What did 24 November 2024 follow in Ukraine?

What had changed in the days leading up to 24 November 2024? The war's backdrop had shifted quickly, with new weapons decisions, a revised Russian nuclear policy and a strike on Dnipro that drew international attention.

Weapons decisions in Washington, London and Paris

On 19 November 2024, U.S. President Joe Biden approved sending non-persistent anti-personnel mines to Ukraine, with Ukraine committing not to use them in areas with civilians. The same day, the United Kingdom and France were reported to be preparing new military packages containing long-range missiles for Ukraine. Those preparations followed Biden's decision to allow deep strikes into Russian territory using American weapons.

Moscow's nuclear decree

Also on 19 November 2024, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree allowing Russia to use nuclear weapons in response to conventional attacks by a non-nuclear state that is supported by a nuclear power.

The strike on Dnipro

On 21 November 2024, Russia struck Dnipro with a projectile that Putin stated was a new Oreshnik intermediate-range ballistic missile. This confirmed earlier reports from the United States and other western officials, who said Russia had used an intermediate-range ballistic missile. Initial reports had misidentified the weapon as an RS-26 Rubezh intercontinental ballistic missile.

Dissent in Belarus

On 20 November 2024, around 1,671 anti-war protesters in Belarus were arrested for showing solidarity with Ukraine, as part of a crackdown on opposition under President Alexander Lukashenko.

Taken together, these reports from 19 to 21 November 2024 describe the situation as it stood on 24 November 2024: new Western weapons supplies in preparation, a formally widened Russian nuclear doctrine, a newly identified Russian missile used against a Ukrainian city, and continued repression of anti-war protest in Belarus.