Follow the war in Ukraine live blog here
The Russian Defense Ministry showed, in a meeting with journalists on Sunday, a map showing that forces loyal to Putin have drastically reduced their presence in the country. oblast from Kharkiv. The war in Ukraine reaches its 200th day, as what Russia calls a “special military operation” has begun, and the Ukrainian counteroffensive could mark a turning point in the conflict. But Russia guarantees that it is only a “regrouping” of efforts.
The map shows only a small territory in the east of the Kharkiv region, in the vicinity of the Oskol River, which remains under Russian control (area identified in pink on the map).
Ukraine’s military authorities announced today that their troops recaptured more than 3,000 square kilometers of territory in September from Russian forces.
Ramzan Kadyrov, the controversial Chechen leader who has always been one of Putin’s biggest supporters, criticized Russia’s “strategy” in the war and called for “immediate changes” at the Defense Ministry.
The Ukrainian nuclear operator revealed that the last of the six reactors in Zaporizhia was shut down after electricity was restored at Enerhodar.
The Russian authorities will have decided to postpone “indefinitely” the referendums planned by the separatists in Donetsk (DPR) and Lugansk (LPR). The news is not officially confirmed, but was advanced by Meduza, an independent Russian media outlet.
As early as Saturday night, information had surfaced that Denis Pushilin, the Donetsk separatist leader, may have already left the region.
At the same time, Russia admits negotiations with Ukraine and accuses Kyiv of delaying that process, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview with Russian television quoted by the TASS agency. The official says that the fact that, on reading it, kyiv postpones a possible negotiation process makes it less likely that a peace agreement will be reached.
Kyiv said the recapture of Izium “is ongoing,” in a process spearheaded by Oleksandr Syrskyi, the colonel-general who is orchestrating the counteroffensive in Ukraine and whose profile has been profiled by the Observer in this article.
Source: Observadora
