RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE
The Russian military swelled its ranks by more than the expected 300,000 during the mobilization drive, Russian President Vladimir Putin has revealed. The call-up was ordered by the president in September amid the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
Putin commented on the matter on Friday after a flower-laying ceremony in Moscow marking Unity Day. “We already have 318,000 [mobilized reservists]. Why 318,000? – Because volunteers are coming,” the Russian president explained, adding that the “number of volunteers is not going down.”
The partial mobilization in Russia began on September 21. The Defense Ministry said at the time that it planned to boost the strength of the existing army by calling up reservists.
According to Putin’s latest remarks, 49,000 of the draftees are already on the frontlines in Ukraine, while the rest are still undergoing training.
The Russian president also insisted that the “state was doing everything to support” the families of those reservists and praised volunteer movements that were doing the same.
Putin announced the end of the partial mobilization on Monday.
Russia sent troops into Ukraine on February 24, citing Kiev’s failure to implement the Minsk agreements, designed to give the regions of Donetsk and Lugansk special status within the Ukrainian state. The protocols, brokered by Germany and France, were first signed in 2014. Former Ukrainian president Pyotr Poroshenko has since admitted that Kiev’s main goal was to use the ceasefire to buy time and “create powerful armed forces.”
In February 2022, the Kremlin recognized the Donbass republics as independent states and demanded that Ukraine officially declare itself a neutral country that will never join any Western military bloc. Kiev insists the Russian offensive was completely unprovoked.
In early October, the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, as well as Zaporozhye and Kherson Regions, officially became part of Russia following referendums that saw the majority of local residents vote in favor of the accession.
*Russian artillery and combat aircraft eliminated over 95 Ukrainian troops and 10 armored vehicles in the Nikolayev-Krivoi Rog area in the past day in the special military operation in Ukraine, Defense Ministry Spokesman Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkov reported on Friday.
"In the Nikolayev-Krivoi Rog direction, Russian artillery, assault and army aviation aircraft inflicted damage on the enemy. They destroyed over 95 Ukrainian troops, 10 combat armored vehicles and 10 motor vehicles of various designation," the spokesman said.
Rocket engine
Russian forces delivered strikes by precision weapons, wiping out workshops of the factories in Pavlograd and Kharkov engaged in producing rocket engines and ammunition for the Ukrainian army, Konashenkov reported.
"Precision weapons of the Aerospace Forces struck the rocket engine production workshops of the factory in the city of Pavlograd in the Dnepropetrovsk Region and also three workshops of the Kommunar enterprise in the city of Kharkov where shells for multiple launch rocket systems were produced," the spokesman said.
Krasny Liman area
Russian forces repelled all the Ukrainian army attacks in the Krasny Liman area, eliminating over 90 militants in the past day in the special military operation in Ukraine, Defense Ministry Spokesman reported.
"In the Krasny Liman direction, the enemy’s two reinforced motorized infantry battalions made attempts to attack in the areas of the settlements of Ploshchanka and Chervonopopovka in the Lugansk People’s Republic. Russian troops repelled all the attacks," the spokesman said.
During the combat engagement, the enemy lost over 90 personnel killed and about 60 others wounded, four tanks, six combat armored vehicles and 12 motor vehicles, the general specified.
Kupyansk area
Russian forces pushed Ukrainian army units back to initial positions in the Kupyansk area, eliminating over 110 militants in the past day in the special military operation in Ukraine, Lieutenant-General reported.
"In the Kupyansk direction, Russian troops thwarted by their active operations the enemy’s attempts to attack by two company tactical groups in the areas of the settlements of Berestovoye in the Kharkov Region and Kuzemovka in the Lugansk People’s Republic," the spokesman said.
Russian artillery and army aviation aircraft inflicted damage on the enemy, the general said.
"The Ukrainian army units were pushed back to initial positions. Over 110 Ukrainian troops, 3 tanks, 2 combat armored vehicles, 5 pickup trucks and 14 Humvee and Kozak armored vehicles were eliminated," Konashenkov reported.
Ammo depots
Russian forces obliterated four Ukrainian army ammunition depots in the Donetsk People’s Republic and the Kherson Region in the past day, Konashenkov reported.
"Four ammunition depots were obliterated in the areas of the settlements of Novonikolayevka, Krasnoarmeysk and Seversk in the Donetsk People’s Republic and Novoaleksandrovka in the Kherson Region," the spokesman said.
Nikolayev
Russian troops delivered a missile strike against the headquarters of a foreign mercenaries’ formation in Nikolayev in the special military operation in Ukraine, Defense Ministry Spokesman reported.
"A missile strike in the area of the city of Nikolayev wiped out the headquarters of one of the foreign mercenaries’ units," the spokesman said.
In the past 24 hours, Russian operational-tactical and army aviation aircraft, missile and artillery troops destroyed five Ukrainian army command posts in the areas of the settlements of Krasnogorovka, Nevelskoye and Pobeda in the Donetsk People’s Republic, Novogrigoryevka and Mirnoye in the Nikolayev Region, and also 87 artillery units at firing positions, manpower and military equipment in 179 areas, the general specified.
WESTERN PERSPECTIVE
Russian President Vladimir Putin publicly endorsed the evacuation of civilians from parts of Ukraine's southern Kherson region on Friday, the latest sign of Russia's retreat in one of the most bitterly contested areas in Ukraine.
"Now, of course, those who live in Kherson should be removed from the zone of the most dangerous actions, because the civilian population should not suffer," Putin told pro-Kremlin activists as he marked Russia's Day of National Unity.
Moscow has already been ferrying people out of an area it controls in Kherson on the west bank of the Dnipro River, and this week announced that the evacuation zone would also include a 15 km buffer area on the east bank. But the comments appear to be the first time Putin has endorsed the evacuations personally.
Russia says it has been taking residents to safety from the path of a Ukrainian advance. Kyiv says the measures have included forced deportations of civilians, a war crime, which Russia denies.
Putin's comments came amid signs Russia could be preparing to abandon its military foothold on the west bank of the Dnipro River, including Kherson's regional capital - potentially one of the biggest Russian retreats of the war.
On Thursday, Kirill Stremousov, deputy head of the Russian-installed occupation administration in Kherson, said Russia was likely to pull its troops from the west bank. In later remarks, he was more equivocal, saying he hoped there would be no retreat but "we have to take some very difficult decisions."
Late on Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the fiercest fighting over the last week had taken place around Bakhmut and Soledar, in the eastern Donetsk region about 500 km northeast of Kherson.
"We are holding our positions in these and a few other areas in the Donetsk region," he said in a video address, accusing Russia of insane stubborness for sending "tens or hundreds of thousands more people to the meat grinder."
During the day Ukrainian forces had downed eight Iranian drones and two Russian missiles, Zelenskiy said.
CURFEW
Pictures have circulated on the internet showing the main administration building in Kherson city with Russia's flag no longer flying atop it. Kyiv has been wary, saying such signs could be Russian deception to lure Ukrainian troops into a trap.
A 24-hour curfew was imposed on the city on Friday, Stremousov said, adding the measure was necessary to defend Kherson from a likely Ukrainian offensive.
Ukrainian soldiers in a mechanized infantry company dug in on a tree line west of Kherson city were confident the Russians would eventually retreat, but would fight as they fall back.
Vitalyi, 48, the company's deputy commander, said recent Russian efforts to beef up their defences appeared aimed at protecting a withdrawal rather than holding Kherson.
"They have large amounts of tanks and people, but I don't think they have a realistic plan to stay more than one or two weeks," he said, as his men took advantage of unusually mild weather to improve bunkers and clean weapons amid thumps of intermittent artillery fire.
Vladyslav, a 27-year-old soldier, said he expected the Russians would fight: "We will fight as well. We have nowhere else to go. This is our home. This is our land."
The regional capital, on the west bank at the mouth of the Dnipro, is the only big city Russia has captured intact since its invasion in February. Its loss for Russian forces would be one of the severest blows of the war.
MORE U.S. MILITARY AID AND OFFICIAL VISITS
The United States announced $400 million worth of additional security assistancefor Ukraine, including refurbishing T-72 tanks from the Czech Republic and missiles for HAWK air defenses that could be used against Russian drones and cruise missiles.
The new assistance brought the amount of U.S. military aid sent to Kyiv to more than $18.2 billion since the invasion. As it was announced, President Joe Biden's national security advisor, Jake Sullivan, met with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and his chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, in Kyiv.
Sullivan affirmed that Washington will continue to provide economic, humanitarian and military aid with support from both Biden's Democrats and opposition Republicans.
"We fully intend to ensure that the resources are there as necessary and that we'll get votes from both sides of the aisle to make that happen," he told reporters at the Ukrainian presidential administration.
Sullivan's remarks came days before U.S. midterm elections in which Republicans are given a good chance of taking control of Congress. This has raised concernsthat close allies of former President Donald Trump, who is known for an "America First" agenda, could cut or even block Ukraine aid, which must be approved by the House of Representatives and Senate.
Sullivan's visit came a day after Democratic Senator Chris Coons and Republican Senator Rob Portman traveled to the Ukrainian capital in a bid to signal bipartisan U.S. support.
RT/TASS/Reuters
