PUTIN GOES ‘LONG’
As more Russians flee homeland . . .
Russia is digging in for a protracted fight in Ukraine.
Vladimir Putin’s forces are reinforcing its troops in Ukraine’s eastern provinces in preparation “for future offensive operations,” the UK Ministry of Defense said Saturday.
“Despite President Putin’s claim on 07 July 2022 that the Russian military has ‘not even started’ its efforts in Ukraine, many of its reinforcements are ad hoc groupings, deploying with obsolete or inappropriate equipment,” the statement said.
The intelligence assessment came amid reports of Russian soldiers and potential draftees looking to skip out on the conflict.
Danila Davydov, a 22-year-old artist from St. Petersburg, said he left Russia shortly after the invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, over fears he could be drafted.
“I didn’t want to go to war or go to prison, so I decided to leave,” Davydov told Reuters from Kazakhstan. “I love Russia and miss it very much.”
Lawyers and human rights groups in Russia say cases like Davydov’s are increasing as the military takes heavy casualties. Russia last updated its official death toll in Ukraine in late March, when it said 1,351 soldiers had died. Ukraine and Western allies put the toll much higher, potentially more than 10 times that figure.
Military service in Russia is mandatory for those 18 to 27 and the penalty for dodging can include fines and up to two years in prison. While Putin has insisted that ordinary Russians would not be drafted into the conflict, the country’s Defense Ministry says conscripts have already been called up.
Carnage continues
Russia has launched punishing rounds of missile attacks against Ukraine in recent weeks, with barrages lasting for hours at a time. The US military estimates there are between 10 to 15 Russian military battalions currently operating in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region.
The strikes continued Saturday, with at least four civilians killed in the town of Siversk in Donetsk, one of the two provinces in the region, according to local governor Pavlo Kyrylenko. A supermarket in nearby Druzhkivka was also destroyed.
Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk told Ukrainians in Russian-occupied Kherson and Zaporizhzhia to leave, suggesting renewed Ukrainian military operations there were likely.
In England, meanwhile, the government announced a new military program that would train 10,000 Ukrainian soldiers inside the UK.
President Biden said he would offer a further $400 million of American aid to Ukraine, including four advanced rocket systems which defense officials say will allow Ukraine to hit deep behind Russian lines. The package also includes 1,000 rounds of 155-millimeter artillery.