Sirens sounded across Russia and TV channels issued warnings about today’s national emergency exercises.
As part of the exercises, TV channels broadcast a message that read: “Watch out for everyone!The state of preparedness of the public alert formula is being tested!Please calm down!”
The exercise, which aims to improve the preparedness of the country’s emergency services, comes in the wake of Ukrainian drone attacks on Moscow and other cities.
Russian media said the situation for the training revolved around the growing danger of a clash between nuclear powers, echoing Kremlin warnings that the West has a greater risk for Ukraine of a direct confrontation between Russia and NATO.
The exercise simulated the reaction to a nuclear attack scenario in which 70 percent of homes and all important infrastructure were destroyed, large spaces infected by radioactive fallout and a general mobilization was announced.
The World Red Cross called for the dismissal of the head of the Belarusian Red Cross, who boasted that the organization actively transported young Ukrainians from Russian-controlled spaces to Belarus.
The Belarusian Red Cross has until November 30 to bid farewell to Dzmitry Shautsou.
If he is not dismissed, the board of directors of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said it would commit all its affiliates to new partnerships and investments by the Belarusian affiliate.
He would also be suspended from the global body.
The Belarusian Red Cross secured about 1. 7 million Swiss francs in investments last year for facilities such as HIV prevention, for migrants near the Polish border and assistance for others fleeing neighboring Ukraine.
An internal investigation by the International Federation revealed that the Belarusian Red Cross declared that Mr. Shautsou was “solely to blame for the accusations”, decided that some other organization was guilty of the displacement of young people from Russian-occupied regions of Ukraine, while the Belarusian Red Cross’s involvement was limited to Belarus.
A July report showed Shautsou visiting the Russian-controlled Ukrainian city of Lysychansk, where he said the organization was actively concerned with bringing young Ukrainians to Belarus for “health improvement” purposes.
Mr. Shautsou also publicly saw him dressed in military uniform with the Z insignia of the Russian forces.
Belarus was Russia’s best friend during the invasion and has been accused of facilitating the forcible transfer of young Ukrainians to Belarus, which Minsk denies.
The son of Ramzan Kadyrov, leader of Russia’s Chechen region, will be investigated for beating a prisoner because he is only 15 years old, Russian media reported.
Prisoner Nikita Zhuravel accused of burning the Koran.
A video circulating on social media shows a young man punching and kicking a boy who curled up in a chair before throwing him to the ground and slapping him on the head.
Kadyrov said he was proud of his son Adam, who has acquired “adult ideals of honor, dignity and defense of his religion,” and he circulated the video himself.
The prisoner had complained about the month of August to the Russian Ombudsman for Human Rights.
But Russian media outlet Baza, which has close ties to Russia’s security services, said the Chechen Interior Ministry refused to open an investigation because Kadyrov was under 16, the age of responsibility for offenders.
Kadyrov Sr. has Vladimir Putin’s freedom to lead Chechnya mercilessly, even if the incident involving his son has angered even pro-Kremlin extremists.
Ukraine will do everything possible to win its war with Russia, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an interview with Italian channel SkyTg24.
The Ukrainian leader said his country aims to overcome the winter by squandering the initiative on the battlefield.
“There is fatigue, but we will do our best to defeat our enemy and our counteroffensive continues, although little by little we are doing everything possible to repel the enemy,” he said, speaking to an Italian translator.
Zelensky also said Ukraine feels U. S. support in “these very difficult times” and is confident that it will be in the future.
By Sean Bell, Military Analyst
Despite Ukraine’s broad political policy to resist Russia’s illegal invasion, it was practical military and monetary assistance that allowed Ukraine to go on the offensive.
However, Western stockpiles are dwindling and no country owns more weapons than it needs, so giving away weapons poses a risk to the country.
Today, Rob Bauer, chairman of NATO’s Military Committee, publicly admitted that stocks have run out.
“The back of the barrel is now visible,” he said during a debate at the Warsaw Security Forum, according to CNN.
Of course, some of those statements are politically motivated: This week, the Pentagon warned Congress that it needed to update weapons the U. S. sent to Ukraine and had already been forced to slow the resupply of some troops.
Congress has avoided a government shutdown by passing a short-term investment bill over the weekend, but that cut off all aid to Ukraine in the war against Russia.
But beyond politics, the hard truth is that Ukraine wants more weapons. . . And now.
From a quantitative point of view, Ukraine faces a problem of stockpiles of “stupid” weapons, such as shells and artillery bullets.
Artillery remains to blame for peak battlefield casualties, which is why the West has increased its investment in a broader defense trade base to increase production of munitions important to sustaining Ukraine’s war effort.
However, Russia is waging a war with twentieth-century tactics, regardless of human life and the growing number of victims.
Ukraine cannot allow itself to be dragged into such tactics, as a bitter war of attrition would favor Russia.
Instead, Western aid has focused on providing Ukraine with high-tech precision weapons to enable precision movements and the conduct of twenty-first century wars.
This allows for precise movements at a distance, with little collateral damage, and Western was a critical component of Ukraine’s battlefield successes last year.
But fashionable weapons are expensive, so they are produced in limited quantities, and once acquired, the production line is closed. As a result, stocks are quickly replaced.
National reserves can be reduced, but only by taking into account the growing dangers to national security, and this continues ad infinitum.
As the war approaches its second anniversary, Western policy in favor of Ukraine continues unabated.
However, it is difficult to translate this political rhetoric into practical functions to win the battlefield.
This is not just a challenge for Ukraine: Russia has also been forced to seek foreign help from Iran and North Korea, and a prolonged standoff will only exacerbate the challenge.
The threat is that the supply of Western high-tech weapons will dwindle, forcing Ukraine to allow itself to be dragged into Russia’s war of attrition in the twentieth century, with mounting losses and a static front line, reminiscent of World War II.
The factor of American investment is expected to be resolved quickly, but the long-term factor of the Ukrainian source of important high-tech weapons will remain.
Russia held talks with the United States and the EU on Nagorno-Karabakh before the bombing by Azerbaijan’s army last month, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
“The United States and the EU approached us and invited us to a meeting,” spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters.
He stated that the parties had exchanged views on the situation.
“There was nothing secret about this meeting, it was an exchange of views. We will see how the West presents all this now,” he added.
For context: Last month, thousands of ethnic Armenians fled the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh for Armenia after Azerbaijan regained the region.
Nagorno-Karabakh is a disputed domain surrounded by territory largely controlled by Azerbaijan and has been a flashpoint since the end of the Soviet Union.
The United States and the EU expressed “deep concerns” for Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh, which around the world is identified as a component of Azerbaijan but under Armenian control.
We have put your questions to our experts and high-level correspondents.
Every weekday, at 12:30 p. m. , they offer their skillful opinion on the biggest problems raised by readers.
Today, Treefire asks: What would it take for Ukraine to reconquer Crimea?
Military analyst Sean Bell said. . .
In early 2014, Russia invaded and then annexed the Crimean peninsula to Ukraine.
After the overthrow of pro-Russian Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych on February 22 of the same year, Vladimir Putin told the heads of the security facilities that “we will have to start working on the return of Crimea to Russia. “
On February 27, Russian troops captured strategic sites in Crimea, followed by the installation of the pro-Russian Aksyonov government, the referendum on Crimean independence, and Crimea’s declaration of independence on March 16, 2014.
Although Russia first claimed that its military was not involved in the events, Putin later admitted that troops had been deployed to “support the Crimean self-defense forces. “
Russia incorporated Crimea on March 18, 2014.
Although Volodymyr Zelensky has obviously expressed his ambition to liberate the entire Ukrainian territory from Russian occupation, Crimea has abundant ancestral and symbolic importance for Russia.
The port of Sevastopol in Crimea is Russia’s only “hot water” port and is an important link to global industrial routes.
Despite its long-standing claims to the region, Russia will most likely use all the force at its disposal to defeat any Ukrainian attempt to retake Crimea.
In addition, the Crimean peninsula has been subjected to many over the centuries, and geography favors defenders.
Many of those defensive positions remain to this day, and while a coordinated amphibious attack combined with air and ground attacks would likely prevail, Ukraine does not have the air or sea resources to defeat the Russian military.
Therefore, top army analysts claim that it would be incredibly complicated for Ukraine to liberate Crimea and that any attack by the army would lead to massive losses for Ukraine.
But militarily it is possible.
With enough weapons and military capabilities, as well as a number of deceptive activities to concentrate the efforts of the Russian military elsewhere, it is conceivable that Ukraine could challenge the Russian profession of Crimea.
However, it is hard to believe that Ukraine can prevail, given Crimea’s importance to Russia.
Click here to ask and read the answers above. . .
The UK was the first to arrive in Ukraine, Rishi Sunak said in his speech at the Conservative Party conference.
“We were the first country to send Western war tanks to Kiev. Today, it has been followed by more than ten countries,” he said.
“We were the first country to send long-range weapons to Kiev. Today, France and the United States have done the same.
“We were the first country to accept Ukrainian pilots, now more than a dozen more have followed.
“I say to our allies: if we give the equipment to President Zelensky, the Ukrainians will do the job. “
He ended part of his speech with a rallying cry in Ukrainian: “Slava Ukraini!
Which means “glory to Ukraine”.
A week after Ukrainian tank crews on the Eastern Front witnessed the first delivery of American Abrams tanks, the question remains what kind of seasoning they will offer.
These tanks are complex and stronger weapons than many Soviet-era tanks used by Ukrainian and Russian troops.
So what will those tanks be for?
Olivia Yanchik, a program assistant at the Atlantic Council, says the tanks have “technical functions to take advantage of any advances, but the demanding logistical situations should not be underestimated. “
The tanks are “known for their high fuel consumption, so their diversity will be limited by proximity to fuel supplies,” Yanchik says.
But while some may see the tanks as a symbolic gesture, the analyst notes that these vehicles will “amplify Ukraine’s offensive capability. “
She writes, “Much will likely depend on the ability of Ukrainian commanders to integrate those American-made cars into existing sets and deploy them well in complex combined arms operations. “
Yanchik goes on to say that while the tanks will not replace the course of the war, if used in conjunction with other recently delivered tanks and in conjunction with infantry, artillery, drones and air cover, “they could help Ukraine achieve its current purpose of leading south. “
Finland is contemplating tactics to seize Helsinki’s largest sports and events complex, which has been closed since last year due to sanctions imposed on its billionaire Russian owners.
Gennady Timchenko, who owns interests in Russian power companies, and Roman Rotenberg, a descendant of the hardline Rotenberg family, the place, which was once the main stage for ice hockey, the favorite sport of the Finns.
Finland has the option of expropriating the site if Russian tycoons refuse to voluntarily sell their shares, the foreign and justice ministries said.
Helsinki Mayor Juhana Vartiainen said the city expected Russian owners to sell voluntarily.
“We are convinced that active negotiations are taking place to sell the corridor and we hope that the transaction will take place as soon as possible, so that the corridor can once again be used by the inhabitants of Helsinki,” Vartiainen said.