Russian President Vladimir Putin has reportedly given his troops a deadline of September 15 to expand their occupation to the eastern region of Donestk. Donetsk is a region in eastern Ukraine that has been the base of pro-Russian separatist groups.
"The Russian occupying forces have once again changed their plans and actions according to Putin's orders to reach the administrative boundaries of the Donetsk Oblast by September 15," Deputy Head of the Main Operational Department of the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Oleksiy Gromov, told Ukrainska Pravda on Thursday (1/9).
In addition, Gromov said that Russian troops continued to expand their occupation in the Kharkiv, Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson and Mykolaiv regions.
Russian troops are also trying to establish favorable conditions for them to resume their offensive, Gromov said. Meanwhile, Newsweek has not been able to independently verify reports by Ukrainian military officials about Putin's deadline for his troops.
The Russian Defense Ministry has also not responded to a request for confirmation of this report. Russia's invasion of Ukraine will enter its 7th month on September 24. However, there is no sign of Russia wanting to stop the war.
Currently, Ukrainian troops are reportedly starting to launch another resistance offensive and have succeeded in capturing several areas previously controlled by Russia.
Russia refuses to hold Gorbachev state funeral, Putin refuses to come
Russian President Vladimir Putin will not be present at the funeral of the last leader of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev which will be held on Saturday (3/9) tomorrow.
In addition, Russia will also not hold a state funeral for Gorbachev, who died at the age of 92 on 30 August.
Gorbachev will be buried in a large hall near the Kremlin. This location is the tomb of Soviet leaders such as Vladimir Lenin, Josef Stalin, and Leonid Brezhnev. The government will pay a military tribute to Gorbachev's body. However, Gorbachev was not buried with a state ceremony.
The Gorbachev Foundation said the funeral would take place on September 3 starting at 12.00 local time. Although not coming tomorrow, Putin took the time to pay his respects by handing a red rose next to Gorbachev's coffin at the Moscow Central Clinical Hospital on Thursday (1/9).
"Unfortunately, the president's work schedule does not allow doing this [at the state funeral] on September 3, so he decided to do it today," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Friday.
Peskov only said Gorbachev's ceremony would have "elements" of a state funeral. He also mentioned that the state would help organize it. Putin's attitude to Gorbachev's death is very different when responding to the death of former president Boris Yeltsin in 2007.
At that time, Putin declared a day of national mourning. He and world leaders were also seen attending a state funeral at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow.
Quoted by Reuters, Yeltsin has an intimate relationship with Putin. It was he who appointed the person in power in Russia today to be an officer of the intelligence services of the Soviet Union (KGB). However, the reform policy actually backfired, prompting dozens of Soviet republics to demand independence until they collapsed.
There are still many people and officials, including President Vladimir Putin, who consider Gorbachev a leader who failed to maintain the unity of the Soviet Union.
Gorbachev was respected by the West for allowing Eastern European countries to escape Soviet control. He even won the Nobel Peace Prize for helping to end the US-Soviet Cold War, which was at risk of ending in nuclear war.
However, Gorbachev was not loved in his country because it was considered to trigger chaos and the cause of the collapse of the Soviet Union. Putin also once called the breakup of the Soviet Union the biggest geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th century.
Follow Daily Post on Google News to update information quickly. Thank you for visiting our website..!! Don't forget to share any information to help develop our website..