Worth noting, korrespondent.net has compiled its Invasion of Ukraine series into separate months, beginning May 9th, 2023. Linked in the title.
[Korrespondent] 21:45 Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said he discussed a ceasefire in Ukraine with Putin during a phone call in October, but the Russian leader "expressed no interest" in the idea. Vucic also called on the West to end the war in Ukraine: "Make a ceasefire as soon as possible. Then there will be ways to achieve long-term peace - but make that first step as soon as possible."
21:38 South Korean Defense Minister Kim Yong Hyun supported sending military experts to Ukraine to study the actions of North Korean troops if they appear in the combat zone. "We have established that North Korean troops have been transferred to Russia. I believe that this could be an excellent opportunity for our analysts and observers to study the actions and trends of the North Korean army," he said at a joint briefing with Pentagon Secretary Lloyd Austin.
21:31 Russians shelled the Dnieper, a 14-year-old child was wounded, reported the head of the OVA, Serhiy Lysak.
21:23 During his visit to Odessa on October 29-30, Norwegian Defense Minister Bjørn Arild Gram announced additional military support for Ukraine related to the maintenance and use of F-16 fighters. Norway's new aid of up to 109 million euros will be allocated as a grant through the American JUMPSTART mechanism. The funds will be used to purchase weapons and spare parts for the F-16.
21:18 Head of the Presidential Office Andriy Yermak reported that during his visit to Canada he met with the Minister of State for International Cooperation of the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs Reem Al Hashimy. They discussed the implementation of the peace formula, the return of captives and children abducted by Russia, and the "victory plan."
20:35 The Russian army shelled the city of Kupyansk in the Kharkiv region - two police officers who were patrolling the city were injured, three more people were wounded. A police service car and private houses were damaged, the prosecutor's office reported. A little later, the enemy shelled the village of Kucherovka in the Kupyansk district - one person was killed, one was wounded.
18:57 Ukraine is already producing almost 20 Bohdan self-propelled howitzers per month thanks to assistance from Denmark, which is investing in Ukrainian defense production, Zelensky said in an evening video address. According to him, there are "good results in other areas" and there will be more such results - in particular in the production of shells, equipment, drones. The president said that he has already completed his visit to Iceland and is in Transcarpathia, where he met with Ukrainian businesses.
18:09 Lithuania has transferred a new batch of military aid to Ukraine, which included, in particular, shells, mortars and generators, the country's Defense Ministry reported.
17:36 Pokrovsk in Donetsk Oblast will be completely closed for entry and exit for defense purposes, said Sergei Dobryak, head of the city's military administration. According to him, Russian troops are already 6.7 km from one of Pokrovsk's outskirts. There are 11,900 residents left in the city, including 55 children. "We urge people to leave at least for the winter, because it will be very difficult in the cold. There will be no heating season, but there will be heating points," Dobryak emphasized.
17:28 The US Treasury Department announced new sanctions against 30 individuals and over 360 companies from 17 countries cooperating with the Russian military-industrial complex, including India, China, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey and Uzbekistan. The sanctions are aimed at combating the circumvention of previously introduced restrictive measures. The list also includes Russian companies and enterprises associated with the military-industrial complex, design bureaus and research institutes, as well as six deputy defense ministers of the Russian Federation.
17:21 The European Commission has approved the annual enlargement package, stating that Ukraine is making progress in meeting the criteria for EU membership and hopes to open cluster negotiations in 2025. At the same time, the European Commission noted that "despite progress in implementing fundamental reforms, further efforts are needed," in particular in the fight against corruption, reform of the judicial system, protection of the rights of national minorities, etc.
16:42 In the morning, Russians dropped a KAB on the Khotyn community of the Sumy district. The bomb fell on the territory of a local cemetery - one person was killed, one was wounded, the regional prosecutor's office reported.
16:15 The UN Security Council will meet today at the request of the Ukrainian delegation to discuss Russia's involvement of North Korean troops in the war against Ukraine.
16:07 South Korea is considering sending a military team to Ukraine to observe and analyze the expected deployment of North Korean troops by Russia on the front line, Reuters writes.
14:28 Zelensky said that Ukraine could have seized the Kursk NPP, but never wanted to: "Russia thinks that they are very strong, but if we wanted to seize their nuclear power plant, we would have done it. We could have done it, but we never wanted to."
The president also confirmed that, according to Ukrainian intelligence, about 3,000 soldiers and officers from the DPRK are on Russian territory and "preparing for battle." In addition, according to him, "additional thousands are already on the way." In total, about 12,000 soldiers from North Korea are preparing to participate in the war against Ukraine.
Zelensky also noted that this winter will be decisive and will be a big challenge for Ukraine, while some Western partners have not provided the promised assistance. In particular, Ukraine has received only 10% of the aid package that Congress voted for in 2024. "When they told us that they cannot accept us into NATO in a state of war, but promised 6-7 systems to protect the skies... You can't compare these things, but during the war we agreed because we need to preserve ourselves. And these systems are very important for us. But we still have not received and cannot count on this major air defense support during the heating season," the president noted.
14:16 Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico gave an interview to Russian propagandist Olga Skabeeva on the Rossiya 1 TV channel. In it, he repeated many Kremlin narratives, in particular that sanctions against Russia are not working, and the war could have been ended in the spring of 2022. According to Fico, Zelensky allegedly asked the EU to deploy nuclear weapons in Ukraine, but the allies refused due to the "instinct of self-preservation."
He also claims that the EU is allegedly tired of war, and Zelensky's "victory plan" is an escalation of the war, not a way to end it. In addition, Fico said that he would be "very happy" to come to Moscow for the May 9 parade next year and is ready to talk to Putin.
14:09 Zelensky, in an interview with leading media outlets in Northern Europe, confirmed the NYT report that the request for Tomahawk missiles was one of the secret parts of his "victory plan." According to the president, this was confidential information that Kiev passed on to Washington. "How should we understand these messages? This means that there is nothing confidential between the partners," Zelensky added.
13:23 Russians shelled Nikolskoye, Daryevskaya community, Kherson region, one person was killed. Another person was injured as a result of the enemy attack in Priozernoye, OVA reported.
12:30 All of Ukraine's Nordic partners - Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Finland, Sweden - supported the "victory plan," Zelensky said following the fourth Ukraine-Northern Europe summit. These countries are also ready to increase support for Ukraine's defense, in particular, they discussed the possibility of transferring additional air defense systems. The summit participants agreed to increase defense production both in Ukraine and among partners, as well as to work on strengthening sanctions against the Russian Federation, in particular on limiting the ability to use a shadow tanker fleet to finance aggression.
12:17 Peskov said that Ukrainian troops must leave Russian territories, including "new regions of the Russian Federation." The Kremlin spokesman recalled that this was "a set of conditions that President Putin voiced, or rather, it was his peace initiative." Commenting on media reports about alleged negotiations between Russia and Ukraine to stop attacks on the energy structure, Peskov said that there are "many rumors that have no connection to reality."
11:08 About 3,000 North Korean troops are located 50 km from the border with Ukraine in the Kursk region, the Financial Times writes. According to South Korean intelligence, the first North Korean troops, who arrived in Russia in early October, belong to the elite 11th Army Corps of the North Korean army, known as the "assault corps." At the same time, Ukrainian intelligence expressed doubts about the combat capabilities of the North Koreans, calling them "inexperienced infantrymen."
10:24 Head of the Presidential Office Andriy Yermak discussed the situation on the front and the "victory plan" with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken during his trip to Washington. The parties also discussed the possibility of using frozen Russian assets, strengthening the sanctions regime against the Russian Federation, Euro-Atlantic integration of Ukraine, and support for the energy system in the autumn-winter period.
09:32 The death toll from the Russian strike on Krivoy Rog on October 28 has risen to two - one of the wounded died in hospital, said Serhiy Lysak, head of the Dnipropetrovsk OVA. Another 13 people were injured. A day of mourning has been declared in Krivoy Rog today.
09:27 On the evening of October 29, Russians shelled the village of Bezruki in the Kharkov district, three people were injured, including a ten-year-old child. Another person was injured as a result of a night attack in the village of Tsaredarovka in the Lozovsky district.
09:10 In the morning, Russian troops struck Antonovka in the Kherson region, wounding one person, the OVA reported. Over the previous day, three people were killed and 15 wounded as a result of Russian shelling in the region.
08:41 In the Khotyn community of Sumy region, two people were wounded as a result of a missile strike, OVA reported. Another person was injured in the Velykopisarevska community.
08:16 In Donetsk Oblast, one person was killed as a result of Russian shelling on October 29 - in Sukhi Yal. Another ten people in the oblast were injured in the past 24 hours, reported OVA head Vadim Filashkin.
08:09 The General Staff announced the estimated losses of the Russian Federation as of the morning of October 30:
personnel - about 693,640 (+1,560) people,
tanks - 9137 (+8),
combat armored vehicles - 18,433 (+29),
artillery systems - 19,955 (+38),
MLRS - 1242 (+1),
air defense systems - 986 (+2),
aircraft - 369 (+0),
helicopters - 329 (+0),
Operational-tactical level UAVs - 17,979 (+40),
cruise missiles - 2625 (+0),
ships/boats - 28 (+0),
submarines - 1 (+0),
automotive equipment and tank trucks - 27,840 (+91),
special equipment - 3567 (+1).
07:28 Air defense destroyed 33 of 62 Russian drones (Shahed and unspecified types) in Kyiv, Cherkasy, Khmelnytsky, Kharkiv, Zaporizhia, Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, Sumy, Chernihiv and Poltava regions at night. Another 25 drones were lost, the Air Force reported. In addition, the enemy struck a private sector in Sumy region with an unspecified type of missile at night.
05:52 At night, the Russians attacked Kiev with drones - all of them were neutralized, but as a result of falling debris in the Solomensky district, a fire broke out in several apartments in a multi-story residential building, nine people were injured, including a child, said the head of the Kyiv State Air Defense Forces Sergei Popko.
01:50 Ukraine and Russia, with Qatar as the mediator, are holding talks to end mutual attacks on energy infrastructure, The Financial Times reports, citing sources. According to a senior Ukrainian official, Russia and Ukraine have already reduced the frequency of attacks on each other's energy infrastructure in recent weeks as part of an agreement reached by their intelligence services. At the same time, he noted that Kiev plans to continue to strike targets, including oil refineries, in order to force Russia to negotiate.
00:17 The US has called on China to put pressure on North Korea to withdraw its troops from Russia, CNN reports, citing sources. At the same time, the channel's interlocutors are "not optimistic" that Beijing will hinder North Korea's plans - in particular because it supports the Russian military-industrial complex.
00:06 US Defense Department spokesman Patrick Ryder announced the presence of a "small number" of North Korean troops in the Kursk region. According to him, initial signs indicate that Russia may use them as infantry against Ukrainian troops. At the same time, the Pentagon cannot confirm that North Korean troops are on the territory of Ukraine itself.
Article Linked Is Available Only Via VPN.
[EngMilRu] The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continue the special military operation.
In Kharkov direction, the Sever Group of Forces defeated formations of 3rd, 116th Territorial Defence brigades, 4th and 5th Border Detachments of the Ukrainian border service near Shestakovo, Volchansk, Odnorobovka, and Goptovka (Kharkov region).
Two counterattacks of the AFU 82nd Air Assault Brigade were repelled.
The AFU losses were up to 70 troops, four motor vehicles, and three 122mm D-30 howitzers.
The Zapad Group of Forces liberated Kruglyakovka in Kharkov region.
Russian units engaged 14th, 63rd, 92nd Mechanised brigades, 3rd Assault Brigade near Petropavlovka, Berestovoye (Kharkov region), Nadiya (Lugansk People's Republic), and Serebryansky forestry.
Five counter-attacks of 14th Mechanised Brigade, 77th Airmobile Brigade of the AFU, and 1st National Guard Brigade were repelled.
The enemy lost up to 410 troops, two infantry fighting vehicles, a Kazak armoured fighting vehicle, six pick-up , a 152mm D-20 gun, a U.S.-made 105mm M-119 gun, a 122mm Verba MLRS, an Anklav-N electronic warfare station. Five ammunition depots were destroyed.
The Yug Group of Forces continued to advance into the depths of the enemy's defence, hit 30th, 33rd, 54th, 72nd Mechanised brigades, 46th Airmobile Brigade, 79th Air Assault Brigade, 143rd Infantry Brigade, 10th Mountain Assault Brigade of the AFU, and 18th National Guard Brigade close to Aleksandro-Shultino, Zaliznyanskoye, Sukhiye Yaly, Chasov Yar, Markovo, Dalneye, Romanovka, Kurakhovo, Nikiforovka, Reznikovka, Seversk, and Slavyansk (Donetsk People's Republic).
Two counterattacks by AFU 24th and 28th Mechanised brigades were repelled.
The enemy's losses amounted to up to 520 troops, a U.S.-manufactured M-113 and a 155mm M-777 howitzer, a Kazak armoured fighting vehicle, seven motor vehicles, a French-made 155mm Caesar self-propelled artillery system, two Anklav-N electronic warfare stations, and two ammunition depots.
The Tsentr Group of Forces liberated Selidovo (Donetsk People's Republic).
Russian units hit 114th Mechanised Brigade, 95th Air Assault Brigade, 25th Airborne Brigade, 68th Jaeger Brigade, 38th Naval Infantry Brigade, 109th and 122nd Territorial Defence brigades close to Promin, Rozovka, Lysovka, Vishnyovoye, Leninskoye, Druzhba, Aleksandropol, and Dimitrov (Donetsk People's Republic).
Ten counter-attacks of the AFU 93rd, 100th Mechanised brigades, 49th Assault Battalion, 35th, and 37th Naval Infantry brigades were repelled.
The AFU losses amounted to up to 515 troops, an armoured personnel carrier, two armoured fighting vehicles, three motor vehicles, and a 122mm D-30 howitzer.
The Vostok Group of Forces improved the situation along the front line, defeated 21st National Guard Brigade and 35th Naval Infantry Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine close to Ravnopol and Oktyabr (Donetsk People's Republic).
Two counterattacks of AFU 425th Assault Battalion and 113th Territorial Defence Brigade were repelled.
The AFU losses amounted to up to 115 troops, a tank, eight motor vehicles, and a French-made 155mm Caesar self-propelled artillery system.
The Dnepr Group of Forces engaged the manpower and hardware of the 82nd Air Assault Brigade of the AFU, the 35th Naval Infantry Brigade, the 110th, 124th, and 126th Territorial Defence brigades near Belogorye (Zaporozhye region), Nikolskoye, Tokarevka, and Otradokamenka (Kherson region).
The AFU losses amounted to up to 55 troops, three motor vehicles, a French-made 155mm Caesar self-propelled artillery system, and two Anklav-N electronic warfare stations.
Operational-Tactical Aviation, attack drones, Missile Troops and Artillery of the Russian Groups of Forces have engaged the infrastructure of military airfields; the oilbase used to fuel AFU positions in Zaporozhye and South Donetsk directions; ammunition depots; temporary deployment areas; and clusters of enemy manpower and military hardware in 147 areas.
Russian air defence have shot down a U.S.-made HIMARS MLRS projectile, a French-made Hammer aerial guided bomb, and 67 fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles.
In total, since the beginning of the special military operation, 647 aircraft, 283 helicopters, 34,850 unmanned aerial vehicles, 584 anti-aircraft missile systems, 18,911 tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles, 1,482 MLRS combat vehicles, 16,989 field artillery guns and mortars, and 27,755 units of support military vehicles have been neutralised.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[NewsFront] 23:57 Official summary of the DPR Representative Office in the JCCC from 00:00 10/30/2024 to 00:00 10/31/2024.
A total of 34 cases of armed attacks by the Ukrainian Armed Forces were recorded by the DPR Representative Office in the JCCC over the past 24 hours.
There were reports of two civilians being injured.
DAMAGED:
Nine residential buildings.
Three civil infrastructure facilities.
A total of 34 artillery attacks in the Gorlovka direction.
A total of 116 units of various ammunition were fired.
21:50 Aerospace Forces crews strike at Ukrainian Armed Forces positions in Sumy Oblast.
19:28 Ukrainian naval infantry destroyed missile strikes in the Ivolzhanskoye area in the Sumy region. The equipment and fighters of the 36th Naval Infantry Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces were located there.
19:17 UAV operators of the North group of troops destroyed stronghold of the Ukrainian Armed Forces
19:05 Destruction of a Ukrainian Armed Forces pickup truck by fighters from the 16th Special Forces Brigade in the village of Golubovka –video.
18:50 Situation in the South Donetsk direction.
Fighting for Shakhtarskoye continues, the presence of the Ukrainian Armed Forces remains in the western part of the village and the surrounding forest belts.
There are also battles for Yasnaya Polyana and Novoukrainka. In Novoukrainka, Ukrainian units are sitting in the basements of northern houses and adjacent forest belts, trying to cling to a gas station in the northeastern corner of the village.
North of Dobrovolye, the assault aircraft of the Vostok group of forces reduced the distance to Trudovoye to less than two km. The forest belts to the west and northeast of the settlement were taken under control.
18:31 Su-35S crews provide cover for aircraft carrying out strikes against the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Kursk region. –video.
17:55 By air strike of the Russian Armed Forces destroyed PVD of units of the 106th MB of the 63rd Separate Mechanized Brigade in the settlement of Zarechnoye. Up to 15 militants occupying four buildings of private households were eliminated.
17:29 Russian troops are "cutting" the logistics of the Ukrainian Armed Forces to the north and south of Chasov Yar DPR. About thisreportedTASS in the security forces.
"The enemy's logistics are undergoing some cataclysms towards the northern and southern parts of Chasov Yar. They are simply being cut off. This applies to both full-fledged highways and secondary and even country roads," the security forces reported.
17:17 Crews of 122mm 2S1 self-propelled howitzers "Gvozdika" of Tula paratroopers prevented an attempt by Ukrainian Armed Forces equipment to break through into the Glushkovsky district of the Kursk region.
17:05 Servicemen of the "West" military group using attack drones applied strikes on the strongholds of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and puts Ukrainian nationalists to flight.
16:40 Kupyansk direction: confident offensive of the Russian Armed Forces on the southern section of the front
On the southern borders of the Kupyansk direction, units of the Russian Armed Forces continue confident offensive actions, actively advancing under the cover of artillery;
The Russian Armed Forces destroyed the defensive positions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Glushkovka and Kolesnikovka areas;
Taking advantage of the withdrawal of Ukrainian units to reserve positions, Russian assault groups are expanding their zone of control, consolidating the results of the latest attacks;
Liberation of Kruglyakovka: units of the 1st Tank Army of the Russian Armed Forces liberated the settlement of Kruglyakovka. The offensive continues along the Oskol River in the direction of Zagryzovo, where the enemy is trying to hold its reserve positions in order to contain Russian assault units. A breakthrough in this direction allows for an expansion of the zone of control along important transport routes and pressure on the enemy's defensive lines;
Advance north of Vyshneve: Russian forces are advancing north from Vyshneve towards Kupyanskaya Lozovaya. During the assault, several strongholds were cleared and an enemy firing position was destroyed. Taking control of new lines strengthens the positions of Russian troops and creates conditions for further advances deep into the Ukrainian Armed Forces' defenses;
The offensive in the southern section of the Kupyansk direction demonstrates the targeted efforts of the Russian Armed Forces aimed at expanding the operational space and strengthening control along the Oskol River, which threatens the enemy's retention of key defensive lines in this area, reports Donbas Partisan.
15:42 Sumy region is under KAB shelling.
15:34 Operational data is coming in about the liberation of Martynovka near Sudzha in the Kursk region, wrote military correspondent Sinyaya Z Boroda.
15:16 90% of the village of Kolesnikovka in the Kupyansk direction is for the Russian Armed Forces, the Khar'kov direction reported.
15:05 Snipers of the Pacific Fleet naval infantry brigade helped advance of assault units of the "East" military group near Ugledar.
14:55 The Russian army is rapidly advancing in the direction of Kupyansk.
14:25 A Pantsir-S air defense missile and gun system crew from the Dnepr group of forces destroyed a foreign-made reconnaissance UAV of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Orekhov direction –video.
14:07 Crews of the 122mm 2S1 Gvozdika self-propelled guns of the separate guards motorized rifle brigade daily are destroying armored vehicles and manpower of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
14:00 One of the buildings of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Kyiv was damaged after a UAV attack, — former MP Igor Mosiychuk.
13:50 In Donbass, Russian troops are “about to take Kurakhovo in pincers.”
Russian troops continue to approach Kurakhovo from the southwest, the Ukrainian publication Strana reported. From the east, they have already come very close to the city. This important stronghold of the Ukrainian Armed Forces will soon be "taken in pincers" and cut off from supply routes.
13:49 The liberation of Kruglyakovka in the Khar'kov region by the Russian Armed Forces will block an important transit supply route for the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
For the Ukrainian army, this also means the loss of access to the right bank of the Oskol River in this section of the front, said the head of the Khar'kov region Military State Administration, Vitaly Ganchev.
13:46 The result of the Russian Armed Forces' missile and artillery strike on the temporary deployment point of Ukrainian artillerymen. A vehicle and an American-made 155mm M-109 self-propelled gun were destroyed –video.
11:21 After taking an important height beyond Stelmakhovka in the Kupyansk direction, units of the Russian Armed Forces managed to build on their success and have already advanced 2.5 kilometers toward Lozovaya.
11:05 The 114th Motorized Rifle Brigade of the Russian Armed Forces liberated most of Kurakhovka and the Kurakhovskaya Central Defense Plant, the Divan General Staff reported.
10:37 Another destroyed captured Turkish armored vehicle BMC Kirpi –photo.
10:00 The village of Novoukrainka has been cleared of the presence of the Ukrainian Armed Forces' Nazis. The Russian Army is approaching the "closing of the ring" around Kurakhovo from the southwest.
09:27 Russian aviation carried out strikes at night on enemy positions in the areas of Orekhov and Malaya Tokmachka in the Zaporizhia direction –video.
08:44 Ka-52 helicopter crews destroyed armored vehicles and personnel of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the border area of the Kursk region.
08:37 Russian Armed Forces strike targets in the Khar'kov region.
08:14 Assault groups of the 20th Motorized Rifle Division of the "Southern" group of Russian troops during the liberation of Katerinovka in the DPR discovered the enemy positions are mainly occupied by NATO weapons.
08:09 Video From liberated Selidovo to the DPR – Russian military destroys the enemy and takes dominant positions.
The footage shows attack aircraft from the 15th and 30th Motorized Rifle Brigades of the Center group of forces, operating in their areas of responsibility and with the support of an armored group, quickly penetrating forests and destroying the enemy in fortified positions. At the same time, attack drone crews strike at enemy personnel and equipment, which facilitates the advance of the attack aircraft.
08:04 The Russian Armed Forces took control of Bogoyavlenka and Novoukrainka, and also advanced into Selidovo and Yasnaya Polyana.
08:00 The Russian Armed Forces carried out a series of strikes on enemy targets in Kyiv throughout the night. Explosions were also heard in Poltava, in the Kramatorsk area (occupied DPR), Pavlograd in the Dnipropetrovsk region, Poltava region, Khar'kov region (numerous strikes throughout the night), and Khmelnytsky region.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. by Kirill Velesov
[REGNUM] On October 29, Verkhovna Rada deputy Anna Skorokhod said on television that more than 100,000 cases of SZCh have already been recorded in Ukraine. Translated from Ukrainian, it means unauthorized abandonment of a military unit, i.e. desertion. At the same time, only 10-15% of military personnel, Skorokhod claims, are at the front.
“Ordinary people have a question: why should I, yesterday’s service station worker, be in the trenches when our big officers are not fighting, but are in the rear?!” the deputy said, hinting that 100 thousand is far from the final figure, and there are actually many more deserters.
The head of the Supreme Court of Ukraine, Stanislav Kravchenko, also spoke on this topic the day before. According to him, the situation with the increase in the number of cases of unauthorized abandonment of the unit, as well as refusals to follow orders from the command among Ukrainian military personnel is extremely serious.
“We haven’t analyzed it yet, I can’t give specific figures, but there is a significant trend towards increasing the SZCh,” Kravchenko confirmed in a comment to the Interfax-Ukraine publication.
The figure cited by the media, he noted, "slightly exceeds the real one," but "the situation remains threatening." The head of the Supreme Court believes that the blame for everything lies in the negative coverage of the work of the TCC (military commissars), which everyone is already calling "busification," weak patriotic education, and insufficiently stimulating salaries for the military.
As for the frightening footage of "busification", the Ukrainian authorities have long been trying to restrict the media (especially city or regional Telegram channels) from publishing these videos. But videos of passersby, men entering a store, or drivers being "packed" still leak onto the Internet.
In late October, the court sentenced an Odessa resident to a year of probation for the first time for a video of a force mobilization at the intersection of Grushevskoho and Khimicheskaya streets in the city. The prosecution asked for five years, but an agreement with the investigation and admission of guilt saved the man from a real term.
"I CAME OUT OF THE HOOKAH BAR"
The loudest story about the SZCh in Ukraine is the escape of a serviceman of the 56th separate motorized infantry Mariupol brigade, Sergei Gnezdilov. He announced his decision to leave the unit live on air on one of the state radio stations.
"I voluntarily demobilized. They can just arrest me now, but at least in prison there are clear terms," the man said.
That same day, he wrote on his social networks that the only thing five years of contract service in the Ukrainian Armed Forces convinced him of was that “no one is born for war.”
Public opinion was divided over Gnezdilov's actions. A huge number of military personnel supported him, since they too were at the front without a specific end date for their service, while public figures and "activists" predictably condemned him.
"The beautiful and public abandonment [of the military unit] did become an example. And some followed. And some stayed. Stayed so that tomorrow Russian tanks would not come to Kiev," political expert and serviceman Kirill Sazonov commented pompously on Gnezdilov's actions.
He also spoke out sharply about an article in the American newspaper The New York Times, which in those same days published a hopeless story for Kyiv about the dire situation, mortal fatigue and despair of the Ukrainian military. Journalists also took a comment from Gnezdilov, who said that he “had no choice but to leave, slamming the doors very loudly, and finally make people talk about the problem” – the problem of demobilization, which simply does not exist in Ukraine.
Before Gnezdilov, journalist Viktor Tregubov attracted a lot of public attention to his actions when he left his military unit last fall and called it "the act of a tired infantryman." Tregubov was undergoing treatment in Kiev and did not return to the front, but "left the hookah bar and went his own way."
“Heroes are not slaves” - with such posters, again and again, relatives and wives of military personnel who have not seen their loved ones since February 2022 take to the streets of Kyiv’s Khreshchatyk.
In a comment to Channel Five during one of the rallies, the wife of a serviceman, Ekaterina, said that she had participated in collecting signatures for a petition addressed to Vladimir Zelensky so that the term of service would be 36 months with combat coefficients.
"Sergey Gnezdilov, let's be honest, sacrificed himself to draw the attention of the authorities and society to the fact that the military is exhausted, they need to be replaced, because otherwise there will be mass SZCh. From systemic combat exhaustion, they lose motivation, coordination and health," explained Ekaterina.
The appeal did not produce any results.
"DIED OF PSYCHOSIS"
In an article for the newspaper Espreso, serviceman and blogger Alexey Petrov draws attention to the fact that the problem lies not only in the timing and demobilization.
The main problem is with motivation, which simply does not exist, including due to the illegal, cruel and demonstrative actions of employees of territorial assembly centers (TACs).
"For example, a guy was stopped on the street by the Tetsek workers and mobilized right in his slippers, that is, sent to the troops. They didn't even let him go home, hug his wife, children, mother and father. And the military registration and enlistment office did its job in the meantime," writes Petrov. - <…> And so, a person who is offended by everyone and everything ends up in the Training Center and at the first opportunity "gets on skis."
Despite the bans, videos of “TCK work” are becoming more numerous every day: another riot against military commissars was staged on Tuesday by women from the Volyn village of Karpilovka, who nearly overturned their car and fought off their men.
The highways of Kharkov and Khmelnitsky look frightening: the roads in the city are blocked not just by patrols, but by dozens of TCC “patrols” that stop literally every passing car and drag men out.
The day before, lawyer Serhiy Kasyanchuk stated that employees of the Zhytomyr TCC, while detaining him "for a document check," broke his collarbone, and a mobilized resident of the Lviv region died under strange circumstances two days after "busification." The official reason is "psychosis," but photos published by relatives show that he was brutally beaten.
The key reason why Ukrainians are fleeing the front is the understanding that they have only two options: to become SZh and save their lives or to die defending yet another “fortress,” which is falling in Donbas one after another. Even the authorities no longer hide the fact that they lack people to plug the holes in the defense. This means that “mobilized” men, that is, men taken from the streets, after two or three weeks of preparation and with minimal equipment, will be thrown into the hottest spots of the front. The chances of survival for former SZh workers and other Ukrainians are close to zero.
[TheRegister] A Russian court has ruled that Google owes Russian media stations around $20 decillion in fines for blocking their content, and the fines could get bigger.
To put that into perspective, the World Bank estimates global GDP as around $100 trillion, which is peanuts compared to the prospective fine. Google would therefore have to find more money than exists on Earth to pay Moscow - but on Tuesday fell a little short of that mark when it posted $88 billion quarterly revenue.
The bizarre amount has been calculated after a four-year court case that started after YouTube banned the ultra-nationalist Russian channel Tsargrad in 2020 in response to the US sanctions imposed against its owner. Following Putin's illegal invasion of Ukraine in 2022 more channels were added to the banned list and 17 stations are now suing the Chocolate Factory, including Zvezda (a TV channel owned by Putin's Ministry of Defence), according to local media.
"Google was called by a Russian court to administrative liability under Art. 13.41 of the Administrative Offenses Code for removing channels on the YouTube platform. The court ordered the company to restore these channels," lawyer Ivan Morozov told state media outlet TASS.
The court imposed a fine of 100 thousand rubles ($1,025) per day, with the total fine doubling every week. Owing to compound interest (Einstein's eighth wonder of the world), Google is now on the hook for an insane amount of money, or what the judge on Monday called “a case in which there are many, many zeros.”
Not that there's much chance of bankrupting Alphabet over the issue. Google in Russia has been inactive since 2022 after the search giant effectively pulled out of the country following Putin's special military operation. Google says the Russian authorities had seized its bank accounts and the offshoot was essentially bankrupt. The ad-spreader had over 200 staff in Russia and, while some have been relocated, others were laid off.
The battle is now on in courts around the globe as Russia seeks to seize Google's assets, with little success. The Chocolate Factory certainly seems sanguine about it.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. by Aleksandr Kots
[KP] - Now we are walking along the conveyor line where the bodies arrive. At this stage, the chassis is assembled, - Alexey, deputy head of the production shop, leads the tour in a casual manner.
And I still haven't recovered from the first armor-piercing impression. From the outside, the 130th workshop didn't look so... epic.
"Uralvagonzavod" is a city within a city. With a huge number of production facilities, numbered with three-digit numbers. Moreover, they are scattered around the territory without any topographic logic. If, for example, there is hangar 250, then it is not a fact that 251 will not be at the other end of the industrial "agglomeration". "So that a spy does not guess," I noted to myself.
To navigate here, an inexperienced driver (and the scale is such that you need to get from point A to point B by car) would need a special navigator. However, I had no reason to complain about the driver. He knew the huge territory of Uralvagonzavod like his own home district. And when I slowed down at the legendary 130th workshop, I did not immediately understand that this was the main tank "maternity hospital" of the country. The "misunderstanding" evaporated as soon as I crossed the threshold of the checkpoint.
WORLD OF MILITARY GIANTS
In a large hall with high ceilings and a pile of armored metal, you feel like a little tin soldier who has found himself in the world of military giants. True, there are ordinary people around you who work around the clock, in two 12-hour shifts, for our future victory. And it, as we know, is forged in the rear. Right here.
Two very long spans. The hull is being assembled on the right, the towers on the left.
- Then the product moves to the next stage - this is the assembly of the engine and transmission compartment. At the same time, pipelines are laid in the fighting compartment, electrical installation is underway, - Alexey continues the tour.
On the world's first tank conveyor, the machine gradually acquires muscles, nerves, arteries. For hundreds of meters, as far as the eye can reach, there are hulls, turrets, engines... And everything is boiling, moving, spinning, knocking, rumbling.
YOUTH WITHOUT DAYS OFF
But it wasn't always like that. Veterans of the plant remember sadder times.
- In the 90s, the shop practically didn't work. You could take a month off at your own expense and work somewhere behind the fence. Or just come - they let us go home, because there was no work at all. Those were hard times, what can I say, - sighs the site manager Vladimir. - Now we work in two shifts for 12 hours without days off.
He came to the plant in 1985, following his mother and father. He started as a mechanic, just like his son Daniil does now. For him, a tank is not a foreign organism. He himself managed to fight in the SVO as a T-72 gunner.
- After the army, I took a little rest and followed my father to get a job at Uralvagonzavod, - he recalls today. - I have an education in "Special Machines and Devices", and since childhood I have been attracted to military equipment. Now I am installing ammunition racks and a drum in a tank. I install a shovel on an BREM (armored repair and recovery vehicle - Ed.), and I assemble compartments for grenade launchers on a BMPT (combat tank support vehicle "Terminator" - Ed.).
- In general, we recruited a lot of young people, - Vladimir assures. - Training right away. We assign a mentor, and the newcomer begins to delve into the profession. I recruited more than 40 people for my section, most of them guys who just came from the army.
- Daniil, how come you're so young - and don't have days off? When should I start my personal life? - I ask the still very young guy.
- After the victory, we'll have a rest! - he smiles, turning something in the tank drum with a tricky key. - I just moved in with my girlfriend to spend more time together. She understands everything. And as a person who saw with his own eyes what the SVO is, I understand how much my work is needed now. And if something is urgent, the management always meets me halfway.
"MOCKING THE CAR"
The turrets are assembled on the Daniil run. While on the adjacent belt, engines and radiators are installed in the hulls, technical fluids are poured in, all systems are checked, and the "head" is covered with "brains". The gun is rolled in, sighting systems and digital displays are mounted. And then, after the engine tests, the two runs inevitably intersect - when the "head" is put on the "body". Here they call it a "sketch". Although, of course, no one throws the heavy turret. It is carefully installed on the hull, after which everything is checked again. Only now special attention is paid to the fire control system.
On a special stand, the vehicle is tilted left, right, up, down, and the automatic loading system is tested under increased loads. I have worked with tank crews in the SVO zone many times, and I can imagine the conditions in which they have to squeeze all the capabilities out of the tank. And it must fire from any position. The lives of the crew depend on it. That is why the factory workers “torture” the vehicle so much at the assembly stage - so that there are no failures in combat. But this is not yet a proving ground, where the vehicle is driven hard and fast. And where the first combat firing will finally take place. There are specially trained people here for this too.
POLES, GERMANS, ITALIANS, THEY RAN AWAY
Viktor, a tester of weapons for combat and special vehicles, came to the plant in 2022. Before that, he served in the army, fought in Chechnya, worked in the OMON. And with the beginning of the SVO, he went to the front as a volunteer. Battles for Lisichansk, the liberation of Maryinka, he was discharged after being wounded in Kleshcheyevka, near Artemovsk (Bakhmut). According to combat geography, I immediately read serious front-line experience. Viktor says that he could not sit at home. His grandfather fought in the Great Patriotic War, his father - in Afghanistan. Upbringing. He just finished his night shift, but he does not refuse to talk.
- I had never worked with tanks before, - the veteran smiles. - But they taught me everything here. In principle, I have always worked with weapons, I get the hang of it, I understand what is required of me. And I like working with weapons. We check the automatic loader, do sighting… In general, our tanks showed themselves excellently in the SVO, I saw for myself how they helped us in the breakthrough.
- Where?
- At Maryinka, I was then put in charge of the group, we needed a roll in the morning. Before dawn we were sitting and thinking about it - a difficult task. Then we heard a loud roar - seven of our tanks were moving. And behind them armored personnel carriers, planes appeared, helicopters... It was like in the movies. I look at my guys, their spirits even rose when they saw the tanks. They were ready to tear the enemy apart with their bare hands. In my direction there were Poles, Germans, Italians... I can say one thing, they abandoned everything - their positions, weapons and just ran away.
SON AT THE FRONT
Moving to the next workshop, I catch myself thinking that the connection between the home front and the front at Uralvagonzavod is directly tangible. Here, civilian plant workers, veterans of the SVO, and those who are waiting for their relatives from the front to come back work without days off. For example, Yulia with her unfeminine set of professions - a lathe operator, a blacksmith, a chipper... She stamps bolts for tanks - such weighty dumbbells that need to be heated on pliers over a fire, put under a press and thrown into a box of finished products. And so on for 12 hours!
“We’re helping our guys,” she says, embarrassed, standing at her machine with a large Z sticker.
My son is fighting... And imagine - in a tank. Platoon commander, four vehicles under his command.
And some factory workers even work close to the front lines - at collection points for damaged equipment. They bring back to life what the soldiers themselves are unable to repair.
"TSAR-MANGAL" AND "TAGLIOCHKA"
- “Heavy” vehicles are brought to the points where the electrical wiring is burnt, the mounting brackets are destroyed, where the bottom needs to be unscrewed, all the units that were torn out need to be welded,” says the site manager Andrey.
- What are the most common injuries now?
- Cumulative penetrations. At least two or three holes in each tank. There are record holders - several dozen hits. About 40 drones flew into one "Tsar-Barbecue" based on an old T-72! We assembled it completely, shook out the entire transmission, changed everything from the bottom, installed everything. Off we go!.. And there is one vehicle with the inscription "Tagilochka" on the side, it has come to us about 30 times. Everything has already been changed in it, even, probably, for the second time. But if it comes to us that many more times, we will restore it just as many more times.
- They make durable tanks in the Urals! - I give them a well-deserved compliment.
- The main thing is that they are repairable, - confirms the department specialist Mikhail. - There are hexacopters that drop a bunch of cumulative charges, 10, 12, 15 pieces. One or two will still penetrate, but there were no such machines that we would not put on the move after that. Well, plus our tanks have such potential that even if everything completely breaks down, but if the machine is moving, it will still shoot. You can manually aim, manually target, everything is duplicated. The gunner fails, the commander can lead. Or vice versa - the commander's connection is lost, the gunner can work. How can we not win with such machines? We will definitely win!
CONVERSATION WITH THE CHIEF DESIGNER "There's a lot of PR in Leopards"
- There is a common opinion that the time of tanks is passing. And perhaps we are seeing the last major conflict in which they are used for their intended purpose. What will replace them then? And was scientific and technical thought in tank building going in the right direction, if we look back 2.5 years?
- Of course, we analyzed the use of armored vehicles in Syria, Karabakh, - the chief designer met me in his office. - Before the start of the Second World War, we strengthened the protection, made it all-round, reduced the area of weakened zones. Plus the total equipment of tanks with thermal imagers. Digital communication on new vehicles. And, probably, everyone has heard of the T-90M tank - it appeared before the start of the Second World War.
- But did you have to rethink something?
- Of course! At the first stage - mass use of close combat weapons and modern high-precision anti-tank guided missiles, including "Javelin" and "Stugna". Special protective structures were introduced.
At some point, the nature of the threats changed. With the advent of kamikaze drones, the life of everyone who uses armored vehicles has become much more difficult. Today, this is the most common anti-tank weapon. The overwhelming percentage of disabled vehicles is the result of using FPV drones. Today, we produce tanks, without exception, with EW kits (electronic warfare systems. - Ed.). Various protective barriers have been introduced. They do not reduce the functionality of the tank. If used correctly, the machines will cope with their combat mission.
- Do you have feedback from the front?
- From the very first days! We obtain information about the efficiency of our vehicles from various sources. This includes, of course, the tank crews themselves. Plus, we conduct continuous analysis of open sources on the Internet, where there are a huge number of videos, both from our side and from the other. There are also official channels - these are our customers, who periodically provide their analysis. I am sure that we have a complete picture of the weak points - both in the equipment itself and in the tactics of its use.
- Recently, a captured Leopard was delivered to Uralvagonzavod (part of Rostec - Ed.). What can you say about this equipment of a potential enemy?
- We have been constantly analyzing Western armored vehicles even before the SVO. There are strong differences between our approaches. You have probably noticed that our vehicles are lighter and more compact. At the same time, our weapons are more powerful. This is a powerful 125-mm cannon, automated shot preparation, including automatic loading, while Western models have manual loading. We are superior to our opponents in many ways.
Of course, there are some things where there is parity or we are lagging behind. But it is already obvious that Western models have not proven their worth in the conditions of the SVO. We waited for them to appear on the battlefield so that everyone could see that there was too much PR around these machines.
- Is it possible to draw the appearance of the tank of the future today?
- I don't think so. The only thing I can say is that people should be removed from the front line. No matter how perfect the machine is, the risk of its destruction remains. Unmanned vehicles are already commonplace today. So, most likely, the trend will go in this direction. But everything that concerns firepower, protection and mobility will also be improved. Our path is compact, relatively light vehicles with a high level of automation.
- Your favorite tank?
- An unexpected question! In the 60s and early 70s, Soviet designers created the T-72 tank. Even today, in the T-72B3M modification, it performs combat missions on the front lines with dignity. I would highlight this machine. The T-90M tank borrowed a lot from the T-72. Our predecessors very correctly identified the trend in the development of tank building for many years to come.
- You watch videos from battle sites on social networks. What do you feel when you see a tank you created being hit?
- You know, when you realize that there is a crew there... - the chief designer asked to turn off the voice recorder.
It was all written on his face. And he takes every such loss personally...
In fact, I asked this question to almost everyone I spoke to at Uralvagonzavod. Perhaps the general answer was formulated by father and son Vladimir and Daniil from the 130th workshop:
- Every combat vehicle has its own fate, depending on your luck. One can fight for several months, another can burn out in 10 minutes, war is war. It hurts for the crew... But we will build new tanks!
#3
And there is one vehicle with the inscription "Tagilochka" on the side, it has come to us about 30 times.
One of the themes we constantly hear from our betters in the military/intelligence community is that huge numbers of Russian tanks and infantry fighting vehicles are being destroyed. Since we have pix and video, there is no doubt the machines are being struck and disabled. But if the vehicles are being retrieved and sent to the factory to be rebuilt, perhaps those "losses" are not as unsustainable as they might appear.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
