Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu visits a new recruit training facility.
The war situation
On October 5th, President Putin estimated that Ukraine had lost more than 90,000 soldiers since the start of its counteroffensive in June. In addition, Moscow claimed that Kyiv had lost 557 tanks and approximately 1,900 armored vehicles during this period.
For his part, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu told senior Russian military officers that Kyiv's attempts to breach Russian defenses in the east and south of the country had "failed."
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Specifically, he referred to sections of the area around the villages of Verbovoye and Rabotino on the Zaporizhzhia front.
The Russian minister also stated that the country's army "repelled all attacks in the direction of Soledar-Bakhmout" on the eastern front in Donetsk.
Meanwhile, Ukraine claims to have made progress on various fronts, albeit slowly. At the same time, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces announced on October 5th that its air defenses had shot down 24 out of 29 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that Russia used against Ukraine.
The Ukrainian Air Force said the downed drones were shot down in the southern provinces of Odessa and Mykolaiv, as well as in the central province of Kirohovrad.
In a related development, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced that Defense Minister Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov met with military commanders fighting in Ukraine.
However, it remains unclear where the meeting took place and what its agenda was.
President Putin at a forum in Sochi on October 5th.
Putin reveals Russia's mission.
Speaking at the Valdai Discussion Club event in the Black Sea city of Sochi, Russia, President Putin accused a new "iron curtain" of emerging.
"Europe is erecting barriers to separate Russia, and creating a new iron curtain," TASS quoted Putin as saying. "We are not the ones slamming the door shut; that is the action of Europe," the leader said.
Major allies are "running out of steam" after providing Ukraine with "as much aid as possible."
Moscow is currently facing unprecedented isolation from the West and numerous sanctions since launching its special military operation in Ukraine.
He also rejected accusations that Russia sought to expand its territory through the conflict in Ukraine.
According to him, Russia is already the largest country in the world and therefore has no need to annex more territory. Russia still has much left undone in developing Siberia and the Far East.
"This is not a conflict over territory, nor is it aimed at establishing a new geopolitical balance in the region," said the Russian president. He added that what he was referring to was the establishment of rules for a new world order.
"We have a task to build a new world order," TASS quoted the leader as saying, while accusing the West of pursuing "global hegemony" and saying Russia wants to prevent this.
A Russian missile test.
Russia successfully tests a new generation nuclear weapon.
President Putin also announced that Russia had successfully tested a new "deadly" strategic missile, and did not rule out the possibility of testing a weapon involving the first nuclear explosion in more than three decades.
This also marks the first time the Kremlin has confirmed Moscow's successful testing of the Burevestnik, a nuclear-powered cruise missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead with a range of several thousand kilometers.
The leader also updated that Russia is close to completing the construction of the Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile system, which is part of a new generation of nuclear weapons.
Describing the power of the new generation of weapons, President Putin said that once Russia detects an attack, "a barrage of missiles, hundreds of them, will appear in the air, and no adversary will have a chance of survival."
Putin asserted that no sane person would decide to use nuclear weapons against Russia. Russia has not conducted a nuclear test since 1990, a year before the collapse of the Soviet Union.
However, he declined to rule out the possibility of resuming similar testing.
EU High Commissioner for Security and Foreign Policy Josep Borrell at a conference in Granada on October 5.
Will Russia or Ukraine run out of steam first?
The Russian leader also assured that the country's economy could cope with the high proportion of military spending in the national budget to support the campaign in Ukraine.
Meanwhile, the US and its Western allies are concerned about not having enough weapons and ammunition to provide timely aid to Ukraine, especially as winter approaches.
Specifically on the US side, the Pentagon warned that while there is currently sufficient funding to continue supporting Ukraine, that funding could run out if the US House of Representatives fails to resolve the crisis after removing the Speaker of the House.
The EU has "emptied its stockpiles" to supply weapons to Ukraine, making further aid difficult.
On October 5th, at the European Political Community Summit in Granada, Spain, EU High Commissioner for Security and Foreign Policy Josep Borrell acknowledged that the EU is unable to replace the US support for Ukraine.
Therefore, he hoped that US lawmakers could find a way to resolve the disagreements, allowing for the resumption of US financial and military aid to the Kyiv government.
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