Dhe Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj sees his armed forces under pressure from the influx of newly mobilized soldiers on the Russian side. Although Russia only burns these men as cannon fodder, they make the task more difficult for the Ukrainian defenders, Zelenskyy said in his video address on Thursday.
The second largest city in Ukraine, Kharkiv, was again hit with Russian rockets on Thursday evening. Russian cruise missiles also hit a military facility near the city of Zolochiv in the west of the country. Friday marks the 233rd day of Ukraine’s defense against the Russian invasion.
In the European energy crisis, caused by the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine, Germany has reached the planned storage level of 95 percent of natural gas before the start of winter. The Russian oil company Rosneft has filed a lawsuit in Germany against the forced administration of its refinery subsidiaries ordered by the federal government.
Zelenskyj: Russia is throwing thousands of mobilized people to the front
In September, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the partial mobilization of 300,000 soldiers to compensate for losses in the Ukraine war. In fact, the mobilization affects all parts of Russian society. Hundreds of thousands of men fled abroad before conscription.
According to reports, the conscripted soldiers are often sent to the front without training and poorly armed. The deaths of five such men from the Siberian region of Chelyabinsk were officially confirmed on Thursday. Other soldiers quickly end up in Ukrainian captivity.
“Now Russia is throwing thousands of its mobilized men to the front,” said Zelenskyy. The Russian commanders didn’t need these soldiers at all: “They expect the mobilized Russians to survive at least a few weeks in the war and then die.” Then new soldiers would be sent. “But this period allows the Russian generals to use their people as cannon fodder to put extra pressure on our defenders.”
The pressure is palpable. “I am grateful to all our soldiers who endure this,” said the Ukrainian head of state. He also thanked the international partners who understand that under these conditions Ukraine needs even more military assistance.
Ukraine sets a deadline for the Red Cross
Ukraine is pressuring the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to take more care of Ukrainian soldiers in Russian captivity. During a video link, the head of the Kiev presidential office, Andriy Yermak, gave the ICRC three days to visit the Russian prison camp at Olenivka near Donetsk. “We can’t waste any more time. Lives are at stake,” he said.
More than 50 Ukrainian prisoners were killed in an explosion in Olenivka in July. Ukraine believes a bomb was deliberately detonated in the building. The ICRC has not yet managed to gain access to the camp. Zelenskyy said the ICRC has the right to access and must use it.