Russian military recruiter shot amid fear of Ukraine call-up

AP — KYIV, Ukraine At an enlistment office on Monday, a young man shot a Russian military commander at close range in an act that was particularly brazen and reflected opposition to the Russian leadership's attempts to rally hundreds of thousands of soldiers to wage war on Ukraine.

The shooting follows sporadic arson assaults on recruitment offices and anti-call-up demonstrations in Russian cities that led in at least 2,000 arrests. Russia is attempting to increase the size of its military as its attack in Ukraine has slowed and depleted its resources.

According to local media sources, during the attack in the Siberian city of Ust-Ilimsk, 25-year-old citizen Ruslan Zinin entered the enrollment office and declared, "No one will go to battle" and "We will all go home immediately."

Following Zinin's arrest, authorities promised harsh punishment. Local officials made the vague statement that the military commander was in urgent care. Zinin was in a room of persons called up to fight, according to a witness who was reported by a local news site. On Tuesday, troops from his region were slated to travel to military installations.

There are growing worries that after Russia has completed what the West and Ukraine view as illegitimate referendums in regions of Ukraine under its control, it may try to escalate the confrontation, possibly deploying nuclear weapons.

Voting on whether inhabitants want their territories to join Russia started last week and finishes this Tuesday under far from democratic or equitable circumstances.

Images released by people who survived the months-long battle showed armed Russian forces going door-to-door to coerce Ukrainians into voting. Thousands of locals had already fled the territories.

The governor of the Donetsk area, Pavlo Kirilenko, stated on Monday that there is "inevitable shelling" in the Donbas, which compels people to vote for Russian "peace."

It is predicted that Russia would proclaim the results in its favor, which might result in the annexation of the region and provide Moscow the justification to defend it as its own territory under the Russian nuclear umbrella.

The recognition of the territories as being a part of Russia has not been given a specific date, but it may only be a matter of days, according to Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov on Monday.

U.S. national security advisor Jake Sullivan warned that if Russia followed through on veiled threats to deploy nuclear weapons in the confrontation, it would pay a high, though not specific, price.

"Russia will suffer terrible repercussions if it breaches this boundary. He said on Sunday's episode of NBC's Meet the Press that "the United States would react firmly."

In an unscheduled meeting on Monday in the southern Russian city of Sochi, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko stated that they were willing to work with the West "provided they treat us with respect."

Mevlut Cavusoglu, the foreign minister of Turkey, stated on Monday that at their meeting last week in Uzbekistan, Putin had informed the Turkish president that although Moscow was prepared to continue talks with Ukraine, it had "new criteria" for a cease-fire. The conditions were not further explained by the minister.

For the first time since World War II, the Kremlin declared last week a partial mobilization to increase its military in Ukraine by at least 300,000. The action, a marked departure from Putin's earlier attempts to present the conflict as a constrained military operation that wouldn't significantly disrupt the lives of most Russians, backfired domestically.

In an effort to escape being drafted, thousands of men of fighting age went to airports and Russia's land border crossings. Numerous protests broke out around the nation, and Russian media reported an increase in the frequency of arson assaults against military recruitment centers, including one that occurred on Monday in the southern city of Uryupinsk.

The British military said Monday that the first waves of Russian soldiers that Moscow had mobilized had started to arrive at military facilities. The British Defense Ministry stated that tens of thousands of people had already been called up in an online intelligence briefing.

Normally, a third battalion stays behind to train while two battalions deploy. However, even the third battalion is participating in the conflict in Ukraine, diminishing that training, according to the British Defense Ministry.

Without going into further detail, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Facebook on Monday that the Ukrainian military is advancing attempts to retake "the entire land of Ukraine" and has developed strategies to combat "new types of weaponry" deployed by Russia.

The military said Monday that a nighttime drone attack near the Ukrainian port of Odesa caused a huge fire and explosion. It was the most recent in a string of recent drone strikes on the important southern city, and when it struck, it hit a military post and exploded munitions. According to the southern command of the Ukrainian military, firefighters battled to put out the fire, and adjacent residents were evacuated.

According to Zelenskyy's office, further Russian shelling has been directed at the vicinity of the Zaporozhzhia nuclear power facility. Rocket launchers and heavy artillery have recently fired nine shots towards cities close to the station.

Margaryta Tkachenko is still in shock from the war that damaged her home and put her family in danger of starving in the eastern Ukrainian town of Izium, which Russian soldiers withdrew earlier this month following a Ukrainian counteroffensive.

She remarked, "I can't foresee what will happen next without gas, power, running water, or the internet. The most terrifying season is winter. We lack wood. How will we warm up?