According to Zelenskyj, NATO must prevent the possibility of a Russian use of nuclear weapons – if necessary with preventive strikes. Zelenskyj emphasized the importance of preventive measures during an appearance in front of the Lowy Institute on Thursday. NATO “must rule out the possibility of Russia using nuclear weapons. But it is important – and that’s why I’m turning to the international community, as I did before February 24 – that these are preventive strikes, so that they know what’s in store for them if they use them.” He emphasized: “Not the other way around: wait for strikes from Russia, and then to say: ‘Oh, you’re getting me like that, then you’ll get it from us now'”.
Selenskyj’s spokesman Serhij Nykyforow immediately emphasized that his demand had been misunderstood. The Ukrainian President only said that before February 24 – the beginning of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine – preventive measures were necessary to prevent the war.
In his speech, the Ukrainian President refused to cede territory to Russia in order to appease Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin and achieve peace. The aggressor should not be rewarded for starting the war, but must be defeated. According to the 44-year-old, Putin will not survive a nuclear strike against Ukraine.
Pupils from the Cherson area are to be brought to the Crimean peninsula. This emerges from an official regulation of the local administration. From October 6th to 21st it was also ordered that no classes take place in Cherson.
The children are said to be officially taking part in a “health program” in Crimea. “You can expect educational events, exciting trips and encounters with interesting people,” says the regulation.
It’s not the first time Russia has advertised summer camps. The occupiers also offered such trips in the Kharkiv and Izyum regions, which have since been liberated. After the buses full of children left eastern Ukraine on August 27, they were due to return last week. According to a Washington Post report, that didn’t happen.
In addition, the parents no longer have any contact with the children. A mother told the Washington Post that she last spoke to her son directly ten days ago. At least 200 children are currently untraceable.
With Russia’s troops losing ground in Ukraine on an almost daily basis, there are signs of a change in Russian reporting on the war. As Bloomberg reports, the Kremlin has urged some state media outlets to admit some of President Vladimir Putin’s mistakes in invading Ukraine. The reason is said to be concern that the relentlessly optimistic propaganda will continue to fuel public doubts.
“We must stop lying,” Andrei Kartapolov, a former general who now chairs the defense committee in the lower house of parliament, said on a popular talk show this week. “Our people are not stupid.”
In the past few weeks, state media in Russia have reported increasing numbers of retreats and defeats without a positive twist. Putin is apparently hoping for more support for the armed forces from his own country from this type of reporting.
The new way of reporting is evidently also reflected at the highest level. Since early summer, Putin is said to have held at least two secret meetings with a small group of Russian military correspondents. According to insiders, one should have taken place before the surprising decision to mobilize around 300,000 reservists.
The EU states have also founded a new political community with almost all other European countries as a sign against the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine. The heads of state and government of the more than 40 partners involved met on Thursday in Prague for a first meeting. Among them was Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD), who described the so-called European Political Community as a “great innovation”. The next meeting is planned for spring 2023 in Moldova, which is under pressure from Russia.
During a visit to Ukraine on Thursday, the chairwoman of the Defense Committee in the Bundestag, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, renewed her call for battle tanks and armored personnel carriers to be delivered to the country. “The will to defend one’s own country is unbroken,” said the FDP politician to the German Press Agency. “But Ukraine still needs support from us to get through the winter. This applies above all to ammunition, but also to the delivery of armored personnel carriers or battle tanks to push back Russian positions.”
US President Joe Biden sees the danger of a nuclear confrontation with catastrophic consequences after threats from the Kremlin as greater than in 60 years. The world has not faced the prospect of “Armageddon” since the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, Biden said on Thursday evening (local time), according to journalists traveling with him at a performance in New York
He knows Russian President Vladimir Putin pretty well, Biden said. And the Kremlin boss does not joke when he talks about the potential use of tactical nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, as the Russian military is weak in the fighting in Ukraine. At the same time, he does not believe that it would be possible to simply use tactical nuclear weapons without this leading to “Armageddon”, emphasized the US President.
What will be important on Friday
Putin turns 70. The celebrations take place in the luxurious Konstantin Palace. The heads of state of the Commonwealth of Independent States, the organization that succeeded the Soviet Union, have been invited. With this, Putin wants to show that, despite his war of aggression, he is not isolated internationally.
Also read: The Ukraine update on October 6 – “No coordination”: Russian tank crews probably thrown together wildly
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.
The top-of-the-range model T-90-M is equipped with the latest technology. The tank could also be of great interest to western armies.
A Russian presenter has hinted on the news that American missile shipments could lead to the Russians moving as far as Warsaw.
