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As the Russia-Ukraine war enters its 223rd day, we take a look at the main developments.
Here is the situation as it stands on Tuesday, October 4.
Battlefield advances
- Ukrainian forces have broken through Russian defenses in the south of the country while expanding their rapid offensive in the east, seizing back more territory in areas annexed by Russia and threatening supply lines for its troops.
- Ukraine has made significant advances in two of the four Russian-occupied regions Moscow annexed last week after what it called referendums – votes that were denounced by Kyiv and Western governments as illegal and coercive.
- Kyiv appears on course to achieve several key battlefield objectives as it strengthens its military position against Russia ahead of the winter, a senior Pentagon official added.
- Russia has sacked the commander of its Western military district, news outlet RBC reported, after a series of painful battlefield reverses in Ukraine.
- The military commissar of Russia’s Khabarovsk region in the far east was also removed from his post after half the cohort of newly mobilized personnel were sent home as they did not meet the draft criteria, the region’s governor said.
Diplomacy
- Billionaire Elon Musk asked Twitter users to weigh in on a plan to end Russia’s war in Ukraine, including proposing UN-supervised elections in four occupied regions that Moscow annexed last week and formally recognizing Crimea, which Moscow seized in 2014, as Russia. The plan drew immediate condemnation from Ukrainians.
- North Korea voiced support for Russia’s annexation of parts of Ukraine its troops occupy and accused the US and its allies of gangster-like behavior by leading a drive at the UN against Moscow’s moves.
- The head of the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine, Ihor Murashov, has been released, UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi said, after detention that Kyiv blamed on Moscow and called an act of terror.
- The Kremlin said it favored a “balanced approach” to the issue of nuclear weapons, not one based on emotion, after a key ally of President Putin called over the weekend for Russia to use a “low-yield nuclear weapon” in Ukraine.
Emergency and military aid
- The International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) executive board will consider Ukraine’s request for $1.3bn in additional emergency funding on Friday as Russia’s war against the country continues, two sources familiar with the matter said.
- The US is expected to announce the delivery of new weapons for Ukraine, including four High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) as part of a $625m package.
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