Ukrainian War, Day 957 – 2024-10-07 20:41:07

British intelligence: A dark signpost in Russia’s losses

According to the latest intelligence report from the British Ministry of Defence, Russia’s daily manpower losses in September were the highest during its entire war of aggression that lasted more than two and a half years.

According to the ministry, Russia lost 1,271 soldiers either killed or wounded per day. The previous record was last May, when Russian losses averaged 1,262 soldiers per day.

British intelligence estimates that the increase in losses is the result of increased intensity at the front and the formation of new front lines in Kharkiv and the Kursk region of Russia.

According to the intelligence, Russia will probably continue with the same tactics, and the daily number of losses will remain on average at more than a thousand until the end of the year.

Russia is trying to take over territories despite the losses. Illustration picture. EPA / AOP

Putin’s anniversary: ​​”God save the tsar”

Ruled Russia for a quarter of a century Vladimir Putin turns 72 on Monday.

One of the first congratulations to the president came from an ultra-nationalist philosopher known as “Putin’s brain”. Aleksandr Duginilta.

– God save the Tsar! news agency Reuters says Dugin wrote on his Telegram channel.

Dugin is a Russian far-right politician who has been seen as Putin’s ideological inspiration. He supports the unification of Russian-speaking and other regions into a huge new Russian empire, which would also include Ukraine, where Russia has been at war for more than 950 days. Dugin’s daughter died in a car bomb attack in Moscow in 2022.

Also the autocratic leader of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov has congratulated Putin.

– Today, friends, is the birthday of our national leader. This is a significant day for our entire fatherland, Kadyrov said in Telegram.

Putin became the prime minister of Russia in August 1999, and since then has ruled the country either as president or from the government.

In March, Putin received almost 88 percent of the votes in Russia’s show-like presidential elections. With the constitutional amendment passed in 2020, Putin can continue leading the Kremlin until 2036 if he wishes.

The Russian state television and radio company (VGRTK) was the target of a massive cyber attack on Monday. A Ukrainian hacker group claimed to be the perpetrator of the attack.

Reuters, which reported on the matter, was unable to confirm the veracity of the information. You can read more about it by clicking here.

The Kremlin arrested a pro-Russian war blogger

Pro-Kremlin war blogger Yegor Guzenko was arrested in Russia.

The matter was reported, among others, by the Ukrainian Kyiv Independent and the independent Russian online magazine Meduza.

Guzenko runs the Trinadtsatyj (“Thirteenth”) Telegram channel, which has more than 300,000 followers.

Guzenko supports the Kremlin’s war of aggression. In September, however, he spoke out against the authorities of his country. He criticized the arrest of Igor Girkin and said that the authorities are “getting rid of unpleasant people”.

– Traitors have hijacked the country, Guzenko declared, according to Meduza.

The war blogger said he was not afraid of persecution.

– There are many of us, an entire government, and only a handful of you are sitting there. You are old, you will die soon, Guzenko said.

According to Meduza, a recording later appeared on Guzenko’s channel. On the recording, a male voice said that Guzenko’s “team” had removed some of his posts.

The recording also said that Guzenko needs a hospital where “serious illnesses are treated”.

According to Kyiv Independent, Russian war bloggers have given different reasons for Guzenko’s arrest. Allegations are circulating in Telegram that Guzenko resisted the police when he was arrested on suspicion of drug possession.

According to another claim, Guzenko attended the concert with a mask on his face. When the police asked him to take it off, he allegedly attacked the officers with his fists.

The ultra-nationalist Girkin was arrested in July 2023. He often criticized the Kremlin’s actions and called for tougher military measures.

Ukraine: A Russian hypersonic missile hit the territory of a major airbase

A Russian hypersonic missile hit the territory of the Starokostjantyniv air base on Monday morning, the Ukrainian Air Force said. The news agency Reuters reported about it.

“Hypersonic” refers to a missile flying at multiple times the speed of sound.

The Russian strike on an air base in the Khmelnytskyi region came a day after the Dutch defense minister promised Ukraine more F-16 fighter jets in the coming months.

Ukraine keeps the location of the F-16 fighters strictly secret. It aims to protect the planes from Russia’s long-range strikes, which it has carried out in Ukraine throughout its war of aggression.

Ukraine’s air force rarely reveals if its military targets are damaged. The Air Force has not said whether the strike caused casualties. According to Reuters, in any case, it is “unusual” that the air force announced an attack near the base.

The governor of the region Serhi Tyurinin according to the attack did not cause personal injuries or damage to critical infrastructure.

According to Ukraine, two hypersonic Kinžal missiles were shot down in the Kyiv region this morning. Missile debris fell to the ground in three areas, but did not cause significant damage, according to the military.

Russia said it captured a village in eastern Ukraine

The Russian Defense Ministry said that Russian forces have taken control of the village of Hrodivka.

Hrodivka is located in Donetsk in eastern Ukraine, near the important city of Pokrovsk.

The news agencies AFP and Reuters reported on the matter, which referred to the reporting of the Russian state news agency Ria Novosti.

Zelenskyi: Ukrainians have shown that we can push the war to Russia

– Today marks two months since our Kursk “military operation” and this is a very important stage in the war, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi said according to Kyiv Independent.

He went on to say that the Ukrainian attack on the Kursk region on August 6 showed that they could push the war into Russia.

– And with sufficient support from our partners, we will be able to put pressure on Russia so that it realizes that nothing will come of war for them, Zelenskyi added.

– We will continue to put even greater pressure on Russia – because only with force can we bring peace closer, he said at the end of his evening speech.

Russia sentenced an elderly American to years in prison

A Moscow court sentenced a 72-year-old American man to years in prison on Monday, Russian state news agency Tass reported.

A native of Michigan Stephen Hubbard received a prison sentence of six years and 10 months. Hubbard was accused of fighting as a mercenary for Ukraine.

Ria Novosti previously reported that prosecutors alleged Hubbard fought in the city of Izjum for a monthly salary of around 910 euros. Hubbard was arrested by Russian forces in April 2022.

In addition to the prison sentence, 142,000 Ukrainian hryvnias were confiscated from Hubbard. The money was transferred to the Russian state, says Tass.

According to Tassi, Hubbard pleaded guilty.

US CNN reported that Hubbard’s sister Trisha Hubbard Fox has criticized her brother’s arrest.

According to CNN, the sister has said that her brother has pro-Russian views. According to Sisko, Stephen has never owned a gun, but was “rather a pacifist”.

– The Russian prosecutor is lying! Steve was never a mercenary. She was an English teacher who taught English abroad, Fox wrote on Facebook in September, according to CNN.

Another US citizen was also sentenced in Russia on Monday, CNN reported. Former Marine Robert Gilman was sentenced to seven years and one month in prison.

Gilman was charged with battery on law enforcement officials. He is already serving his sentence in October 2022. Gilman was sentenced to four years in prison for assaulting a police officer. The sentence was later reduced to three and a half years.

One died, six were injured in the Russian attack on Slavyansk

One person was killed and six were injured in a Russian attack on the city of Slavyansk in eastern Ukraine, Reuters news agency reported.

The governor of Donetsk Vadim Filashkin said on Telegram that the bombing damaged six apartment buildings, an administrative building, and a business district. Photos published online show residential buildings with broken windows and damaged facades.

According to Filashkin, two children were among the injured. According to the governor, one of them is 2 years old.

Russian forces have been making slow progress in the Donetsk region in recent weeks. The heaviest fighting takes place around the southern city of Pokrovski.

At the beginning of the war, the Russian troops aimed at Kiev. After the goal failed, they have focused on progressing in Donbas. The region mainly includes the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.

The Sea of ​​Fire raged in the largest oil terminal in Crimea

A huge fire broke out at the largest oil terminal on the Russian-occupied Crimean peninsula on Monday morning.

The Ukrainian General Staff said on its Telegram channel that it had attacked the oil terminal with drones. You can read more about it by clicking here.

Ukraine claimed to have hit a Russian ship in the Baltic Sea

Ukrainian military intelligence claimed to have damaged a Russian minesweeper in the Baltic Sea.

Military intelligence claimed that the Russian Aleksandrit-class ship Aleksandr Obuhov suffered significant damage in the attack. You can read more about it by clicking here.