WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Russian forces capture two villages in eastern Ukraine, Kyiv acknowledges Russian pressure

Russian forces have captured the villages of Serebrianka and Mykolaivka in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region, Russia's Defence Ministry said on Wednesday, as military blogs reported Russian advances near key frontline towns.

Ukraine's military made no acknowledgement of either village falling into Russian hands, but said both areas of the front were gripped by intense fighting.

Bloggers on both sides reported an intense Russian drive on the town of Selydove.

The Ukrainian General Staff said its forces had repelled all 12 Russian attacks undertaken in an area around Serebrianka just inside the northern border of Donetsk region.

It said heavy fighting gripped towns on the approach to Pokrovsk, the next key logistical town in the Russian military's steady push westward in Donetsk region.

The popular Ukrainian military blog DeepState said Ukrainian troops were facing overwhelming odds defending Selydove - which lies southwest of Mykolaivka. Capturing Selydove would pave the way for a Russian advance on Pokrovsk.

DeepState said Russian forces with "the advantage of endless resources of infantry and equipment" were putting pressure on Ukrainian defences and advancing from both north and south.

Reuters could not independently verify battlefield reports from either side.

Russian military blogs earlier in the day reported fighting around Selydove and three other towns - Kurakhove and Hirnyk further south and Toretsk to the northeast.

Yuri Podolyaka, a Ukrainian-born, pro-Russian military blogger, said Russian forces had seized the central, eastern and southern districts of Selydove, once a town of 20,000. He posted a video he said showed a Russian flag atop a high-rise building.

Russian forces, sent into Ukraine in February 2022, advanced in September at their fastest rate since March 2022, according to open source data, despite Ukraine taking a swath of territory after an August incursion into Russia's Kursk region.

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Seven NATO members oppose Ukraine membership – Politico

A group of NATO members led by the US and Germany are reluctant to extend an invitation to Ukraine to join the military bloc anytime soon, Politico reported on Wednesday, citing sources.

Last week, Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky presented his ‘victory plan’, which included a demand for immediate NATO membership. However, four unnamed US and NATO officials have reportedly told Politico that Berlin and Washington are “slow-walking” the request, adding that “key alliance members are worried about getting ensnared in a war with Russia.”

US Ambassador to NATO Julianne Smith told Politico that the bloc “has not, to date, reached the point where it is prepared to offer membership or an invitation to Ukraine.” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz earlier said that it was his duty to prevent the Ukraine conflict from spiraling into a full-scale war between Russia and NATO, adding that Kiev would become a part of the bloc only when certain conditions are met.

Hungary and Slovakia – which have been critical of the Western approach to the Ukraine conflict and have insisted on an immediate ceasefire – are two other holdouts. Politico described their leaders as following “a generally pro-Kremlin line.”

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban called Zelensky’s plan outright “terrifying,” while his Slovak counterpart Robert Fico warned that Ukraine’s accession to NATO could lead to World War III.

Furthermore, one NATO official told Politico that “countries like Belgium, Slovenia or Spain are hiding behind the US and Germany” when it comes to the issue of Ukraine’s membership, describing them as “reluctant.” Another source noted that while those nations support Kiev’s NATO aspirations “in the abstract,” they would voice their opposition when push comes to shove.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that Kiev’s desire to join NATO – which Moscow has described as an existential threat and an “enemy” – was one of the key reasons for the current conflict in the first place.

Officials in Moscow have also said that Ukraine’s membership in the bloc “in any territorial form is absolutely unacceptable to Russia and cannot be part of any peace plans or mediation initiatives.”

Reuters/RT