It is said from London that Putin's troops are not receiving their pay. A US institute explains the strategy behind Kiev's offensive and Chancellor Scholz removes Russia from the list of serious energy suppliers.
Because the Russian army lacks soldiers, the Kremlin is forcing state-owned companies to recruit, Ukrainian military reports report. Word from London is that Putin's troops are not receiving their pay. A US institute explains the strategy behind Kiev's offensive and Chancellor Scholz removes Russia from the list of serious energy suppliers. The 193rd day of the war at a glance.
General Staff: 50,000 Russians killed
According to the Ukrainian General Staff, 49,500 soldiers have died on the Russian side since February of this year - 450 in the past 24 hours alone. According to Sergej Sumlenny, the former director of the Böll Foundation in Kyiv, the dead also included many Ukrainians who were conscripted into Russian-occupied territories, or members of minorities in Russia.
Russian employees recruited in companies?
According to the general staff in Kyiv, the Kremlin is increasing the pressure on state-owned companies to recruit soldiers for the war from among their employees. "New norms" for the selection of "volunteers" have been presented to state-owned companies, the General Staff reported. Accordingly, the Russian railway company received the order to look for up to 10,000 new candidates for a fixed-term contract among its employees. As "Kyiv Independent" wrote, they should sign six-month contracts and receive $ 5,100 per month.
London: Kremlin troops awaiting pay
However, the British Ministry of Defense attributes the ongoing morale and discipline problems in the Russian military to the fact that the promised salary is not being paid. "In addition to combat fatigue and high casualties, payment problems are probably still one of the main criticisms of Russian soldiers in action," it said in London.
In the Russian military, soldiers' income consists of a modest base salary supplemented by a variety of bonuses and allowances. London cited three reasons why the money is not arriving: an inefficient military bureaucracy, the unusual legal status of the "special military operation" and open corruption among commanders.
US Institute: Southern offensive targets military logistics
According to the Institute for the Study of War, Ukraine's counter-offensive in the south aims primarily to impair Russia's logistical and military capacities rather than to achieve "immediate gains". The think tank quoted Ukraine's presidential adviser Oleksy Arestovych, who told The Wall Street Journal that the current aim of Ukraine's forces in the south is to "systematically wear down Putin's army" and that Ukrainian troops are slowly and systematically destroying Russia's operational logistical supply system with artillery - and would destroy precision weapon strikes. The institute explained that the Ukrainian military is systematically attacking Russian ground communication lines, equipment and personnel, and logistics in southern Ukraine. Local footage from social media confirms effective Ukrainian attacks in the Kherson region, the think tank analyzed.
Evidence of Russian shelling of nuclear power plants
The cause of the damage to the Ukrainian nuclear power plant Zaporizhia could be Russia. A video released by the Russian independent investigative site The Insider suggested so. Accordingly, the video is said to be from the night of September 2 and show a Russian multiple rocket launcher firing rockets from near the power plant. International inspectors have been on the site of the nuclear power plant since Thursday, but the situation there is still unstable.
Moscow renews organic laboratory allegations
Meanwhile, Moscow accused the US of moving biological research programs to areas near the Russian borders. "The Pentagon is ready to transfer the unfinished programs in Ukraine to other post-Soviet countries as well as Eastern European countries such as Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and the Baltic States shortly," Russia's TASS agency quoted Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, the head of the Russian armed forces, as saying for radiation, chemical and biological protection. "The expansion of the network of biolaboratories that can be used to develop and stockpile biological weapons components poses a threat to the military security of the Russian Federation."
Kremlin: EU to blame for halting Nord Stream 1
After halting gas supplies via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, the Kremlin blamed the EU. "If the Europeans make an absolutely absurd decision to refuse to maintain their facilities, or rather, facilities owned by Gazprom, then it is not Gazprom's fault, but the fault of the politicians who made sanctions decisions have," said spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
Before the election in Italy: Salvini railed against sanctions
The Italian right-wing populist Matteo Salvini questioned the EU sanctions imposed on Russia because of the Ukraine war. Several months have passed and people are "paying their bills twice or four times over" while after seven months of war "Russia's coffers are filling up with money," the head of the far-right Lega party told RTL radio. Salvini's most important ally at the moment, the head of the ultra-right party Fratelli d'Italia Giorgia Meloni, distanced herself from his statements.
"Not a reliable supplier": Scholz withdraws confidence from Russia
Chancellor Olaf Scholz, on the other hand, blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin for the difficult situation in Germany because of his war of aggression against Ukraine. "Our country is facing difficult times," said the SPD politician at the presentation of the federal government's third relief package to cushion rising prices for citizens. The war also has consequences for bottlenecks in the energy supply: "Putin's Russia has breached its contract," it has long since stopped fulfilling its supply contracts. "Russia is no longer a reliable energy supplier."
Ukrainian Prime Minister in Berlin
During his visit to Berlin, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Schmyhal asked for more deliveries of heavy weapons for his country. According to his office, at a meeting with Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Schmyhal emphasized how important it is for his country that arms deliveries be "increased". The Type 2000 self-propelled howitzers supplied by Germany and the Mars II rocket launchers had "proven themselves on the battlefield," Schmygal said.
At a meeting with Scholz, Schmygal presented the chancellor with concrete proposals for supplying Leopard 2 main battle tanks. "We have suggested how Germany can supply Ukraine with these tanks," Schmygal told journalists.
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