Good morning. Before the U.S. authorized use of American-supplied missiles to strike inside Russia yesterday, The Globe and Mail’s Mark MacKinnon was given exclusive access to Ukraine’s aerial front lines. In today’s edition, he takes us behind the scenes of his reporting. Plus, Toronto beat Winnipeg 41-24 to take home the Grey Cup. But first:
Today’s headlines
- Iran allegedly planned to assassinate human-rights crusader Irwin Cotler
- More than half of Canadians say Trudeau should be replaced as Liberal Party leader, poll shows
- Could a saliva test detect concussions? A Waterloo biotech startup goes for that goal
A unit of Ukraine’s HUR military intelligence service launched ‘Black Fury’ drones at a missile warehouse in the Tver region of Russia.Olga Ivashchenko/The Globe and Mail
The Globe in Ukraine
The drone war
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky succeeded yesterday in his long campaign to gain the right to use U.S.-supplied missiles against Russian territory, as U.S. President Joe Biden approved use of the long-range weapons.
It represents a major policy shift in the U.S., which previously voiced concerns about Russia’s response to such an approval. The change is also being implemented just two months before the inauguration of president-elect Donald Trump, who has promised to end the war and criticized the Biden administration for spending tens of billions of dollars on aid to Ukraine.
The aerial front in the war between Russia and Ukraine has just become an even more important battle to watch. It’s different from the conflict being fought on the ground, where Moscow has been making gains with support of North Korean troops.
Ukrainians feel they can punch back best in the air. They are looking to damage not only Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war machine, but his country’s public support for the conflict. If you haven’t already, read Mark MacKinnon’s weekend story about his time with Ukraine’s “drone warriors” to understand more about why this front line is far away yet personal.
Here’s more about what he saw with exclusive access to the forces.
Hi Mark, where are you now?
I‘m just driving out of Ukraine after two and half weeks in the country. This was a trip timed around the American elections and about trying to understand how this is going to impact Ukraine. Of course, as we see already the signals in terms of who Donald Trump is appointing, particularly director of intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, who is someone that has indulged in pro-Russian narratives about the war in Ukraine, that NATO pushed Vladimir Putin into a corner, that’s got to be alarming. That is alarming. But Ukraine’s official line is: We welcome any peace proposals, we’re willing to talk, but we don’t think Vladimir Putin is ready to talk.
What is the significance of the aerial front lines?
It’s been incredibly important since Day 1. One of the biggest surprises in this war I think was right at the start that Russia was not able to gain aerial supremacy over Ukraine. I think we all thought the Russian air force would be flying anywhere it wanted in the country by now. But Ukrainian air defences have been impressive since Day 1 and have prevented Russian warplanes from coming too far into Ukrainian territory.
And now we’re seeing the Ukrainians striking back with longer and longer range drones, the ones that we saw were hitting a target 600 kilometres away. They have other drones they’ve used with ranges up to 1,500 to 1,800 kilometres hitting deep inside Russia trying to hit not just the military facilities but also trying to hit Russian public opinion to give Russians a taste of what it feels like to live under such bombardment, to hear raid sirens in your city, hear explosions in your city and to try to dent Vladimir Putin’s popularity and support for the war.
By the night’s end, HUR team sent 35 drones toward Russia on Tuesday Nov. 12.Olga Ivashchenko/The Globe and Mail
And you got to see this up close.
We were at this farm warehouse that normally would been used, I think, to store wheat. And inside when we got there were these Ukrainian special forces guys looking very much like sort of Cylons from the old Battlestar Galactica like robots, with the red light going back and forth. And they were loading these sleek black drones.
They were delivering this big hit on this missile warehouse in Tver and these other attacks recently where they’ve hit Russian warships in the Caspian Sea, they’ve hit a helicopter base near Moscow. But they do so knowing that they could be hitting these harder because these drones carry about 15 kg of explosives. Whereas a British-made Storm Shadow missile carries hundreds of kilograms of explosives. Same with what are known as ATACMS, these American-made long range missile systems.
Now that North Korean troops who have joined the Russian side, how has this changed the course of the war?
The effect of the North Koreans on the battlefield is twofold and number one is 10,000 troops, they expect more, will come if this mission isn’t a complete disaster. So instead of drawing Russian forces from other directions from their offensive in southeastern Donbas region ... the Russians can keep going on the offensive without having to shift on the defence because the North Koreans are helping them cover part of the front line and especially in these weeks ahead of Donald Trump’s inauguration and possibility of him trying to force peace talks. Russia wants to gain as much land as it can, so it dictates the terms of peace.
Wednesday morning, the Russian Ministry of Defence declared it had shot down 29 Ukrainian drones the previous night, suggesting to the Ukrainians that at least six of the Black Fury drones had hit their target.Olga Ivashchenko/The Globe and Mail
I imagine this frustration must be palpable on the front line?
The other impact is sort of psychological. The Ukrainians see Russia’s allies, notably North Korea and Iran. And people think that China is facilitating in particular the North Korean deployment. And there are Western volunteers who are fighting, but not in the numbers we’re now seeing North Korea sending. There’s no discussion really of sending NATO or Western troops to help Ukraine.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Plus, you can watch video shot by MacKinnon using an iPhone through a night-vision monocular showing fixed-wing drones being launched.
The Shot
Grey Cup glory for the Argos
Toronto's Robert Priester runs in a touchdown followed by teammate Benjie Franklin.Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press
Toronto sailed to a 41-24 victory Sunday night to claim the 111th Grey Cup. Catch up on the highlights, and see photos from the game.
This week
What we’re following
Monday: Trial starts for Steven Shand and Harshkumar Patel, who are charged with human smuggling in the deaths of a family from India who froze while trying to cross into the U.S. from Manitoba.
Monday: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will attend the G20 Leaders Summit in Rio de Janeiro for discussions on the war in Ukraine, AI and ending hunger.
Tuesday: Statistics Canada will release inflation data for October.
Friday: COP29, the United Nations Climate Change Conference, ends in Azerbaijan, as frustration grows at fossil fuel presence.
Saturday: Taylor Swift wraps her six Toronto shows, with the final performance this weekend.