Volodymyr Zelenskyi said that he does not see Moscow’s desire to negotiate an end to the war against his country. The head of the Ukrainian state accused Russia of having misled everyone with the recently proposed negotiations on ending the conflict to foreign interlocutors.

Highlights of Saturday, the 255th day of the Ukrainian war, LIVE TEXT:

09:47 Saturday’s assessment by the British Ministry of Defense highlights how weak the Russian military’s training capacity is now:

• Russia is likely trying to ensure military readiness for the current mobilization campaign and the annual fall draft.
• The Russian armed forces are already overstretched to ensure the training of the approximately 300,000 soldiers required for their “partial mobilization” announced on September 21, 2022.
• These challenges will be compounded by an additional annual fall regular draft cycle announced on September 30, 2022, to begin on November 1, 2022, which is expected to result in an additional 120,000 recruits.
• Freshly mobilized recruits are likely to have minimal or no training. Experienced officers and instructors were mobilized to fight in Ukraine, and some are likely to have died during the conflict.
• Russian troops are training in Belarus due to the lack of personnel, ammunition and equipment in Russia. Deploying forces with little or no training provides little additional offensive combat potential.

09:32The Ukrainian army repelled 14 Russian offensives in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions, Kyiv Independent notes.

The Ukrainian military also struck key Russian military facilities and two command posts in these regions, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported on Saturday.

Russia is trying to return to the offensive on Donetsk with new mobilisers

08:56 Highlights of the latest assessment by the Institute for the Study of War:

• The Russian military is likely trying to use mobilized forces to resume its offensive on Donetsk, but is unlikely to achieve significant operational advantages.
• Russian troops are preparing an organized withdrawal from the western bank of the Dnieper to avoid a stampede like in Kharkiv.
• Vladimir Putin is likely to create the conditions for continued secret recruitment, despite claims that partial mobilization has created sufficient forces.
• Russia’s expensive power-building measures are likely to continue to affect the Russian economy and generate social tensions.
• Tehran is believed to be using Russia’s dependence on Iranian-made weapons systems to get Russian help with its nuclear program.
• Russian forces are likely to resort to extreme measures against deserting soldiers in an attempt to counter serious morale problems.
• Russian sources reported that Ukrainian troops continued counteroffensive actions in the direction of Kreminnaya and Svatovo.
• Russian troops continued to strengthen existing and new defense lines in the Kherson region.
• Russian troops continued to conduct offensive actions in the area of ​​Bakhmut, Avdiivka and the city of Donetsk.
• Russian troops continued forced evacuation measures in the Kherson region.
• Russian and occupying officials continued to institute measures to forcibly deport Ukrainian children to the Russian Federation.

A brief summary of recent events:

• Vladimir Putin has said that civilians still living in the occupied Kherson region must be “evacuated” from the conflict zone amid speculation that Russian troops are preparing to leave the western bank of the Dnieper.
• According to four Reuters sources, Moscow wants the West to ease restrictions on state agricultural lender Rossilhospbank to facilitate Russian grain exports.
• On Friday, Ukrainian troops fired weapons captured from Russian troops at Russian targets near the key city of Bakhmut in the east of the country.
• Ukraine’s fears that its troops could lose access to the vital Starlink internet service intensified last week after 1,300 military satellite units were disabled.
• American talk show host David Letterman went to Kyiv to interview President Zelensky.
• Wagner’s Russian paramilitary group has opened its first official headquarters in Russia in the city of St. Petersburg.
• Joe Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said Friday in Kyiv that Ukraine has an “urgent need” for air defense equipment at “this critical time” as Russia launches massive strikes against its energy infrastructure.
• The US Department of Defense announced a new package of security assistance to Ukraine in the amount of about 400 million dollars.
• The Russian occupation authorities assured that a state of siege would not be imposed in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson a few minutes after the announcement.
• German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Friday during a visit to Beijing that he had asked Chinese President Xi to use his “influence” with Russia to stop the “war”.
• Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev called Russia’s war in Ukraine a holy conflict with Satan, warning that Moscow could send all its enemies to the eternal fire of Gehenna.
• Why the Russian civil aviation cannot be saved: the sanctions posed an unprecedented challenge to the Russian civil aviation. As always, the Kremlin talks about import substitution, i.e. rebuilding the industry from scratch.

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• Friday’s military events were broadcast LIVE on HotNews.ro