Day 247: mobilization complete in Russia

Ukrainian troops secure nearly full control of Svatove-Kreminna road, regional head says. The Ukrainian Armed Forces have almost full control of the Svatove-Kreminna road, head of the Luhansk regional military administration Serhiy Hayday said, calling to wait for official confirmation by the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. “We will not name the towns and villages. Let the General Staff do that. But we can say that the Svatove-Kreminna road is almost under full control of the Ukrainian Armed Forces,” Hayday said on Facebook.

“Despite the bad weather and heavy rain for a few days in a row, [the Ukrainian troops] have advanced slightly,” he added. Hayday called on the residents to keep quiet on the advance and wait for official confirmation by the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

He said he hopes that next week he’ll have military clearance to share photos and videos from retaken areas of Luhansk region. 

Mobilization in Russia “complete”, Shoigu tells Putin. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu on Friday said that the “partial mobilization” of 300,000 reservists was complete.

Speaking at a meeting with Russian President Putin broadcast on Russian state television, Shoigu said that of the 300,000 mobilized recruits, 82,000 had been sent to fight in Ukraine after “training”. The supply problems were “resolved”, he added. “The task set by you of (mobilizing) 300,000 people has been completed. No further measures are planned,” Shoigu told Putin. 

Belarus sent more than 65,000 tons of ammunition to Russia since invasion. During the first seven months of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Belarus transported more than 65,000 tons of ammunition to Russia, the Belaruski Hajun monitoring group said, quoting the Telegram channel @belzhd_live that released the number. 

“Between March and September 2022, Lukashenka’s regime sent 65,089 tons of ammunition by railway from Belarus to Russia, a total of 1,940 rail cars,” the message reads. The cargo peaked in April 2022 when 534 tons of ammunition (689 rail cars) were transported to Russia. Belarus also sends tanks and other military equipment to Russia.  

In the past weeks, it sent at least 94 T-72A tanks and between 36 and 44 Ural trucks.

Decolonization of culture: claiming back what’s ours. Ukraine in Flames #232

Russia’s war against Ukraine is clearly a colonial war – and it always has been, but it is since the large-scale invasion of February 2022 that the Ukrainian society has fully realized it, together with the need for the decolonization of its culture. Watch Ukraine in flames #232 to learn how Ukrainian artists and scholars get involved internationally to explain why the process of decolonization is so vital.

Guests:

  • Ksenia Rozhak-Lytvynenko, PhD in Art,  the author of an educational online project on the history of art
  • Olesya Drashkaba, artist, editor in chief of UCHOOSE
  • Alevtina Kakhidze, Ukrainian artist