“We will defend our territories with all the means at our disposal,” the Kremlin stressed in connection with the annexation of those Ukrainian territories that announced their willingness to join the Russian Federation during internationally unrecognized mock referendums last week. . But which areas are these exactly? What are the limits? Apparently the Russian leadership is not so clear. This is evident from statements by the spokesman of President Vladimir Putin to journalists.
Dmitry Peskov stated in a telephone interview on Monday that the Luhansk and Donetsk regions would become part of Russia completely within their Ukrainian administrative borders. In the case of the Kherson and Zaporizhzhya regions, according to Peskov, it will be decided later in which borders they will be integrated. “We will continue consultations with the local population to clarify the borders,” Peskov said. Further investigation didn’t help either, the Kremlin spokesperson replied: “That’s the final answer for now.”
In addition, the areas themselves are not fully under Russian control and are currently being decimated almost daily. Over the weekend, the Russian army suffered its worst defeat in the Ukraine war, withdrawing from the strategically important city of Lyman in the Donetsk region. Ukrainian troops advance in all regions. As for Ukraine’s ambitions to join NATO, which President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reaffirmed in Kiev, Peskov said Russia is heeding but has not seen a majority of states so far. The spokesman also said Ukraine’s planned accession to NATO is one reason for the war that Russia started on February 24.
Putin is under increasing pressure
Meanwhile, President Putin is coming under increasing pressure over Ukraine’s territorial gains. In the Luhansk region, Ukrainian soldiers have already established themselves near the city of Lysychansk, a military spokesman for Moscow-controlled separatists in Luhansk told Telegram’s news service. The Ukrainian units are under constant fire from the Russian army. The battle zone reports cannot be independently verified.
“Once the Ukrainian flag is returned, no one will remember the Russian farce with papers and any annexations,” Zelenskyj said in his video address Monday evening.
According to the British secret services, Russia is experiencing major problems with its partial mobilization. According to the British Ministry of Defense, recruited reservists are currently gathering temporarily in tent camps. This indicates that the military is having trouble training recruits and finding officers to lead new units. The secret services also strongly believe that since the partial mobilization was announced on September 21, Russians who do not actually fall under the definition of the recruitment wave have already been enlisted.
The governor of the Khabarovsk region in eastern Russia confirmed this on Monday: According to this statement, half of the “several thousand” conscripts in this region have now returned. They were therefore seized even though they did not meet the criteria. The responsible head of the district’s military replacement office had been fired, Mikhail Degtyarev wrote on the news channel Telegram. The governor did not explain how the mistakes could have happened.
On the run from conscription and anti-war protests
Hundreds of thousands of Russians have fled abroad to avoid being sent into military service. The mobilization, which was rejected by large segments of the population, had also sparked the largest anti-war protests in months. There were also arson attacks on conscription offices. The Russian president himself said last week that all errors in calling up reservists should be “corrected”.
Source: Krone
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
