❗️ Russian MoD briefing on the progress of the special military operation in Ukraine:

▪️ In the Zaporozhye area, Russian forces repelled two attacks by Ukrainian forces and destroyed the enemy’s reconnaissance group. Ukrainian losses amounted to 50 soldiers, a tank, an M777 artillery system, a Caesar self-propelled howitzer and a Krab gun mount;

▪️ In the Donetsk region, the Russian Army repelled six attacks by Ukrainian troops. Ukrainian losses amounted to 150 soldiers and two tanks;

▪️ In the Kupyansk area, Russian forces repelled six attacks by Ukrainian forces. Ukrainian losses amounted to 65 soldiers;

▪️ In the Krasny Liman area, the Russian Army repelled two attacks by Ukrainian troops. Ukrainian losses amounted to 90 soldiers;

▪️ In South Donetsk, Ukrainian losses amounted to 240 soldiers;

▪️ Russian forces delivered a sea-based high-precision long-range weapon strike at the places of production and storage of Ukrainian naval drones;

▪️ The goal of the high-precision strike has been achieved, all designated targets have been hit;

▪️ For the first time, a Spanish-made Alakran mortar was destroyed in the special operation zone;

▪️ The Russian Army hit a battery of the S-300 anti-aircraft missile system in the Zeleniy Guy area;

▪️ Russian air defenses intercepted two HIMARS rockets, destroying 28 Ukrainian drones.

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🗣️ On a pretext the US uses to escalate tensions with China:

“All of these cases where they use the term national security, they're really just saying 'We want to suppress China's economic development.' The national security thing is a pretext. It's just a very threadbare excuse for the US to do whatever it wants to: intimidate, bully and undermine China any way it can,” KJ Noh, a journalist, author and geopolitical analyst, told Sputnik.

🎧 Listen to more of Noh’s analysis in our podcast The Final Countdown

👉 Watch the full episode of our show on Rumble

🗣️ On the leverage Ukraine has over the US:

“Ukraine is following the Biden playbook, which is just prolong this conflict as long as they possibly can. And they also feel that they are in a position to just make all kinds of demands from US leaders and to complain about them if they don't get them met immediately...'We want you to train F-16 fighters. We want to train right now.' I mean, this is this is showing that Ukraine basically feels it's been written a blank check and it can ask for whatever it wants,” Caleb Maupin, journalist and political analyst, told Sputnik.

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

🇷🇺 State-of-the-art Russian weapons on display during first day of Army-2023 expo

Russia's Army-2023 international military forum event kicked off at Patriot Park in Kubinka, Moscow Oblast, bringing together thousands of people from all over the world and at least 28,000 military and dual-use goods.

Some of these military items have been developed on the basis of new battleground experience gained by the Russian Armed Forces during the special military operation in Ukraine.

Sputnik sums up the inaugural day of the 9th International military-technical forum Army-2023 expo

Check out the most impressive developments at the event

📹 Russian servicemen destroyed a Ukrainian S-300 surface-to-air missile system battery in Nikolayev region

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❗An explosion at a car service center in Makhachkala, the capital of Dagestan, Russia, has killed five people and injured 10 more, Sergei Melikov, the head of Russia’s Republic of Dagestan, has confirmed.

🇵🇰 #Pakistan Independence Day: The Birth of Nation

Pakistan came into existence as a result of the Pakistan Movement, which aimed to create an independent Muslim state in the north-western regions of British India via partition. The independence of the country was declared on 14 August 1947.

🌐 This partition revived feelings of alienation among Muslims, giving rise to the spirit of nationalism and laying the foundation for Pakistan's birth. This nationhood was forged in the crucible of sacrifice and struggle as millions of Muslims across the Indian subcontinent rallied together, and braving countless hardships.

👉 Read full story on Sputnik India!

📹 The destruction of the sabotage group of the Ukrainian Armed Forces from the "first person" perspective

Footage of the combat work of Russian military personnel operating FPV drones.

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🔺What reaction to expect from the West? Russia is open to deepening military-technical cooperation with other states – Russia’s President Putin
🔺Will there be talks between the military leaders of Niger and ECOWAS? What is the deterrent?
🔺The US and Finland are negotiating a defense agreement that would see the deployment of American troops

The Critical Hour will cover these and more stories! Tune in to Radio Sputnik at 6pm EST|3pm PST|12am CET via the website or app

📻 Also in the United States at 105.5FM, 104.7FM, 102.9FM, 1390AM, 1140AM

A statement released by the region's health ministry has revealed that the death toll has risen to 12, with a total of 50 others injured

The latest update issued by officials notes a total of 56 people sustained injuries, including 13 kids, as a result of the blast. Two other children were among the dead.

🇿🇼 Zimbabwe Marks 43rd National Heroes Day to Mourn 'Gallant Sons'

Zimbabwe is celebrating its 43rd National Heroes Day on Monday, August 14, 2023 under the theme "Remembering Our Heroes – Nyika Inovakwa Nevene vayo/Ilizwe Lakhiwa Ngabanikazi Balo" which means "a nation is built by its people" in the two main local languages, Shona and Ndebele.

🕯 National Heroes Day dates back to the early 1980s, after the end of white minority rule in Zimbabwe on April 18, 1980. The holiday is a tribute to the brave men and women who were part of the struggle for Zimbabwe's freedom and sovereignty.

👉 Read the full article!

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🇸🇬 Singapore’s deputy PM warns city-state facing ‘structural decline’ without immigration

🗣 “If we are not able to bring in immigrants to top up the population then we are in structural decline, and eventually the population will decline, the workforce will decline and Singapore will decline,” Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said at the Reinventing Destiny conference on Monday.

Singapore has suffered the tribulations of many other highly-developed economies, including a declining birth rate. Last month, the latest figures released by the Singaporean Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) showed that Singapore’s birth rate hit a record-low in 2022, including a 7.9% decrease in live births just from the prior year.

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🇬🇧 Former British home secretary has attacked plans to house asylum seekers at a disused RAF air base

Priti Patel wrote to current Home Secretary Suella Braverman and junior Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick to protest plans to turn the Wethersfield airfield site into a "migrant camp" for up to 1,700 asylum claimants over the next five years, accusing the government of being "evasive" and "secretive".

The Conservative MP said that the ministry had never made the period of use clear during previous consultations with local residents — or even in response to three Parliamentary questions she asked on the matter.

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⚡Former US President Donald Trump was indicted for a fourth time late Monday, this time for his and his allies alleged actions to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in the state of Georgia

🇺🇸 US believes military intervention in Niger ‘last resort’ option

Military intervention by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to address the military takeover in Niger ought to be an option of last resort, US State Department Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel said.

🗣 "ECOWAS has been also very clear, and very clear publicly, that military intervention should be a last resort – something that we agree with, and we continue to be focused on finding a diplomatic solution and are in close contact with ECOWAS and their leadership on this," Patel said during a press briefing.

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🗣 The “collateral damage” in US-China competition could not be foreseen, making it “the biggest issue in the world," Singaporean Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong warned

The measures Washington has adopted to curb the advance of the Chinese tech industry include blacklisting major firms from US markets, banning US companies from investing in Chinese companies tied to the government or military - which is most in the socialist state - and pressuring other nations to adopt similar policies, particularly with regards to 5G internet networks and the sale of advanced microchips to Chinese firms.

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📹 Russia’s tankmen fired (0:40) at the camouflaged fortifications of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the zone of the special military op

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