Good morning. Here’s your Daily Situational Awareness for Tuesday, 18 October 2022.
TERROR ATTACK REPORTEDLY HITS RUSSIAN MOBILIZATION BASE: Russian Defense Ministry officials report a military training base in Russia’s Belgorod region suffered an active shooter event in what is being described as a “terrorist act”. Military officials say two gunmen from an unspecified CIS country opened fire on volunteers training for deployment to Ukraine, killing 11 and wounding 15. The incident remains under investigation. The terrorists were killed by Russian forces.
ZELENSKY: RUSSIA HAS DESTROYED 30 PERCENT OF UKRAINE’S POWER STATIONS: Ukrainian President Zelensky announced that Russian airstrikes have destroyed 30 percent of Ukrainian power stations. Zelensky called the strikes “a terrorist attack” and stated there is no more room for negotiation with Russia. The wave of strikes came in response to the attack on the Kerch bridge earlier this month.
JAPAN COMMITTED TO MILITARY EXPANSION, DESPITE ECONOMIC WOES: The head of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) tax policy panel said on Monday that Japan will boost military spending and may raise corporate and income taxes to pay for it. Japan is facing military threats from China and North Korea, and at the same time, public debt is double the size of its economy. With little room left for financial maneuvering ahead of what could be a global financial crisis, the LDP has charted a path of unpopular tax hikes combined with spending cuts in nonessential programs to prepare for what it believes will be near-term military conflict in the region.
SOUTH KOREA TO PROVIDE 300 MULTIPLE ROCKET LAUNCH SYSTEMS TO POLAND: Polish defense officials have completed an agreement to purchase 300 Chunmoo Multiple Launch Rocket Systems from South Korea. The minister said the 300 systems from South Korea would be delivered by the end of next year and join the 500 HIMARS on order from the United States that would not arrive in a “satisfactory” timeframe. The decision follows an agreement signed between the countries earlier this year outlining the purchase of Korean-made tanks and artillery pieces to bolster the mechanized warfare capabilities of the Polish forces.
In today’s Early Warning, Mike takes a look at how Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken describe competition over the new world order, plus the team provides analysis on a number of domestic and geopolitical issues. Get access to the full report here: https://forwardobserver.com/subscribe