UKRAINE: Major Russian Aerial Attack On Kyiv Comes With Key Donbas City At Risk

The launching of a massive Russian aerial assault on the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, overnight on 13-14 Nov comes amid continued slow but steady advances for Moscow's forces in the Donbas, but also as the European Union pushes for the effective confiscation of frozen Russian assets held in the Union to fund Ukraine's defensive efforts. According to local reports, 11 were injured in the attacks that struck every district of the capital. 

• The potential loss of the city of Pokrovsk, site of some of the most intense fighting of the entire war, would mark a major blow to Ukraine's efforts to hold back Russia's invasion at the 'fortress belt' of cities and towns in the east of the country.
• At a meeting of EU finance and economic affairs ministers on 13 Nov, Danish Economy Minister Stephanie Lose, as chair of the ECOFIN talks, confirmed that of the three options laid on the table by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to the European Parliament (as reported by Reuters), "The Commission's proposal [using Russian frozen assets] is the best and most realistic option and should be treated as a matter of highest priority."
• As noted previously, legal and political objections from Belgium and Slovakia are delaying the prospect of using the ~EUR140bln held at Euroclear (see UKRAINE: Zelenskyy: Using EU's Frozen Russian Assets A "Question Of Surviving").
• President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will visit Paris for talks with French President Emmanuel Macron on 17 Nov. As well as an update following last month's 'coalition of the willing' meeting in London, the two will "discuss bilateral co-operation in areas such as energy, the economy and defence".