Winter's approach sets the clock ticking for Ukraine and Russia

The onset of autumnal weather, with rains making fields excessively muddy for tanks, is opening to unreality Ukraine's efforts to instrumentality backmost much Russian-held territory earlier wintertime freezes the battlefields, a Washington-based deliberation vessel said Sunday.

Russia, meanwhile, pressed connected with its call-up of hundreds of thousands of men to propulsion into the seven-month war, seeking to reverse its caller losses. It besides deployed termination drones Sunday against the Ukrainian larboard metropolis of Odesa, Ukrainian authorities said. No casualties were instantly reported.

The Russian mobilization — its archetypal specified call-up since World War II — is sparking protests successful Russian cities, with caller demonstrations Sunday.

It is besides opening splits successful Europe astir whether fighting-age Russian men fleeing successful droves should beryllium welcomed oregon turned away.

For Ukrainian and Russian subject planners, the timepiece is ticking, with the attack of wintertime expected to marque warring much complicated. Already, rainy upwind is bringing muddy conditions that are starting to bounds the mobility of tanks and different dense weaponry, according to the Institute for the Study of War.

But the deliberation vessel said Ukrainian forces are inactive gaining crushed successful their counteroffensive, launched successful precocious August, that has spectacularly rolled backmost the Russian concern crossed ample areas of the northeast and which besides prompted Russian President Vladimir Putin's caller thrust for reinforcements.

The partial mobilization has triggered an exodus of men seeking to debar the draught — and crisp differences of sentiment successful Europe astir however to woody with them.

Lithuania, a European Union member-country that borders Kaliningrad, a Russian Baltic Sea exclave, said it won't assistance them asylum. "Russians should enactment and fight. Against Putin," Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis tweeted.

His counterpart successful Latvia, besides an EU subordinate and bordering Russia, said the exodus poses "considerable information risks" for the 27-nation bloc and that those fleeing can't beryllium considered conscientious objectors against the invasion.

Many "were good with sidesplitting Ukrainians, they did not protestation then," the Latvian overseas minister, Edgars Rinkevics, tweeted. He added that they person "plenty of countries extracurricular EU to go."

Officials successful different EU nations, however, accidental Europe has a work to help, and fearfulness that turning distant Russians could play into Putin's hands, feeding his communicative that the West has ever hated Russians and that the warfare is being waged to safeguard their state against Western hostility.

"Closing our frontiers would acceptable neither with our values nor our interests," a 40-strong radical of senators successful France said successful a statement. They urged the EU to assistance exile presumption to Russians fleeing mobilization and said turning them distant would beryllium "a mistake by Europe successful the warfare of connection and power that is playing out."

The mobilization is besides moving hand-in-hand with Kremlin-orchestrated votes successful 4 occupied regions of Ukraine that could pave the mode for their imminent annexation by Russia.

Ukraine and its Western allies accidental the referendums successful Kherson and Zaporizhzhia successful the southbound and the eastbound Luhansk and Donetsk regions person nary ineligible force. The votes are acceptable to wrapper up Tuesday but are being dismissed successful Ukraine and the West arsenic a sham, with footage showing equipped Russian troops going doorway to doorway to unit Ukrainians into voting.

Ukraine's Reintegration Ministry said Russia has brought radical from Belarus, Brazil, Egypt, South Africa, Syria, Togo, Uruguay and Venezuela to enactment arsenic expected extracurricular observers. The ministry warned that they "will beryllium punished," without specifying how.

In cities crossed Russia, constabulary person arrested hundreds of protesters against the mobilization order. Women opposed to the call-up protested Sunday successful the Siberian metropolis of Yakutsk. Videos shared by section media showed a assemblage of a fewer 100 people, mostly women, holding hands and marching successful a ellipse astir a radical of police. Police aboriginal dragged immoderate distant oregon forced them into constabulary vans. News website SakhaDay said the women chanted pacifist slogans and songs.

At slightest 2,000 radical person been arrested successful caller days for akin demonstrations astir the country. Many of those taken distant instantly received call-up summons.

Other Russians are reporting for duty. Putin and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu person said the bid applies to reservists who precocious served oregon person peculiar skills, but astir each antheral is considered a reservist until property 65 and Putin's decree kept the doorway unfastened for a broader call-up.

The Kremlin said its archetypal purpose is to adhd astir 300,000 troops to its forces successful Ukraine, struggling with instrumentality losses, mounting casualties and weakening morale. The mobilization marks a crisp displacement from Putin's erstwhile efforts to represent the warfare arsenic a constricted subject cognition that wouldn't interfere with astir Russians' lives.

The call-up is being accompanied by tougher punishments for Russian soldiers who disobey officers' orders, godforsaken oregon surrender to the enemy. Putin signed those measures into instrumentality connected Saturday.

The Ukrainian authorities stopped allowing astir men ages 18-60 to permission the state instantly aft Russia's Feb. 24 penetration nether a wide mobilization bid intended to physique a 1 million-strong military.