Day 225 of the Invasion of Ukraine: Russian Missile strikes on Zaporizhzhia

@perild.com

Here are the highlights of events related to the war in Ukraine over the past 24 hours:

Kyiv reported more successes in the counteroffensive against the Russian army

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed into law the annexation of Russian army-held territories in Ukraine, as the Ukrainian army reported success in its counteroffensive in those areas. The Ukrainian armed forces have liberated three more villages in the southern Kherson region, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said:

"Only in the last 24 hours, the settlements of Novovoskresenskoe, Novogrigorivka, and Petropavlovka were liberated and stabilized by the fake referendum in Kherson region. The movement continues."

The Ukrainian army said it had recaptured territory in the eastern parts of Luhansk region and made progress in its counteroffensive in Donetsk, Kharkiv and Kherson, with Russian units pushed all the way south from the west bank of the Dnieper River.

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed yesterday the federal constitutional laws on the annexation of the territories controlled by the Russian army in Ukraine. He ordered the Russian government to take control of Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

Russia is pushing for a secret rather than open vote at the UN General Assembly, where a draft resolution against Russia's annexation of parts of Ukraine will be considered next week. The draft prepared by Western countries denounces Russia's "illegal referendums" and "attempted illegal annexation" of four Ukrainian regions.

Russian missile strikes on Zaporizhzhia

Russian forces fired missiles at the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia early this morning.

Local authorities reported seven explosions.

An apartment building was destroyed, there were casualties, according to the governor of the Zaporizhzhia region, Oleksandr Starukh.

Rescue teams are on site.

Fires broke out in some parts of the city after the shelling.

NYT: Ukrainians are behind the murder of Darya Dugina

U.S. intelligence agencies believe parts of the Ukrainian government authorized the car bomb attack outside Moscow that killed Darya Dugina. American authorities fear that such actions will expand the conflict, reports "The New York Times".

The United States was not involved in the attack, either by providing intelligence or other assistance, officials said. American officials also said they had no advance knowledge of the operation and that they would have opposed the killing if they had been consulted. U.S. officials then made warnings to Ukrainian officials about the killing.

The idea of ​​Ukrainian complicity was shared within the US government last week. Ukraine denied involvement in the killing immediately after the attack, and senior officials repeated those denials when asked about the US intelligence assessment.

While Russia has not specifically responded to the killing, the United States is concerned that such attacks -- while highly symbolic -- have little direct impact on the battlefield and could provoke Moscow to carry out its own strikes against senior Ukrainian officials. US officials are frustrated by Ukraine's lack of transparency about its military and covert plans, particularly on Russian soil.

Since the beginning of the war, Ukrainian security services have demonstrated their ability to reach into Russia to conduct sabotage operations. However, killing Ms. Dugina would be one of the boldest operations to date - showing that Ukraine can get very close to prominent Russians.

Some American officials suspect that Ms. Dugina's father, Alexander Dugin, a Russian ultranationalist, was the actual target of the operation and that the perpetrators thought he would be in the vehicle with his daughter.

Mr. Dugin is one of the most prominent Russian propagandists urging Moscow to step up its war against Ukraine. He is a leading supporter of an aggressive, imperialist Russia.

U.S. officials who spoke about the intelligence did not say which elements of the Ukrainian government are believed to have authorized the mission, who carried out the attack or whether President Volodymyr Zelensky signed off on the mission. The officials briefed on the Ukrainian actions and the U.S. response spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss classified information and diplomatically sensitive matters.

US officials did not say who in the US government made the remarks and to whom in the Ukrainian government they were delivered. It is not known what Ukraine's response was.

The Russian army has begun a 'controlled withdrawal' in the area of the Berislav bridgehead to defend Kherson

On October 2, the armed forces of Ukraine began a new stage of their offensive in the Kherson region. Advancing to the south, Ukrainian units have moved the front line another 20 km forward. This was announced by the British Ministry of Defense, citing intelligence.

According to the British, Ukrainian troops are taking control of the east bank of the Ingulets and the west bank of the Dnieper, but are not yet threatening the main Russian defense positions. The claim of the British services finds confirmation in the messages in the Telegram channels of the last night, which say that all the bridges along the Ingulets River have been destroyed, which is expected to make it difficult for the Russian army to operate.

"The Russian command is likely to see the growing threat in the Nova Kakhovka area, which is shaping up to be one of the most pressing issues. By destroying the ferry link in the area, it deprived the Russians of the few opportunities they had to replenish their forces. Russia faces a dilemma: withdrawing combat forces beyond the Dnieper will make the defense of the rest of the Kherson region more reliable. But the political imperative will be for them to stay and defend themselves."

The analysis notes that Russia has committed most of its undermanned airborne forces to the defense of Kherson, but a significant shortfall in personnel is felt.

"Thus, Russia currently has few additional qualitative forces for rapid deployment to stabilize the front. It will probably aim to deploy mobilized reservists in the sector,” says British intelligence. According to military analyst Roman Svitan, the so-called Berislav bridgehead is currently witnessing "a controlled withdrawal of Russian troops in the direction of Kherson." According to him, at least mid-level commanders decided to retreat, having the clear knowledge that the Berislav bridgehead would be captured.

The Ukrainian successes in the Kherson region were commented on in the traditional evening address of President Volodymyr Zelensky, who announced that in just 24 hours, settlements such as Novovoskresenske, Novokhrihorivka and Petropavlivka were "freed from the pseudo-referendum". Zelensky specifically addressed the representatives of Russia in Russian: "Even if you find somewhere else in the world some weapon with a name as natural for your ‘Russian peace’ as these Iranian drones ‘Shahid’ with which you are trying to attack our cities, and this will not help you. You have already lost," Zelensky said.

Those expecting a quick Ukrainian counteroffensive like the one in Izyum are likely to be disappointed, but the expert explains the differences between the Izyum operation and the advance to Kherson.

"There (at Kherson) was no cascade collapse of the front, since the command of the Ukrainian army still decided not to make a frontal, but a flank attack, that is, we began to advance from north to south along the front line. This is a flank attack on the front line of the Russian troops, on their fortification lines, which were located approximately along the Kakhov Reservoir. It was this tactic that led to the push of Russian troops to Kherson," the military expert explained the essence of what is happening now.

On the occasion of the recent events on the front in the Kherson region, the administration of American President Joe Biden, which believes that with a successful counter-offensive in the Kherson region, the Ukrainian Armed Forces have the resources to liberate the Crimea occupied by the Russians.

On October 5, the units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces continued to repulse the attacks of the Russians in the area of ​​the settlements of Vimka, Soledar, Odradivka, Bakhmutske, Bakhmut, Krasnogorovka, Mayorsk, and Novomihailovka. This was announced this morning by the General Staff of the Army. The Minister of Defense of Ukraine Oleksii Reznikov published an interactive map with the progress of the VSU in the Kharkiv region and the Kherson area.

#UAarmy’s autumn offensive, day by day. While the "russian parliament" is intoxicated from the futile attempts at annexation, our soldiers continue moving forward.
This is the best answer to any and all "referenda", "decrees", "treaties" and pathetic speeches. pic.twitter.com/qLCBu0Vdns

— Oleksii Reznikov (@oleksiireznikov) October 5, 2022

Rebellion of those mobilized in the Russian army: 400 people refused to board a train to the front

Freshly mobilized fighters of the Russian army declared mutiny and insubordination and demanded the intervention of the state to solve their problems. 400 people refused to board a train that was supposed to take them to the front and said they were not going anywhere. The soldiers themselves have released several clips, with the help of which they expect a reaction from the political leadership, after they were met with bad treatment from the commanders and irregularities in their formation as military personnel and the distribution of weapons.

In the videos, the fighters talk about the conditions that prevailed after the mobilization, and about huge mobilization and logistical problems of the Russian army, about which the propagandists were silent until recently, but have already begun to mention them in their own programs. However, something else is also visible - until recently civilians have neither experience nor desire to serve in the army, they complain about usual military hardships such as sleeping in the forest and without a tent, which generally awaits them at the front. Fighting spirit is missing.

Here is the story of one of the dissatisfied:

"Good day. My name is Anton Alekseevich Kovrizhnik. I was mobilized from the military district. I went, got my call, I was sent to the First Taman Division, First Tank Battalion, Third Company, Motor Rifle. Without having signed any documents, they gave us assault rifles, the assault rifles are not entered in the military record. There are no stamps in the military book, they are not officially formed in any way. Salary, bank cards, accounts are not opened, nothing is activated, they are throwing us, damn it, in the woods. For six days, we lived in trenches that we dug ourselves, tents - blyat, they don't give anything, we lived in dugouts. At the moment, 400 of us are standing and we have no intention of leaving anywhere. Let them all go to hell. We expect help from you, from the state, yes, if you can be counted on. I passed the information on to you. Now they are sending us three tanks here. We're protesting, we're on strike, we don't intend to go anywhere, three f*cking armored personnel carriers have already come here with machine guns and f*cking cannons."

Another clip from the same protest said the commanders' actions in handing out weapons without signatures and documents were crimes under the Russian Criminal Code. The mobilized people complain about the brutal treatment of the officers towards them. In the recording, the soldiers shout at each other.

"Our preparation is ultimately zero."

"We eat what we buy, we've spent a huge amount of money just to feed ourselves. Not to mention the ammo. We bought bulletproof vests ourselves. They gave us a combat kit - combat cartridges. Found in the unit. Just found.”

"Half the company is mentally unbalanced. There was no medical commission anywhere. Already on the first day and the second and third, we lived on the street."

"90 percent of the people who are here are sick."

“Show the weapon. The weaponry is from the 70s and 80s. Most of the personnel have neither helmets nor vests.'

"Everyone has a fever, there are people with pneumonia."

The number of Russians entering the EU has decreased by one fifth

The number of Russian citizens entering the EU decreased by 20% in the last week compared to the previous one, the reason being the restrictions imposed by the member countries, reported "France Presse", referring to the information of "Frontex" from today.

Nearly 53,000 Russian citizens entered the EU between September 26 and October 2, of which 29,000 came through Finland, 8,877 through Estonia and 8,536 through Poland, coming from Ukraine, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency informed.

"The visa restrictions, driven by political arguments on the part of European countries and the measures taken by Russia to prevent the departure of mobilized citizens, will lead to an ever greater decline in the number of Russians arriving in the EU," Frontex believes.

Poland and the Baltic states imposed strict restrictions on Russian citizens under sanctions imposed after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

"Illegal entry could increase if the Russian Federation decides to close its borders to its citizens, who could possibly be mobilized," the agency added.

More than 200,000 people were mobilized into the Russian army after the announcement of a "partial" military mobilization due to the war in Ukraine. This mobilization caused great concern in Russia and protests against it in some areas. It also forced tens of thousands of men to leave the country quickly to avoid being drafted.

Kazakhstan announced yesterday that more than 200,000 Russian citizens have crossed its border in two weeks.

On September 30, the European Commission called on member states for more restrictions on issuing visas to Russian citizens and on border controls.

The European Union had an agreement on visa facilitation with Russia, but it was terminated, and currently their approval and cancellation is the competence of the member states themselves.

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