WAR IN UKRAINE: October 15, 2022
Friday was a national holiday in Ukraine in honour of the country’s military defenders. Servicemen in Odesa at the Goncharenko Center were greeted by children at this afternoon ceremony.
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: Day 234
Another Russian missile has struck an area of Kyiv, reports Suspilne News. No casualties were reported. The Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhia regions were also attacked.
Russia should be finished calling up reservists in two weeks, President Vladimir Putin said on Friday, promising an end to a divisive mobilization that has seen hundreds of thousands of men summoned to fight in Ukraine and huge numbers flee the country. Putin also said Russia had no plans "for now" for more massive airstrikes like those it carried out this week, in which it fired more than 100 long-range missiles at targets across Ukraine - Reuters
Separately, another Russian military registration and enlistment office has some under an apparent arson attack - this time in the southern region of Cherkesk.
In the wake of Monday’s massive missile strike against Ukraine - in which about 20 percent of power substations were damaged - residents of Kyiv and other major cities are being urged to limit power consumption between 5 and 11pm.
Belarusian media: Belarus began covert mobilization 'to man up existing combat units.' Dictator Alexander Lukashenko has started to conduct small-scale covert mobilization to "man up the existing combat units," according to independent Belarusian publication Nasha Niva. "It will go under the guise of a combat capability test," Nasha Niva writes, citing several unnamed sources. "At the first stage, it will not affect large cities – the rural population will be mobilized first." Separately, Belarus had provided over 60 tanks, dozens of vehicles to Russia. Belarusian watchdog Belarusian Hajun reported that, over the past week, Belarus has transported at least 67 T-72 tanks and 28 Ural military trucks from its Mahilou region to Russia. Also, Russian troops to arrive in Belarus ‘in coming days,’ according to state-controlled media. The transfer is allegedly intended to “protect the country’s border and reduce military activity in nearby areas,” Deputy Chief of Belarus’ General Staff Viktor Tumar told Belarusian state-controlled media Belta on Oct. 14. On Oct. 10, Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin agreed to create a joint military command - Kyiv Independent
The world’s richest man, Elon Musk, has said his rocket firm SpaceX cannot continue indefinitely paying for Ukraine's Starlink internet service. "SpaceX is not asking to recoup past expenses, but also cannot fund the existing system indefinitely," Mr Musk tweeted on Friday, referring to his space company that makes the Starlink system. Earlier this month, in an overture positively received by the Kremlin, Mr Musk tweeted out a proposal that Ukraine accept Russia's annexation of Crimea and allow referendums in Ukrainian regions invaded by Moscow - BBC
Canada’s Governor General, Mary Simon, said Russia's invasion of Ukraine posed a significant risk to co-operation and progress in the Arctic. The Arctic Council, the leading intergovernmental forum on the region, is largely on pause because Russia holds its chairmanship. Russia's invasion poses "a risk to the world," Simon said - CBC News