Russian Defense Minister Is Minister of Defense, Prime Minister Vladimir Vlasov, speaks out against Ukrainian forces in Lyman-Novikov confrontation

Russia’s retreat from Lyman, which sits on a riverbank that has served as a natural division between the Russian and Ukrainian front lines, came after weeks of fierce fighting.

The debacle in the city of Lyman, a strategically important railway hub and part of the eastern region of Donbas, added fuel to the fire when it came to the growing criticism of the Russian leadership.

In an unusually candid article published Sunday, the prominent Russian newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda reported that in the last few days of their occupation, Russian forces in Lyman had been plagued by desertion, poor planning and the delayed arrival of reserves.

The worrying thing is that. In Russia’s bellicose information space, the talk isn’t about ending a horrific and wasteful war: It’s about correcting the mistakes that forced a Russian retreat, reinforcing discipline, and doubling down in Ukraine.

Stremousov has criticized the war’s decision-makers in Moscow and on the battlefield. He blamed incompetent commanders for military setbacks in Kherson last week.

In a recent interview with Russian arch-propagandist Vladimir Solovyov, the head of the defense committee in Russia’s State Duma demanded that officials cease lying and level with the Russian public.

The Ministry of Defence was not telling the true story about Ukrainian cross-border strikes in Russian regions, according to Kartapolov.

Valuyki is in Russia’s Belgorod region. When it comes to striking Russian targets across the border, Kyiv has generally adopted a neither-confirm nor-deny stance.

“The Russians feel squeezed between our forces and the banks of the Dnipro, so they’re looking for ways to punish local communities,” said Natalia Humeniuk, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s southern command, on national television. Ukrainian commanders have set a goal to liberate Kherson by the winter.

“There is no need to somehow cast a shadow over the entire Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation because of some, I do not say traitors, but incompetent commanders, who did not bother, and were not accountable, for the processes and gaps that exist today,” Stremousov said. It is said that the Minister of Defense could have shot himself as an officer. For a lot of people, the word officer is an unfamiliar word.

But after Russia’s retreat from the strategic Ukrainian city of Lyman, Kadyrov has been a lot less shy about naming names when it comes to blaming Russian commanders.

Writing on Telegram, Kadyrov personally blamed Colonel-General Aleksandr Lapin, the commander of Russia’s Central Military District, for the debacle, accusing him of moving his headquarters away from his subordinates and failing to adequately provide for his troops.

The Russian information space deviated significantly from the narratives preferred by the Kremlin and the Russian MoD that everything is under control, according to its recent analysis.

The Great Patriotic War is a fetish for Russia and one of the features of Putinism. The tactics employed by the Red Army to fight Hitler, including the use of punishment battalions and desertions, are praised by those who are part of Russia’s party of war.

Kadyrov, who recently announced that he’d been promoted by Putin to the rank of colonel general, has been one of the most prominent voices arguing for the repeal of the use of the techniques of the past. He recently said in another Telegram post that, if he had his way, he would give the government extraordinary wartime powers in Russia.

Kadyrov claimed in a post that he would make martial law a reality and use weapons if it were his will.

Russian troops and civilians have been killed in a road-strike attack on the city of Zaporizhia, Ukraine

Crews restored power and cellular connection in Enerhodar, the city near Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant that is currently under Russian control, a senior official said Sunday.

“Water supply will be restored in the near future,” Rogov, a pro-Russian leader in the regional Zaporizhzhia government, wrote in a telegram post Sunday

The risk of storming the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is still high, as Ukrainians have concentrated a large number of militant in Zaporizhzhia direction, said Rogov.

TheUkrainian authorities have tried many times to deliver humanitarian supplies to the city with food, hygiene products and so on but Russian forces have not let the aid through, Orlov said.

Michael Bociurkiw is a global affairs analyst. He was a member of the Atlantic Council and worked for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. He is a regular contributor to CNN Opinion. The opinions expressed in this commentary are his own. CNN has more opinion.

Recent days have meanwhile shown that sites beyond the current theater of ground fighting are far from immune to attacks. It is not clear how the bridge was bombed but the fact that it was successful suggests there is a serious Ukrainian threat to Russia’s assets.

missiles, rockets and drones have hit many locations across Ukranians since Monday, targeting civilian infrastructure in several important cities, including Kyiv, which is hundreds of miles from the front lines in the east and south.

The video on social media was not real, but it showed hits close to the National University of Kyiv and the Presidential Office Building. Five people were killed as a result of strikes on the capital, according to Ukrainian officials.

The area around my office in Odesa remained quiet between air raid sirens as of midday local time, with reports that three missiles and five drones were shot down. Normally, at this time of the day nearby restaurants would be packed with customers, and chatter of plans for upcoming weddings and parties.

On Monday the city of Zaporizhzhia is hit again, after being struck by a series of strikes on apartment buildings, most of which were hit while people slept. Many people were killed and injured.

In a video filmed outside his office Monday, a defiant President Volodymyr Zelensky said it appeared many of the 100 or so missile strikes across Ukraine were aimed at the country’s energy infrastructure. At least 11 important infrastructure facilities in eight regions and the capital have been damaged; some provinces are without power, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said.

In scenes reminiscent of the early days of the war when Russian forces neared the capital, some Kyiv media outlets temporarily moved their operations to underground bomb shelters. In one metro station serving as a shelter, large numbers of people took cover on platforms as a small group sang patriotic Ukrainian songs.

Indeed, millions of people in cities across Ukraine will be spending most of the day in bomb shelters, at the urging of officials, while businesses have been asked to shift work online as much as possible.

The attacks could cause more damage to business’s confidence if many asylum seekers return home.

Monday’s attacks may have sent a signal of strength towards the growing list of Putin’s internal critics, as Russia struggled on the ground while failing to achieve supremacy in the air.

It seems that dictators have a penchant for hardwiring newly claimed territory with expensive infrastructure projects. The Europe’s longest bridge was opened by Putin in 2018, with a truck. The world’s longest sea crossing bridge was built in 2010 after Beijing reclaimed Macau and Hong Kong. The $20 billion, 34-mile road bridge opened after about two years of delays.

Why does Putin feel he should have to sit still? How Ukrainians react to an ultimatum from the explosion and the West need to show resolve and unity

The reaction among the Ukrainians to the explosion was hilarious. Many shared their sense of jubilation via text messages.

For Putin, consumed by pride and self-interest, sitting still was never an option. He unleashed more death and destruction by using the force that is natural to a former KGB agent.

Facing increasing criticism at home has placed Putin on thin ice, which is an act of selfish desperation.

The Chief of the Main Intelligence Directorate at the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence had told a Ukrainian journalist in late August that they were going to have to enter the peninsula by the end of the year.

Washington and other allies should use phone diplomacy to get China and India to resist the urge to use even more deadly weapons.

It’s important for the West to show resolve and unity as they face a man who tends to exploit divisions and probes for weakness. Western governments also need to realize that rhetoric and sanctions have little if no impact on Putin’s actions. They need to provide urgent training and arm the Ukrainians even if that means sending military experts closer to the battlefield.

Furthermore, high tech defense systems are needed to protect Kyiv and crucial energy infrastructure around the country. It’s important that heating systems are protected with the winter just around the corner.

The Russian-Russian War on Crime in the Kherson Region: a Cold War in the End of the Fourth Cold Month and a New Phase in the War for the Russian Federation

The time has also come for the West to further isolate Russia with trade and travel restrictions – but for that to have sufficient impact, Turkey and Gulf states, which receive many Russian tourists, need to be pressured to come on board.

Russia said it would help evacuate residents from Kherson as the Ukrainian offensive continued in the region. The announcement came after the head of the Moscow-backed administration in Kherson appealed to the Kremlin for help moving residents out of harm’s way.

On Thursday, Stremousov insisted that Saldo was only requesting that authorities “help organize the departure of residents of the Kherson region for temporary stay and rest in other regions of the Russian Federation.”

Critical infrastructure including bridges and railways, have been hit by the Ukrainian military as it took back territory that had been occupied by Russia.

Saldo claimed that the cities of Kherson, which Russia claimed to have annexed, are being hit by dangerous airstrikes.

“We suggested that all residents of the Kherson region, if there is such a wish, to protect themselves from the consequences of missile strikes, should go to other regions … to take their children and leave.”

However, Kirill Stremousov, the deputy head of the Kherson region’s military administration, said that the civilian transports were not an “evacuation.”

The war is in the middle of a new phase not for the first time. Keir Giles, a senior consultant at Chatham House’s Russia and Eurasia Programme, said that the war is now the third, fourth, or fifth different war they have been watching.

With the cold months nearing and likely bringing a timeout in ground battle, experts believe the next weeks of the war are crucial and another rise in intensity looms over Ukraine as each side seeks to strike again.

Giles said that anything that could be described as a victory for the Ukranians is now more plausible. The Russian response is likely to get worse.

The attacks on Monday were an example of Russian President Vladimir Putin being frustrated by the setbacks in the war that have put him under domestic pressure.

The impact of Ukrainian counter-offensives on the energy crisis: how quickly can Europe intervene to resolve the crisis? A senior fellow analyst at the ISW

A senior Ukrainian military official said last week that their forces have been regaining control of at least 120 settlements in the Kharkiv, Donetsk, and Kherson regions. On Wednesday, Ukraine said it had liberated five settlements in Kherson.

Counter-offensives have helped shift the war’s focus and disproved a suggestion made by the West and in Russia that Ukraine didn’t have the ability to seize ground.

The Russians want to avoid a collapse in their frontline before the winter sets in, according to an article in CNN by a senior fellow from the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

“If they can get to Christmas with the frontline looking roughly as it is, that’s a huge success for the Russians given how botched this has been since February.”

Landing a major blow in Donbas would send another powerful signal, and Ukraine will be eager to improve on its gains before temperatures plummet on the battlefield, and the full impact of rising energy prices is felt around Europe.

There are a lot of reasons why the Ukrainian government needs to get things done quickly. The winter energy crisis in Europe, and power being destroyed in Ukraine, is always going to be a test of resilience for the western backers of the country.

NATO leaders have vowed to stand behind Ukraine regardless of how long the war takes, but several European countries – particularly those that relied heavily on Russian energy – are staring down a crippling cost-of-living crisis which, without signs of Ukrainian progress on the battlefield, could endanger public support.

The National Electricity Company, Ukrenergo, says that it was able to contain the damage to the country’s electricity supply due to Russian missile attacks. Ukrainian Prime Minister warned that there is a lot of work to do and asked Ukrainians to cut back on energy usage during peak hours.

Experts believe it remains unlikely that Russia’s aerial bombardment will form a recurrent pattern; while estimating the military reserves of either army is a murky endeavor, Western assessments suggest Moscow may not have the capacity to keep it up.

Jeremy Fleming, a UK’s spy chief, said that Russian commanders on the ground knew that their supplies were running out.

That conclusion was also reached by the ISW, which said in its daily update on the conflict Monday that the strikes “wasted some of Russia’s dwindling precision weapons against civilian targets, as opposed to militarily significant targets.”

According to a military expert with the London based Royal United Services Institute, the success rates against Russian cruise missiles has risen considerably since the start of the invasion in February.

“The barrage of missile strikes is going to be an occasional feature reserved for shows of extreme outrage, because the Russians don’t have the stocks of precision munitions to maintain that kind of high-tempo missile assault into the future,” Puri said.

Putin may be getting help on the way. An announcement by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko that Belarus and Russia will “deploy a joint regional group of troops” raised fears of deepened military cooperation between the close allies and that Belarusian troops could formally join Russia in its invasion. Belarus has been complaining of alleged Ukrainian threats to its security in recent days, which observers say could be a prelude to some level of involvement.

Giles said the reopening of a northern front was a new challenge for Ukranian. The Kharkiv oblast was captured by Ukraine and should be given to Russia in a new route.

Zelensky will want to drive home the gains in the short-term. A second wave of strikes on Tuesday brought down more than half of the missiles and drones that had been launched at Ukraine, according to the leader.

Ahead of a NATO defense ministers meeting in Brussels, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that Ukraine needed more systems to stop missile attacks.

“These air defense systems are making a difference because many of the incoming missiles [this week] were actually shot down by the Ukrainian air defense systems provided by NATO Allies,” he said.

Ukraine “badly needed” modern systems such as the IRIS-T that arrived this week from Germany and the NASAMS expected from the United States, Bronk said.

The Russian Army in the Kherson Battlefield: The First Interview with Gen Sergei Surovikin of Oct. 8, 2001 (Russian Embassy in Kiev)

Saldo offered residents the option of relocating to cities “in any part of Russia,” and said the Russian government would provide housing vouchers to those who wished to move further from the fighting.

He said the people of the city would fight to the end, and that residents who might have their homes damaged by shelling could receive compensation from the Russian government.

Earlier in October, Ukrainian forces in the Kherson region pushed the Russian line back by 20 miles, according to the President’s office and Deep State, an independent monitoring group.

In his first interview since being appointed to lead Russia’s armed forces in Ukraine Oct. 8, General Sergei Surovikin called the situation in Kherson “very difficult” and refused to rule out “the hardest decisions.”

Russia’s focus has been on saving lives since it took control of Ukraine, said the man who has overseen the mass bombardment of Ukrainian cities.

“We will operate with the goal of maximizing the safety of civilian population and our soldiers. That is our priority,” Surovikin said to the Zvezda channel, a state media outlet funded by Russia’s Defense Ministry.

The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, suggested similar schemes are a “pretext for deporting Ukrainian citizens to Russian territory as they populate occupied areas with Russian citizens.”

Part of the difficulty of making wartime assessments is that the war has gone through different phases, with one side and then the other having an advantage. The Ukrainians were defeated in the battle for Kyiv by the Russians, but they were defeated in the war in the Donbas by Russia.

How do people think about Ukrainians today? Being a Cossack is a bit wild but still safe, as brave fighters who are standing up to a bully and wearing colorful embroidered shirts. The Ukrainian warriors are righteous and win an equal battle. People now know that there are 40 to 50 million Ukrainians, and that they are not like Russians.

The scale of Russian losses in these infantry advances is uncertain. The institute described the advances as “impaling” ill-prepared units on well dug-in defensive positions of Ukraine’s battle-hardened troops. While the Ukrainian military thinks of Russian casualties as being inflated, the relative increase in reported numbers shows that the toll is rising. Over 800 Russian soldiers were wounded or killed in the previous 24 hours according to the Ukrainian military.

The Russian news media has reported on the high casualty rates of Russian soldiers since the beginning of the year, as well as the videos filmed by Ukrainian drones. The videos have not been independently verified and their exact location on the front line could not be determined.

The commander of the Russian forces said in a statement that his men are up to 80 assaults per day.

“We discussed the situation at the front,” General Zaluzhnyi wrote. He said he told his American colleague that the Ukrainian forces were fighting back.

An assessment from the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based analytical group, also said that the increase in infantry in the Donbas region in the east had not resulted in Russia’s gaining new ground.

The assessment said that the Russian Army was planning to attack before massing sufficient troops to ensure success as they sought to gain a quick advance. Several towns and villages have been the target of attacks.

With conflicting signals about what may happen in Kherson, the remaining residents of the city went to the store to fill up on food and fuel.

The Ukrainian capital of Kyiv is preparing for worst-case scenarios in the event of further Russian attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure which could potentially leave the city without electricity or water, according to its mayor Vitali Klitschko.

The city’s mayor encouraged some residents to think about staying with family and friends outside of Kyiv if the city is left without electricity or water.

Murdering Putin: A Mad Man’s Journey in Zaporizhia with Heating Centers and a Sheltered Middle Name

“His goal is for us to die, to freeze, or to make us flee our land so that he can have it. That’s what the aggressor wants to achieve,” Klitschko said regarding Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Tkachuk said each district within the city will have about 100 heating centers to operate in case of emergencies in the winter. These heating centers will be equipped with heat, lighting, toilets, canteens, places to rest, warm clothes, blankets and an ambulance crew will be on duty near such centers, the statement said.

“I don’t know if I could believe it when I saw the suitcase in Zaporizhia, 25 miles from occupied territory,” says Viktor as he pulls the suitcase from the car. “The madness.”

His home is a short distance from Kherson. He and his wife Nadiya raised their three daughters there. The neighbor told Viktor that the Russians broke into the house after they left.

At a shelter, a volunteer who asked that he be called by his middle name, Artyom, helps care for evacuees as if they were his own family. We don’t use his full name because Artyom asked us not to.

Artyom’s wife is too scared to go to work – but it’s not so easy to live in the street market – a confrontation between Moscow and Ukraine

His wife is usually home most of the time. But to earn money, she sells potatoes and vegetables she grows in her own garden at a local street market.

Artyom says it’s not good. He counts his fingers as he lists off his various fears: He worries that the Russians will stop his wife. He worries that she’ll get sick. She is four months pregnant. He’s worried about the baby.

Source: https://www.npr.org/2022/11/07/1134465380/kherson-ukraine-russia-battle-looms

Kherson’s street market: Friendships and challenges for artyom and his wife, Alejandro Holovnya

Holovnya, who is living in Kyiv, calls some of them collaborators. Some people are just not able to leave. Many are older. Others have few resources. Their lives right now are very busy, he says.

After the war began, the local street markets popped up, creating a lack of public interaction in the city. Local farmers have been selling their items at the street markets in Kherson because most of the stores there are closed or have empty shelves.

“You can buy almost anything, even medicine and meat,” says Schevchev, who left Kherson this summer. “But it’s terrible to observe. They sell medicine on the hood and cut meat on the side of the car.

Schevchenko, who is volunteering at an Odesa nonprofit called Side-by-Side to evacuate residents from Kherson and other occupied territories, remains in contact with those in the city. She says her grandmother, who refused to leave, gives her regular updates.

Artyom and his wife talk whenever they can get a decent connection. They generally try to keep their conversations light; they worry that Russians are listening in.

It’s scary — but they agree it’s a good thing. Artyom may be able to return to his home country soon if it’s true that the Ukrainians are getting closer.