Most of the weapons owned by the Ukrainian army come from Russia. Abandoned Russian weapons fuel new Ukrainian offensive. Russians are buying more antidepressants and Ukraine is retaking three towns. what happened in the night
Russian forces fired seven rockets at the town of Zaporizhia near the nuclear power plant early in the morning. This was reported by the governor of Zaporizhia Oblast, Oleksandr Starukh. A number of high-rise buildings were shot at. According to Starukh, rescue services have already started to extricate people from the rubble. At the time of publication, no information about victims was available.
Zelenskyj only touched on the events of the fight. He reported the recapture of three other towns in the Kherson region and called the recent Russian attacks on Ukrainian cities with Iranian combat drones futile. “That doesn’t help you anymore. You’ve already lost,” he said to the Russian leadership. He was convinced that they could no longer motivate their own soldiers, while the Ukrainians knew what they were fighting for.
The Ukrainian President focused on the planned reconstruction. After the reconquest of the first areas in the Donbass, payments of pensions and social benefits have started there, he said, announcing intensive preparations to deal with the “difficult winter”.
Most of the heavy weapons held by Ukraine are captured Russian weapons. This is reported by the “Wall Street Journal” (behind the paywall). According to analysts from open-source intelligence agencies interviewed by the magazine, Ukraine’s rapid breakthrough in Kharkiv Oblast helped get its hands on hundreds of Russian armor parts.
This, combined with the arms captured by Ukrainian troops during Russia’s withdrawal from Kyiv and other parts of northern Ukraine in April, makes Russia by far the largest supplier of heavy arms to Ukraine. Western-supplied weapons, however, are “more advanced and more accurate,” according to the Wall Street Journal.
CDU foreign affairs expert Norbert Röttgen sees a possible use of nuclear weapons by Putin as unrealistic. “I don’t think it’s a realistic option for Putin,” said Röttgen on the ARD program “Maischberger”. Any consequences would be disastrous for him. Putin would be completely lost and isolated in the world and the people of Russia did not want to be drawn into a nuclear war.
Former Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel warned that Putin’s statements should be taken seriously. “We have to take Vladimir Putin at his word when he says Russia is ready to use nuclear weapons,” said the SPD politician on Wednesday evening, according to the Bayern media group (online Wednesday/print Thursday) at an event in Passau. If Putin uses a nuclear bomb, “then we are at war with Russia”.
Selenskyj was optimistic about the chances of success for the World Cup bid. It will be “very symbolic if three European Union countries – Spain, Portugal and Ukraine – can host the World Cup together,” he said in his daily video address on Wednesday. Only a few months ago, Ukraine received the status of an EU accession candidate.
Meanwhile, the mood in Russia is also gloomy. The sale of antidepressants in pharmacies has recently increased significantly. In the week from September 19 to 25, sales increased by 120 percent, the state agency TASS reported on Wednesday, citing figures from the chemical company DSM. Putin ordered partial mobilization on September 21 and, according to official information, wants to draw in 300,000 reservists to hold the occupied areas after the Russian army was defeated in Ukraine.
Despite the sanctions against Russia because of the Ukraine war, tourist flights between Russia and Cuba resumed on Wednesday (local time): For the first time in seven months, a Russian Nordwind Airlines plane landed in the holiday resort of Varadero in Cuba, according to the Cuban state news agency Prensa Latina announced. The number of tourists on the plane was not mentioned.
Nordwind Airlines had been working for months to find a route that would avoid US and European airspace. However, Prensa Latina did not report which route the plane had taken from Russia to Varadero. In March 2022, the EU closed its airspace to Russian airlines because of the Ukraine war.
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) sees Ukraine as a potential member country. OECD Secretary General Mathias Cormann announced on Wednesday that talks on accession should first take place. After that, the OECD Council should deal with whether accession negotiations should be formally started. According to the OECD, Ukraine had asked to start the process of becoming an industrialized nation. In the evening, Zelenskyi also spoke about the negotiations for admission to the OECD. A regional office of the organization will be opened in Kyiv by the end of the year, he said.
What will be important on Thursday:
The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, is expected in Kyiv on Thursday. The Argentine also wants to visit Moscow afterwards. Grossi had announced that he would travel to both capitals in the course of the week to discuss the problem of nuclear safety – in particular the risks associated with the contested Zaporizhia nuclear power plant.
According to military observers, the Ukrainians in the Luhansk region have now regrouped their forces and are ready for further attacks. As early as Friday there could be fighting for the city of Svatowe, which is important for Russian supplies, or the city of Kreminna on the Siwerskyi Donets river.
Also Read: Ukraine Update October 5 – Thousands of Russians Call ‘Surrender Hotline’
US intelligence services suspect that Ukraine could be behind the assassination attempt on the daughter of Russian nationalist Alexander Dugin. Immediately after the attack, Ukraine denied involvement in the assassination. Concerned tones are now coming from the USA.
The Russian army is currently fighting on many fronts in Ukraine. For President Vladimir Putin, however, a multi-front battle is also opening up at home. Disputes rage between military bloggers, veterans and the “Siloviki”, Putin’s military elite. He’s in a dilemma.
Ukraine continues to gain territory in the south. The army was able to liberate other places around Cherson. An animated map from a Russian media service also shows how quickly the advance succeeds in some cases.
