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Missiles, air defence and a NATO proposal in November 2023
Summary
A look back at mid-November 2023, when strikes on Kyiv and Zaporizhzhia Oblast ran alongside a proposal on Ukraine and NATO.
What did the security picture around Ukraine look like on 17 November 2023? It was shaped by a week in which Russian missile fire and a debate about NATO membership unfolded side by side.
Strikes on the capital and the south
On 11 November 2023, Russia launched its first missile attacks against Kyiv in 52 days. Most of the ballistic missiles were intercepted by Ukrainian air defences, and no casualties were reported. The attack showed that air defence was able to counter ballistic missiles aimed at the capital.
Farther south, the toll was heavier. On 15 November 2023, a Russian missile strike in Zaporizhzhia Oblast killed two emergency workers and injured seven others. Together, the two episodes covered both the capital and the southern front in the campaign against Ukrainian territory and infrastructure.
A proposal on NATO
The political track moved in parallel. Anders Fogh Rasmussen, a former NATO Secretary General, put forward a proposal for Ukraine to join the alliance without the territories occupied by Russia. It was reported on 11 November 2023 and again on 12 November 2023.
The proposal addressed how membership might be approached while parts of Ukraine remained under Russian occupation. It came from a former alliance chief rather than from the alliance itself.
Why it matters in retrospect
The week combined three strands: a renewed missile attack on Kyiv that air defences largely blunted, continued deadly fire in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, and a public discussion of a possible path to NATO for Ukraine. By 17 November 2023, each of these was part of the same wider question of how Ukraine could be defended and what security arrangements might follow.
