Medvedev, now deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, claimed that the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR) would have their interests protected if they became part of Russia. “The referendums in Donbass are necessary, not only for the systematic protection of the residents of the LPR, DPR and other liberated regions, but also for the restoration of historical justice,” Medvedev said in a Telegram message. “Trespassing on the territory of Russia is a crime, the commission of which allows you to use all the forces of self-defense,” said former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. Alexey Nikolsky | Afp | Getty Images “After their implementation and the acceptance of new territories in Russia, the geopolitical transformation in the world will become irreversible,” he added, implying that becoming part of Russia would allow Moscow to justify the defense of such territories, which already considered under Moscow. control. “Trespassing on the territory of Russia is a crime, the commission of which allows you to use all the forces of self-defense,” he said, adding “that is why referendums are so feared in Kyiv and in the West. That is why they must be carried out.” Medvedev’s comments come after the separatist leaders of the DPRK and LHR stepped up calls for an immediate vote on joining Russia, calls that come as Ukraine’s counteroffensive in the country’s northeast begins to spread, putting pressure on Luhansk, an area that the Russia claimed to have fully captured in July. — Holly Elliott
Russia is likely to have moved submarines away from Crimea
Russia has almost certainly relocated its Kilo-class submarines from their home port in Sevastopol to Russian-held Crimea in southern Russia, according to the latest intelligence update from Britain’s Ministry of Defence. “The command of the Russian Black Sea Fleet has almost certainly relocated the KILO-class submarines from the port of Sevastopol in Crimea to Novorossiysk in Krasnodar Krai, southern Russia,” the ministry said on Tuesday. The Russian Navy’s Kilo-class submarine Rostov-na-Donu B-237 enters the Bosphorus Strait en route to the Black Sea on February 13, 2022 in Istanbul, Turkey. Images Dia | News Getty Images | Getty Images This is most likely due to the increased level of security threat following Ukraine’s increased long-range strike capability, the ministry added, and following recent attacks on the fleet headquarters and main naval airfield. “Securing the Black Sea Fleet base in Crimea was likely one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s motivations for annexing the peninsula in 2014. The base’s security has now been directly undermined by Russia’s continued aggression against Ukraine,” the ministry said. — Holly Elliott
Battle to liberate occupied Luhansk continues as Russian proxies appear worried
Ukraine’s counteroffensive in the country’s northeast continues, with the Luhansk region believed to be no longer under the full control of Russian forces. A Ukrainian official said on Monday that Kiev forces had retaken control of the village of Bilohorivka in Luhansk. Serhiy Haidai, head of the Luhansk regional military command, said in a Telegram to Mondat that Bilohorivka “has been cleared and is fully under the control of the Armed Forces.” “We must all be patient in anticipation of the large-scale decapitation of the Luhansk region. This process will be much more difficult than in the Kharkiv region. There will be a fierce fight for every centimeter of Luhansk land. The enemy is preparing for defense.” he said. Meanwhile, Russian authorities and their proxies appear concerned about Ukraine’s gains in an area of the country where there are two self-proclaimed “republics” in Luhansk and Donetsk. A photo taken on June 17, 2022, shows a damaged school in the village of Bilohorivka, not far from Lysychansk in the Luhansk region, which was seized by Russian forces in early July. Anatoly Stepanov | Afp | Getty Images Denis Pushilin, head of the Russian-backed separatist region of Donetsk, called on his fellow separatist leader in Luhansk on Monday to combine efforts aimed at preparing a quick referendum on joining Russia. In a video posted on his Telegram channel, he told the leader of the Luhansk People’s Republic, Leonid Pasechnik, in a phone call that “our actions must be synchronized.” Analysts at the Institute for the Study of War said the desire to hold a quick referendum “suggests that Ukraine’s ongoing counteroffensive in the north is panicking proxy forces and some Kremlin decision-makers”. ISW analysts said the referendums would be “incoherent” as “Russian forces do not control all of Donetsk and Luhansk regions”. “Partial annexation at this stage would put the Kremlin in the awkward position of demanding that Ukrainian forces not occupy ‘Russian’ territory and the humiliating position of being unable to enforce that demand. It remains very unclear that Russian President Vladimir Putin would be willing to commit himself to such a commitment for the dubious benefit of easing the threat of NATO or Ukraine with an escalation that remains highly unlikely at this stage,” they said. — Holly Elliott
The UK says it will match current support for Ukraine in 2023
Newly elected UK Prime Minister Liz Truss is expected to announce a multi-billion pound stimulus package to help people with rising energy prices. Carl Court/Staff/Getty Images The UK has announced that in 2023 it will match or exceed the amount of military aid spent on Ukraine this year. British Prime Minister Liz Truss is expected to announce during a visit to the United Nations in New York this week that leaders “must end Putin’s economic blackmail by removing all energy dependence on Russia,” according to a pre-released government statement . Truss will use her visit to New York this week to reinforce the UK’s “commitment to the security and territorial integrity of Ukraine, announcing that the UK will match or exceed our record military support in 2022 in Ukraine next year,” the government said. The UK said Ukraine’s gains in the conflict over the past two weeks amounted to “an important moment in the war” and said the success was proof of what the Ukrainian people can do with the support of gay democracies.
Missile strikes near Ukraine’s nuclear plant, IAEA says
A. A Russian serviceman guards an area of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in territory under Russian military control, southeastern Ukraine, May 1, 2022. AP An explosion near a power plant in Ukraine damaged windows and power lines but did not affect the operation of three reactors there, Kyiv told the International Atomic Energy Agency on Monday. The blast from the bombing occurred about 300 meters, or 984 feet, from the industrial site of the Southern Ukraine Nuclear Power Plant in Mykolaiv province, the IAEA said in a news release. No personnel were injured by the missile, which hit three power lines that were quickly reconnected, Ukraine’s nuclear power company Energoatom told the IAEA. Ukrainian authorities have reportedly called the bombing an act of “nuclear terrorism” by Russia. The IAEA also said its experts discovered that a power line used to supply electricity to another nuclear power plant, the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, had been disconnected on Sunday. Zaporizhia, located in southeastern Ukraine, is Europe’s largest power plant and has six reactors currently in a “cold shutdown state,” the IAEA said. The plant still receives the electricity it needs for essential security functions, but now has no access to backup power from the Ukrainian grid, IAEA experts said. The disconnected power line carried electricity from the Ukrainian grid through the switching station of a nearby thermal power plant, the IAEA said. It was not immediately clear how the line was disconnected. “The situation at the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant remains fragile and precarious,” IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said in the press release. “Last week, we saw some improvements on its power supplies, but today we were informed of a new setback on that. A nuclear safety and protection zone must be urgently established there,” Grossi said. — Kevin Breuninger Mon Sep 19 2020 3:41 AM EDT
Putin increasingly relies on volunteer and proxy forces to fight in Ukraine: ISW
Russia is increasingly relying on volunteer and proxy forces for its combat operations in Ukraine, according to a report by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW). “(Russian President) Putin’s shaky relationship with the military command and the Russian (MoD) may partly explain the Kremlin’s increasing focus on recruiting ill-prepared volunteers into ad-hoc irregular units rather than attempting to draft them into reserves or replacement groups for regular Russian combat units,” ISW said. Part of this, he said, is because Putin “bypassed the Russian senior military command and Ministry of Defense (MoD) leadership throughout the summer and especially after the defeat around Kharkiv Oblast.” — Natasha Toorak Mon Sep 19 2020 3:41 AM EDT
Russian troops strike nuclear plant. reactors still intact
Russian forces struck a nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine early Monday, but its three reactors were not damaged, Ukraine’s state-run nuclear power company said. The Pivdennoukrainsk nuclear power plant in Ukraine’s southern Mykolaiv region is still operating normally, Ukraine’s Energoatom said. The attack, which caused an explosion about 300 meters away from the reactors and…
