Russian Senate Speaker Valentina Matviyenko on Wednesday refused to set any timetable for Russia’s “special military operation” in Ukraine, which began 301 days ago.
“The goals and objectives of the special military operation have been established. It will end when they are achieved,” Matviyenko said at a press conference broadcast live on television, quoted by the Spanish news agency EFE.
Matviyenko said it was “wrong to talk about specific dates” for the special military operation, the official designation Russia uses to refer to the war that began in Ukraine on February 24 this year.
“Initially, when the decision to launch a special military operation was made, it did not respect dates and deadlines,” said the president of the Russian Senate.
Matviyenko also considered that the Russian military offensive “was the only possible way to protect the security” of Russia.
The Russian leader also denied the existence of plans for a new general mobilization, after kyiv hinted that Russia was considering sending more troops to Ukraine and even trying to conquer the capital.
Russian President Vladimir Putin “has said that there is no need for a new mobilization,” Matviyenko said.
“Honestly, the issue has not been raised or discussed. It is not on the agenda, ”he added, quoted by the Spanish agency Europa Press.
Matviyenko reacted to the statements by the secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, Oleksiy Danilov, on Monday, about the possibility that Moscow will order a general mobilization and attempt a new offensive on kyiv.
“We do not rule out the possibility that they declare a general mobilization,” Danilov said in an interview with the online daily Ukrainska Pravda.
“I want everyone to understand that [os russos] they have not given up the idea of destroying our nation. If they don’t have kyiv in their hands, they won’t have anything in their hands, we have to understand that,” Danilov said.
On the battlefield, Russia announced today that it has taken up new positions in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine.
“As part of the offensive actions, Russian troops occupied new high areas and command lines in the direction of Donetsk,” Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said.
The spokesman also said that Russian troops killed “more than 80 Ukrainian servicemen” and destroyed a tank and three infantry vehicles, according to the Russian TASS news agency.
Donetsk has been one of the main centers of hostilities in recent weeks.
On September 30, Russia announced the annexation of Donetsk and Lugansk, the two regions that make up Donbass in eastern Ukraine.
Moscow-backed pro-Russian separatists from Donetsk and Lugansk have been at war with kyiv since 2014.
Days before the invasion of Ukraine, Russia recognized the Donbass separatists’ declaration of independence and used a plea for help from the two self-proclaimed people’s republics as one of the justifications for the military operation.
In addition to Donetsk and Lugansk, Moscow also announced the annexation of the Kherson and Zaporizhia regions, where Europe’s largest nuclear power plant is located.
The announcement of the annexations, not recognized by kyiv or the wider international community, was made despite the fact that Russia controls only a part of each of the four regions.
Russia had already annexed the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea in 2014.
Source: TSF
