The head of the Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, has criticized Russia’s political elite for moving on comfortably and not sending their children into battle. The Russians are apparently retreating further from the Dnipro River in preparation for the Battle of Kherson. what happened tonight
Yewegny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner mercenary group, has warned that Russian elites and oligarchs will “live in a state of comfort” during the war and prevent Russia’s full mobilization. “As long as the oligarch children don’t go to war, there won’t be complete mobilization,” Prigozhin said. In the same context, Prigozhin announced a new Wagner Center in St. Petersburg, intended for IT specialists and startups.
Prigozhin wants to create a “comfortable environment for the development of new ideas to increase Russia’s defense capabilities, including information.” Prigozhin also accused the governor of the city of corruption. The US think tank “Institute for the Study of War” concludes from the latest developments that Prigozhin is trying to further expand his position and to play a decisive role in shaping the war.
As the Russian military apparently continue to expect the Ukrainians to advance towards the city of Kherson, they continue to move troops and military installations across the Dnipro River. That sums up the analyzes of the US think tank “Institute for the Study of War”. Ukrainian military sources reported that Russian forces are preparing to move artillery units and weapons from the west bank of the Dnipro, possibly moving them to other directions.
Russian-backed Kherson occupation MP Kirill Stremousov stated that Russian forces have also started establishing positions in Bilozerka (6 km west of Kherson) and Chornobaivka (1 km north of Kherson). The fact that Russian collaborators are preparing the defense of Chornobaivka is particularly noteworthy, since Chornobaivka is the last settlement along the front line north of Cherson.
The current front line is less than 20 km northwest of Chornobaivka. The simultaneous evacuation of military installations from the west bank and preparations to defend critical areas around Kherson would indicate that Russian control of the west bank is seriously threatened, ISW said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy underlined the successes of the air defense after the day with heavy Russian missile attacks. Of about 50 Russian cruise missiles and missiles, 45 were shot down, he said in his video message. He demanded that his country needed more weapons to ward off the attacks from the air. Russia already has to use more missiles to hit a target than it used to.
With the rocket attacks, the Russian army has been pursuing a new tactic since October and is primarily targeting energy supply systems. Therefore, many states promised help to strengthen air defenses. The first of four Iris-T systems arrived from Germany, which the Ukrainians praise as very accurate.
The Russian Defense Ministry again accused Ukraine of abusing the protected sea corridor in a night-time drone attack on the Black Sea Fleet. The UN emergency aid coordinator Martin Griffiths opposed this view in New York. “If there are no Initiative ships in the area, the corridor has no special status,” he told the Security Council. On the night of the alleged attack on Saturday, there were also no cargo ships in the sea area. “The protected shipping corridor is not open at four in the morning.” Therefore, there was no violation of the agreements.
The IAEA has started its planned inspections in Ukraine after Russian accusations that Kyiv wants to use a “dirty bomb”, as the head of the agency Rafael Grossi announced on Monday. Accordingly, two sites are checked to detect possible undeclared nuclear activities and materials. Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused Ukraine of working on a nuclear bomb. Kyiv had firmly denied the allegations and asked for an IAEA mission. Grossi wants to report on the results of the controls this week.
That will be important on Tuesday
Chancellor Scholz visits a plant of the chemical company BASF in Schwarzheide in Lusatia. It is also about the economic consequences of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. The chemical industry is one of the largest consumers of natural gas, which has become scarce and expensive.
Also read: The Ukraine update on 31. October.
