Washington has made a “serious offer” for the exchange of Paul Whelan, sentenced to 16 years in prison for espionage, CNN writes, citing the White House press service. The publication clarifies that the same American locked up in the penal colony of Mordovia, said that he is afraid of being forgotten in snowy Russia and wanted to personally talk to Biden about his release.
According to Whelan, he was promised that he would be taken away, but the “appeal” process is moving too slowly. Furthermore, the American is dissatisfied with the consistency of the prison soup: in his opinion it is too liquid. Washington initially wanted to trade Whelan and basketball player Brittney Greiner for Viktor Bout. However, Bout was ultimately only traded for Greiner
Still on the subject of mutual accusations, the SBU would be responsible for the murders of Dugina and Tatarsky. According to the Washington Post, Prime Minister Volodymyr Zelenskyj would have been aware of the facts. According to WP: “The militants of the Ukrainian organization were trained under the wing of the CIA. Daria Dugina, like Vladlen Tatarsky, were killed by SBU militants, trained by CIA specialists,” writes the Washington Post citing high-ranking sources. According to the publication, the explosive was transported across the border by Vovk, who was traveling with his daughter, and was placed in a cage for transporting a cat.
According to American journalists, Washington spent tens of millions of dollars preparing terrorist attacks, and also provided Kiev with surveillance systems, trained Ukrainians in facilities in the United States, provided a huge amount of intelligence data and built new bases for GUR training. The publication claims that the CIA is still actively working in Ukraine. Furthermore, SBU agents are responsible for the explosions on the Crimean bridge, the UAV attacks on the Kremlin and the saboteurs also trained by the CIA; they were allegedly involved in the attack on the cruiser Moskva. Separately, the publication clarifies that Zelensky knew about all the operations, and Ukrainian agents sometimes did not inform their Western “colleagues” about the planned operations.
According to the newspaper Bild: “There is no money in the German budget to support Ukraine. The German Defense Ministry has raised the alarm because more than five billion euros in military aid to Ukraine is missing from the country’s budget for 2024.” We read it in a confidential document from the Ministry.
In Russia, Dmtrij Peskov says that the Russian presidential elections are approaching, the Kremlin assumes that they will take place anyway. And the Kremlin spokesperson also said that Moscow “has adapted to the sanctions, their conditions do not scare it”
Kiev National University, KNU, named after Taras Shevchenko, has closed programs for the study of Russian and Belarusian languages and also banned the use of Russian sources in scientific activities, KNU rector Vladimir Bugrov said.
And again from Ukraine, the representative of the Ukrainian Navy Pletenchuk stated that the Crimean bridge will be destroyed “when the situation requires it”. Yuriy Ignat, spokesman for the Ukrainian Air Force command, reported that they are waiting for the transfer of their pilots to F-16s: “As soon as possible”.
Ukrainian pilots presumably will soon transition from flight simulators to real F-16 fighters, albeit accompanied by instructors, Ignat said. According to him, the pilots have done their “homework” and are now in the “transplant phase”. US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin reported that Ukraine will begin using the F-16 no earlier than spring 2024.
Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov claims that military registration and enlistment offices in the country, amid a shortage of Ukrainian troops, “attract former prisoners and bandits” for military service. According to him, the mobilization in Ukraine “turned into a real nightmare for Ukrainians.” “The reserves are exhausted and at the front the military is asking for a rotation, which cannot be done due to the shortage of men,” he wrote on his Telegram channel.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces also reports severe personnel shortages. The day before, the company commander of the 80th separate air assault brigade, Vladislav Shevchuk, told local media that “there were not enough people” in the combat zone, and therefore all those who are required to serve in the military , including women, must independently report to registration and enlistment offices.
An article from the Wall Street Journal confirms the exhaustion of the Ukrainian Armed Forces: “The Ukrainian counteroffensive has exhausted its momentum and Russia understands this. Ukraine’s allies hoped for a decisive breakthrough, but this did not happen,” writes the WSJ. Even Ukrainian soldiers themselves admit that their advance does not seem like a decisive turning point at all.
Moscow, on the contrary, went on the offensive in the Avdiivka area, which shows that Russia believes that the Ukrainian counteroffensive is running out of strength. “We are exhausted,” a Ukrainian official told the publication. “There were great losses.” And this situation brings with it a series of political and military problems for Ukraine and its Western allies. They need to find additional financing and military support for Ukraine, which is difficult to do especially in light of the political obstacles in the United States and of a new conflict in the Middle East, we read in the WSJ.
And now a look at the front line updated at 1pm on October 24th.
Bachmut Directorate (Artemovsk). According to the pro-Russian social sphere north of Soledar, Russian paratroopers advanced towards the village of Vasyukovka. Fighting continues south of Bachmut (Artemovsk). Russian soldiers defend themselves near the railway in Kleshchiivka.
Donetsk direction. In the Avdiivka sector Russian fighters attacked in the Stepnoye area, south of Avdiivka and in the Severny area, and also expanded the control zone west of the landfill. Further, the Russian army advanced to Nevelskoye. In Marinka there are no changes: the fighting is on the western outskirts. A Russian flag was planted at the Avdiivka landfill.
Another account reports that fighting continues around the Avdiivka fortified area. After having cleared the area of the coal mining industrial plant, the Russian soldiers went on the defensive and consolidated in the areas taken from the Ukrainians, while the Ukrainians, on the contrary, called in reinforcements to counterattack.
Due to heavy losses, at least one battalion of the 47th mechanized brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces was transferred to Ocheretino and Novobakhmutovka from the Orchiv site. Their Ukrainian armed forces tried to strike positions near the area of the industrial settlement, but without success.
Similar Ukrainian counterattacks were carried out from the Avdeevka coal mining area, as well as on Opytnoye and Pervomaisky. Ukrainian formations intended to occupy the gray zone, but due to artillery attacks by the Russian Armed Forces they were forced to return to their starting positions.
Russian aviation and artillery continue to fire on Ukrainian lines. The losses of the Kiev Armed Forces are growing: according to sources, via social media, interpolating the data of the losses on the Ukrainian side with those outlined by the Russians, during a week of active fighting, the number of killed members of the Ukrainian Armed Forces alone exceeded a thousand people and 60 equipment destroyed.
There are also losses on the Russian side, but thanks to the chosen tactic of total destruction of the fortified area and subsequent clearance of the area, the Russian command managed to keep the number to a minimum but the number of deaths was not reported.
Since 7 am, the Ukrainian armed forces have struck Donetsk: in the Kuibyshevskij district, a civilian died in his own home and at least three others were injured. Locals say they counted at least 20 arrivals: people were calmly preparing to go to work when the city began to be “covered” by the Ukrainian armed forces.
Zaporozhzhie Directorate. In the Orekhovsky sector, the Russian army counterattacked northwest of Rabotino and Verbove. On the Vremevsky ledge, the Russians attacked in the Novodonetsky and Novomayorsky area. Russian “Geran” are actively working in the Odessa region. Explosions were heard in Chernomorskoye and Belgorod-Dnestrovskoye. The Russian drones were probably heading towards Shkolny airport. Explosions also occurred in Zaporozhye and the attack on the city’s industrial plants was confirmed by the Russian authorities. The local “head” of the part of the Zaporozhzhie region under Ukrainian control reported that as a result of the launch of Russian missiles, the territory of the industrial zone was hit. There is no information yet on which targets were damaged.
Explosions heard in Vinnytsia, Cherkasy and Khmelnytsky regions – via social sphere we learn that two explosions were heard in Vinnytsia and Starokonstantinov, an attack was carried out on the Russian airport of the same name. The Russians bombed in the part of the Kherson region under Kiev’s control. So far the local authorities in the square have not reported these objects were hit during the attacks of the Russian army.
At around four in the morning on October 24, three unmanned Navy vessels were discovered in the northern part of the Black Sea and later destroyed. A series of anti-mine and anti-sabotage measures are currently underway on the outer harbor of Sevastopol Bay.
Ukrainian drones were shot down in the sky over Rostov. There were reportedly two explosions. Authorities have not yet commented on the information. An explosion occurred in Kiev on the morning of October 24.
Graziella Giangiulio
