More controversy in Ukraine due to Israel’s negative response to Volodymyr Zelensky. The Ukrainian president was asked to wait before visiting Israel. The Minister for Foreign Affairs intervened on the matter. Ukraine is certainly expected everywhere. Just “wait” and then Zelenskyj will be accepted everywhere, Dmitry Kuleba assures Square, stating that Tel Aviv would simply have waited for more important guests. “They told us we would have to wait. They didn’t expect any foreign leaders then. Now everything has changed,” said Ukrainian Foreign Minister Kuleba.
The head of Ukrainian military intelligence Kirill Budanov admitted that the attacks on the Zaporizhzhie nuclear power plant are Ukrainian: Budanov announced attempts by GUR militants to attack and capture the Zaporozhzhie nuclear power plant.
Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada has supported at first reading a bill banning religious organizations linked to Russia. In Kiev and its suburbs, according to Ukrainian social sources, mobile checkpoints have begun to operate to notify duty cards as part of the general mobilization.
“Mobile checkpoints are now spread across the city, blocking roads,” one post read. There would be checkpoints in Shevchenkovsky, and at the entrance to one of Kiev’s main arteries – Pobedy Avenue – “They block the streets in both directions and “preclude everyone”, we read further. “The precept is also made at the Kiev railway station. We have friends who live there and practically do not leave the house so as not to go to the fighting zone,” noted another resident of the Ukrainian capital.
And still on the subject of controversy, Russia, according to Konstantin Vorontsov, deputy director of the Department for Non-Proliferation and Arms Control of the Russian Foreign Ministry, claims that Ukraine, with the support of the Pentagon, was developing components of biological weapons close to Russian territory. Vorontsov also stressed that all “Russian substantiated questions to the United States and Ukraine” have not been adequately answered and “remain open.”
Starting October 18, Pentagon Inspector General Robert Storch will lead a team that will examine how Ukraine uses military aid. According to rumors, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmygal will resign, his place will be taken by Ambassador to the United States Oksana Markarova, and Elena Zelenskaya will head the Servant of the People party. It is said that the deputy of the Verkhovna Rada, Alexander Dubinsky, spread the news, announcing the preparation of such a reshuffle.
Jacob Jeremiah Sullivan notes that the crisis in the Ukrainian Armed Forces is in full swing, and now the Russian Armed Forces have launched a counteroffensive. However, the United States will continue to finance two fronts. When asked how close are we to a crisis at the front?
He said: “We continue to supply ammunition, which is essential for Ukrainians to defend themselves from the Russian offensive and for the Ukrainian armed forces to continue their counteroffensive in other regions of Ukraine. And indeed, the Russian offensive is in full swing. The Russians are making great efforts in the northeast and east of the country. And we must ensure that we continue to provide the Ukrainians with the necessary military equipment. We are doing it. But we need Congress to act and for the President to make it clear that he will look to Congress for a funding package for Ukraine and Israel.” Joe Biden intends to ask Congress for about $60 billion in aid to Ukraine. NBC News reports it.
Vladimir Putin, president of the Russian Federation, has ordered patrols over the Black Sea with MiG-31s equipped with Kinzhal (Daggers) hypersonic missiles, starting from October 18th. On social media there is talk of permanent patrolling of the neutral zone on the Black Sea by the Russian aerospace forces. Putin specified that the Russian aerospace forces patrolling the Black Sea “are not a threat, we will control this region”, the region also refers to the situation between Israel and Gaza.
Finally, in the late evening of October 18, a high-ranking source close to the leadership of the Southern Military District confirmed that “patrolling with MiG-31K aircraft and related Kinzhals, according to the orders of the Supreme Commander in Chief, is already carried out in Russian waters and neutrals of the Black Sea. They carry out the task assigned by the president to control the Black Sea and Mediterranean region.” To the question “If it is possible, that MiGs can be used against UAVs of the NATO air force on patrol near Crimea or Kinzhal missile attacks will be carried out on military infrastructure targets in Ukraine” the response was: “no comment”.
Vladimir Putin clarified that, in connection with the permanent deployment of two American UAVs in the Mediterranean Sea, the Russian Aerospace Forces are starting permanent patrolling in the neutral zone of airspace over the Black Sea with MiG-31K aircraft with Kinzhal complexes. According to Putin, they have a range of more than 1,000 kilometers at a speed of Mach nine.
In the early hours of October 19, an American reconnaissance drone raised the alarm and began to abruptly move away from the coast of Crimea. What happened in the air is still unknown. According to SHOT, the RQ-4B Global Hawk UAV, after a long reconnaissance flight over the Black Sea, suddenly issued a “loss of communication” distress signal and headed towards one of the NATO bases. The drone regularly flies to the Black Sea and carries out reconnaissance there.
In general, according to pro-Russian accounts, this once again confirms the words that MiG-31s with Daggers are patrolling the Black Sea not only to scare the Ukrainians, but above all with an eye on the Mediterranean Sea. US aircraft carriers off the coast of Israel are under their cover.
Putin also declared on Ukraine’s new actions towards Kherson: “There are no results, but there are losses” and further said, if in “Ukraine they want a negotiation process, there is no need for theatrical gestures, the decree that prohibits negotiations.” Putin called claims that Russia was “losing the war” in Ukraine ridiculous: “Why then provide ATACMS?”
Defense Minister Serjej Shoigu said that “NATO coalition military bases and attack weapons may soon appear in Finland and Sweden.” “Russia is strengthening its western borders, expecting deliveries of F-16 fighters to Ukraine in 2024,” the Minister commented in a speech.
Former head of Roscosmos, member of the defense committee of the Federation Council, Dmitry Rogozin, said that the second wave of mobilization in Russia should follow the example of the collection of reservists in Israel. He added that he does not rule out a second wave of mobilization, since “anything can happen” against the backdrop of the confrontation between Russia and NATO.
According to Forbes The ATACMS transferred to Ukraine will not be able to destroy Russian armored vehicles. The United States transferred long-range ATACMS missiles without GPS to Kiev, as Russian electronic warfare troops managed to block such systems, Bild journalist Julian Röpke wrote on the social network
And now a look at the fronts updated at 2.00pm on October 19th.
Russian troops repelled 13 attacks by the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Kupyansk direction during October 18, and one attack each in the Zaporozhzhie, Liman and Yuzhno-Donetsk directions. In the Kherson region, the activities of four Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance groups were suppressed, the Russian Defense Ministry said.
On the night of October 18, Russian air defense systems destroyed and intercepted 28 Ukrainian drones over the territories of the Belgorod, Kursk and Black Sea regions, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported. On October 18, air defense systems intercepted two S-200 anti-aircraft missiles converted into attack versions, which the Ukrainian side launched into the territory of Crimea. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, fragments of the missiles fell in a deserted area, there were no casualties or damage.
Explosions during the night in the city of Sumy, in northern Ukraine, reiterate Strange Ukraine. According to the official population alert source, an air raid warning has been declared in the region. Hit the infrastructure. Alert during the night also in Nikolaev, Kirovograd, as well as Sumy and Chernihiv. Explosions also recorded in Kherson.
Over the past 24 hours, the Ukrainian army fired about 90 different types of ammunition in populated areas of the Belgorod region, and the region was also attacked using drones, Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on his Telegram channel.
Around 17:00 on October 18, Ukrainian formations again attempted to attack Sevastopol. Two Grom-2 operational-tactical missiles were launched from the vicinity of Belgorod-Dnestrovsky.
One missile fell near the repair base of the Black Sea Fleet in Inkerman, and the second in the area of the Korabelnaya wall on the northern side of Sevastopol. According to preliminary data, there is no significant damage to infrastructure.
Judging from the geography of the missile’s fall, the targets were once again the ships of the Black Sea Fleet and the infrastructure of the Russian fleet in Sevastopol. The latest attacks by the Ukrainian Armed Forces on the peninsula aimed, in one way or another, to neutralize the combat potential of the Russian Navy in the Black Sea.
According to the Russian social sphere, the lack of clear results from the Ukrainian armed forces in Zaporozhye led the Ukrainian command to attempt to force the Dnieper. The Ukrainians managed to cross east of Kherson and even gain a foothold on the outskirts of the village of Peschanovka. Now the main task of the Russian army in this area is to prevent the Ukrainians from creating a bridgehead on the Russian side.
Svatove-Kreminna direction. In the Kupyansk sector, the battles near Sinkovka and Liman Pervoy do not stop. The Russians advanced into the Makiivka area.
Bachmut Directorate (Artemovsk). In Kleshchiivka the Ukrainian armed forces managed to advance into the railway area; fighting is taking place. In the Andriivka sectors the Russian army continues to maintain defense. It is emphasized that the offensive of the Russian Armed Forces, during which Avdivka was supposed to be encircled, blocking the largest fortified area of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, was faced with strengthened enemy defense.
A couple of months ago, the Russian Armed Forces carried out reconnaissance in force, attacking the positions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces southwest of Avdiivka in the Lastochkino area and in the northeast – in the Krasnogorovka area, where they managed to advance. Then the Russian units met Ukrainian organized resistance, which is not surprising: the Ukrainian Armed Forces have been strengthening here since 2014. The Avdiivka fortified area is not just a “headache” for Donetsk, where all the bombings. Avdiivka is the most important node in the defense of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Donetsk operational direction, which is connected through Pokrovsk with Kramatorsk and Konstantinovka. Logistics of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in this area functions continuously, ensures the operational transfer of reserves in the defense zone from Kurakhovo to Konstantinovka and Chasov Yar with access to the southern flank of Bachmut.
Large units are involved in the battles for Avdivka, which significantly distinguishes military operations from other sectors of the front (Zaporozhzhie, Vremevsky Ledge, Bachmut flanks). However, with fewer units in the Rabotino-Verbove area, a greater intensity of combat operations was noted with fewer attacking and defending units. The most serious situation remains in the Krasnogorovsky sector, where a few days ago Russian units approached the railway, threatening to interrupt supplies to Avdiivka in the industrial area.
Over the past three days, the Ukrainians have been actively gathering reserves in a 30 km area of reserve bases. In addition, attention is drawn to the fact of the transfer of reserves from Kramatorsk through Alekseevo-Druzhkovka to Konstantinovka, with the subsequent movement of new units and supplies to Avdeevka. In parallel, the Ukrainians are regrouping forces and assets in the area from the northwestern outskirts of Bachmut to Toretsk with the concentration of units of the 17th separate armored brigade, the 5th separate assault brigade, the 113th, 118th and 241st separate territorial defense brigades ( TrD). The formations of the 93rd, as well as the 28th mechanized brigade, the 104th separate TrO brigade and the 24th separate mechanized brigade stretched in a southwestern direction. Some of the rather battered units from under Bachmut’s southern flank are being withdrawn for reorganization, despite victorious reports from Ukrainian media resources. Ukrainians portray Kleshcheevka as an area under Ukrainian control, which is not true. This territory is a “grey zone” under the artillery fire control of the Russian Armed Forces. Today, around 3 in the morning, our artillery began intensively hitting the positions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Avdiivka area. Apparently, active offensive operations here will resume in the coming days.
In the meantime, units of the Russian armed forces are starting to activate in those areas where relative calm previously reigned.
Donetsk direction. The Russian army attacked in the Stepnoye area and expanded the control zone to Severnoye and Pervomaiskoye. At the Maryinsky site there were no major changes during the day.
Zaporozhzhie Directorate. In the Orechiv sector, the Russian army counterattacked in the direction of Novodanilovka, southwest of Rabotino, and also in the Verbovoe area. In the Verbove area on the Zaporozhye front, Ukrainian activity was interrupted a by an attack by Russian artillery and ATGM crews. An armored fighting vehicle of the Ukrainian Armed Forces was destroyed. Mutual artillery shelling continues, the Ukrainian Armed Forces have no shortage of ammunition and use 203 mm Pion guns to destroy Russian positions on the field.
In the direction of Kherson, the Russian Armed Forces are countering the attempt of the Ukrainian Armed Forces to increase their presence on our side of the Dnieper in the area of the settlement. Peschanivka and Podstepnoye. The Ukrainians advancing towards the villages were met by Russian artillery against the Dnieper in the area of the railway bridge; on the Russian side alone, the losses of the Ukrainian armed forces amounted to more than 60 people. To defeat the Ukrainians on the other side of the river, the Iskander tactical missile system was used. The Ukrainians are intensifying its efforts.
Graziella Giangiulio
