Russia Continues To Attack Ukraine, Zelenskyy-Macron Agrees On Procurement Of Fighter Jets

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy/PHOTO via X @ZelenskyyUa

French President Emmanuel Macron and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a memorandum of understanding (letter of intent) for the procurement of French fighter jets and air defense systems for Kyiv. Their meeting took place at a military air base near Paris.

The Elysee Palace, the French presidential office, said the two leaders signed a memorandum of understanding regarding the acquisition of the Rafale fighter jet and the SAMP/T air defense system by Ukraine.

Currently Ukraine continues to be attacked by the Russian military. Last week, it was reported that six people were killed and 35 others injured, including a pregnant woman, as a result of the continuing Russian attack on the Kyiv region.

Some parts of the heating network in the area were damaged by the attack, and some buildings had no heat supply, Mayor Kyiv Vitali Klitschko said in a post on Telegram.

As reported by ABC News, on Saturday, November 15, 15 buildings were damaged in Kyiv as a result of the attack.

Ukrainian officials said 430 drones and 18 missiles were launched as debris from the attack rained down Kyiv.

Meanwhile, earlier this week, Ukrainian troops were forced to withdraw from several positions in the Zaporizhia region, the southeastern front, due to an intense Russian attack, according to a military spokesman.

Russian troops launched more than 400 artillery strikes per day and Ukrainian forces are facing the destruction of the defense stronghold, a spokesman for the Southern Defense Forces, Vladyslav Voloshyn, told ABC News.

The troop withdrawal had an impact on the area around Novouspenivske, Nove, Okhotnyche, Uspenivka, and Novomykolaivka, according to Voloshyn.

"The situation there is still difficult, in part because of the weather conditions that support the attack. But we continue to destroy the invaders, and I thank every unit of us, every soldier involved in defending Ukraine's position," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Tuesday.

Ukraine is also facing the potential fall of Pokrovsk -- a city inhabited by about 60,000 people at the time of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 -- into Russian hands after 18 months of atrition fighting.

This could be one of Ukraine's most serious war defeats.