How much of what Blinken said lines up with reality?

Russia suspended its participation in the Black Sea Grain Initiative last month, citing the West’s systematic efforts to block the export of Russian food and fertilizers, and the fact that just 3 percent of the Ukrainian grain exported under the grain deal actually went to nations in need.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has given an interview to a French radio network targeting francophone Africans, making a series of provocative claims against Russia related to the grain deal, and complaining that Moscow’s donation of tens of thousands of tons of food to African countries was just “a drop in the bucket” compared to what’s needed.

Check out Sputnik's fact check of the secretary’s remarks to separate facts from falsehoods.

📹 A Russian UAV revealed the camouflaged firing position of a Ukrainian self-propelled artillery mount. As a result of the loitering munition strike, the self-propelled gun was destroyed.

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CIA veteran: Nuland’s Niger trip meant to ‘intimidate’, ‘threaten’ new government

Niger’s government was overthrown by the military last month. On Monday, Victoria Nuland met with members of the new government for talks. What does the arch-neocon’s visit mean for the West African nation’s future?

Sputnik spoke to CIA and State Department veteran Larry Johnson for answers.

🗣️ On the anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki:

“So there's real deep questions about whether the atomic bombings were militarily necessary. It seems not. Japan was defeated. They had no air defenses. Just look at the large number: dozens of major cities in Japan had been firebombed by US conventional bombing by air forces.. I guess in Eisenhower's case, he got over it, because by the time he was president, it was part and parcel of US military strategy to supposedly rely on deterrence to exercise US superpower status,” Kevin Kamps, radioactive waste watchdog at Beyond Nuclear, told Sputnik.

🎧 Listen to more of Kamps’ analysis in our podcast By Any Means Necessary

🇵🇰 "As the situation has unfolded, it is incrementally clear that Khan is being penalized for calling out the army," Priyanka Singh, specialist in Pakistani politics told Sputnik India

Khan's fate is similar to many others who were crushed by the army in the past be it Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, Benazir Bhutto or Nawaz Sharif, Singh explained.

With arguably Pakistan's biggest inspiration and hero outside politics, considering he led the cricket-crazy country to its lone World Cup victory in 1992, spending his time in jail, Sputnik India looks back at Khan's sojourn from a determined and talented young cricketer to the occupant of the nation's top chair.

👉 Read full story of Imran Khan on Sputnik India!

🗣️ On the "peace conference" in Jeddah excluding Russia:

“On the face of it, it is to promote what is referred to as the “Zelensky peace plan” – which is an ultimatum, right? Russia pulls out, ends their intervention in the Ukrainian civil conflict, they pull all their troops out, take all their toys home, leave the people of Donbass, Crimea, and southern Ukraine to the tender mercies of the West-backed Kiev putsch regime and its Azov and sundry other neo-Nazi battalions. Oh, it pays war reparations too. And all Russian leaders go to face international crimes trials. And Zelensky would like a pretty little pink pony, too. So and from my understanding, it was absolutely everyone all agreed, except the last item was a deal breaker. They didn't come up with the pink pony for Zelensky,” Mark Sleboda, Moscow-based international relations security analyst, told Sputnik.

🎧 Listen to more of Sleboda’s analysis in our podcast The Critical Hour

‼️ Two combat drones attempting to reach Moscow shot down by Russian air defenses

🕉 Should Hinduism Play a Role in India’s Soft Power Strategy?

In his column, Francois Gautier delves into the potential influence of Hinduism on India's soft power approach:

🗯Unfortunately, we see that the World is not yet ready for this coming together paradise. And we need to go back to another ancient Hindu sacred text: The Bhagavad Gita. What does the Gita tell us? That when your country, your borders, your women, the very safety and wellbeing of your citizens is in danger, one needs to face the enemy and fight.

🇮🇳 The question needs to be asked: can India afford to be a soft power, when it is facing threats?

👉 Read full story on Sputnik India!

"There was an attempt to fly two combat drones into the city. Both were shot down by air defenses. One near Domodedovo [town in the south of Moscow], and the other one near the [Moscow-] Minsk highway," Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said on Telegram.

The mayor said there was no immediate information about casualties from falling debris, adding that emergency services were working at the site.

🗣️ On the US strategy to “poison the atmosphere” in the Asia region:

“The US is trying to poison the atmosphere. They are trying to use South Korea as a proxy for war against China. North Korea is simply a stalking horse for war against China. It's a pretext. And the reason why South Korea is being pulled into this war is that the US is currently creating what I refer to as the JAKUS alliance, the Japan-South Korea-US alliance. It's like a little minime NATO in Asia, comparable to the AUKUS alliance that it intends to use to leverage for war against China,” KJ Noh, peace activist, teacher, and writer, told Sputnik.

🎧 Listen to more of Noh’s analysis in our podcast The Critical Hour

‼️ Units of Russia's Center Group of Forces have thwarted six attempted Ukrainian attacks in the Svatovo and Krasny Liman directions, with the enemy losing some 60 soldiers, Alexander Savchuk, the head of the group's press center, told Sputnik.

💬 "Units of the Center Group of Forces, supported by artillery fire and air strikes, have thwarted and repulsed six attempted attacks by assault groups of the 21st and 42nd Mechanized Brigades and the 68th Jaeger Brigade of the Ukrainian armed forces during the active defense on the occupied lines. The enemy's losses amounted to about 60 soldiers," Savchuk said.

➡️ He added that an infantry fighting vehicle, an armored vehicle and two pickup trucks have been destroyed. The forces have also hit two Ukrainian strongholds, a command and observation post and two temporary military personnel hubs.

🇺🇸 Two US military veterans were killed while fighting in Ukraine as "volunteers" late last month, according to media reports.

Andrew Webber, a graduate of the US Military Academy who did tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, and Lance Lawrence, a former machine gunner in the US Marine Corps, were both reportedly killed on July 29, 2023, while serving in Ukraine’s 59th Motorized Brigade.

👉 Details

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🗣️ On the US economy:

“It's a contradiction in the neoliberal monetary policy. They need to raise rates to do something about inflation. It's relatively ineffective at the certain current level of 5% to 6% interest rates to really dampen inflation very much, especially in services. But the more you hit 6% and above, the more you're going to create interest rate risk and destabilize the banking system, which is already just hanging in there, being force-fed $400 or $500 billion so far from the Fed to keep it afloat. So it's a big contradiction here,” Dr. Jack Rasmus, professor of economics and politics at St. Mary's College in California, told Sputnik.

🎧 Listen to more of Rasmus’ analysis in our podcast The Critical Hour

🇬🇧 Workers at UK munitions plant supplying Ukraine to strike over low wages

Louise Gilmour, the secretary of the GMB trade union in Scotland, said its members, who carry out "non-craft" roles at the plant, are now being paid up to 18,000 UK pounds ($23,000) less each year than other "skilled employees" after the plant's management significantly increased their wages to prevent the drain of the personnel by private defense companies.

The union has won the support for the dispute from Ukrainian trade unions. The Confederation of Free Trade Unions of Ukraine was cited in a UK media report as saying the plant played "a crucial role" in supplying Ukraine with munitions, urging the plant's executives to settle the dispute "as soon as possible."

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🇷🇺 Russian troops ‘quickly’ adapting to cluster bombs as Ukraine fails to reach main defensive lines

“The cluster bombs are good. They are effective. But the Russians are dug in deep, and they learn quickly,” one Ukrainian reconnaissance company commander told a US media outlet, explaining that Russia has dug 7 foot-deep trenches and spread troops out over wide areas to avoid heavy losses.

“We’re demining the fields with bodies,” one Ukrainian platoon commander of Western-trained brigades told the outlet. “It’s awful.” Another, wounded in an apparent Russian missile strike during an attempt to advance, said that of the 60 men involved in an assault on Russian positions, 45 had been killed or injured.

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🇯🇵🇺🇳 UN chief’s Nagasaki Peace Memorial message mum on country that dropped A-bombs

Antonio Guterres called the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings an “unmatched horror for humanity” but as usual failed to mention the country responsible for the devastation

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🇳🇪 ECOWAS-AU-UN mission to Niger aborted over 'unavailability' of military leaders

✍️ "The mission was aborted following a late-night communication from the military authorities in Niger indicating their unavailability to receive the tripartite delegation," a statement by the commission said.

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