Vladimir Putin promoted Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov to colonel general after his call for a nuclear strike. Putin and the Duma are targeting Defense Minister Shoigu as a scapegoat. All voices and developments on the Ukraine war in the ticker.
Thursday, October 6, 6:56 a.m.: Since the announcement of the “partial mobilization”, many Russian reports have indicated that Kremlin boss Vladimir Putin wants to make the Russian Ministry of Defense and Minister Sergei Shoigu in particular the scapegoat for losses. Now, senior Duma deputy Andrei Kartapolov has urged the Russian army to “stop lying.” “The people know it. Our people are not stupid,” said the chairman of the defense committee in the Russian parliament, fearing the loss of credibility.
Kartapolov railed that all Russians knew the Defense Ministry was lying and had to stop, but that message was not reaching “individual leaders” – another dig at Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. A Russian military blogger claimed Kartapolov’s comments showed that Shoigu would soon be “demolished” and “acknowledged as the main culprit” for Russia’s military failures. This is reported by the US think tank “Institute for the Study of War”.
Putin is now making his criticism of Shoigu more and more public. On October 5, by decree, he postponed the mobilization for all students, including part-time and master’s students. The Kremlin chief told Russian media that “the Defense Ministry did not make timely changes to the legal framework for the list of those not subject to mobilization, so adjustments need to be made.”
The Russian Defense Ministry rarely publicly admits backtracking by its troops. In the daily report, only the enemy’s heavy casualties are listed.
7:00 p.m .: Russian President Vladimir Putin has placed the occupied Ukrainian Zaporizhia nuclear power plant under Russian administration. Putin signed a corresponding decree in Moscow on Wednesday. The largest nuclear power plant in Europe in southern Ukraine has been occupied by Russian troops since March.
The head of the nuclear power plant, Ihor Murashov, was arrested by Russian troops on Friday. According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which is on site with several experts, he is now back with his family.
On Tuesday, the IAEA announced that its boss, Rafael Grossi, was traveling to Kyiv and Moscow this week. There he wants to continue his deliberations on the establishment of a security zone around the nuclear power plant.
The facility has come under repeated fire in recent weeks, for which Moscow and Kyiv have blamed each other. The shelling and fighting near the nuclear power plant fueled fears of a nuclear catastrophe.
4:22 p.m.: Two days before his 70th birthday, Vladimir Putin called and promoted Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov. His “bloodhound” is now Colonel General. In view of the past statements by the loyal Putin companion, this is a striking point in time.
Kadyrov recently hit the headlines for publicly calling for a nuclear strike and harshly criticizing other leaders and generals in the Russian military. After the defeat in Lyman, he attacked the Russian commander Alexander Lapin in a telegram message and verbally lashed out. He blamed him for the failures around Lyman.
He received a lot of encouragement from hardliner circles for his statements. Among other things, from the financier of the Wagner troupe Yevgeny Prigozhin and now obviously also from Putin himself.
1:07 p.m .: The military setbacks do not change the annexation of four Ukrainian regions for Russia. “They will always belong to Russia,” says Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. Russia will get the territories back. He also warns of a possible use of American weapons for attacks on Crimea. Pentagon official Laura Cooper’s statements that US-supplied weapons could be used by Ukraine to attack Crimea are “extremely dangerous” and “evidence of direct US involvement in the conflict,” Peskow said.
8.41 a.m .: The former world chess champion and exiled Russian Garry Kasparov expects that Kremlin ruler Vladimir Putin will overthrow the Ukraine war. He told the “Spiegel”: “Putin’s military and economic capacity will be exhausted in the spring. By April at the latest, he will run out of ammunition, and the economy will no longer even be able to cover the basic needs of the Russians. That’s why Putin is in a hurry now, he’s looking for a good starting position for negotiations.”
Kasparov believes the defeat will be devastating for Russia. “From the history of Russia we know that every military and geopolitical defeat at home leads to dramatic political changes, whether it was the Crimean War in 1855, the Russo-Japanese War in 1905, the stalemate in World War I or the end of the Cold War in 1989. But this defeat could be the worst of all because it will be very visible. It will be like 1945 in Germany.”
At the same time, Kasparov reproaches his compatriots. “Russia today is a fascist dictatorship which, as we speak, is committing crimes against humanity. And everyone who lives in Russia now is part of this war machine, whether they want it or not.”
8.20 a.m .: Russian President Vladimir Putin has completed the illegal annexation of the occupied parts of the Ukrainian regions of Cherson, Zaporizhia, Luhansk and Donetsk by signing the relevant decrees. He signed the laws previously passed by the State Duma and the Federation Council on the integration of the regions into Russian territory and thus put them into force, as the Kremlin announced in Moscow on Wednesday.
These regions are thus officially under the protection of the nuclear power. However, Moscow currently controls only parts of these areas in southern and eastern Ukraine. The Ukraine has recently reported land gains there again and again. Initially, the regions will be headed by officials appointed by Moscow, because the regional parliaments are not to be elected until September next year.
Wednesday, October 5, 2022, 7:20 a.m.: In Lithuania, the Bundeswehr has started preparations for a first exercise to increase the protection of the NATO partner. According to the Lithuanian military, a total of 250 soldiers from the German NATO brigade with equipment for a maneuver are to arrive at the Gaiziunai troop training area near the Rukla military base. There they should practice together with Lithuanian troops, local media reported on Tuesday.
A Bundeswehr spokesman in Rukla confirmed to the German Press Agency that a German advance commando should leave for Lithuania by plane on Tuesday. More training troops and about 70 military vehicles should arrive in the Baltic EU and NATO country by ferry on Wednesday, he said. After the deployment of the forces, the exercise is scheduled to begin on October 7th.
After the Russian attack on Ukraine, NATO decided to increase protection on the eastern flank. Germany is to lead a combat troops brigade with 3000 to 5000 soldiers for Lithuania. The German concept envisages stationing weapons, ammunition and a command staff on site. Most of the soldiers are kept ready in Germany.
7.30 p.m .: The US government has announced further arms deliveries for Ukraine worth 625 million US dollars (625 million euros). The package includes other Himars multiple rocket launchers, ammunition and armored vehicles, the White House announced on Tuesday. In a phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, US President Joe Biden stressed that the US would never recognize the illegal annexation of parts of eastern Ukraine by Russia. Biden stressed the US government’s willingness to impose “heavy costs” on any country that supports the annexation. He promised to help Ukraine defend itself against Russian aggression for as long as needed.
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