Volodymyr Zelensky rules out talks with Russia if land is annexed
Volodymyr Zelensky’s soldiers have ripped through Russian defences in Ukraine’s south and recaptured several villages along the Dnipro river on Monday, Ukrainian officials and Moscow’s leaders in the area said.
This marks Kyiv’s biggest breakthrough in the south in the seven-month course of the war in Ukraine.
Volodymyr Zelensky said his troops have liberated more than 450 settlements in the northeast Kharkiv region alone since their counterattack operation began in September.
Heavy fighting continued in several sectors on the battle’s frontlines, he added.
“Fierce fighting continues in many areas of the front. But the perspective of these hostilities remains obvious – more and more occupiers are trying to escape,” Mr Zelensky said.
Columns of Ukrainian military vehicles were seen heading to reinforce the logistics hub Lyman, retaken from Russia at the weekend, as Kyiv moved to strengthen its hold over the strategic city.
Additionally, the US military is dispatching four more HIMARS rocket launchers to Kyiv in its latest aid package worth $625m.
The military aid package will also have ammunitions and mine-resistant vehicles, sources aware of the matter said.
Chechen leader Kadyrov sends three teenage sons, one aged 14, to fight in Ukraine
Chechen leader and key Vladimir Putin ally Ramzan Kadyrov has revealed that he has sent his three young sons to fight in Ukraine.
The warlord has been a vocal champion of the conflict in Ukraine, with Chechen forces forming part of the vanguard of the Russian army, and even advocated using nuclear weapons in the war over the weekend.
And now the Chechen forces will be joined on the frontline by his sons Akhmat, 16, Eli, 15, and Adam, 14, reports Russia’s RIA Novosti news agency.
Ukraine foreign minister starts Africa tour in Senegal
Ukraine Foreign Affairs Minister Dmytro Kuleba has visited Dakar in Senegal, as he begins a tour of Africa.
The Ukrainian diplomat met with Senegal’s Foreign Minister Aissata Tall Sall. The pair signed several bilateral co-operation deals.
Mr Kuleba tour comes following a visit to the African continent by Russia’s top diplomat Sergei Lavrov in July.
Mr Lavrov’s tour comes ahead of plans to host the second Russia-Africa summit in Ethiopia in 2023.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly called on African leaders to condemn Russia over its invasion.
Russia's Federation Council ratifies annexation of four Ukrainian regions
On Tuesday, the upper house of Russia’s parliament voted to approve the incorporation of four Ukrainian regions into Russia, as Moscow sets about formally annexing territory it sized from Kyiv during its seven-month conflict.
In a session on Tuesday, the Federation Council unanimously ratified legislation to annex the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions of Ukraine, following a similar vote in the State Duma, Russia’s lower house, yesterday.
The documents now pass back to the Kremlin for President Vladimir Putin’s final signature to complete the process of formally annexing the four regions, representing around 18% of Ukraine’s internationally-recognised territory.
Russia declared the annexations after holding what it called referendums in occupied areas of Ukraine. Western governments and Kyiv said the votes breached international law and were coercive and non-representative.
Lawyers overwhelmed by requests to help Russians avoid fighting in Ukraine
Russian lawyers say that they are working hard to offer advice to those at risk of being sent to fight in Ukraine.
Lawyers and civil society groups say that since President Vladimir Putin announced on 21 September that 300,000 people would be mobilised to boost Russia’s flagging war effort, they have been overwhelmed by demands for support.
Hundreds of thousands of people have fled to countries such as Kazakhstan, Georgia and Finland. Many more are still in Russia and are hiding from military recruiters, praying they won’t be summoned or hoping for exemptions from service.
“We are working round the clock,” said Sergei Krivenko, who runs a group of around 10 lawyers called Citizen. Army. Law.
“People are being torn from their normal lives,” he said. “This is a mobilisation without time limit during a war. It could last months or years. People may not return ... Leaving the army is pretty much impossible. The only way is death, injury or prison for disobeying orders.”
Why has Russia invaded Ukraine and what does Putin want?
Russia’s long-feared invasion of Ukraine continues to rage on from Vladimir Putin’s announcement of his “special military operation” against the country in the early hours of 24 February, the Russian leader declaring, groundlessly, a need to “demilitarise and de-Nazify” the neighbouring state after eight years of fighting in the Donbas.
As Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky leads by example from Kyiv, tirelessly rallying the international community for support and refusing to surrender so much as one square inch of territory, his people mount an impressive resistence, holding back Russia’s armed forces and preventing the walkover Mr Putin appeared to have assumed was assured.
Most recently, Ukraine staged a successful offensive assault in the east as part of an effort to win back the southern city of Kherson, gateway to Crimea, which sent Russian troops fleeing, instilled its supporters with fresh belief but revealed evidence of further mass graves at Izium, akin to those already found at Bucha.
Read more from Thomas Kingsley and Joe Sommerlad here:
Why did Vladimir Putin invade Ukraine?
See Volodymyr Zelensky’s tweet to Elon Musk
Ukraine’s president and the Tesla tycoon sparred on the social media website:
Dead Russian soldiers include those drafted last week, says Zelensky
Volodymyr Zelensky has said that his forces are finding ill-trained Russian soldiers sent to the front line without any war experience among the dead on the battlefield.
“Among the dead occupiers we can already see those who were taken just a week or two ago. People were not trained for combat, they have no experience to fight in such a war,” he said in his nightly address.
The Russian command, Mr Zelensky said, “just needs some people - any kind - to replace the dead”.
“And when these new ones die, more people will be sent. This is how Russia fights. That’s how it will lose as well,” he added.
Russia facing challenges in training and deploying mobilised and conscripted troops - MoD
Russia’s delayed conscription cycle is a sign of rising pressure on Moscow to train its newly-drafted soldiers, the British defence ministry said today.
“The conscription cycle will begin on 1 November 2022, a month later than usual. The late start to the cycle is an indication of growing pressures on Russia’s ability to train and equip a large number of new conscripted personnel,” the MoD said in its latest intelligence update.
Vladimir Putin signed an order last week for the routine autumn conscription cycle, under which 120,000 conscripts will be trained.
These conscripts are legally not permitted to be deployed outside of Russia, the ministry said, adding that this is separate from those individuals being mobilised as part of the 21 September 2022 partial mobilisation order.
“The challenges of accommodating, training, equipping and deploying mobilised and conscripted personnel are significant.
Deficiencies within the Russian administrative and logistical systems will continue to undermine these efforts,” the ministry said.
How Elon Musk’s changing Ukraine commentary totally backfired on him
The response from the war-torn country was quick and hostile when Tesla and SpaceX boss Elon Musk took to Twitter to blithely run a poll among his 107 million followers on his own proposals for a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia.
Mr Musk’s suggestions for ending the conflict that has been raging for eight months since Vladimir Putin’s unprovoked invasion was condemned by Ukrainian diplomats and politicians alike.
The spectacular backfire even earned Mr Musk a presidential slapdown from Volodymyr Zelensky, who took to Twitter to ask his 6.6 million followers which version of Mr Musk they preferred, the “One who supports Ukraine” or “One who supports Russia.”
Read the full story here:
SpaceX boss helped provide Starlink internet to war-torn country in days after invasion
Elon Musk, Volodymyr Zelensky spar it out on Twitter over Ukraine war
Volodymyr Zelensky condemned billionaire Elon Musk’s remarks on the ongoing war in Ukraine on Monday after the Tesla chief called for UN monitored elections in the recently annexed territories of Ukraine by Russia, infuriating Ukrainians.
Mr Zelensky responded with his own Twitter poll and asked social media users to vote on which “Elon Musk did they like more: one who supports Ukraine or one who supports Russia”?
To which Mr Musk said: “I still very much support Ukraine, but am convinced that massive escalation of the war will cause great harm to Ukraine and possibly the world.”
He had waded into the war which has killed thousands and displaced millions on Monday night by tweeting suggestions asking for Crimea being formally given to Russia and restoring water supply to the annexed territory while Ukraine remains neutral.
“If someone invaded your house, attacked your family, would you surrender half of it for “peace”? Any “peace” that gives aggressors gains, is no peace. It’s an interlude before more aggression,” wrote one user.