Status: 03.10.2022 17:24
The Ukrainian army has achieved further successes in the south and east of Ukraine – in areas that Russia had annexed in violation of international law. The first chamber of the Russian parliament has meanwhile ratified the annexation – without a dissenting vote.
In the course of their counter-offensive, Ukrainian troops in the east and south of the country have apparently recorded further successes. In the Luhansk region, Ukrainian soldiers have already established themselves near the city of Lysychansk, a military spokesman for the Moscow-controlled Luhansk separatists wrote in the Telegram news service. However, the Ukrainian units are under constant fire from the Russian army. According to Ukrainian sources, the village of Bilohorivka has long been under Ukrainian control.
Shaded in white: advance of the Russian army. Shaded in green: Russian-backed separatist areas. Crimea: annexed by Russia.
Image: ISW/2.10.2022
Counter-offensive still in full swing
Previously, the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj had also announced an advance of his armed forces in the southern Ukrainian region of Cherson and the recapture of the local towns of Archanhelske and Myrolyubivka. A Ukrainian advance along the Dnipro River has not yet been officially announced. The towns of Solota Balka and Khreshchenivka are said to be back under Ukrainian control. Ukrainian media circulated a photo that is said to show Ukrainian soldiers in Khreshchenivka.
The representative of the Russian occupation administration of the Kherson region, Kirill Stremusov, also spoke about a Ukrainian advance in the direction of Dudchany, about 20 kilometers further south. In a video statement, Stremusov acknowledged that Ukrainian forces had broken through “a little deeper.” However, everything is “under control”. Since the beginning of September, the Ukrainian army has already liberated most of the eastern region of Kharkov and most recently also recaptured the strategically important town of Lyman in Donetsk.
conflicting parties as a source
Information on the course of the war, shelling and casualties provided by official bodies of the Russian and Ukrainian conflict parties cannot be directly checked by an independent body in the current situation.
Duma chambers before ratification of annexation
Last Friday, Russia illegally annexed the regions of Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhia and Cherson, which were only partially held by its own troops. The lower house of the Duma, the Russian parliament, has meanwhile ratified the annexation treaties – unanimously; the upper house of the Kremlin-controlled parliament was expected to do so tomorrow.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said two of the regions – Donetsk and Luhansk in Donbass – are joining Russia within their administrative borders that existed before the conflict between Russian-backed separatists and Ukrainian forces erupted in the territories in 2014. In the case of the other two regions, Cherson and Zaporizhia, the question of the border is still open. “We will continue to discuss this with the residents of these regions,” said Peskow, without giving any further details.
Head of the AWK Zaporizhia apparently free
Meanwhile, the head of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, which was occupied by Russian troops, Ihor Murashov appears to have been released. This was announced by the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, on Twitter. He received confirmation that Murashov had returned safely to his family.
According to the IAEA, the Russian authorities had previously stated that Murashov had been temporarily arrested for questioning. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy then condemned the arrest as a Russian act of terrorism.