WAR IN UKRAINE: October 5, 2022
An ironic image, a Ukrainian T-80U tank - captured from the 'elite' Russian 4th Guards Tank Division earlier in the war, pictured in recently liberated territory next to a Russian propaganda sign saying, "We are with Russia! One People!".
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: Day 224
Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed into law measures that claim to annex four Ukrainian regions into the Russian Federation, in violation of international law. Western leaders have said the claimed annexations of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson are the result of "sham" referendums, and will never be recognized. This comes as Moscow is losing territory to Ukraine's military by the day. How Russia plans to hold on to the four regions remains unclear, at least in the short term. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov previously said Russia will attempt to retake the territory at a later date, and that campaign will likely involve some of the 300,000 reservists being called up as part of a "partial mobilization" ordered by Putin last month - CNN
Ukraine says its forces have advanced in three regions: Kherson, Kharkiv and Donetsk. President Volodymyr Zelensky says his troops are making rapid progress, especially in Kherson. Russia's entire presence on the west side of the Dnipro river now looks vulnerable. Meanwhile UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly told the BBC that the government would "stay the course", and doubled down on the UK's commitment to provide support to Ukraine. Now Prime Minister Liz Truss has echoed that statement, saying "we will stand with our Ukrainian friends, no matter how long it takes. Ukraine can win, Ukraine must win, and Ukraine will win," she told the Conservative Party conference.
The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine will operate under Moscow's supervision, Russian Foreign Secretary Sergei Lavrov says. The announcement comes after Putin formally annexed the Zaporizhzhia region along with three others this week. The nuclear plant, Europe's largest, has been under Russian occupation and its site has been shelled several times. The United Nations' nuclear watchdog has expressed serious concerns about its safety and called for demilitarising the area around it - BBC
It is worth reminding readers that it was the Kremlin in control of the Chornobyl nuclear power station north of Kyiv in 1986 when a reckless experiment caused one of the worst explosions and nuclear contaminations history. Russian troops came back to the site this year and dug up contaminated soil and looted plant facilities.
Forbes Russia: 700,000 people have left Russia since mobilization began. Forbes Russia cited sources close to Russia's Presidential Administration. Russian dictator Vladimir Putin announced the mobilization of conscripts for the war against Ukraine on Sept. 21. In early September Russia’s state statistics agency estimated that 419,000 people had left Russia since Jan. 1 - a figure that reflects massive emigration since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24. This is double the number of Russians who emigrated in the same period in 2021 - Kyiv Independent
A Russian TV journalist accused of spreading fake news after staging a series of lone protests against the war in Ukraine says she has fled house arrest because she has no case to answer. “I consider myself completely innocent, and since our state refuses to comply with its own laws, I refuse to comply with the measure of restraint imposed on me as of 30 September 2022 and release myself from it,” said Marina Ovsyannikova - The Guardian
Reuters: Kazakhstani authorities rejected Russia's demand to expel Ukraine's ambassador to Astana over comments about the killing of Russians. Kazakhstan has accused Russia of improper tone in relations between equal strategic partners.
White House press secretary: The White House commented on Elon Musk's "peace plan" for Russia and Ukraine. At a briefing she said that "we will not talk about Ukraine without Ukraine" and that it "leaves the issue of diplomacy to the Ukrainian people…We will make sure to be close to Ukrainians when they are fighting for their own — for their sovereignty," she said.
Required reading…
European unity is essential as Putin prepares to weaponize winter
Russian President Vladimir Putin recently escalated his invasion of Ukraine by officially annexing four partially occupied Ukrainian regions. In his address accompanying these annexations, Putin made clear that he sees the current war as an existential struggle with the collective West to shape the future of the entire world.
For now, he is losing. Russian troops in eastern Ukraine have suffered a string of humiliating defeats in recent weeks and have been forced to retreat in disarray. Putin’s response to these setbacks has been to raise the stakes further. In addition to annexing around 15% of Ukrainian territory, he has also announced Russia’s first mobilization since World War II and indicated that he is prepared to use nuclear weapons if necessary to achieve his war aims in Ukraine.
Read the full analysis by MP Kira Rudik here