declares its neutrality, Western intelligence and analytical studies indicate otherwise. For instance, China does not supply weapons directly to Russia, but it provides critically important components, including machinery, microelectronics, specialized chemicals, optics, gunpowder, and ammunition components.
In 2024, then-U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated that 70% of heavy industrial equipment and 90% of all microelectronics are sourced from China, which then flow into Russia.
Furthermore, according to recent NATO intelligence data, 80% of all Russian drones consist of Chinese parts.
According to The Telegraph newspaper, Chinese firms supplied sanctioned Russian companies with at least £47 million ($57.4 million USD) worth of parts between 2023 and 2024. Almost a quarter of the value of these supplies went to firms that produce Shahed-type drones.
Moreover, the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine stated that China is also providing intelligence to Russia. The Kremlin used this data to prepare missile strikes, particularly against objects belonging to foreign investors, though the specific targets were not clarified. China denies these accusations.
Following the imposition of Western sanctions, Beijing has become a key supplier to Russia of cars, clothing, raw materials, and a range of other goods. In 2023, Russia-China trade turnover set a historic record, exceeding $240 billion, which is more than 60% higher than before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to Chinese customs data.
Reuters also reported that China is buying oil and gas from Russia. The average daily volume of oil is more than two million barrels per day. During Vladimir Putin’s visit to Beijing, the countries signed a document for the supply of 106 billion cubic meters of gas per year to China.
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