Russia has mobilized 200,000 of the 300,000 troops in need of mobilization, before launching an operation to recapture the strategic town of Krasnyi Lyman that has just fallen into Ukrainian hands.
The Russian-Ukrainian conflict took a major turn when referendums on joining Russia were held from September 23 to 27, 2022 in four breakaway regions of Ukraine, the People’s Republic of China. Self-proclaimed Donetsk (DPR) and Lugansk (LPR), as well as in the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions.
According to the results of the processing of 100% of the votes in the DPR, 99.23% of those who voted in favor of joining the Russian Federation, in the LPR 98.42%, in the Kherson region 87.05%, and in Zaporozhye 93.11%.
On September 30, 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin gave a speech in the Kremlin after the results of the referendums in four regions of Ukraine, before signing an agreement with the heads of these regions. on the admission of DPR, LPR, Kherson, and Zaporozhye into Russia.
Next, the Constitutional Court of Russia recognized these treaties as corresponding to the Constitution of the Russian Federation. Then, in turn, the State Duma (lower house) and the Federation Council (Senate) of Russia ratified treaties on the annexation of Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporozhye, and Kherson into Russian territory.
These events take place in the context of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict that is still raging fiercely in all the regions that Russia is annexing, in which, the fiercest fighting areas take place in Donetsk and Kherson.
On October 4, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that in the past day, the Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS) used a precision missile strike to destroy up to 100 Ukrainian fighters and mercenaries. abroad in the direction of Kupiansk.
Accordingly, during the attack on the troop concentration area of the 14th and 92nd mechanized brigades of Ukraine, the Russian army destroyed up to 100 fighters and 16 units of Ukrainian military equipment in the Kupyansky direction. in the area of settlements Dvurechnaya, Petropavlovka, and Kupiansk Kharkov region.
In addition, in the Krivorozhsky and Andreevsk directions, the VKS attacked units of the 24th Mechanized Brigade, the 17th and 128th tank brigades of Ukraine in the residential areas of Belaya Krinitsa, Arkhangelskoye, Lyubimovka, and Zolotaya Balka, destroyed up to 250 Ukrainian fighters, destroyed 9 tanks, 12 infantry fighting vehicles, 20 other armored vehicles.
The Russian Ministry of Defense also announced that, on October 4, fighter jets of the Russian Aerospace Forces shot down two attack aircraft Su-25 and Su-24 of the Ukrainian Air Force in the battles. air combat; along with 8 Ukrainian UAVs in the Donetsk, Kharkov, and Kherson regions.
The Russian air defense forces also shot down two ballistic missiles “Tochka-U” in the Rovenky residential area of the LPR, and shot down nine shells of HIMARS and “Vilkha” of Ukraine, while they were in the air over the area. Nova Kakhovka and Chernobaevka in the Kherson region.
With the stopping of the offensive momentum of Ukrainian forces in the Kherson area, the Russian Army and its allies are considering continuing to attack to regain the newly lost areas into the hands of Kyiv forces, creating momentum to attack and occupy the remaining areas. remaining territories of the Donetsk region.
On October 4, the head of the Donetsk People’s Republic, Denis Pushilin, said that allied forces were planning to liberate Krasnyi Lyman (or “Red River Estuary”). Krasnyi Lyman is a major railway crossing in the Kramatorsk metropolitan area, which has recently been taken over by Ukrainian forces.
On October 1, the Russian Army was forced to withdraw from the settlements of this strategic town, to avoid the risk of encirclement, after Ukrainian forces captured several towns around it.
Krasnyi Lyman was one of the first cities captured by the Ukrainian Army in June 2014. The Russian army, along with forces of the DPR and LPR, regained control of Krasnyi Lyman at the end of May 2022, but less than five months later they let Ukraine retake it.
On the eve of the operation to retake Krasnyi Lyman, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that more than two-thirds of the local mobilization plan had been completed, 200,000 of the 300,000 people to be mobilized had joined the armed forces and were undergoing training. at 80 training grounds and in 6 training centers, to quickly launch to the front.
