For the first time, Putin’s new Ukraine commander speaks about the situation in the war. Nothing else in the Kremlin indicates that Vladimir Putin could lose power. One Kremlin critic doesn’t think Putin is willing to die for an idea. All voices and developments on the Ukraine war in the ticker.
More on the course of the war in Ukraine
Glukhovsky speaks of a painful loss because he can no longer obtain the material for his books, which have so far mainly been about Russia, at home. “I’ll write another book on Russia while the memory is fresh.” His current book is about the often rough life, corruption and political despotism in Russia. In a foreword, Glukhovsky once again condemned Putin’s war against Ukraine as “barbarism”.
Referring to Russia’s nuclear threats and Western fears of nuclear war, he says: “I don’t believe in nuclear war, because then it will all be over.” Glukhovsky assumes that Putin may not win the war against Ukraine, but that he himself is attached to his life. “Putin is used to always winning, is always concerned about his health and is afraid of assassination attempts.” But he was “by no means crazy enough” to start a nuclear war. “He’s not willing to die for an idea. This is not a fanatic dying for an idea.”
In Glukhovsky’s opinion, the nuclear threats are serving the Russian elite as an attempt to gain respect on the world stage – “especially from the USA”. “The only goal of this ordinary corrupt regime, this autocracy without plan and ideology, is to stay in power,” says the author. He said goodbye to Russia for the next 15 to 20 years because there are no longer any prospects for younger people. “As long as this president is alive or longer, I can no longer go to Russia.”
5:01 a.m .: According to a report, Iran has sent instructors to the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, which was annexed by Russia, to train Russians on how to operate Iranian drones. The New York Times reported on Tuesday (local time), citing current and former officials familiar with intelligence information. The Iranian trainers were supposed to help the Russians deal with problems with the drone fleet acquired from Tehran. This is another sign of the growing closeness between Iran and Russia since Moscow invaded Ukraine eight months ago.
In the past few days, the Russian army has increasingly shot down Iranian-made Shahed-136 drones at the energy supply in Ukraine, but also at cities. Both Moscow and Tehran deny an arms deal with the drones. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the use of Iranian drones by Russia as a declaration of bankruptcy by Moscow.
According to the New York Times, the Iranian trainers operate from a Russian military base in Crimea, where many of the drones have been stationed since they were delivered from Iran. The instructors belonged to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards. The organization is classified by the US as a terrorist organization.
The deployment of the Iranian trainers appears to coincide with the increased use of drones in Ukraine and indicates greater Iranian involvement in the war, it said. According to the officials, the Iranian instructors are far from the front lines and would be used to teach the Russians how to fly the drones. It is not known how many instructors were sent or whether they controlled the drones themselves.
Former senior Pentagon official and retired CIA officer Mick Mulroy told the newspaper: “The deployment of drones and trainers to Ukraine has deeply embroiled Iran in the war on the Russian side and directly drawn Tehran into operations that have killed civilians and killed were injured.” Even if it’s just trainers and tactical advisors in Ukraine, he thinks that’s significant. Deliberate attacks on civilian targets constitute war crimes.
Wednesday, October 19, 4:20 a.m .: According to SPD leader Lars Klingbeil, aid for Ukraine is always about supporting their right to self-defense and strengthening their negotiating position. “I am firmly convinced that this war will not be decided on the battlefield, but at some point at the negotiating table,” Klingbeil told the Internet portal “Web.de News” (Wednesday). The conditions for this are set by Ukraine. “It is now a matter of making it clear with our support to Putin that he will not win this war,” said the SPD chairman.
One sees the weaknesses of the Russian side. “But we also see a certain escalation, especially in the past week with Russian rocket and drone attacks on Kyiv and other cities,” Klingbeil continued. Ukraine’s military advances have a lot to do with the courage of the Ukrainians and with the right strategic military decisions. “But you also have to do with the support from the West through arms deliveries.” He was “very sure that Ukraine’s successes will continue,” said Klingbeil.
11:41 p.m.: A leading US Republican has signaled that his party could put the brakes on aid to Ukraine if they win the November midterm elections. House Minority Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy said in an interview with Punchbowl News Tuesday, “I don’t think people are going to be in a recession and they’re going to give Ukraine a blank check.”
The US has pledged around $17.6 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since the Russian invasion in late February.
A Pentagon spokesman welcomed the announcement by defense contractor Lockheed Martin that it would take steps to expand production of Himars multiple-launched rocket launchers. In the Russian war of aggression, the systems have become an important weapon for the Ukrainian armed forces. The US has delivered more than a dozen Himars missile launchers and has promised to supply additional systems and ammunition. Lockheed Martin said on Tuesday it was in talks with suppliers about expanding annual Himars production to 96 systems per year.
The Russian army is currently preparing to evacuate civilians from the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson, Surovikin said. The administration deployed there by Russia had recently requested this. The Cherson region in southern Ukraine, which was annexed by Russia at the end of September, has been the target of a counter-offensive by the Ukrainian army for several weeks, which has been able to advance ever further.
Surovikin warned of “difficult decisions” regarding Kherson. Russia’s further plans depended on the “looming military-tactical situation”.
The head of Russia’s occupation administration, Vladimir Saldo, said civilians in some regions on the north right bank of the Dnipro were to be evacuated.
The city of Cherson is also on the right bank of the Dnipro. In March it fell into Russian hands as the only Ukrainian regional capital. President Vladimir Putin announced the annexation of the region to Russia in October. For several weeks now, the Ukrainian army has been advancing towards Cherson again. The Russian soldiers on the right bank are largely cut off from their supplies.
8:11 p.m .: In view of the extremely tense relations with the West because of the Ukraine conflict, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov wants to reduce his country’s diplomatic presence there. In a speech to newly trained diplomats on Tuesday, Lavrov said he saw “no point” in maintaining the presence in Western countries as usual. “Third world countries, both in Asia and in Africa, on the other hand, need extra attention.”
Russian diplomats work in the West “under conditions that can hardly be described as humane,” Lavrov criticized. They were constantly being given problems or threatened. “But the most important thing is: there is no work there because Europe has decided to close itself off to us,” Lavrov continued. “What should we do? We cannot force others to like us.”
Relations between Moscow and the West have deteriorated massively since the start of the Russian offensive in neighboring Ukraine at the end of February. The USA and the EU have imposed severe sanctions and repeatedly expelled Russian diplomats.
4:46 p.m .: Despite continuing military setbacks in Ukraine, a botched mobilization and political power struggles, Kremlin ruler Vladimir Putin is still firmly in the saddle of power. As the Reuters news agency writes, Putin is only in danger if there is a risk of total defeat on the battlefield. Reuters spoke to eight high-level sources, including current and former Western diplomats and government officials.
Most of them said that while the Russian president is in one of the most difficult situations of his more than two decades in power, they see no immediate threat from his inner circle, the military or the intelligence services.
Putin recently had to watch as his army was expelled from strategically important cities in Ukraine, and the troops suffered heavy losses in the process.
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