HAccording to British military experts, a Russian attack in the war of aggression against Ukraine is currently less likely due to the deployment of previously uncommitted forces. This is what was stated in the daily intelligence report issued by the Ministry of Defense in London on Wednesday.
Accordingly, Moscow may have deployed parts of its newly established 25th Army for the first time in battle west of the cities of Severodonetsk and Kremina. The British statement said: “Since the beginning of the invasion, Russia has rarely been able to repel an army-sized non-committal group that could form the basis of a new major offensive.” But with parts of the 25th Army deployed to reinforce weak lines on the front, a new coordinated Russian offensive in the coming weeks is less likely.
The British Ministry of Defense has been publishing daily information about the course of the war since the start of the Russian aggressive war on Ukraine in February 2022. Moscow accuses London of misleading.
All developments in the live stream:
10:48 AM – Russia once again shows the murdered fleet commander on TV
Russia once again showed on television the commander of the Black Sea Fleet who, according to Ukrainian reports, was killed in an attack. Admiral Viktor Sokolov said in an interview that the Black Sea Fleet is operating successfully. The TV station is affiliated with the Ministry of Defense. However, it is not clear from Sokolov’s comments whether the footage was recorded after the Ukrainian missile attack on the fleet headquarters in Crimea.
On September 22, Ukraine said it attacked the Black Sea Fleet headquarters in Sevastopol in Crimea with missiles and caused significant damage. Ukrainian special forces said Sokolov had been killed. Russia initially only confirmed the attack on the Black Sea Fleet headquarters. The Defense Ministry said a soldier was missing. On Tuesday, it published video footage and photos purporting to show Sokolov in a video conference with Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and other senior officers.
10:16 AM – Russia blacklists British admiral
The Russian Foreign Ministry says it has imposed sanctions on 23 other British politicians, military officials, journalists and scientists. The most famous name on the list published on the authority’s official website is British Army Commander Tony Radakin, whom the media attribute to a key role in coordinating Western military aid to Ukraine. Russia had previously imposed sanctions on large parts of the political elite in London.
All blacklisted people are now banned from entering Russia. Moscow justified the expansion of sanctions by “the anti-Russian path implemented by London” and “support for the neo-Nazi regime in Kiev.” Admiral Radakin, who has been Chief of the Defense Staff since the end of 2021, met with Russian Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov shortly before the outbreak of war, where he assured him, according to information from London, that Moscow was not preparing for an invasion.
07:47 AM – Traffic on Al Qurum Bridge returns again after a short interruption
Car traffic on the Qurum Bridge has returned again. After a short break in the morning, there were no traffic jams in any direction, Russian authorities announced via the Telegram SMS service. Traffic on the automobile and railway bridge linking the annexed Crimean peninsula to the Russian mainland is often halted due to Ukrainian drone attacks.
The 19-kilometre-long bridge is important for supplying Russian forces in Crimea and in the largely occupied Kherson Oblast region of southern Ukraine. This building, an imposing project inaugurated by President Vladimir Putin himself, has been attacked several times, in some cases severely damaged. In October 2022, the first explosion occurred on the bridge, and some of it was severely damaged.
04:53 AM – The Prime Minister of Estonia believes that increasing defense spending in NATO is necessary
Estonia’s Prime Minister Kaja Kallas has encouraged other NATO countries to significantly increase their defense spending following the example of the Baltic states. She indicated that her country would increase this budget item to 3.2 percent of GDP next year. “This is something I am also promoting at the NATO level,” Kalas said on the sidelines of the Baltic Security Conference. The regional security situation following the Russian attack on Ukraine will be discussed in the Estonian capital Tallinn on Wednesday.
Look at 1988, when all NATO allies spent more than 2% of their GDP on defence. And why? Because they saw that the danger was serious. She added: „But the danger now is greater than it was during the Cold War because the war has returned to Europe.”
Defense Minister Boris Pistorius will attend the security conference on Wednesday. The Social Democratic politician is expected to chart Germany’s future course in security policy. Representatives of the Baltic Republics as well as other NATO countries and Ukraine (“Baltic Annual Defense Conference / ABCD”) participate in the meeting. The Minister’s speech also marks the end of his three-day visit to Latvia and Estonia.
04:28 AM – Wladimir Klitschko: There is no chance of peace talks with Russia
Former Ukrainian boxing world champion Vladimir Klitschko currently sees no opportunity to negotiate peace with Russia. “Negotiations with whom, with Russia, with Putin, Lavrov, with whom?”, the 47-year-old answered a similar question on Markus Lanz’s program on ZDF on Tuesday.
Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko’s brother added: „They are liars. They have lied to the world for decades with their propaganda.” Klitschko went on to ask what had to be negotiated with the liars and answered himself: „To cover up, to forget: rape, murder, torture, destruction of lives.” If you go into negotiations, do not do so from a position of weakness.
Wladimir Klitschko said he was concerned that people in Germany and other countries might become weary of war. “Prices have risen, life has become more expensive, and life in Europe has changed,” Klitschko said. However, most people still understand and support Ukrainians. “In sports as in war, endurance trumps all.” Even if everything is progressing very slowly and arduously.
It has become clear that Vladimir Putin’s Russia must „swallow” itself from this war – with the consequence that the war will stop and nothing like that will happen again. “Evil has no end unless we put an end to evil.”
00:01 – Airbnb wants to support tourism in post-war Ukraine
The American accommodation services company AirBnb and the Ukrainian Tourism Agency signed a joint agreement to support post-war tourism. “This agreement is very important for me. Even if a very limited tourism offer can be made in Ukraine today, it is important to set the course now for the post-war period,” Nathan Blecharczyk, co-founder of Airbnb, told the Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper.