ISW: Increasing domestic critiques of Russia’s “partial mobilization” driving Putin to scapegoat Shoigu 

“The head of the Chechen Republic, Ramzan Kadyrov, announced that Putin awarded him the rank of colonel general on October 5. Putin may have made the decision to elevate Kadyrov’s rank in order to maintain the support of Kadyrov and Chechen forces,” the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) wrote on its website, Report informs.

According to the Institute, increasing domestic critiques of Russia’s “partial mobilization” are likely driving Putin to scapegoat the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) and specifically Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.

“Ukrainian forces captured Hrekivka and Makiivka in western Luhansk Oblast. Luhansk Oblast Head Serhiy Haidai reported that Ukrainian forces began liberating unspecified villages in Luhansk Oblast on October 5. Luhansk Oblast Head Serhiy Haidai reported that Ukrainian forces began liberating unspecified villages in Luhansk Oblast on October 5. Russian forces conducted a Shahed-136 drone strike against Bila Tserkva, Kyiv Oblast, on October 5. Russian President Vladimir Putin took measures to assert full Russian control over the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP). The International Atomic Energy Agency General Director Rafael Grossi plans to meet with both Ukrainian and Russian officials this week in Kyiv and Moscow to discuss the creation of a “protective zone” around the ZNPP,” the ISW said.