Putin vows to ‘stabilize’ annexed territories because Ukraine is profitable

To Elsa Myshman for BBC News

President Vladimir Putin vowed to stabilize the situation in the four regions annexed by Russia.

The Russian president last week announced the annexation of Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhia and Kherson. self-proclaimed referendumis not internationally recognized.

His oath was made when he said Ukraine had recaptured the villages of Luhansk and Kherson.

It controls most of the other two regions and has recently made a profit in Donetsk.

However, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia would regain its lost territories.

Faced with questions about his recent losses, he told reporters:

In a speech to teachers on Teacher’s Day in Russia, Putin said he would “develop calmly.” annexed territory.

But the chairman of the Duma Defense Committee, Andrei Kartoporov, told state media that Russia should stop lying about what is happening on the battlefield, saying Russians are not stupid.

the Ukrainian army make a profit both south and east.

Ukraine’s Luhansk province governor Serhiy Haidai told the BBC on Wednesday that six villages in the region had been recaptured.

And President Zelensky later said that Ukraine had liberated three more villages in the southern Kherson region.

Ukrainian soldiers drive an armored personnel carrier (APC) in the recently recaptured Kupiansk area near Kharkiv on Sept. 30.
Photo: AFPMore

This follows a string of achievements in Kherson the previous day, including the strategically important village of Davydiv Brid.

Russia is still working on the mobilization of its reserve forces, even after President Putin announced last month that he would be drafting 300,000 men who had completed their mandatory military service.

But Putin has backed off on which groups would be affected, following strong opposition and protests in Russia against the move.

He signed a decree exempting several categories of students, including first-time students at accredited institutions and certain types of graduate students, such as students in science fields.

Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant

Meanwhile, Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the United Nations nuclear watchdog, is on his way to Kyiv.

Grossi wrote on Twitter that he was traveling for an “important meeting” on the need for a protected area around the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant.

Factories near the front line have been under Russian control since March. Reports of fighting around it sparked international concern, and the last reactor was shut down last month.

The IAEA has two experts on site and Ukrainian operations staff said they were preparing to restart one of the reactors at a reduced power to provide heat to the power plant. rice field.

Prior to this, President Putin signed a presidential decree that the Russian government will consolidate the nuclear facilities of nuclear power plants as Russian property.

But Petro Kotin, head of Ukrainian nuclear operator Enerhoatom, said all decisions regarding the operation of the power plant are made at the company’s central office in Kyiv.

“We will continue to work with Enerhoatom within the Ukrainian energy system and in accordance with Ukrainian law,” the Interfax-Ukraine news agency quoted him.

-BBC