Putin's army seethes after partial mobilization: Apparently a mass brawl in a Russian military base

Created: 04/10/2022 04:47

By: Florian Naumann, Bettina Menzel, Christina Denk, Franziska Schwarz

Ukrainian troops appear to be gaining territory again in eastern Ukraine.

Russian troops leave Lyman.

The news ticker.

• Setbacks

  for Moscow in the

  Ukraine war

  : secret services suspect new problems

• Escape

  from

  partial mobilization

  : Moscow arrests conscripts at the border

• Russia's defeat

  in

  Donbass

  : Experts suspect Putin himself to be behind the withdrawal decision

• This

  news ticker on military developments

  in the Ukraine war is constantly updated.

Update from October 3, 9:42 p.m .:

According to official information, the first recruits called up in the course of partial mobilization in Russia have been transferred to the occupied Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.

"Mobilized soldiers are undergoing combat training in the Donetsk People's Republic," the Defense Ministry in Moscow said on Monday on its Telegram channel.

It also posted a video showing soldiers doing target practice.

The Russian military had previously announced the arrival of reservists in the Luhansk region.

Both in Luhansk and in the northern part of the Donetsk region, Russian troops have recently fallen on the defensive.

So they had to evacuate the strategically important city of Lyman.

Ukrainian formations are now targeting the connecting roads between the towns of Svatove, Kreminna and Rubischne in order to encircle the Russian units stationed there or force them to retreat.

Moscow military bloggers report a shortage of personnel on the Russian side.

According to the Russian Defense Ministry, however, the reservists will not be deployed to fill gaps, but will secure the supply routes after their training in the rear of the front.

The Russian leadership said that all reservists should first go through training before being deployed to refresh their military knowledge.

Experts estimate that most of the recruits will only be deployed in one to two months.

However, numerous irregularities and problems in the course of the partial mobilization have already become known.

Apparently one dead and one injured in a Russian attack on a hospital in the Kharkiv region

Update from October 3, 7:40 p.m .:

According to Ukrainian information, one person died in a Russian attack on a hospital in the Kharkov region, and another person was injured.

The fatality is said to have been an anesthetist.

The building of the hospital in the Kupyansk district was almost completely destroyed by the attack, the governor of the Kharkiv region, Oleh Syniehubov, said on Monday.

The information could not be independently verified.

Mass brawl between newly drafted and long-serving Russian contract soldiers

Update from October 3, 6:06 p.m .:

Against the background of the partial mobilization in Russia, according to media reports, there was a mass brawl between the newly conscripted and longer-serving regular soldiers on a military base near Moscow.

"The newcomers were not welcomed there with bread and salt - on the contrary: the soldiers serving there demanded their clothes and mobile phones from the newcomers," reported the Internet portal Baza on Monday.

The conflict escalated into a mass brawl - in which the newly recruited got the upper hand.

They are said to have beaten up their tormentors so badly that around 20 regular soldiers finally locked themselves in a building and called the police for help.

Only after their arrival was the conflict settled.

Both sides refrained from reporting.

also read

After the annexations: what Russia now intends to do with the Ukrainian territories

"Putinland" as a "mafia state": Navalny confidante explains Russia's "madness" - and three scenarios for Putin's end

The conflict falls into a whole series of tensions caused by the partial mobilization ordered by Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin almost two weeks ago.

According to media reports, the mobilization is chaotic in many places.

For example, men are called up despite previous illnesses or a lack of qualifications, or after being called up, some are dropped off on the open field without a trainer.

In many places there is a lack of clothing, equipment and food.

According to lawyer Pavel Chikov, six mobilized men have died while they were still in training - before they were actually scheduled to take part in the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine.

Ukrainian counter-offensive recaptures not only Lyman but two other settlements in Kherson

Update from October 3, 4:55 p.m

. According to their own statements, the Ukrainian armed forces were not only able to recapture the city of Lyman in their counter-offensive, but also two other settlements in the north of the Cherson region.

Ukrainian President Volodmyr Zelenskyy confirmed the recovery of the villages of Archanhelske and Myroliubivka on Sunday evening, the

reported on Monday.

The information could not be independently verified.

Foreign Minister Baerbock responds to Putin's nuclear threats: "We take his words very seriously"

Update from October 3, 4:47 p.m .:

Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) has expressed concern about repeated threats from Russian President Vladimir Putin to use a nuclear bomb in the Ukraine war.

"We take his words very seriously, anything else would be negligent," said Baerbock in an interview with the

.

In the now more than 220 days of war, Putin has "repeatedly shown that he does not shy away from the worst war crimes".

He doesn't stop at hospitals and children and is even willing to ruin his own country.

"However, Putin has made irresponsible threats before, and at the same time he knows that no country in the world - not even those who, like China, have not yet taken a clear position - would simply accept ignition on this issue," explained Baerbock on the atomic bombs -Threat.

"We must not and will not engage in blackmail, Putin would see that as an invitation to further escalation." Putin's speech on Friday made it clear "that his imperial mania is not limited to Ukraine," Baerbock continued.

Putin's bloodhound Ramzan Kadyrov wants to send three of his underage sons to the front

Update from October 3, 3:35 p.m

.: Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov wants to send three of his sons to the front in Ukraine.

The 14 to 16-year-old youths would soon be deployed to the "most difficult sections of the contact line," Kadyrov wrote on Telegram, according to the AFP news agency.

He's "not joking," said Kadyrov, also nicknamed "Putin's bloodhound."

His sons had received military training “for a long time”.

Kadyrov also shared a video showing the youths firing bullets at a shooting range.

It was time to prove yourself in a real battle.

"I applaud their determination," Kadyrov wrote.

According to his official website, he is the father of 14 children.

However, Russian media assume that he has other children.

The ruler of the Russian republic of Chechnya and his militias were held responsible for numerous attacks in Chechnya.

Kadyrov's men were also deployed alongside the Russian army in Ukraine.

Ramzan Kadyrov (archive photo).

© IMAGO/Yelena Afonina

Ukraine-News: Moscow suddenly cuts planned services for its recruits

Update from October 3, 2:14 p.m

.: Members of the Russian State Duma have withdrawn a law that would have awarded Russian recruits in the Ukraine war 300,000 rubles (equivalent to around 5400 euros) and other benefits, reports the Institute for the Study of War (ISW ).

A reason for this step was not given, write the military experts of the US think tank in their October 2nd analysis.

Ukraine-News: Putin's troops in annexed areas under pressure

Update from October 3, 11:19 a.m

.: In the areas annexed by Russia (Zaporizhia, Cherson, Donetsk and Luhansk), Moscow’s troops are still under massive pressure.

The Russian occupiers now reported numerous attempts by Ukraine to break through front lines.

This information could not be independently verified.

The occupiers assume that after the annexations in Ukraine, a major Russian offensive will begin in the east and south of the country.

The separatist leader Denis Puschilin in Donetsk was now confident on state television that the situation at the front would develop in favor of the occupiers.

The partial mobilization brings new personnel and new technology to the combat areas, he said.

However, there are also reports of mass exodus of conscripts.

Setbacks for Moscow in the Ukraine war: secret services suspect new problems

Update from October 3, 10:46 a.m

.: Moscow's problems with partial mobilization go even further than the mass exodus of conscripts.

Reservists who have been drafted are currently temporarily gathering in tent camps.

In its most recent summary report published by the Ministry of Defense in London, the British secret service estimates that this indicates that the military is having difficulties training recruits and finding officers to lead new units.

The secret services also strongly assume that since partial mobilization was announced, Russians who do not actually fall under the definition of the recruitment wave have already been conscripted.

Even Vladimir Putin admitted to his National Security Council a week later that mistakes had been made and warned that they must not happen again.

The British see this admission by the head of the Kremlin as a sign of serious problems.

Regional officers would presumably not know the exact scope or objectives of the mobilization.

Escape from partial mobilization: Moscow arrests conscripts at the border

Update from October 3, 8:39 a.m

.: The partial mobilization ordered by Putin triggered a real mass exodus in Russia.

The most recent known anecdote about this happened at the border to neighboring Georgia: More than 180 conscript men were stopped there at the border crossing.

The agency Interfax reported, citing the military commissariat of the Russian region of North Ossetia, which borders on the ex-Soviet Republic of Georgia, that they were handed a call-up notice directly at the Verkhny Lars border crossing.

The information could not be checked independently.

Since the partial mobilization, tens of thousands of men have fled not only to Georgia in the South Caucasus, but also, for example, to the Central Asian ex-Soviet states of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.

Ukraine-News: US military experts see new focus of Putin's troops

Update from October 2, 10:25 p.m .:

The Ukrainian General Staff reported further successes on Sunday evening: Russian attacks on seven settlements near the city of Bakhmut in Donetsk Oblast were repelled.

At the same time, eight Iranian “kamikaze drones” were shot down within one day, the

reported on Twitter, citing official information from Kiev.

However, this could not be verified independently.

The reports of Russian attacks in the Donetsk region contrast somewhat with an assessment by the US think-thanks ISW.

Its experts had speculated that Vladimir Putin himself ordered the city of Lyman to be abandoned in order to focus Russian military efforts on the southern Ukrainian regions of Sapoyzhia and Kherson.

Update from October 2, 6:23 p.m .:

According to its own statements, Russia has already stopped more than 180 conscripts on the border with neighboring Georgia when they tried to escape from entering the military.

The Interfax agency reports that they were handed a call-up notice directly at the Werchni Lars border crossing.

She referred to the military commissariat of the Russian region of North Ossetia, which borders Georgia.

Meanwhile, Russia's Defense Ministry said recruits would have to complete training in the "rear areas" of the combat zone.

It had previously been said that the newly drafted men would initially be deployed in the immediate vicinity, but not in the war zone itself.

Russia's defeat in Donbass: Experts suspect Putin himself to be behind the withdrawal decision

Update from October 2, 5:01 p.m .:

Military experts from the renowned Institute for the Study of War (ISW) see the withdrawal of Russian troops from the strategically important city of Lyman in eastern Ukraine “almost certainly” as a conscious decision by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Harsh criticism of the withdrawal of the troops had also come from Russia.

It was not the military commands that decided that the front lines near the cities of Kupjansk or Lyman would not be reinforced, but the president himself, according to an initial analysis on Saturday evening.

It indicates that Putin wants to take care of securing strategic areas in the Cherson and Zaporizhia regions.

Lyman is located in the Donetsk region.

Ukrainian and Russian sources unanimously pointed out that the Russian armed forces continued to strengthen their positions in the Kherson and Zaporizhia regions, ISW experts continued to write.

They also reported a "failed ground attack" by Russian troops on the town of Kosacha Lopan in the northern Kharkiv region.

According to the general staff, Ukrainian soldiers repelled the attack near the Russian border.

Such attacks indicated that Putin's goal of regaining control of territories beyond the regions he had illegally annexed was likely to remain in place - rather than deploying soldiers against Ukraine's Donbass offensive.

Update from October 2, 3:19 p.m .:

According to information from Moscow, Ukrainian troops have launched an offensive in the south of the country.

They are said to have suffered many casualties.

According to the Russian Ministry of Defense on Sunday, fighting took place in the Mykolaiv region and the village of Andriivka in the Cherson region.

More than 240 Ukrainian soldiers were killed and 31 tanks destroyed.

As a rule, information from the war zone cannot be verified at all or only with difficulty.

Many Ukrainians also died in fighting elsewhere in the attacked country, Moscow said.

In addition, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported an attack on an office of the Ukrainian secret service in the Dnepropetrovsk region.

According to information from Moscow, more than 35 employees were killed, including foreigners.

Details were not given.

Ukraine-News: Melitopol mayor threatens collaborators of Russia

Update from October 2, 1:19 p.m

.: The mayor of the occupied southern Ukrainian city of Melitopol, who is loyal to Kiev, has announced tough action against collaborators in the Russian-occupied areas.

"None of them will evade responsibility," Ivan Fedorov told the Funke media group.

"Thanks to our residents who provide leads on traitors, we know the names of all the collaborators," he added.

In Moscow, Russia's constitutional court has meanwhile recognized the annexation treaties signed by Putin for the Ukrainian territories as legal.

The agreements are in line with the Russian constitution, it said.

Update from October 2nd, 12.49 p.m

.: New details on the situation in Lyman: Since 12.30 p.m. (11.30 a.m. CEST) the city has been “completely” liberated from the Russian military presence, said Selenskyj in a video published on social networks.

"Thanks to our military!" Said the Ukrainian President.

Offensive in eastern Ukraine: Zelenskyi announces complete capture of Lyman

Update from October 2, 12:22 p.m

.: The Ukrainian city of Lyman has now been “completely” liberated from the Russian occupiers, the British

quoted from a telegram message from Volodymyr Zelenskyj.

The information could not be checked independently.

Ukraine-News: Military historian ranks success in Lyman greater than that in Kharkiv

2 Oct 12:04 update

: Military historian Phillips P. Obrien finds Lyman's Ukrainian success "more impressive" than success in the Kharkiv region.

"Ukrainians may never find another area as poorly defended (by Russians) as Kharkiv," Obrien tweeted.

Lyman, on the other hand, was made an important point by the Russians before their defeat, "it seems like they had a lot of troops there."

According to British intelligence, Russia suffered heavy losses while withdrawing from Lyman.

Ukraine-News: Again explosions in the Crimea - videos circulate on the internet

Update from October 2, 11:11 a.m

.: Apparently renewed explosions in Crimea: A military airport was attacked on Saturday (October 1) on the Ukrainian peninsula annexed by Moscow.

"According to the information of the rescue workers, a plane overshot the runway and caught fire," wrote the Russian-installed governor of the city of Sevastopol, Mikhail Rasvozhayev, on Telegram.

This information could not be independently verified.

However, videos circulating on social networks showed thick clouds of smoke with strong explosions.

Observers suspected that an ammunition store could have caught fire.

Russia annexed Crimea in 2014.

Ukraine-News: Secret service assumes high Russian losses in Lyman

Update from October 2nd, 10.43 a.m

.: When withdrawing from Lyman, the Russians suffered high losses according to British intelligence services.

The city in eastern Ukraine was allegedly previously defended by undermanned Russian units and reservists, according to the British Ministry of Defense's most recent short report.

Many soldiers were said to have died when retreating via the only road out of the city that was still under Russian control.

According to the British, the withdrawal triggered a wave of public criticism of the military leadership in Russian government circles.

Further defeats in the regions of the annexed territories are likely to further intensify this and increase the pressure on senior commanders.

Zelenskyy scoffs at Lyman bankruptcy for Russia: "Looking for the culprits"

Update from October 2,

11:19 a.m .: Selenskyj reacted with mockery to the anger in Moscow about Lyman.

"By the way, they've already started biting each other there: they're looking for the culprits, accusing some generals of failure," the 44-year-old commented in his daily video address.

It is only the first warning shot for all those who took part in Putin's war.

Until they solve the problem with the one who "started this for Russia senseless war against Ukraine, you will be killed and scapegoated one by one," he prophesied.

Russian loss in Lyman: "Putin's bloodhound" Kadyrov demands consequences

Update from October 2nd, 9.33 a.m

.: The bankruptcy in Lyman caused bitter comments on the Russian side: the influential blogger and former PR chief of the Duma chairman Vyacheslav Volodin, Anastasiya Kaschevarowa, demanded answers from Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov: "Does the President know what happened?

Who reports to him?

Where's the gear?

Where are the (tanks) Armata?

where is everything

How could that happen?

bagged?

Sold?

where did it go

Was that even possible?”

The Chechen ruler Ramzan Kadyrov - also known as "Putin's bloodhound" - in turn demanded that Colonel-General Alexander Lapin, who was responsible for the front section, be deposed, demoted and sent to the front as a simple soldier.

The problems in Lyman were reported two weeks ago.

He called for the use of short-range nuclear weapons to be considered.

Ramzan Kadyrov (right) at the table with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

(Archive photo) © Alexei Druzhinin/dpa

Selenskyj after Putin's bankruptcy in Lyman sure: "There will be more"

Update from October 2,

8:29 a.m.: Volodymyr Zelenskyj reacted triumphantly to the Russian loss of the city of Lyman.

"During the week, new Ukrainian flags were waved over the Donbass," Zelenskyy said in his recent video address.

"There will be more in the coming week." 

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) - a Washington-based think tank - writes in a recent analysis that the Russian withdrawal from Lyman was "almost certainly" a decision by Vladimir Putin, and not the Russian military.

For the Kremlin chief, holding occupied areas in southern Ukraine is apparently more important than eastern Ukraine.

With the fall of Lyman, the path to Kreminna and Svatowe opened up for the Ukrainian troops.

Both cities are located in the Luhansk region in eastern Ukraine and - especially Swatowe - are considered important transport hubs.

At the beginning of the summer, the Russian army declared the Luhansk region “liberated”.

Ukraine-News: Kadyrov calls for the use of "low-yield nuclear weapons" 

Update from October 1, 7:30 p.m .:

Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov has called on the Russian army to use “low-yield nuclear weapons” in Ukraine.

"In my opinion, more drastic measures should be taken, up to and including the imposition of martial law in the border areas and the use of low-yield nuclear weapons," Kadyrov told Telegram.

Before that, the Russian army withdrew from the strategically important city.

The ruler of the Russian republic of Chechnya also denounced the "nepotism" in the Russian army.

This will "lead to nothing good," he explained.

Russia withdraws from Lyman – “due to danger of encirclement”

Update from October 1, 4:35 p.m .:

In another defeat against the Ukrainian army, Russia gave up the strategically important city of Lyman in the Donetsk region.

The armed forces had been withdrawn because of the risk of encirclement, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said in Moscow on Saturday.

Ukrainian authorities had previously spoken of around 5,000 encircled Russian soldiers

Attack on civilians in Ukraine war: 20 dead after renewed shelling of car convoy

Update from October 1, 4:00 p.m .:

The Ukrainian authorities have accused Russia of again firing at a car convoy with civilians.

Twenty people were killed in an attack near the city of Kupyansk.

The civilians tried to escape from Russian attacks, Ukrainian regional governor Oleh Sinegubov said on Saturday on the Telegram news channel.

"This is a cruelty that has no justification." The details of the dead are provisional.

Investigators and experts went to the location in the Kharkiv region to investigate the case, Sinegubov said.

The information cannot be independently verified.

According to Ukrainian sources, 30 people were killed in a rocket attack on a civilian car convoy in the southern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhia on Friday.

According to the latest police reports on Saturday, more than 100 people were injured. 

Reconquest in Donbass: Ukraine reports 5,000 soldiers surrounded

First report from October 1st:

Lyman – According to Ukrainian information, an important step is imminent near the town of Lyman.

Ukrainian troops reported encircling around 5,000 Russian soldiers.

Such a number of encircled Russians never existed before in the Ukraine war, said Serhiy Hajdaj, the Ukrainian head of administration for Luhansk.

Almost all entrances are blocked.

Ukraine surrounds soldiers near Lyman: Russian recruits are prevented from retreating

Auf Twitter verbreitet sich ein Video, das ukrainische Soldaten am Stadtrand von Lyman zeigt. Sie schwenken die ukrainische Flagge – ohne sichtbaren Widerstand. Der Donzker Separatistenführer, Denis Puschilin, hatte bereits am Freitag die fast komplette Einschließung von Lyman eingestanden. Westliche Militärexperten gehen davon aus, dass die Stadt in den nächsten Tagen komplett befreit wird. Das Institute for the Study of War sprach am Freitag von einer erwarteten Einnahme innerhalb von 72 Stunden.

Die Besetzer aus Russland hatten ihre Vorgesetzten gebeten, nach Möglichkeit aus dem Gebiet herauszukommen, berichtet der ukrainische Verwaltungschef Hajdaj. Sie erhielten eine Abfuhr. „Sie haben jetzt drei Handlungsmöglichkeiten: Entweder können sie versuchen auszubrechen oder sie ergeben sich. Oder sie sterben alle zusammen. Da sind von ihnen etwa 5000, eine genaue Zahl gibt es nicht“, so der Hajdaj. Die New York Times hatte vor einer Woche berichtet, dass Präsident Wladimir Putin sich zunehmend selbst in Entscheidungen an der Front einmischt und Soldaten den Rückzug verwehrt.

Ukraine-Krieg: Lyman könnte Ausgangspunkt für weitere Eroberungen sein

Lyman gilt als strategisch wichtige Stadt im Ukraine-Krieg. Über Monate diente sie als Logistik- und Transportknotenpunkt der russischen Soldaten, so ntv. Zudem öffnet die Eroberung Lymans, das in der ostukrainischen Region Donezk liegt, den Weg nach Swatowe und Kreminna und damit tief in das anliegende Gebiet Luhansk hinein. Luhansk und Donezk sind seit dem Sommer weitgehend unter russischer Kontrolle. Wladimir Putin hatte die Regionen am Freitag (30. September) offiziell annektiert. Der Westen reagierte mit Sanktionen auf den „brutalen Expansionismus“.

Since the beginning of September, Ukraine has been reporting land gains in southern and eastern Ukraine.

Russian military bloggers now fear a similar outcome in Lyman as in Balaklija.

With the recapture of Balakliya, Ukrainian troops launched a major offensive in the Kharkiv region, as a result of which Kyiv regained control of almost the entire region and forced the Russian troops into a hasty retreat.

Meanwhile, Russia has apparently kidnapped the head of the nuclear power plant in Zaporizhia.