#UKRAINERUSSIAWAR. Russia stabilises the front line and removes borders with Donbas

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The legal process of accepting the 4 new regions was completed on 5 October with the last necessary signature, that of Vladimir Putin. With this signature, the Special Operation also ends, as these are now federal republics for Moscow.

The procedure for selecting the new subjects of the RF, decreed by President Putin includes: Pushilin – head of the DNR; Pasechnik – acting head of the LNR; Balitsky – acting governor of the Zaporozhe Region; Saldo as acting governor of the Kherson oblast. Elections to the regional councils will be held in September 2023. In DNR and LNR, the position of the head of the republic will be maintained. In Kherson and Zaporizhzhya oblasts, the usual position of the governor.

Customs between the DNR and Russia ceased operation on 5 October at midnight. The state border between Crimea and Kherson Oblast was eliminated. It is being transformed into a regional administration. The customs office on the border with Kherson oblast has also been closed. The checkpoint regime remains in place due to the fear of terrorist attacks in the area. Andrei Kartapolov, chairman of the Defence Committee of the State Duma, complained to the Solovyov Live TV channel that all border villages in the Belgorod oblast are practically destroyed.

The Russian Foreign Ministry also stated on 5 October that the Zaporizza nuclear power plant would be operated by specialised Russian agencies (read Rosatom).

And now a look at the fronts

The Russian army is repelling attacks by the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Kherson region, source Russian Defence Ministry. In the Hladkivka-Kostohryzove direction the troops of the Russian Federation are holding their positions, repelling attacks by outnumbered Ukrainian forces. Up to 30 soldiers and mercenaries, 2 tanks and 4 infantry fighting vehicles were destroyed in one day in the Nova Kam’yanka area. Massive attacks by the Russian Air Force against the forces of the 35th AFU Marine Brigade near Davydiv Brid and the 128th Ukrainian Mountain Assault Brigade near Dudchany in Kherson Oblast destroyed over 120 fighters, 2 tanks and 8 armoured fighting vehicles. The defenders of Kherson received new combat equipment. Airborne units carrying out combat missions in the Kherson region received the first batch of upgraded BRDM-2s. The vehicles underwent a major overhaul and were equipped with cameras and night vision, as well as receiving new diesel engines.

The DNR and LNR troops together with the Russian army continue their offensive in the directions of Bachmut and Avdiivka. Fighting is going on near Streleche, Zelenoye, Majorsk, Spornoye, Zaitseve, Bakhmutskoye, Artemivsk, Kurdyumovka, Novomikhailovka and Ugledar, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces stated.

In the direction of Nikolaev, the situation in the area of Snigirevka and Terny Pod remains difficult. In the direction of Krivoy Rog, after the retreat from Davydiv Brid, Russian troops continue to fight near Sukhoy Stavka and Kostromka. In the coming days, enemy offensive activity in the directions of Krivoy Rog and Nikopol is expected to advance.

The head of the VRIO of the DNR Pushilin stated that the situation in the direction of Liman is stabilising and that Liman will definitely be liberated again. At the same time, there are reports of a strengthening of the AFU grouping both in the Liman direction and in the area of Kupiansk and Borovoy, in preparation for an offensive on Svatove and Kreminna.

The Russian Armed Forces and the DNR army are now trying to strengthen the defences of these towns and positions along the Svatove-Kreminna road. It appears that the Ukrainian army will avoid a frontal assault on Svatove and Kreminna and will rely on a breach in the defences north of Svatove, as well as try to cut the Svatove-Kreminna road to bypass Kreminna from the north and create a threat to flank the RF Armed Forces in Kreminna and Svatovo.

The Ukrainians will try everything in this direction these days

Graziella Giangiulio