Two Ukrainian assault groups that attempted to break through Russian defense lines on the outskirts of the Verbovoe village have been destroyed, head of the Zaporozhye Region said

Ukraine launched its long-announced counteroffensive in June and promised that it will lead to a major turn on the battlefield.

However, Ukrainian troops ran into stalwart Russian defenses and minefields. According to Russia’s Ministry of Defense, as of August 4, Kiev lost over 43000 militants and over 1800 tanks, including 25 German Leopard tanks, once considered a weapon that can turn the tide.

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The Russian MoD’s latest statements on the Ukraine crisis:

▪️ The Russian Armed Forces in the course of offensive actions improved the situation along the front line near Kupyansk. The enemy has lost up to 50 Ukrainian troops, two motor vehicles, one Polish-made Krab self-propelled howitzer, as well as two D-20 howitzers.

▪️ The Russian Armed Forces repelled six attacks by Ukrainian assault detachments in the DPR. Up to 365 Ukrainian troops, three US-made Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, two armored personnel carriers, 32 motor vehicles, one Polish-made Krab self-propelled artillery howitzer, as well as D-20 and D-30 howitzers, have been neutralized.

▪️ The Russian Armed Forces repelled five enemy attacks in the Zaporozhye region. Up to 85 Ukrainian troops, two motor vehicles, one US-made M777 artillery howitzer, one Czech-made Vampire MLRS combat vehicle, as well as three D-30 howitzers, have been destroyed.

▪️ The Russian Armed Forces repelled two enemy attacks in the LPR. During the day, the enemy's losses in this direction have amounted to 55 Ukrainian troops, three armored fighting vehicles, as well as Msta-B and D-30 howitzers.

▪️ The Russian Armed Forces delivered strikes at Ukrainian manpower and hardware clusters in South Donetsk. Up to 100 Ukrainian troops, four motor vehicles, two Msta-B howitzers, as well as one US-made M119 howitzer have been neutralized during the day.

▪️ Up to 20 Ukrainian troops, two motor vehicles, as well as two D-30 howitzers, have been neutralized in the Kherson region.

▪️ One Ukrainian S-200 surface-to-air missile system has been neutralized in the DPR.

▪️ Air defense forces shot down two HIMARS MLRS shells, two JDAM-guided bombs, and two HARM anti-radiation missiles during the day.

▪️ Some 466 airplanes and 247 helicopters, 6,266 unmanned aerial vehicles, 434 air defense missile systems, 11,578 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 1,147 combat vehicles equipped with MRLS, 6,145 field artillery cannons and mortars, as well as 12,570 units of special military equipment have been destroyed during the special military operation.

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🇷🇺 🇹🇷 Talks begin between Russian FM Lavrov & his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan

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❗️📹 Russia’s Top Diplomat Lavrov Meets Turkish Counterpart Fidan

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✈️ Russia's unique airborne collision avoidance system SPSV has successfully undergone tests, lifting the nation to the next level of technological independence and dodging Western sanctions

The proximity warning system SPSV by Russia's Navigator Company has been tested on the Let L-410 Turbolet, a twin-engine short-range transport aircraft, and is due to be installed on the Sukhoi Superjet 100 type civil planes.

Previously, Navigator Company CEO Sergei Baburov said in an interview with Sputnik that Russia had created its first domestic unique mid-air collision avoidance system for all types of aircraft: Il-96, SJ-100 (Superjet-100), Il-114-300, MS-21, etc. Prior to that, all Russian civil planes were equipped with the ACAS system by the American company Collins, which possesses a global monopoly in the field.

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Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen has signed an executive order strictly defining a person's sex by their gender at birth and detailing biological differences between males and females

The Nebraska governor justified this decision with his responsibility to "protect" kids and women.

The order specified that a woman is a person "whose biological reproductive system is designed to produce ova," and a man is an individual "whose biological reproductive system is designed to fertilize the ova of a female." There is no mentioning of the term "transgender" in the document.

Earlier in August, a similar order was signed by Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt.

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We'd like to draw your attention to a growing English-language news channel specializing in coverage of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Be sure to follow/subscribe for updates!

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https://news.1rj.ru/str/ukraine_watch

British mercenary fighting on the Ukrainian side dies in Ukraine

"Sam Newey, 22, a student from Birmingham with no military experience, was a member of a foreign volunteer unit known as the Dark Angels that fought on the side of Kiev. His death on Wednesday was confirmed by his brother Dan", according to media.

Last year, he came to Ukraine, organizing his own unit "Dark Angels", but then he stopped participating in the hostilities and began to help in the evacuation from the frontline zone. In mid-August, he went missing.

As stated by the Russian Ministry of Defense, against the background of the disruption of plans for mobilization and to hide heavy losses in the Ukrainian forces, Kiev has stepped up the recruitment of mercenaries. They are recruited in the United States and Canada, including with the help of the CIA, as well as in Asia, Latin America and the Middle East, including areas controlled by the Americans in Syria.

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❗️Russian FM Lavrov said he discussed the situation in Ukraine and Zelensky's "peace formula" with the head of the Turkish Foreign Ministry

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❗️ Other statements by Russian FM Sergey Lavrov during a press conference with his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan:

▪️As soon as all the points of the Russia-UN memorandum are fulfilled, Moscow will immediately return to the grain deal;

▪️Lavrov said the UN secretary-general told him about his new initiatives to restore the grain deal, but they do not provide any guarantees for Moscow;

▪️Situation after grain deal termination exaggerated by foreign media, food prices did not increase;

▪️Russia is ready to increase gas supplies to Turkiye, including creating a gas distribution center there;

▪️Russia brought to the attention of Turkiye what it deems should be done in the West to restore the deal;

▪️Lavrov said he had discussed Putin's initiative to supply one million tons of Russian grain at a reduced price for further processing with the head of the Turkish Foreign Ministry.

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Pepe Escobar: does BRICS need its own currency?

Sputnik's columnist Pepe Escobar reflects on the need for the emergence of a BRICS currency. The author goes into the history of the issue and the current state of the world economy, citing expert analytics to sort out this issue.

Check out his full article on Sputnik's website

❗️Trump pleaded not guilty to the Georgia election meddling case and also refused to appear in person at the first court hearing for a formal reading of the charges, the court document says.

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😴 A feature of the US political system: "experienced" people in power sometimes want to take a nap at work

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🗣️ On the West's cancel policy towards those who's challenging their narrative:

“I'm considered to be a public enemy of the West. And I think you guess why, because in this conversation I've tried to explain in short terms what's my position. And it is not difficult to understand why I am so demonized, I am so criticized, I'm so blamed. And why they could not afford, the liberals could not go for a real dialogue with myself. They prefer to kill me, as they have killed my daughter. And when you kill your opponents, and that means you have no serious arguments against,”Alexander Dugin, one of the world’s most famous political philosophers, told Sputnik.

🎧 Listen to more of Dugin’s analysis in our podcast New Rules

👉 Watch the full episode of our show on YouTube or Rumble

For the rotation of observers of the IAEA mission at the Zaporozhye NPP, a ceasefire was declared, which was strictly observed by the Russian military, the Russian MoD said.

The Ukrainian side made an attempt to discredit the Russian forces: means were used that simulated explosions of ammunition on the route of the inspectors. Despite the provocation staged by the Ukrainians, the Russian Army was able to ensure the safe passage of the mission's observers and their delivery to the station.

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EU boosts Russian LNG imports to 10.8Bln cubic meters in January-June 2023

The European Union has increased imports of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) to 10.8 billion cubic meters (bcm) from January to June 2023, compared to 2022, when the bloc procured 19.3 bcm of Russian LNG for the whole year, Tim McPhie, the European Commission's spokesman for climate action and energy, said on Thursday.

🗣 "In 2021, in the whole year, we imported 13.5 bcm of Russian LNG, in 2022, it was 19.3 bcm, and in the first half of 2023, so to end of June, it is 10.8 bcm, so the levels are on course to be pretty consistent with what we had in 2022 as well," McPhie told a briefing.

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