Sitrep for October 28–29 (as of 13:00)
Mobilization News
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu at a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin reported on the completion of the partial mobilization plan. He said that at the initial stage there used to be problems with the various supplies, but all these problems had been resolved. Shoigu emphasized that special attention had been paid to the training of those called up from the reserve. Currently, 218 thousand people are training to improve their military skills, and 82 thousand people are already on the front line.
The dispatch of citizens called up for mobilization was completed on October 28. According to Shoigu's report, the notification of citizens has been stopped. No additional mobilization tasks are planned. (It is important to note that Putin's decree on the end of partial mobilization was not issued). The Federation Council said that a decree on the end of "partial" mobilization is not required.
The military commissariats will continue enlistment entirely out of volunteers and candidates for contractual military service within the framework of the “special military operation”.
The press service of the Western Military District stated that the mobilization continues as before, it was announced by a presidential decree and can only be stopped by a presidential decree. Later, they supplemented this statement by announcing that the main activities of the partial mobilization in St. Petersburg were suspended.
In Kuibyshev, Novosibirsk region, mobilized citizens were released home from the military registration and enlistment office because they had received some kind of order.
Telegram channel “MOBILIZATION” analyzed reports of the deaths of mobilized soldiers from the Sverdlovsk region. The life expectancy of the mobilized from the moment of receiving the summons was from 7 to 20 days.
A mobilized soldier from the Bryansk region was sent to the frontline in Kreminna, although officially, according to the papers, he is listed as undergoing military training in the Voronezh region. He managed to contact his relatives and report that Kreminna was surrounded and they had nowhere to retreat. Out of his entire unit, only 10 people remain alive.
A cage appeared at the gathering hub for mobilzed in Kazan Expo. Pictures show people inside the cage and sleeping supplies on the floor. What is it for and who needed it is unknown.
Actor Pavel Ustinov, who was previously prosecuted for alleged participation in the 2019 Moscow protests, has been mobilized. In his words, he went voluntarily.
In Buryatia, an accused person waiting for court has been mobilized. He was accused of attempted murder and burlgary, and was registered with a psychiatrist. The court did not grant the petition of the prosecutor to take the accused into custody, left him under obligation to remain at his place of residence and stopped the criminal prosecution.
In the words of the “Gulagu.net” founder Vladimir Osechkin, Russian courts have received a notice not to let convicts out on parole. The instruction to deny parole is connected to a lack of workforce in the industrial zones of prisons, which was the result of recruiting convicts to the Wagner Group by Evgeny Prigozhin and representatives of russian MoD.
Pavlo Hubarev, a former separatist leader and the ex-head of the mobilization department of the so-called Donetsk People's Republic, stated that mobilized conscripts are not adequately trained. According to him, it is more like a show-off: nobody is properly trained and there is no coordination of operations. Hubarev claims that Russian militaristic organizations, including Rokot, decided to correct this situation and introduced basic military training courses. As part of the course by Rokot, participants will learn the basics of tactics, firearms training, first aid, and communications.
It was reported that the head of the Simferopol office of the state-owned news outlet Rossiya Segodnya [Russia Today], Svetlana Babayeva, was killed on a training ground in Crimea. No details have yet been released.
Exactly one year ago (October 28-29, 2021), we and other analysts began to notice the movements of Russian troops and started the coverage of the current invasion.
The situation on the front line
In the Svatove - Lysychansk direction, the Armed Forces of Ukraine repelled Russian attacks near Andriivka and Bilohorivka.
Ukrainian "Kedr" special forces unit shows spoils and captives in the village of Nevske.
Semyon Pegov and his colleagues (WarGonzo project) report that Ukrainian forces continue to attack in the direction of Pischane.
Based on this, Def Mon concludes that the line of Ukrainian control likely lies further east than he depicts on the map. But at the moment it is not possible to verify this information.
The Svatove-Kreminna highway is under full fire control of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. This creates good conditions for the further encirclement and liberation of Svatove.
Shellings
On October 27, Russian forces fired 18 times at different targets on the territory of the Donetsk region, there were killed, a child was injured.
Also on the night of October 27-28, Russian forces shelled Mykolaiv. As of now, there is no information if anyone was injured.
The General Staff of Ukraine reports that Russian forces are taking medical equipment out of Kherson among other things they are removing from the city.
It is reported that the promised NASAMS air defense systems will be delivered next month. At this time, the Ukrainian military is already undergoing training for the systems.
Dmitry Medvedev is blackmailing Ukraine by threatening its energy infrastructure.
A video of captured mercenaries from the Wagner group was published. Judging by their personal numbers, they were not recruited from prisons but are contract mercenaries.
A Ukrainian soldier and defender of the Azovstal plant in Mariupol, British citizen Aiden Aslin commented on a video with a Russian soldier who tells how well he is treated as a prisoner of war in Ukraine. Aiden, who himself was a prisoner of war in Russia, advises not to believe everything prisoners say, because they will say anything that pleases those who hold them by force.