WAR IN UKRAINE: October 19, 2022
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: Day 238
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on Wednesday that he has signed a law introducing martial law in four Ukrainian regions the Kremlin has sought to annex, in violation of international law, BBC reports. The regions are Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk and Luhansk. Putin made the comments during a scheduled Security Council meeting. It’s unclear what the ruling will mean in terms of everyday life as residents in occupied Russian territories already have few rights. They’re already subject to conscription and forced movement; criticism of authorities is not tolerated
Putin also issued a decree restricting movement in and out of eight regions adjoining Ukraine, Reuters reports. Andriy Yermak, the head of the Ukrainian president's office, accused Russia of laying on a propaganda show in Kherson. "The Russians are trying to scare the people of Kherson with fake newsletters about the shelling of the city by our army, and also arrange a propaganda show with evacuation," Yermak wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
Separately, TASS reported that Mr. Putin cynically noted that martial law had been in effect in the occupied territories before they were annexed Russia. "Now we need to formalize this regime in the framework of the Russian legislation," he explained.
The Russian-backed leader in Ukraine’s Kherson region announced Tuesday that there would be a further “organized relocation” of civilians away from front-line settlements, CNN reported. “I took the difficult but correct decision to announce the organized relocation of the civilian population of Beryslav, Bilozerka, Snihurivka and Oleksandrivka communities to the left bank of the Dnipro river,” Vladimir Saldo said on Telegram, referring to the eastern bank of the river. “This decision was prompted by the creation of large-scale defensive fortifications so that any attack could be repelled. There is no place for civilians where the military operate. Let the Russian army do its job,” he said. Saldo said that any civilians who decided to move on “to the regions of Russia” would be given assistance with housing. Later, Russian state-controlled media reported that “there is currently no reason for an evacuation in the Zaporozhye Region,” citing a Russian official.
Russia's use of Iranian-made drones to attack Ukraine shows that Russia is both politically and militarily bankrupt, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on October 18 after saying that Russian air strikes in the past week had destroyed almost one-third of Ukraine's power stations. Zelenskiy said for decades Russia spent billions of dollars on its military-industrial complex, "and in the end they bowed to Tehran to get rather simple drones and missiles." Speaking in his nightly address, he said strategically, this will not help Russia in any way. "It only additionally proves to the world that Russia is on a losing path and is trying to draw someone else into its accomplices," he said. "We will definitely ensure an appropriate international reaction to this” - RFE/RL
In the coming days, NATO is expected to send to Ukraine air defense systems designed to shoot down drones deployed by Russia, reports Suspilne News
The US, Britain and France intend to raise the issue of Iran's supply of drones to Russia at a closed session of the UN Security Council on Wednesday. Separately, Ukraine has invited UN experts to inspect downed Iranian drones it says are being used by Russia to attack Ukrainian targets in violation of UN Security Council Resolution 2231.
As of the morning of October 18, 2022, more than 1,240 Ukrainian children are victims of full- scale armed aggression by the Russian Federation, the Prosecutor General's Office reports. The official number of children who died and were wounded during the Russian aggression is 425, and more than 815 children, respectively. However, the data is not conclusive since data collection continues in the areas of active hostilities, temporarily occupied areas, and liberated territories. According to the state child search portal "Children of War," as of October 18, 251 children considered missing, 8,276 — deported, and 6,741 — found.
Separately, the bodies of 5 murdered children were exhumed in Lyman. Investigators found four children in a mass burial at the cemetery. Another boy was buried by the mother in her own yard. The National Police preliminary established that all of them died due to Russian shelling [of the shrapnel wounds]. After the examinations, the children will be reburied.
Marine life in the Black Sea are also suffering as a result of military operations. Near the sea in Lebedivka, Odesa region, ecologists found the corpse of a dolphin that washed ashore. In total, the number of dead cetacean species in the Black Sea due to military operations is more than 5,000.
SBU: Antonov company's management 'did not take adequate measures' to save Mriya aircraft. According to Ukraine's Security Service, unnamed employees of state company Antonov prevented Ukraine's authorities from organizing anti-aircraft and ground protection of the airfield. This led to the destruction of the world's largest cargo aircraft AN-225 Mriya by Russian forces on Feb. 27. "(They) did not take adequate measures to preserve the plane, despite warnings from authorities," the SBU reported - Kyiv Independent
Required reading…
Bowing to Putin’s nuclear blackmail will make nuclear war more likely
With his armies in retreat and his invasion of Ukraine rapidly unraveling, Russian President Vladimir Putin has recently resorted to nuclear saber-rattling. This has caused widespread international alarm and is fueling mounting calls for Ukraine to reach a compromise with the Kremlin in order to avert World War III.
The current rush to appease Moscow is deeply unnerving and reflects a shortsighted failure to appreciate the appalling security implications of bowing down to Russian intimidation. Giving in to Putin’s nuclear blackmail would not end the war in Ukraine. What it would do is set a disastrous precedent that makes a future nuclear war far more likely while encouraging dozens of countries to acquire nuclear arsenals of their own.
Read the full Atlantic Council Ukraine Alert analysis by Andriy Zagorodnyuk here