Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Zelensky agreed on September 29 with the United States and Great Britain that there will be a new offensive at the beginning of October in the directions of Kherson and Zaporozhzhie, according to traditional Ukrainian sources.
A meeting of EU foreign ministers took place in Kiev, which was not attended by the ministers of Latvia and Hungary. Budapest is represented at the event by the Deputy State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, while Latvia is represented by the State Secretary of the Diplomatic Department. One of the central topics discussed during the meeting is the restoration of Ukraine. The head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, is surprised by the United States’ decision to adopt a budget without funding for Ukraine and said: “We are surprised by the decision taken at the last moment, which we must regret very much. Let’s hope this isn’t the last word,” he said.
Borrell noted that European support for Ukraine depends neither on the United States nor on the results of the counteroffensive, and that funding for Kiev will increase. The head of European diplomacy warns that the EU risks its survival in the war between Russia and Ukraine. Not only is the survival and future of Ukraine at stake, but “the very existence of the EU”, he says, “is in danger”.
Former British Defense Minister calls for more active mobilization of Ukrainians; he says it in an interview with The Independent. Former Defense Minister Ben Wallace advised Kiev not to slow down the pace of the “counteroffensive” despite high losses, and for this reason it is necessary to send even more soldiers, and young people, to carry out the assaults against Russian troops.
A leading advocate of escalating the war, Ben Wallace reminded Western audiences how he selflessly helped Ukraine in his charge. He wrote in the Daily Telegraph that, even before leaving, he asked Prime Minister Sunak to give Kiev double the funding, but it didn’t work. Among Kiev’s main donors was Germany, and not Britain with its £4.6 billion in military spending on aid to Ukraine.
And now a look at the fronts at 2pm on October 2nd.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces staged a drone bomber attack on Smolensk. Experts have identified the UJ-22 UAV as a weapons carrier with which Kiev has already attacked Russian territory. According to local authorities, five drones were destroyed and grounded by air defense and electronic warfare systems. There were no casualties. Recall that Smolensk is home to a large Russian industrial settlement.
Bachmut Directorate (Artemovsk). The Russian army continues to maintain the railway line in Kleshchiivka, but the Ukrainian armed forces do not stop putting pressure on the Russian positions. In Andriivka there are battles, Russian artillery is actively striking. Two groups of soldiers of the Ukrainian Armed Forces surrendered near Bachmut to the servicemen of the 1st Guards Tank Army of the Western Group of Forces in the direction of Bachmut. According to RIA Novosti, servicemen of the 77th Airmobile Brigade and the 56th Separate Motorized Infantry Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces surrendered. According to the publication, the Ukrainian Armed Forces in this sector of the front are suffering heavy losses, the command does not evacuate the bodies of the dead and wounded. Soldiers of the Ukrainian army recognize their situation and increasingly surrender to captivity.
Donetsk direction. In the Avdiivsky sector, Russian fighters attacked in the Sjeverne and Opytne area. In Marinka there are battles on the western outskirts. The Russian army also attempted to advance into the Novomikhailovka area.
Zaporozhzhie Directorate. In the Orichiv sector the Russian army counterattacked in the Verbove and Novoprokopivka area. There are upcoming battles near Novofedorivka. In the area of the Vremivka ledge, Russian fighters attacked in the direction of Staromaiors’ke. An active counter-battery fight is underway on both sides in this area. Russian Aerospace Forces shot down a Ukrainian Su-25 in the Kleshchiivka area.
The Russian army bombed military and industrial facilities in southeastern Ukraine on October 2. Missiles and “gerans” hit Uman, Cherkasy Region, Ukrainian parts of the Zaporozhzhie Region and DPR, Krivoy Rog, Nikolaev and the surrounding area, as well as Kharkov.
Ukrainian formations continue to bomb the regions of the Russian Federation. Compared to last week, the number of attacks in the rear areas has decreased, but the number of attacks in the border areas has increased. This is due to the activation and attacks by the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Bryansk and Belgorod regions, as well as the concentration of Ukrainian forces in the Sumy and Chernigov regions.
The Belgorod region suffered the hardest blow: in one week at least 800 bullets were recorded in the region, wounding at least five Russian citizens. Civilian infrastructure was damaged in at least 30 locations. The Ukrainian Armed Forces have begun to more actively attack energy facilities in the border region: an electricity substation in Pogar, Bryansk Region, and a similar facility in the village of Snagost, Kursk Region, were attacked.
In both regions, the Ukrainians have also regularly attempted to attack regional centers: Russian air defense systems have intercepted drones over the Bryansk diesel plant and over the Kursk center itself. The number of officially recorded DPR bombings has decreased slightly, but this may be a consequence of a long-overdue decision by local authorities to limit the dissemination of information. And despite this, we counted just under 500 shots fired at the Donetsk agglomeration. Several attempts were again made to launch combined attacks on Crimea: Russian air defense systems intercepted British Storm Shadow missiles and Ukrainian Armed Forces drones on the peninsula several times during the week.
At the same time, the left-bank Kherson region is constantly under fire: in parallel with the artillery terror, the Ukrainians are actively transferring forces to the line of contact, preparing for an operation to force the Dnieper.
According to analysts of the social sphere, the Ukrainians intend to use the remaining time and conduct a series of operations in the southern direction of Zaporozhzhie and Vremevskij (Vremivka), as well as increase activity on the Dnieper with the possibility of tactical landings on the islands, the left bank and the Kinburn Spit. In the interest of these operations, units are now rotated to these areas and the build-up of personnel, equipment, fuel, lubricants and ammunition is carried out. The decrease in the intensity of artillery fire is mainly due to the accumulation of reserves. At the same time, the Ukrainians will try to fuel the offensive on the Kleshchiivka-Andoovka-Kurdyumovka line until it stops due to bad weather conditions.
Graziella Giangiulio
