🇷🇺✈️ Russian Su-25 attack aircraft crews fired unguided aircraft missiles at a Ukrainian stronghold and troops in the area of responsibility of the Vostok Battlegroup.

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🇲🇱🇳🇪🇧🇫 The presidents of Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso signed a charter establishing a confederation

According to a Sputnik correspondent, the presidents of the countries “signed on Saturday in the Niger's capital of Niamey a charter establishing a confederation of the Sahel Alliance, which will include these three countries,” which ceased to participate in the regional organization Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

What you need to know about the new confederation created by Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger:

▪️The establishment of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) marks “an additional step towards further integration between the member states” of the AES, according to the final communiqué;

▪️An AES investment bank and a stabilization fund for member countries will be created;

▪️The leaders of the alliance wish to “pool their resources” in strategic sectors such as agriculture, water, energy and transport;

▪️They demand that local languages be used more in public and private media in their countries.

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▪️Foreign mercs in Ukraine bragged about executing Russian PoWs

▪️What will Iran's foreign policy be under the new President Pezeshkian?

▪️Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso established a confederation

▪️Why is the US upping stakes in race for critical metals?

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Handling of Ukraine crisis and distrust of ‘established governments’ lead to ‘lack of confidence' in European leadership

Europe, where political leaders such as German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron see their ratings plummet, is experiencing a “resurgence of populism” as people have become “very unhappy with the established governments” there, says Professor Joe Siracusa, political scientist and dean of global futures at the Curtin University in Australia.

According to him, many Europeans are unhappy with how their leaders are handling the Ukrainian conflict, as well as with issues such as the supply chain crisis, migration and “cost of living problems.”

“There's what I call a crisis in confidence in Europe. That is, ordinary people no longer have faith in their governments to do the right thing. They have little faith in them,” he explains, adding that “Without the resolution of the Ukraine crisis and without Russia returning to its European role we're going to have more of this - a lack of confidence in the leadership.”

Meanwhile, geopolitical analyst Come Carpentier de Gourdon argues that only those European leaders like Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban or Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, “who show some strength and relative independence of views,” enjoy “more popular support at home” as compared to politicians regarded as “weak figureheads controlled by the EU bureaucracy and the US through NATO.”

“In domestic fiscal and financial policies, most EU leaders are seen to implement measures and programmes dictated from above and often not in the interest of the respective countries or of Europe as a whole,” he notes.

Each European country now appears to be “following a different path,” de Gourdon suggests, pointing out that this course “can only weaken the unpopular EU.”

“In any event, the EU may not survive in its present form and NATO will also have to change its approach and goals,” the analyst adds.

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The Russian Investigative Committee will look into information in the media about Ukrainian militants committing a crime against a wounded Russian prisoner of war, the committee said in a statement.

The report has earlier been published by The New York Times.

"Investigators of the Investigative Committee of Russia will investigate another crime of Ukraine's armed formations ... In addition, the media is spreading information about the crime against a wounded Russian prisoner of war, who was shot in the head. Investigators of the Investigative Committee of Russia will establish in detail the circumstances of what happened and what was voiced in the public space, the actions of all those involved will be assessed under criminal law," the committee said on Telegram.

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A pro-Palestinian demonstration marched through the city streets of Italy’s Turin, carrying Palestinian flags, media reported.

The protesters poured paint on the "Infantryman of Italy" monument (the infantryman is the most common figure for monuments meant to depict a soldier engaged in war).

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The Russian Defense Ministry published video of Dnepr Battlegroup troops honing firing skills at a training ground in the rear of the special military operation zone

122-mm D-30 howitzers practiced deploying, targeting, and firing skills using a variety of ammunition.

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The “central nation" (™️ Joe Biden) at its best

A mob of thieves stormed and plundered a gas station in the city of Oakland in the US state of California, Fox News reported.

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The German armed forces will give up its airbase in Niger, which was used as a military transport hub, by August 31, as the sides failed to extend the agreement concerning the base, German media reported, citing the German Defense Ministry.

The talks broke down after the new Nigerien authorities had refused to grant German soldiers with immunity from prosecution, the NTV news outlet reported, citing a document the ministry had presented to the parliament.

Germany expects to withdraw its troops from the country by the end of August.

The German military has used the base in Niger's capital, Niamey, since 2013 as a supply center for its armed forces in neighboring Mali, which were stationed there as part of a UN peacekeeping mission.

Nigerien authorities have also terminated military agreements with France and the United States, which led to the French and US forces’ withdrawal from the country.

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