Oct 11: E-Stories
Day594 A&P
Catching up…
EA Worldview’s Ukraine Up-date- hop over to Scott’s amazing hourly Ukraine up-date page. I’ll fill in with some bits and bobs.
Stories we’re following…
War Budget: President Zelenskyy signed a decree implementing the decision of the National Security and Defense Council to allocate at least 21,6% of the GDP from the state budget for 2024 to defense.
Combat Situation Update
In his morning update, WarGonzo stated that the AFU managed to advance west of Novofedorivka and assaults on Novoprokopivka are still ongoing.
As Russia is preparing new defensive lines, trenches and fortifications, Ukrainian units are hunting down engineering equipment that provides for the construction of it.
Avdiivka, destroyed an mostly left by residents. Since early this morning, Russia has increased the shelling and bombing on the city and its surroundings. It is expected that Russia will increase its offensive operations in the area.
Preliminary information that Ukrainian Forces have entered the settlement of Zahirne, Zaporizhzia oblast.
Waiting for further confirmation.
Heavy fighting is occuring in the direction of Krasnohorivka-Berdychi. Russians want to isolate Avdiivka from the north, supported by MLRS, artillery and airstrikes.
Kira Rudik, a Ukrainian MP and the leader of the liberal Golos party, has said the Kremlin is “actively working to destabilize the Middle East” with Moscow attempting to undermine “world unity”.
Russia moves new reserves to Mariupol for first time in six months - Andriushchenko. The arrival of newly formed enemy units is recorded in Mariupol.
DW: Russia has closed its naval group off the coast of Ukraine, but left the submarines. Natalya Gumenyuk said that the weather is now “on the side of the Ukrainians”: there is a strong storm in the Black Sea, which forced Russia to drive away the ships. However, the Russian Ministry of Defense has left two underwater launch vehicles on combat duty; they can carry up to 8 Caliber missiles on board, Gumenyuk said. She noted that in recent days the Russian Federation has reduced the number of attacks, as it is likely accumulating reserves for attacks on energy facilities.
Behind the Lines
The National Police of Ukraine has documented almost 100,000 war crimes committed by Russian forces in Ukraine, according to the head of the body. Speaking to the Interfax-Ukraine news agency, Ivan Vyhovsky said the evidence being gathered would form the basis of future attempts to prosecute the crimes’ perpetrators.
“Materials on rocket attacks, crimes committed by the Russian military in deoccupied territories - violence, torture, rape,” he said. “In the overwhelming majority [of cases] we document, investigate, and transfer to the SBU [Ukraine’s security services], because this is their jurisdiction.”
“The crimes committed by the Russian Federation, in particular the shelling of our critical infrastructure, are genocide of the Ukrainian nation,” he said. “We are moving towards documenting all these facts in order to recognise the crimes of the Russian Federation as genocide in the international court.”
Uefa has abandoned plans to reinstate Russian U17 teams into next year's youth European Championships. Last month European football's governing body announced it was exploring how to reintegrate the Russian youth team into the international setup, having suspended all Russian teams from Uefa competitions following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Now the organisation says that finding a way to reintegrate Russia's U17 side has proven too difficult logistically. "No technical solution to allow Russian teams to play could be found," a Uefa spokesperson said, who added that the "agenda point was withdrawn".
A Lenin statute was lit on fire in Nova Kakhova behind the lines.
Damage to the Finland-Estonia undersea natural gas pipeline does not appear to be an accident. Finnish president announces that the leak in the gas pipe connecting EE and FI resulted probably from external activities. Undersea communications cable between Finland and Estonia is also damaged. Niinistö held talks with NATO SG Stoltenberg about it today. A joint EE and FI investigation will follow. NATO is ready to assist. Russian state sabotage an obvious possibility. We're waiting for more details to emerge.
Meanwhile in Russia
Russia is unlikely to launch any additional mobilisation drive before the president election next year, the UK Ministry of Defence has said. The ministry said Putin will “almost certainly” run for re-election in the vote, currently scheduled to take place on 17 March. Putin’s campaign would likely focus on themes intended to “justify the state’s actions and Putin’s consolidation of power” but “seek to minimise unpopular policy moves”.
Allied Support
President Zelenskyy was in Romania on an official visit, during which he will discuss security cooperation between the countries, including the strengthening of air defense and the security situation in the Black Sea region.
Finland has announced the allocation of an additional €92 million to support Ukraine and countries affected by Russian aggression, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland said.
US army chief says Congress must act to ensure arms to both Israel and Ukraine. The US army has said it would need Congress to approve additional funding to ensure the Pentagon’s munitions production and acquisition plans can potentially meet the needs of both Israel and Ukraine simultaneously. Army secretary Christine Wormuth made the comments as the US House of Representatives is effectively paralysed as Republicans work to select a new speaker. She said the Army was still reviewing Israeli requests for support, according to Reuters.
Musk will do no harm: Starlink for Armed Forces will be under control of Pentagon. "After the information about Starlink's problems in Crimea, there was a change of approach. The Pentagon approved an agreement with SpaceX to buy Ukraine terminals for Starlink Internet that Musk will not be able to turn off," recalls Mykhailo Samus. The military expert says that Ukraine will receive (or has already received) several hundred new Starlink terminals and services with guaranteed activation and without the possibility of "manual" intervention by the company's head.
WSJ: US senators support $50-100 billion aid package for Ukraine. Senators from both sides have spoken in favor of a “one-and-done” Ukraine aid package, which could be passed before the expiration of the current spending bill on November 17.
Around the World
Israel said it had re-established control over the Gaza border and was planting mines where Hamas militants had toppled the barrier during their bloody weekend assault, after another night of relentless Israeli air raids on the enclave.
In East Jerusalem, pro-Palestinian groups mostly consisting of youth are throwing petrol bombs at police cars.
Time line of events provided by Judith Gabor.
It is reported that Head of Hamas' National Relations Office Zakaria Abu Muammar was killed during Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip. Also Hamas Economy Minister Jawad Abu Shamala is suspected to have been killed in an Israeli airstrike.
Putin finally makes his first comments on the Israel-Palestine war. He says it's "a clear example of the failure of US policy in the Middle East" for not "taking the core interests of the Palestinian people into account" and working to create an independent Palestinian state.
Monique: for the past 18 months, Israel has sat on the fence and did support Ukraine since it was trying to balance between Russia and Ukraine. This is the result.
CNN interview with Military Analyst Lt. General Mark Hertling on Oct 9.
Kadyrov expressed his support for Palestine and offered to send Chechen fighters there as peacekeepers, to restore order and get rid of troublemakers.
Nicole Zedek reporting for I-24: The following video is difficult to listen to, but these are the facts now coming out of the areas that are now back in control of the IDF. We are in Kfar Aza. In Kibbutz Be'eri 108 bodies of murdered Israelis were found.
IDF spokesman for the international media Richard Hecht said that 1500 bodies of Hamas members were found in Israeli territory in recent days, when the army regained relative control of the border with the Gaza Strip.
The Hamas attack was an act of pure terrorism—a massacre. In other reporting, Hamas is using the term “sabiyya”, which is the same term Isis used for Yazidis girls captured and abused. Hamas is indistinguishable from ISIS.
Israeli Air Force: Following the initial report regarding launches in northern Israel, approximately 15 rockets were launched from Lebanese territory. The IAF Aerial Defense Array successfully intercepted four rocket launches. 10 launches fell in open areas.
Reuters: The United Nations humanitarian office said that nearly 200,000 people, or nearly a tenth of the population, have fled their homes in Gaza since the start of hostilities and it is poised for shortages of water and electricity due to Israel's blockade.
Macron, Meloni, Scholz, Sunak and Biden issued a joint statement on the situation in Israel. They expressed their unified support for Israel and unequivocally condemned Hamas and its horrific terrorist acts