October 3, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

The presidents of nine NATO countries from Central and Eastern Europe issued a joint statement Sunday supporting Ukraine's bid for membership of the defense alliance as they called for increased military aid to Kyiv. 

The presidents of the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Poland, Slovakia and Romania expressed their firm support for "the decision of the 2008 Bucharest NATO Summit regarding the future membership of Ukraine in the Alliance."

“We support Ukraine in its defence against Russia's invasion, demand Russia to immediately withdraw from all the occupied territories and encourage all Allies to substantially increase their military aid to Ukraine,” the statement added. 

The statement noted that the leaders of these countries — which account for nearly a third of NATO's members — “visited Kyiv during the war and witnessed with their own eyes the effects of Russian aggression.” 

The statement also called on “all those who commit crimes of aggression” to be brought to justice. 

Some context: A decision about Ukraine’s application for accelerated NATO membership must be agreed upon by all 30 members of the alliance, Jens Stoltenberg, NATO secretary general, said Sunday. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced Friday that Ukraine was applying “under an accelerated procedure” to become a NATO member.

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said he believes Ukraine is “making progress,” in the Kherson region of the country as they continue to counter Russia’s invasion, adding there has been a “kind of change in the battlefield dynamics.”

Austin attributed the change to the skill of Ukrainian soldiers and their strategic use of weapons supplied by US and NATO allies, specifically their use of the high mobility air rocket systems, or HIMARS. He made the comments in an exclusive interview with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria that aired Sunday on “Fareed Zakaria GPS.”

Austin said Ukrainian forces have used “technology like HIMARS” and employed it in the “right way” to “conduct attacks on things like logistical stores and command and control, that’s taking away — taken away significant capability from the Russians.”

In doing so, Ukrainians have “changed the dynamics, and it’s created an opportunity for the Ukrainians to maneuver,” he added.

When asked why the US has not supplied longer-range weapons that Ukrainians have asked for, Austin said he communicates with his Ukrainian counterpart, Minister of Defense Oleksii Reznikov, “routinely,” and believes the US has been “very effective in providing them those things that are very, very effective on a battlefield.”

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Russian officials have criticized their military leadership following the retreat of Moscow's forces from the strategic eastern city of Lyman, in the Donetsk region, underlining concerns the Kremlin could be eyeing nuclear weapons on the battlefield.

A Russian lawmaker and former army commander on Saturday told pro-Kremlin digital outlet Soloviev Live that he could not explain this “surrender” from a military point of view.

Using the Russian name for Lyman, the Russian Defense Ministry said Saturday that “troops were withdrawn from the settlement of Krasny Liman to more advantageous lines.”

Russian state media Russia-24 reported that Russia’s withdrawal was because “the enemy used both Western-made artillery and intelligence from North Atlantic alliance countries.”

The retreat marks Ukraine’s most significant gain since its successful counteroffensive in the northeastern Kharkiv region last month.

Read more here.

Time is running out for Russian President Vladimir Putin, and he knows it.

Meanwhile his bombast continues: announcing the annexation of Ukrainian territories on Friday, Putin declared Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson will become part of Russia “forever.” He is rushing to claim a victory and cement slender gains and sue for peace, running a dangerous political tab, regardless of the fanfare in Moscow.

He is doing his best to hide it, but he is losing his war in Ukraine. The writing is on the wall.

Andrey Kortunov, who runs the Kremlin-backed Russian International Affairs Council in Moscow, sees it, too. “President Putin wants to end this whole thing as fast as possible,” he told CNN.

Putin’s recent heavy-handed conscription drive for 300,000 troops won’t reverse his battlefield losses any time soon, and is backfiring at home, running him up a dangerous political tab.

Read the full analysis:

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