Latest news about Russia and the war in Ukraine

Ukrainian forces appear to be making progress in a counterattack in the southern Kherson region, one of four regions “annexed” by Moscow last week, with a Russian-appointed official admitting Kyiv’s forces are making gains around Kherson.

“The situation is tense, let’s put it that way,” Vladimir Saldo, head of Ukraine’s Russia-installed Kherson region, said on state television. He said that the Ukrainian forces made some breakthroughs in the area and took control of some settlements.

Ukraine continued to make progress both in the northeast, in the Kharkiv region, and around Kherson in the south, apparently unhappy with President Putin’s announcement last week that Moscow “includes” four regions of Ukraine: Kherson, Zaporizhia, Donetsk, and Luhansk separatist and pro-Russian” republics” in eastern Ukraine.

Ukraine and its allies condemned the move as illegal and illegal.

– Holly Eliat

A research report published on Monday revealed that pro-Russian groups are raising funds in cryptocurrency to support paramilitary operations and evade US sanctions as the war with Ukraine continues.

As of September 22, these fundraising groups have raised $400,000 in cryptocurrency since the start of the invasion on February 24, according to TRM Labs, a digital asset compliance and risk management firm.

The research revealed that the groups, using the encrypted messaging app Telegram, offer ways for people to send money that is used to supply Russia-affiliated militias and support combat training in locations close to the border with Ukraine.

The fundraising group TRM Labs has identified Task Force Rusich, which the US Treasury describes as a “neo-Nazi paramilitary group that fought alongside the Russian military in Ukraine”. The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has imposed sanctions on the Rossich Task Force.

On the Telegram channel, TRM Labs discovered that this group was looking to raise money for items such as thermal imaging equipment and radios.

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Ukraine will not negotiate with Russia unless it agrees to withdraw all of its forces from Ukrainian territory — but with this growing possibility, the resolution of the conflict is currently on the battlefield, one Ukrainian lawmaker told CNBC.

“Ukraine is ready for negotiations at any moment, but negotiations about what? About the withdrawal of Russian troops from our territory? Certainly,” Ukrainian MP Oleksiy Goncharenko told CNBC Monday.

“But Putin will not do that. He has claimed that the conquered territories are Russian … It is clear that he has chosen the method of escalation and that is why the only answer is on the battlefield and Ukraine is doing it.”

Goncharenko noted that Putin’s partial military mobilization, in which 300,000 men are expected to be called up to fight in Ukraine, would only prolong the war rather than enable Moscow to win it.

He likened the army and the state in Russia to a dinosaur, saying:[It has] A huge body, a small head, and very small brains inside this head.”

When will Russia realize? [it can’t win] We are ready to negotiate, but it seems that Putin will never do that.”

– Holly Eliat

Britain’s Ministry of Defense said the “partial military mobilization” announced by President Putin two weeks ago appears to be dysfunctional and disorganized.

President Putin announced a recall on September 21, which led to thousands of qualified combative men attempting to flee the country. Other reports indicated that the men who would fight in Ukraine were poorly trained and ill-equipped for war. There have been multiple reports of men being mistakenly recruited.

The MoD said that even Putin admitted there were problems with the draft, telling his National Security Council on September 29 that “so many questions are being asked during this mobilization campaign, and we must immediately correct our mistakes and not repeat them.”

“Putin’s unusually quick acknowledgment of problems highlights the flaw in mobilization during its first week. It is possible that local officials were unclear about the exact scope and legal basis of the campaign,” the ministry said on Twitter.

“They almost certainly drafted some individuals who are outside the definitions claimed by Putin and the Defense Ministry. With reservists still being drafted into transit camps, Russian officials will likely struggle to provide training and find officers to command new units,” the ministry added.

– Holly Eliat

The Russian defeat at Lyman in northeastern Ukraine and other parts of the Kharkiv region, along with the Kremlin’s failure to effectively and fairly conduct partial military mobilization, “fundamentally changed the Russian information space,” according to analysts at the study institute. the war.

“The Russian information space has deviated significantly from the narratives favored by the Kremlin and the Russian Defense Ministry that things are generally under control,” Analysts at the Center for Defense and Foreign Affairs Research said On Sunday, noting that Ukraine’s restoration of control of Lyman in northeastern Kharkiv this weekend led to mounting criticism of President Putin’s regime, senior officials and the so-called “special military operation” (as Russia calls it) in Ukraine.

Analysts noted in their latest that “Kremlin-sponsored media and Russian bloggers – the prominent Telegram community of Russian war correspondents, former officials and nationalists – mourned the loss of Lehman while simultaneously criticizing bureaucratic failures of partial mobilization.” War assessment.

“Kremlin sources and teachers attribute the defeat around Lyman and Kharkiv Oblast to Russian military failures to properly supply and reinforce Russian forces in northern Donbass and grumble about lack of transparency regarding the progress of the war,” they added.

ISW noted that it has become more common for even Russia’s most pro-Kremlin TV show to host guests who criticize how the conflict has progressed, with some even criticizing Putin’s decision to annex four Ukrainian regions last Friday “before securing their management of the border or even the front line, expressing skepticism” About Russia’s ability to occupy all these lands. ”

“Kremlin advocates no longer hide their disappointment with the partial mobilization procedure, frequently discussing the illegal mobilization of some men and noting issues such as alcoholism among the newly mobilized forces,” ISW said.

“Some live speakers expressed concern that mobilization would not generate the strength needed to regain initiative on the battlefield, given the poor quality of Russian reserves.”

– Holly Eliat

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday that the success of Ukraine’s soldiers is not limited to retaking Lyman in the country’s northeast, with more towns liberated around Kherson.

“The bulk of the reports this week is the list of settlements liberated from the enemy within the scope of our ongoing defensive operation. The story of the liberation of Lyman in the Donetsk region is now the most popular in the media. But he said in his nightly speech that the successes of our soldiers are not limited to Lyman. He said that Ukrainian forces are also working to liberate the small settlements of Arkhanhelsky and Mirolyubivka in the Kherson region.

Ukraine continues its counterattack in the northeast of the country as it tries to recover more occupied territories from Russia, which announced last Friday that it would annex four regions of Ukraine, in a move the international community described as illegal and farcical.

Over the weekend, Ukraine announced that its forces had regained full control of the town of Lyman, which had been used as a major logistics center by Russian forces, marking another important victory for Kiev. The Russian Defense Ministry said it withdrew its forces from the town to prevent its encirclement.

– Holly Eliat