British secret service sees new Ukraine dilemma for Russia's army - because of Putin's order

Created: 2022-10-08 04:59

By: Stephanie Munk

Ukraine reports of Russian soldiers starving to death in the forests.

The counter-offensive against Putin's war continues.

News ticker on military events in the Ukraine war.

• Secret service

  on the

  Ukraine war

  : Dilemma for Russia's army - because of Putin's order

• Football

  despite the

  Ukraine war

  : Selenskyj wants the World Cup 

• More than 50 dead

  civilians

  in

  Lyman

  : Ukrainian television reports of more mass graves

• This is a

  news ticker on military developments

  in the Ukraine war.

Update from October 6, 1:21 p.m

.: The city of Zaporizhia is still under fire.

All further developments in our new news ticker on military events in the Ukraine war.

Update from October 6, 10:35 a.m

.: According to Ukrainian information, two people were killed and five others buried during Russian attacks on the city of Zaporizhia.

People were missing under the rubble, "many" more had been saved.

Zaporizhia is located in the region of the same name, which also contains the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, which is occupied by the Russian army.

Moscow annexed the region earlier this week, although it is not fully under Russian troops' control.

By decree, Vladimir Putin also placed the nuclear power plant under Russian administration.

Secret service on the Ukraine war: Dilemma for Russia's army - because of Putin's order

Update from October 6, 9:29 a.m

.: According to British intelligence services, Russia faces a strategic dilemma when defending fiercely contested areas on the Dnipro River in Ukraine.

One of the biggest challenges for Russian commanders is the increasing threat to the strategically important city of Nowa Kakhovka at the southern end of the Dnipro Dam, according to the daily short report by the Ministry of Defense in London.

The Russians needed the damaged supply route across the Dnipro in this region to supply their own troops across the river.

A withdrawal of the units from there would strengthen the defense of the region around the regional capital of Cherson, but the political imperative will probably dictate not to withdraw, according to the British.

Moscow has already deployed the majority of its undermanned air force to defend Kherson.

As a result, the Kremlin hardly has any other highly qualified and rapidly deployable troops that could stabilize the front.

It is likely that reservists will be used in the future, it said.

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Recording from October 1 from Kyiv: the Dnipro River © Francisco Seco/AP/dpa

Football despite the Ukraine war: Selenskyj wants the World Cup 

Update from October 6, 7:22 a.m

.: Selenskyj was optimistic about Ukraine's chances of success for the World Cup bid.

In his most recent video speech, Zelenskyj only touched on the battle.

He reported the recapture of three other towns in the Kherson region and called the recent Russian attacks on Ukrainian cities with Iranian combat drones futile.

"That doesn't help you anymore.

You've already lost," he said to the Russian leadership.

He was convinced that they could no longer motivate their own soldiers, while the Ukrainians knew what they were fighting for.

The Ukrainian President focused on the planned reconstruction.

After the reconquest of the first areas in the Donbass, payments of pensions and social benefits have started there, he said, announcing intensive preparations to deal with the "difficult winter".

Over 50 dead civilians in Lyman: Ukrainian television reports of more mass graves

Update from October 5, 9:15 p.m .:

According to Ukrainian media reports, the Ukrainian armed forces have found further mass graves near the recently liberated city of Lyman.

More than 50 civilians are said to have been buried near the city, Ukrainian internet television station Hromadske reported on Wednesday.

"The Russians dug trenches and forced people they suspected of collaborating with the Ukrainian military to collect the bodies of the dead for reburial," the report said.

However, the report cannot currently be independently verified.

According to the medium, some victims died as a result of the shelling of the city.

Lyman was captured in May by troops loyal to Moscow after intense fighting and was recaptured by the Ukrainians in early October after heavy fighting.

While some of the dead have their names on them, other graves only have numbers on them.

Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to the Ukrainian Interior Minister, also confirmed the graves had been found via Twitter.

After the withdrawal of Russian troops, mass graves were found in different parts of Ukraine.

The bodies found in the Kiev suburb of Bucha caused international outrage.

Hundreds of dead civilians had been found there - some with signs of torture and their hands tied.

Since then, Bucha has been considered a symbol for the most serious war crimes.

Ukrainian forces report further territorial gains - reports of Russian torture chamber

Update from October 5, 7.30 p.m .:

Ukrainian forces have apparently discovered a Russian torture chamber after recapturing a village in the Kharkiv region.

This is reported by the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense on Twitter and shared two photos.

One photo shows a gas mask and a dirty cloth sack.

This is said to have been pulled over the victims' heads while they were being buried alive for torture.

The other picture shows a box with a large number of gold teeth, which are said to have come from torture victims.

The Ministry of Defense described the scene as a "mini-Auschwitz".

"How many more will be found in occupied Ukraine?" the ministry continued in the tweet.

It was also common practice in German concentration camps for inmates to have gold teeth and crowns removed before being tortured and killed.

However, the information from the Ministry of Defense cannot currently be independently verified.

Update from October 5, 4:03 p.m

.: Russia does not want to give up the areas recently liberated by Ukrainian troops and will soon bring them back under its control.

"They will always belong to Russia," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday in Moscow, according to the state agency TASS.

At the same time, he spoke of Vladimir Putin's "prerogative".

Ukrainian forces advance "quickly and forcefully" - numerous recaptures

Update from October 5, 12:28 p.m .:

The Ukrainian army has apparently liberated dozens of towns in the past few days, the soldiers advanced “quickly and powerfully”, said President Selenskyj.

The Russian side put it differently: Russia-appointed deputy leader of the Kherson region, Kirill Stremousov, told the Russian news agency Ria Novosti that the Ukrainian advance had been "stopped": "There is no movement or progress.

You will not enter Kherson, it is impossible.”

The Russian troops were currently "regrouping", the Kherson governor explained instead of the movements on the front line.

“The Russian army is conducting maneuvers.

Regrouping the front line allows us to gather our strength and strike.”

The Russian Ministry of Defense had already spoken of a "regrouping" of the Russian troops during the devastating defeat of the Russians at Izyum.

Putin soldiers left 'in the woods'?

Ukraine minister reports chaos

Update from October 5, 11:20 a.m .:

Apparently, the Russian army left many of its soldiers behind in its hasty retreat from the Kharkiv region.

Deputy Interior Minister Yevgeny Jenin said in a video posted on Twitter that almost every day Russian soldiers were found lost in the area's forests.

Hunger drives them to the villages, where they are arrested.

The Kharkiv region was recaptured by the Ukrainian army in a successful counter-offensive about four weeks ago after being occupied by the Russians for months.

Ukraine-News: Ukraine publishes frightening pictures on Twitter and suspects torture chamber

Update from October 5, 9.44 a.m

.: The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense published terrifying pictures from the Ukraine war on Twitter during the night.

The photos show a gas mask and a plastic box with gold crowns and are said to be from the recaptured village of Pisky-Radkivsky in the Kharkiv region.

According to Ukraine, the items were found in a torture chamber and the victims were buried alive.

The information has not been independently verified.

Ukraine News: Putin worried?

Counter-offensive probably jeopardizes supply of Russian troops

Update from October 5, 9:32 a.m .:

Ukraine’s counter-offensive continues to be successful – Selenskyj announced the liberation of dozens of occupied towns in his evening speech on Tuesday evening.

The Ukrainian army is advancing "quickly and forcefully," the Ukrainian president said.

According to British intelligence services, this is causing Russia major problems in supplying its own troops.

According to a report by the British Defense Ministry, Ukrainian troops in the north-eastern region of Kharkiv have advanced up to 20 kilometers behind the Oskil River into the Russian defense zone.

The troops were thus approaching a supply hub in the town of Swatowe.

Ukraine can now presumably attack an important road in the region with its weapon systems.

That would make it even more difficult for the Russians to resupply their troops in the east.

British intelligence also believes that Putin and the rest of Russia's leadership are concerned that Ukraine is regaining more and more territory in Luhansk, a region that Russia annexed just last week.

Ukraine-News: Putin signs laws on annexation

Update from October 5, 9.15 a.m .:

The annexation of Ukrainian territories has now officially come into force in Russia: President Putin has signed the relevant laws.

According to the Russian interpretation, the occupied parts of the Cherson, Zaporizhia, Luhansk and Donetsk regions belong to Russian national territory.

According to the state news agency TASS, the Kremlin announced this.

Putin's army currently only controls parts of the annexed territories, but they are now officially under the protection of the nuclear power.

Together with Crimea, which was annexed to the Black Sea peninsula in 2014, Russia now controls more than 16 percent of Ukraine's territory.

The United Nations General Assembly intends to deal with the annexation in an emergency session next Monday.

Partial mobilization a “gift” to Ukraine?

Experts see Putin under pressure from three Russian groups

Update from October 5, 8:24 a.m

.: Vladimir Putin's partial mobilization has so far had less of an effect on the military situation in Ukraine - and more on the mood within Russia.

This is the conclusion of the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) in its most recent analysis.

The Ukrainian intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov even described the partial mobilization as a "gift" because the Kremlin is in a "one-way street" with it, write the military experts at the US think tank.

"Putin is failing to reconcile the claims of Russian nationalists with his stated war goals," it said.

Three factors regarding the current war discourse in Russia would put the Kremlin chief under pressure: private individuals who comment on the war on the Internet, veterans and "siloviki", meaning representatives of the secret services and the military.

"Putin needs the approval of all three groups."

However, Ukraine's successes with its counter-offensive are now dividing the radical nationalist community.

Putin is therefore making sure that said commentators are given space on Russian state television.

He also allows siloviki to mobilize their own fighters and tries to placate the veterans, primarily with sustained propaganda.

Ukraine-News: Russian troops allegedly on 'general withdrawal'

Update from October 4, 3:38 p.m .:

Only last Friday did Putin annex the Cherson region to Russia in violation of international law – now the Russian troops are said to be withdrawing from parts of the area they have occupied since March.

According to the pro-Russian war blog Rybar, a “general retreat” of Russian troops is underway in northern Kherson, where the Ukrainian army is advancing.

Because of the successful counter-offensives by the Ukrainian armed forces and the threat of encirclement by Russian troops, Moscow has decided to withdraw its soldiers to a new line of defense further south, according to a Telegram post on the blog.

This is to avoid further deaths and preserve equipment.

Ukraine on the march: Even Putin's elite troops have to flee - Putin's order indicates huge deficits

First report from October 4, 2022:

Lyman/Cherson - The Ukrainian army can record further successes in the Ukraine war: In the south, they liberated further areas from Russian occupation.

And east of the already liberated city of Lyman, the Ukrainians were able to further push back Putin's troops.

This is what the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) writes in its latest analysis.

Apparently, even Vladimir Putin's elite troops were powerless against the Ukrainian advance, writes the US think tank.

Parts of the 144th Motorized Rifle Division withdrew in the Lyman area.

The 76th Airborne Division, on the other hand, is said to have been repelled in the Kherson Oblast.

According to the ISW, both are units that are regarded as the first league in the Russian army.

"Their apparent failure to defend territory against the Ukrainian offensive" is further evidence that Russia's military is getting weaker and weaker the longer the Ukraine war goes on.

Ukraine News: According to intelligence information, Russia's army is facing major problems

The British secret service also has information that Russia is no longer able to adequately equip and train its recruits.

This emerges from the latest report from the British Ministry of Defence.

According to a written order, Putin apparently postponed the entry into service of 120,000 new conscripts in Russia.

This is an indication that Russia is currently not able to equip and train a large number of personnel.

"The challenges of housing, training, equipping and deploying mobilized and conscripted personnel are significant," the statement said.

There are also significant shortcomings in Russian military administration and logistics, which makes efforts even more difficult.

A video shows how big the deficits in the equipment of the soldiers are - rusty rifles and plastic bags can be seen.

According to Russian law, the new conscripts, who are not scheduled to start their service until November 1, may not be deployed outside of Russia.

They are to be distinguished from the 300,000 reservists that Putin wants to send to the front as part of his partial mobilization in the Ukraine war.