ISW Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, November 12, 2026

Key Takeaways from the ISW: Russian President Vladimir Putin and members of the Russian delegation outlined Russia’s steadfast commitment to its original territorial demands of Ukraine and ultimatums to dismantle NATO and the post-Cold War European security architecture following the latest trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi on November 12. Putin remains unwilling to compromise on any of these demands. Putin is refusing to accept any proposed future demilitarized zone in post-war Ukraine or to abandon his demand that Ukraine hand over the parts of Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhia, and Kherson oblasts that Russian forces have not seized. Putin is also unwilling to cede the territory in northern Ukraine that the Kremlin claims Russian forces have seized but that lies outside of the four illegally annexed oblasts. Putin continues to reject all meaningful Western security guarantees for post-war Ukraine. Russian negotiators used the Abu Dhabi talks to reassert their 2021 demands of NATO. Putin is simultaneously doubling down in his efforts to convince US officials to accept Russia’s fictitious frontline. A ceasefire like the one in Oleshky is impossible to execute in Kostyantynivka, however, because the actual frontline military situations are not comparable. Ukrainian officials reported a recurrence of in-motion speed restrictions on SpaceX’s Starshield satellite communications network over Ukraine that is significantly hindering Ukraine’s drone interception efforts and intermediate-range strike campaign. An improvised explosive device (IED) detonated in St. Petersburg on November 12, reportedly targeting an unidentified colonel serving in the Russian 6th Air and Air Defense Forces Army (Russian Aerospace Forces [VKS] and the Leningrad Military District [LMD]). Neither Ukrainian nor Russian forces advanced on November 12. Russia launched 123 drones at Ukraine overnight and 124 drones during the day. JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. See the original here.