Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered this Wednesday, October 19 the establishment of martial law in the four Ukrainian territories of Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia annexed in September by Moscow. The Russian president announced this measure during a meeting of his Security Council broadcast on television. The Kremlin then issued a decree announcing the entry into force of martial law in these territories from Thursday midnight.
These territories “had established martial law before their attachment to the Russian Federation, but it is necessary to formalize this regime by following Russian legislation”, declared Vladimir Putin. He justified this measure by saying that kyiv refused to negotiate with Moscow and continued according to him to “bombard” the civilian population in these regions. “The neo-Nazis (Ukrainians) openly use terrorist methods (…) They send groups of saboteurs to our territory,” he added, denouncing in particular the attack on the Crimean bridge and ” nuclear infrastructures”, without specifying which ones.
According to the decree, the Russian government must within three days propose concrete measures to be applied in these territories. Russian legislation provides for a series of measures in the event of the establishment of martial law: reinforcement of security measures, curfew, ban on public gatherings, evacuation of strategic companies, ban on leaving the territories concerned, internment of the population, establishment of military censorship in telecommunications, etc. The decree also establishes a reinforced security regime, described as a “medium-level reaction regime”, in the Crimean peninsula annexed in 2014, as well as in the Russian regions of Krasnodar, Rostov, Belgorod, Bryansk, Voronezh and Kursk, located close to Ukraine. In the central federal district, where the capital Moscow is located, a reinforced alert regime is also established, according to this decree.
- Explosions heard in kyiv
Several explosions were heard in the center of kyiv on Wednesday, shortly after the triggering of the anti-aircraft siren, AFP journalists noted. Since Monday, the Ukrainian capital has been attacked several times by Russian suicide drones, which have killed several people and targeted energy infrastructure in particular.
Ukrainian air defense batteries shot down “several Russian missiles” over kyiv, said the capital’s mayor, Vitaly Klitschko.
- Russian occupation administration evacuates Kherson
The Russian occupation administration in Kherson, in the south of Ukraine, indicated on Wednesday October 19 that it was evacuating the city in the face of the advance of Ukrainian troops, while assuring that the Russian army would fight on place “until death”.
“As of today, all the power structures that are in the city, the civil and military administration, all the ministries, are also moving to the left bank” of the Dnieper river which borders Kherson, indicated Vladimir Saldo, the head of the Russian occupation administration, live on the Rossiya 24 TV channel. “The whole city will be held, but we must ensure that the civilians are safe. No one plans to leave Kherson. The military will fight until death,” he added.
Vladimir Saldo also announced that entry into the Kherson region under Russian control will be prohibited for civilians “for seven days”. Earlier, the occupation authorities had announced the start of the evacuation of civilians to the right bank of the Dnieper. Russian media broadcast images showing evacuees boarding ferries to cross the river.
“About 5 million inhabitants” of the Ukrainian territories annexed by Moscow – from Lugansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporijjia – are currently in Russia, said Wednesday the secretary of the Russian Security Council, Nikolai Patrushev.
- “About 50” employees of the Zaporizhia power plant “prisoners” of the Russians
“About fifty” employees of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, militarily occupied in southern Ukraine by Moscow troops since March, are “still prisoners” of the Russians, said the boss of the Ukrainian operator, Energoatom. “Some were later released, but there are those whose fate is still unknown,” said Petro Kotin.
According to the boss of Energoatom, among the hundred Ukrainian prisoners were employees “who were killed, and others who were tortured”. The Ukrainian nuclear operator will “publish in the coming days the list” of employees still in Russian hands. “We will appeal to the international community to help free them,” he said.
The head of Energoatom also gave some details on the detention of the former director general of the nuclear power plant in Zaporijia (south), Igor Murachov, arrested by the Russians at the end of September before being released a few days later. “They kept him in a basement for three days,” he said. “Isn’t it torture if he had to sit in a chair for an entire day with a bag over his head?” he asked. PetroKotine also indicated that the Russians, according to him, “recorded videos with Igor Murachov for propaganda purposes”, without giving further details on their content or their distribution.
- Drones used by Russia a ‘symbol of its military and political bankruptcy’, says Zelensky
“The very fact that Russia is calling on Iran for help is the Kremlin’s recognition of its military and political bankruptcy,” Volodymyr Zelensky taunted in his daily address posted on social media. “For decades, (the Russians) spent billions of dollars on their military-industrial complex, and they ended up bowing to Tehran for pretty basic drones and missiles,” he blasted.
kyiv and its Western allies have accused Russia of using Iranian-made drones, including the Shahed 136 suicide bombers, in recent weeks to carry out large-scale attacks in Ukraine. Earlier on Tuesday, Iran said it was ready to hold talks with kyiv to clarify claims it deemed ‘baseless’ that Tehran was supplying Russia with weapons and drones used in its invasion of Ukraine. .
- kyiv denounces the “inaction” of the ICRC for Ukrainian prisoners in Russian hands
kyiv denounced on Tuesday the “inaction” of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to help its soldiers prisoners of the Russians to whom the international organization has not yet been able to visit. “Unfortunately, with each exchange, we note that the inaction of the ICRC has led to our prisoners of war and civilian hostages being tortured daily by starvation, by electrocutions”, regretted the Ukrainian human rights officer, Dmytro Loubinets , quoted in a press release from the presidency. According to him, the ICRC is not fulfilling its mandate, which provides for the visit of military and civilian prisoners in conflict zones.
Questioned by Agence France Presse, the ICRC said it “shared the frustration” of kyiv. “We know that behind this lies the anguish of families not knowing the fate of their loved ones,” said an ICRC spokesman. “We reiterate that we will never stop demanding access to all prisoners of war until we can see them repeatedly, wherever they are detained,” he said. Last Friday, the ICRC had already called for “immediate and unhindered” access to thousands of prisoners of war from the conflict in Ukraine, whom it has not yet been able to visit.
- In the United States, Republicans brandish Ukraine as a campaign argument
Kevin McCarthy, the leader of the Republicans in the lower house of Congress, warned on Tuesday that his party would not sign a “blank check” to Ukraine if it wins, as the polls predict, the majority of seats in the House of Representatives in the US midterm elections. “I think we’re going to end up in a recession and we’re not going to write a blank check to Ukraine. It’s not possible,” McCarthy told the political news site Punchbowl News.
If congressional support for Ukrainian defense funding, so far broadly consensual, were to dwindle, this points to difficulties ahead for Kyiv. Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began on February 24, Joe Biden’s government has released $17.6 billion in military aid to Ukraine, with bipartisan agreement in Congress, although some of the Republicans’ right-wing aide protested. Almost all of the Republican representatives voted in September against a law of massive investments of 12.3 billion dollars, including 3 billion in military aid to Ukraine in the form of armaments, various supplies and payment of salaries of Ukrainian soldiers. The law, however, passed with the support of all Democrats.
- Moscow will need two years to rebuild its army, says Estonian defense minister
Russia will likely need two to four years to rebuild its armed forces to pre-war levels in Ukraine, Estonia’s Defense Minister said on Tuesday, urging continued pressure on Moscow. During a trip to Washington, Hanno Pevkur predicted a long conflict and urged the West to stand with the Ukrainians until they achieve victory for “the free world”.
“The consensus, more or less, is that it will take Russia two to four years to restore some capabilities or even capabilities similar to what it had” before the war, Estonian minister told roundtable in front of the press. Hanno Pevkur claims to have learned that the Russian arsenal had shrunk to the point that Russian forces were using the S-300 air defense system like ordinary missiles, and that some Russian shells were exploding before they even reached their target , due to their age.
Hanno Pevkur further warned reporters that Moscow still has the ability to carry out attacks, including on NATO members such as Estonia.