“Russia’s only tactic is terror”

Kyiv/Berlin/New York/Moscow Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has compared his country’s struggle against Russia to resistance against the Nazis in World War II. Russia is pursuing the same goals as National Socialism once did, said Selenski in a video message distributed in Kyiv on Friday night. “The form of evil has changed, but the essence is unchanged.”

Russia has gone from being a neighbor to an aggressor and a terrorist – and is guilty of war crimes. The Russian war of aggression against the neighboring country has now lasted more than eight months.

Selenski stood next to a downed combat drone during his performance. He said that peaceful cities were repeatedly attacked with bombs and rockets. In the past two days alone, there have been 30 Russian attacks with Iranian drones. Of these, 23 were shot down. Russia mines and seizes power plants, steals grain and kidnaps children.

Referring to the Second World War and the Ukrainians’ fight against the Nazis at the time, Zelensky said that “evil had risen from the ashes again after 80 years”. He lamented that the aggressor Russia had fired 4,500 rockets at Ukraine since the beginning of the war and carried out a total of 8,000 airstrikes. But his country will not be broken.

The head of state expressed confidence that the invader would capitulate and be put to flight. Russia will also pay reparations; and the occupied territories of Kherson, Luhansk, Donetsk and the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea would be free again.

“Russia’s only tactic is terror,” Zelensky said. That can only lead to defeat. In view of the power cuts as a result of the destroyed energy infrastructure, he said that life without light is not dark, but rather without freedom. The Ukrainians would also survive the harsh winter. “We are not afraid of the dark.”

Kadyrov admits high losses in his own unit in Ukraine

The ruler of the Russian republic of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, has admitted high losses in his own ranks after an artillery shelling by Ukrainian troops. “23 fighters died and 58 were injured,” Kadyrov wrote on Friday night on his Telegram channel. Ukrainian sources reported earlier this week that a Chechen unit in the southern Ukrainian region of Kherson revealed its location via photos on social media and was hit by artillery fire.

Usually, Russian officials don’t publish figures on their own casualties. In this case, Kadyrov was probably trying to put the even higher numbers quoted by the Ukrainian side into perspective. At the same time, the Chechen leader used the admission to call on his compatriots to be mobilized for the war in Ukraine.

Since the start of the Russian war of aggression more than eight months ago, Kadyrov has distinguished himself as one of the strongest supporters of the bloody conflict and has also sent his own units to Ukraine. He regularly criticized the Russian army leadership – often in conjunction with the financier of the “Wagner” mercenary units, Yevgeny Prigozhin – as being too soft. Kadyrov also calls for the use of nuclear weapons against Ukraine.

Putin confirms readiness for negotiations with Ukraine

Meanwhile, after more than eight months of war against Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin reaffirmed his readiness for peace negotiations. However, under the influence of the United States, the government in Ukraine decided against such talks, Putin said on Thursday at a Moscow discussion forum with international experts.

At the end of September, the head of the Kremlin annexed four Ukrainian regions and also offered negotiations in a speech in the Kremlin. In Kyiv, Zelensky rejected talks with Putin by decree.

Referring to the raid he ordered on the country, Putin said Ukraine is fighting without regard for its soldiers and is suffering significantly higher casualties than Russia. Regarding the reasons for the war, he once again said that Ukraine’s aspirations to join NATO were incompatible with Russian security interests. At the time, Ukraine also canceled a peace plan for the Donbass that had been agreed with Germany and France.

Putin made it clear that he also sees his war in the neighboring country as a fight against an “aggressive West” that is trying to impose its rules and liberal values ​​on others. The “tectonic changes” in Ukraine showed that the supremacy sought by the US in a monopolar world was a thing of the past.

The 70-year-old said that the “historical period” of Western dominance was coming to an end. During the discussion, Putin also accused Western governments of “systematic errors” that led to energy and economic crises. Russia will not accept a “dictate” from a “neo-colonial West”.

Other centers of power and a multipolar world are emerging in Asia and South America, for example, said Putin. “The West is not in a position to lead humanity alone, no matter how desperately it tries.” The Kremlin chief emphasized that Russia has an interest in good relations with all countries. “Russia is not an enemy.”

US military strategy: Russia “imminent” threat

In its new military strategy, the US government sees Russia as an “acute” threat. The word was carefully chosen, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said at the presentation of the document on Thursday. “Unlike China, Russia cannot systematically challenge the United States in the long term,” Austin said. “But Russian aggression is a direct and acute threat to our interests and values.”

China was ranked as the top persistent threat. It is the only country that “both wants to restructure the international order and increasingly has the strength to do so”.

With regard to the use of American nuclear weapons, it is said that a very high threshold will continue to be set. However, the strategy does not stipulate that they should only be used in response to a nuclear attack.

IAEA plans inspections in Ukraine later this week

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) intends to send an observer mission to Ukraine this week following accusations from Russia that Kyiv is planning to use a “dirty” bomb in the war. IAEA chief Rafael Grossi said on Thursday, according to a statement. Experts from the organization will carry out inspections at two locations in Ukraine this week after the Ukrainian government wrote to request teams of inspectors to be sent. Putin had also spoken out in favor of sending an IAEA observer mission to Ukraine as soon as possible.

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What will be important on Friday

Kremlin chief Putin will chair a meeting of the Council of the Russian-led military alliance Organization of the Collective Security Treaty (CSTO) this Friday. It should once again be about the effects of the war in Ukraine on the states of the former Soviet Union.

After his return from Kyiv, Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier will address the challenges posed by the Russian war against Ukraine. At an event with the German National Foundation in Berlin (11 a.m.), he wants to give a speech to evoke the cohesion of German society.

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