Putin also told reporters that he does not regret starting the conflict and “did not set out to destroy Ukraine” when he ordered Russian troops to invade nearly eight months ago. However, Putin is facing domestic unrest and military setbacks in a neighbouring country armed with increasingly sophisticated Western weapons.
After participating in a summit of the Commonwealth of Independent States in the capital of Kazakhstan, he declared, “What is occurring today is terrible, to put it bluntly.” But all of this would have been available to us a little later, although in less favourable circumstances. My acts are thus appropriate and opportune.
One of the four Ukrainian districts that Putin erroneously claimed as Russian territory last month has shown Russia’s struggles in attaining its military objectives. Authorities in the Kherson area placed by Moscow warned citizens to leave on Friday as they anticipated an approach by Ukrainian military.
Pressure on Putin to do more to tip the scales in Russia’s favour has increased as a result of criticism of the Kremlin’s management of the war and mobilisation from even some of Putin’s own allies.
In his remarks about the army’s mobilisation, Putin said that 222,000 of the 300,000 reservists the Russian Defense Ministry had set as an initial objective had been registered as a result of the action he had ordered last month. He claimed that out of the 33,000 who have enlisted, 16,000 had been sent into battle.
In order to support the battle along a 1,100 km (684 miles) front line where Ukrainian counteroffensives have damaged Moscow’s military reputation, Putin ordered the call-up. In a nation where practically all males under the age of 65 are enrolled as reservists, there was misunderstanding over who was eligible for the draught from the beginning of the mobilisation.
Tens of thousands of men fled Russia in protest of the decree, while others demonstrated in the streets due to the intense opposition. Critics questioned if the document would be completed in two weeks. During Russia’s annual fall draught for males aged 18 to 27, which was postponed from October 1 to November 1, they forecast just a pause to allow recruitment offices to process normal conscripts.
“Putin’s claim that two weeks have passed is untrue. The only way to stop mobilisation is by his order. No decree, no cancellation, stated Vyacheslav Gimadi, a counsel for the Anti-Corruption Foundation of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny, on Facebook.
When questioned about the potential for a broader mobilisation, the Russian president stated that the Defense Ministry had not requested his permission.
Putin added, “Nothing further is planned,” adding, “In the near term, I don’t see any necessity.”
Although Putin and other government representatives said in September that the mobilisation would touch about 300,000 individuals, his authorising directive made no mention of a precise figure. According to Russian media accounts, the number might even go as high as 1.2 million.
Additionally, Putin had stated that only individuals with military or combat experience would be called up. Later, he acknowledged that military officials had made errors, such as hiring reservists without the necessary training. Men who had gotten little instruction were drafted in large numbers decades ago.
There have also been rumours that some recruits were not adequately trained and equipped before being dispatched to the front lines in Ukraine. This week, only days after being drafted, it was reported that a number of mobilised reserve personnel were killed in action in Ukraine.
Putin addressed the issue on Friday, stating that all recruits who have been activated should undergo sufficient training, and he directed the Security Council of Russia to “perform an examination of how mobilised individuals are being taught.”
Putin questioned Ukraine’s legitimacy to exist as an independent country and painted it as a part of ancient Russia before beginning the invasion on February 24. When questioned about it on Friday, Putin reiterated his assertion that Russia was ready for peace discussions and charged the Ukrainian government for terminating talks when Russian soldiers withdrew from Kyiv early in the conflict.
After Putin unlawfully seized Ukraine’s Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, and Luhansk regions last month on the basis of “referendums” that Kyiv and the West decried as a fraud, Ukraine rejected the option of engaging in negotiations with him.
As Ukraine’s military takes back cities, towns, and villages that Russia had earlier in the conflict, the battlefield’s momentum has changed in Ukraine’s favour. Moscow provided free lodging after frightened Kremlin-backed politicians in Kherson demanded that citizens leave to safeguard their safety and to allow Russian forces greater room to move.
Although Russia has described the transfer of Ukrainians to its country or to area under its control as voluntary, in many cases they are not permitted to do so, and there have been claims that some of them were forcibly deported to “filtration camps” with severe living circumstances.
According to an investigation by the Associated Press, Russian officials deported hundreds of Ukrainian children to be raised as Russians, some of them were orphans and others who were living in institutions or with foster homes.
According to Ukraine’s Ministry for Reintegration of Temporarily Occupied Territories, Ukrainian forces claimed to have retaken 75 inhabited areas in northern Kherson in the previous month. According to the ministry, a similar effort in eastern Ukraine led to the majority of the Kharkiv area, as well as portions of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, returning to Ukrainian authority.
Russian forces are losing more soldiers as they leave because they are leaving behind their guns and ammo. According to a PowerPoint presentation given on Friday in the United States by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, at least 6,000 pieces of Russian equipment have been lost since the war began. The presentation describes the intense pressure on Russia’s military sector to make up for its losses and claims that Russia is using weapons at an unsustainable rate due to export restrictions and international sanctions.
Columns of military trucks had marched through and finally departed the region’s capital, according to Konstantin, a Kherson resident who spoke to the AP under the condition that his last name be kept anonymous for safety concerns. The majority of government agencies have shortened their business hours, while schools have closed, he said.
On Friday, Russian forces launched missile attacks on Kharkiv, the second-largest city in Ukraine, and the Zaphorizhzhia region, which is home to the biggest nuclear power facility in Europe. Fighting at or close to the now-shuttered Zaphorizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, which is under Russian control, has prompted a warning from the U.N. nuclear inspector.
Putin has pledged to respond violently if Ukraine or any of its supporters attack Russian soil, including the Ukrainian areas it has acquired. On Friday, attacks continued in the Belgorod area of Russia near the Ukrainian border. The bombardment, according to Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov, destroyed an electric substation, five homes in the village of Voznesenovka, and a power line, momentarily cutting power to a number of adjacent settlements. There were no deaths or reported injuries.
According to Russia’s Investigative Committee, on Thursday, Ukrainian bombardment in the Belgorod region resulted in the explosion of an ammunition storage. According to unconfirmed media reports, three members of the Russian National Guard were murdered and more than ten others were injured.
Gen. Valeriy Zaluzhny, the head of Ukraine’s armed forces, promised in a video message on Friday to free all Russian-occupied areas: “We have destroyed the myth of the invincibility of the Russian army.”
