Quote from: LTU_btc on October 19, 2022, 07:51:06 PM

Putin today announced about martial law in occupied regions of Ukraine - Donbas, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/10/19/putin-declares-martial-law-in-annexed-regions-of-ukraine
But how you can declare martial law there when it's aready been declared by Ukraine on 24th February?

And does it means that Russians will be allowed to call it war, or it's still "special military operation"?

Quote from: Kavelj22 on October 19, 2022, 05:22:53 PM

After Putin succeeded in annexing Ukrainian regions and holding a referendum in them, there are reports in the pro-Ukrainian media saying that the Ukrainian army succeeded in retaking large parts of these regions. This was accompanied by silence from the Russian side to comment on the matter.
Is it possible that the news is true or is it only for media consumption as the two parties are accustomed to doing?

The recent events showed a shift in the course of the war, and it seems that what Russia called the military operation to protect minorities in Ukraine, became one of its most important goals to bring down the political regime in Ukraine.

Actually, none of annexed regions isn't fully controlled by Russia. Like Zaporizhia Oblast, they don't have control of capital of region - Zaporizhia city. Even Luhansk oblast isn't fully controlled by them, few villages is controlled by Ukraine.
And Russia aren't silent about Ukraine's counteroffensive. Offcourse, they won't tell what's really happening, they are using excuses like regrouping of troops.
You can follow realtime information in front on maps like https://www.deepstatemap.live/ or https://liveuamap.com/
They also announced about evacuation from Kherson to left bank of Dniepr river:
https://www.dw.com/en/russia-ukraine-updates-moscow-begins-evacuation-from-kherson/a-63484112
No panic, keep calm, like they like to say.

Russia may have announced the annexation of these areas after the success of its military invasion, but there is no evidence to the contrary, at least with regard to what the Ukrainian forces, which announced their recapture of limited areas of those that Russia announced that it had annexed, mean the opposite.

By the same logic, it cannot be said that the Ukrainian forces have recaptured those provinces, especially since Russia had announced a referendum in those regions to find out the opinion of the residents. I know that this may have been done in a fictitious form, but it actually happened, which means Russia's seizure of the vital centers in those provinces.