Ukraine Latest: Kremlin Hardliners Alarm Some Russia Insiders

(Bloomberg) -- The rise of outspoken hardliners in the Kremlin is alarming insiders fearful the Russian president will heed their calls for even more confrontation abroad and sweeping repression at home. 

Senior business executives and government officials have watched with growing worry as players they once considered marginal like Yevgeny Prigozhin, known for his Wagner mercenary company and recruiting of prison inmates to fight in Ukraine, have become the public forces behind Vladimir Putin’s push to step up his increasingly all-encompassing war effort.

Meantime Ukraine’s Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said she believes the US will keep up financial support for its fight against Russia if Republicans take control of Congress following the midterm elections, regardless of threats from some leaders to scrutinize spending more closely. 

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Key Developments

• Putin’s Elite Tremble as Hardliners Call for ‘Stalinist’ Steps
• Russia and US to Resume Nuclear Talks as War in Ukraine Rages on
• Ukraine Believes Republicans Will Keep Money Flowing If They Win
• Sweden Works to Smooth NATO Path as Turkey Demands Deportations
• EU Dims Hopes for a Price Cap to Contain Soaring Gas Costs
• Europe’s Energy Crunch Will Trigger Years of Shortages

On the Ground

Russian forces struck a village in the Zaporizhzhia region with S-300 missiles Tuesday morning, governor Oleksandr Starukh said on Telegram. Over the past day, Russia carried out nine missile strikes, 37 air attacks and fired more than 100 multiple rocket-launchers, according to Ukraine’s General Staff. Ukrainian troops repelled assaults near 10 settlements in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, the military reported. The US-based Institute for the Study of War said that Russia has “greatly depleted” its stockpiles of high-precision weapons systems and has encountered significant aviation losses.

(All times CET)

Ukraine Believes US Republicans Will Keep Money Flowing If They Win (1:32 a.m.)

“We really appreciate your bipartisan support,” Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said in an interview with Bloomberg News on Tuesday. “We’re not worried. Ukraine fights for very concrete rights and values. I think the US will support until we get victory.” 

Svyrydenko made a new call for allied nations to send more weapons and financing, including air-defense systems to target Iranian drones and Russian missiles. She spoke just hours before the first results were set to come out from elections that could jolt the Biden administration’s foreign policy agenda. 

Read the interview story here.

Ukraine Says Situation Along Entire Front Line is ‘Difficult’ (12:40 a.m.)

“It is especially difficult in the Donetsk region, as before,” Zelenskiy said in his usual nighttime address. “There has been certain decline in the amount of news from the front. There is less news than, for example, at the beginning of autumn. But this does not mean that the intensity of fighting has declined.”

Around four million people were without electricity in various regions, he added.

Putin’s Elite Tremble as Hardliners Call for ‘Stalinist’ Steps (7:20 p.m.)

Yevgeny Prigozhin’s public calls for “urgent Stalinist repressions” against business tycoons who aren’t sufficiently enthusiastic about supporting the war effort have led some rich Russians to fear for their own safety and that of their families, according to insiders. 

Prigozhin’s open attacks on top military commanders - some of whom have been subsequently removed - and the prominent Putin ally who is governor of St. Petersburg, have added to worry within the bureaucracy about the Kremlin’s unwillingness or inability to defend its own.

With Kremlin officials now describing the invasion of Ukraine as a “people’s war,” hearkening back to the World War II rhetoric of Josef Stalin, a few insiders even say they fear the purges and arbitrary arrests of the the Soviet dictator’s rule may not be far behind

Read the exclusive story here.

Turkey Demands Deportations as Price for Sweden’s NATO Entry (7:16 p.m.)

Sweden’s Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson pledged to live up to promises made to Turkey as he seeks to persuade President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to let the Nordic nation, and its neighbor Finland, into NATO.

At a press conference following talks in Ankara, Erdogan signaled his contentment with the new government in Stockholm, but reiterated a call on Sweden and Finland to take Turkey’s concerns seriously and deport “terrorists” residing in those countries. 

Turkey and Hungary remain the holdouts as 28 of 30 NATO members have ratified the Nordic countries’ entry.

Read more: Sweden Works to Smooth NATO Path as Turkey Demands Deportations

Russia and US to Meet on Resuming Inspections of Atomic Sites (7:05 p.m.)

A State Department spokesperson confirmed a meeting of the Bilateral Consultative Commission is in the works but declined to say when or where it would take place, except to say it wouldn’t be held in Geneva, their usual venue. The spokesperson said the US hopes for a constructive session.

Two people in Moscow familiar with discussions around the talks, who asked not to be identified discussing private deliberations, said Cairo is the likely venue since Switzerland has joined sanctions against Russia over its invasion. Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov declined to comment.

Read more: Russia and US to Resume Nuclear Talks as War in Ukraine Rages on

Russian Diesel Exports Set to Jump This Month (6:55 p.m.)

Exports of diesel-type fuel from former Soviet Union countries are forecast to climb by 8% in November from a month earlier, according to seaborne oil trade analytics firm Petro-Logistics SA.

The increase is largely driven by a sharp gain in shipments out of the Baltic Sea area, including the Russian port of Primorsk. Though the forecast also includes ports in other FSU countries, much if not all of the supply will originate in Russia.

UK to Send Rockets, Attack Helicopters to Estonia  (6 p.m.)

The UK will send rocket weapons as well as Apache and Chinook helicopters to Estonia, the two countries’ defense chiefs said in a statement after a meeting in London.

The increased military support from the UK, which leads an Estonia-based NATO battalion formed in 2017 after Russia’s annexation of Crimea, will support the Baltic nation’s plans to create a division-level military headquarters to host allied forces starting next January.

Indian Foreign Minister Tells Lavrov of Growing Concerns Over War (3:40 p.m.)

India is “on the side of peace, respect for international law and support for the UN Charter” over the war in Ukraine, External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar told a news conference in Moscow with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, adding that the invasion was “a dominant feature” of their talks.

“We are seeing growing concerns on energy and food security from the conflict,” Jaishankar said, reiterating Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s view that it’s “not an era for war” at a September meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. “The Global South, especially, is feeling this pain very acutely.”

Still, he noted “significant growth” in trade between India and Russia this year and said it was essential to continue their “time-tested” defense relationship. India has scooped up millions of barrels of discounted oil shunned by Europe and the US since the war began, and Russia remains a key weapons supplier.

Hungary Blocks EU Plan for €18 Billion Ukraine Package (1:55 p.m.)

Hungary told EU finance ministers at a meeting in Brussels that it won’t support the necessary changes to prepare an €18 billion package to support Ukraine next year, people familiar with the discussion said.

The European Commission will propose on Wednesday offering concessional loans to Kyiv in a more stable manner, but the initiative will require using the extra space available in the EU budget. Hungarian Finance Minister Mihaly Varga told his colleagues that he wouldn’t support such an option, which requires the unanimous backing of 27 governments.

Read more: EU Aims to Dispel Criticism on Ukraine Aid With €18 Billion Plan

Zelenskiy Seeks to Extend Martial Law and Mobilization (1:25 p.m.)

Ukraine’s president filed a decree draft to the country’s parliament, seeking to extend martial law and mobilization. Zelenskiy is seeking to extend martial law and mobilization by 90 days, lawmaker Yaroslav Zheleznyak said on Telegram. The parliament approved a similar decree over the summer, extending the military measures for 90 days from Aug. 23.

UK Says Chelsea FC Sale Profits Yet to Reach Ukraine (1:20 p.m.)

The UK’s Europe minister, Leo Docherty, faced questions over whether the £3.5 billion ($4 billion) proceeds from the sale of Chelsea Football Club in May had reached Ukraine yet. Former owner Roman Abramovich, a sanctioned individual, agreed the funds can be sent there.

The money is “still frozen in the UK bank account,” Docherty told Parliament in London. Administrative work and a license to release the funds has been applied for, he added. Opposition Labour Party MP Chris Bryant told Bloomberg News the delay is “appalling” and called on the government to “get a blasted move-on.”

Zelenskiy Likely to Join G-20 Summit Online, Suspilne TV Reports (12:05 p.m.)

President Zelenskiy will take part in the G-20 summit in Bali “in some kind of format,” the Suspilne TV website reports, citing presidential spokesman Serhiy Nykyforov. The president will most likely join the summit online, the website reported, citing Nykyforov. Zelenskiy said earlier that he won’t join the summit if Putin attends it.

Jokowi Says Joe Biden, Xi Jinping to Attend G-20 Summit in Bali

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