📹 Need for Speed: Czech Edition

The streets of a tiny Czech town and its surroundings saw a lot more excitement than usual during a police chase that covered 20 kilometers.

In the end, the police stopped the offender using the legendary pit maneuver, leaving a lot of broken glass and a brutal arrest.

The driver went straight to prison, as it turned out he was dodging a previous sentence and was also banned from driving.

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Neo-Nazi supporter and corrupt "thief": what is Zelensky's potential successor Arsen Avakov infamous for? PART 1/PART 2/PART 3

The US is considering former Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov* as a replacement for Volodymyr Zelensky, the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) has learnt.

Who is Ukrainian politician Arsen Avakov, a Baku-born Armenian national?

Strong bond with neo-Nazis
▪️ In the wake of the Euromaidan coup d'etat of February 2014, Avakov was appointed minister of internal affairs of the country. He served until resigning in July 2021, allegedly on Zelensky’s demand

▪️ Avakov was involved in the Odessa Trade Unions Building massacre of May 2, 2014, according to Vasily Polishchuk, an eyewitness to the events and a former Odessa City councilor, who shared with Sputnik the results of his private investigation into the matter last May.

▪️ Avakov is infamous for incorporating the neo-Nazi Azov Battalion** into the Ukrainian National Guard in November 2014.

▪️ In October 2019, Avakov slammed group of US congressmen over their initiative to designate Azov as a terrorist organization. According to the Intercept, Azov had been barred from receiving US arms supplies since 2018, but nonetheless received US military training. The Biden administration lifted the weapons ban on the neo-Nazi battalion in June 2024.

▪️ During the Russian special military operation in Ukraine, Avakov continued to support and deliver materiel to the Azov battalion and other Ukrainian military formations.

*Included in the register of terrorists and extremists in Russia.
**a terrorist organization banned in Russia.

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Avakov is responsible for crimes against civilians in Donbass PART 1/PART 2/PART 3

He used Ukrainian nationalist thugs to crack down on the breakaway Donbass republics in 2014.

▪️ The Ukrainian interior minister helped organize punitive operations by neo-Nazi and ultra-nationalist battalions, including Azov**, Aidar**, Donbass, Dnepr-1 and Dnepr-2, against the breakaway Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics (DPR and LPR) which did not accept the illegitimate 2014 coup d'etat in Kiev. The offensives were launched in April 2014.

According to the Russian Investigative Committee, Avakov* acted along with Ukrainian businessman Igor Kolomoisky, who reportedly funded the nationalist formations, as well as with Ukrainian top brass. The battalions were involved in the torture and killing of civilians in the occupied territories of DPR and LPR, according to eyewitnesses and Donbass human rights groups.

▪️ In June 2014, the Russian Investigative Committee opened a criminal case against Avakov for the "organization of murder, use of prohibited means and methods of warfare, kidnapping and obstruction of the lawful activities of a journalist." On July 9, 2014, the Basmanny Court of Moscow sanctioned Avakov's arrest in absentia.

Corruption

▪️ In December 2015 Avakov publicly clashed with former Georgian president and then-governor of Odessa region Mikheil Saakashvili, who called him a "thief".

▪️ The Ukrainian prosecutor's office opened a criminal case against Avakov in January 2012 for illegally transferring 55 hectares of state land in the Kharkov region to private ownership. After fleeing to Europe, Avakov was detained by the Italian authorities in March 2012 for 40 days, but never extradited to Ukraine. Avakov evaded prosecution after being elected as an MP of the Ukrainian Batkivshchyna (Fatherland) Party in October 2012.

▪️ In the 1990s, the Ministry of Internal Affairs suspected Avakov of stealing gas condensate from the Balakleya field in the Kharkov region as well as of contract killing of his business partner, Alexander Konovalov.

*Included in the register of terrorists and extremists in Russia.
**a terrorist organization banned in Russia.

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Avakov is seen as a convenient tool by the US PART 1/PART 2/PART 3

So it is hardly surprising that Washington sees Avakov* as a potential replacement for Zelensky.

▪️ According to former Ukrainian MP Oleg Tsarev, Avakov could have been recruited by the CIA during his 40-day long detention in Italy in 2012. "From that time on, he was constantly under control and in contact with the CIA, coordinating his actions," Tsarev told the Russian press on August 13. The former Ukrainian MP added that Avakov was also involved in the smuggling of weapons to Syrian jihadists during his time as interior minister at the request of the US intelligence services.

▪️ A member of the Other Ukraine movement and former Ukrainian MP Spiridon Kilinkarov told Sputnik that Avakov may be seen by the US as a convenient and manageable tool for "reformatting" Ukrainian power after Zelensky steps down.

▪️ According to the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), the US considers Avakov's ties with Ukrainian nationalists and heads of European states as one of his "strengths".

Russophobia

▪️ Avakov is well known for his Russophobic comments. In 2014, he reportedly issued death threats to Russian journalist Roman Naumov, an employee of Channel Five, in a Facebook* messenger chat, claiming that his "khloptsy" (guys) would find Naumov in Moscow and "blow [his] brains out".

▪️ In April 2018, the Russian Investigative Committee opened a criminal case against Avakov for interfering in the Russian presidential election and preventing the Russians residing in Ukraine from voting.

▪️ Avakov repeatedly called Russia an "aggressor" and claimed that the Russian language does not belong to Russia. At the congress of the People's Front party, which took place on February 2, 2019, Avakov used obscene language about Russia and its president.

▪️ On October 2, 2023, Russia added Avakov to the list of terrorists and extremists.

*Included in the register of terrorists and extremists in Russia.
**banned in Russia for extremism.

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▪️ What prized NATO hardware has turned to scrap metal during Ukraine’s Kursk attack?

▪️ 'We were simply sent to the slaughter' - captured Ukrainian soldier

▪️ Russia reveals a man-portable electronic warfare system and a new Lancet drone

▪️ Watch Russian soldiers hunting Ukrainian drones

▪️ What stands behind Netanyahu-Gallant rift

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US approves $18.82bln sale of 50 F-15IA aircraft to Israel - Pentagon

The US State Department has approved an $18.82 billion sale of 50 F-15IA multirole fighter jets and related equipment to the government of Israel, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) said.

“The Secretary of State has approved a possible Foreign Military Sale to the Government of Israel of F-15IA and F-15I+ Aircraft and related equipment for an estimated cost of $18.82 billion,” the agency said in a press release. “The Government of Israel has requested to buy up to fifty (50) new F-15IA multi-role fighter aircraft.”

In addition to fighter jets the US will sell $2.1 billion worth of tactical vehicles, tank equipment and medium-range missiles to Israel.

The Israeli government has also requested to purchase 25 modification kits for its existing F-15I multi-role fighter aircraft, 120 F110-GE-129 engines, 90 Advanced Display Core Processors II, 320 LAU-128 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile launchers, 25 M61A Vulcan cannons, and 180 Embedded Global Positioning System/Inertial Navigation System, among other related equipment, according to the release.

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📹 Drunken captain "parked" on the rocks

On the Italian island of Ischia, a speedboat hit rocks protecting the coastline. Five people were on board but none of them were seriously injured.

A breathalyzer test showed the skipper was drunk in charge of the vessel. Now he faces losing his license for six to 12 months. The boat was confiscated.

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Biden said he expects Iran to back down from a possible retaliatory strike against Israel if a Gaza ceasefire deal is reached.

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Biden's first public reaction to Zelensky's terror attack on the Kursk region: it creates a "real dilemma"

The US President claimed he discusses the situation in Russia with his staff “every 4-5 hours”.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said the Kiev regime has launched a large-scale provocation, firing indiscriminately at civilian targets.

Twelve civilians have been killed in the attack and 121 others injured, including 10 children, acting Kursk regional governor Alexei Smirnov said Monday.

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Palestinian movement Hamas will not participate in the negotiations on a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip scheduled for August 15, Hamas representative in Lebanon Ahmed Abdel Hadi told Sputnik on Tuesday.

"We will not participate in the negotiations that are scheduled for Thursday," the representative said.

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Israel has rejected about a third of UN requests for humanitarian missions to the Gaza Strip between August 1 and 11, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Tuesday.

"Between 1 and 11 August, out of the 85 coordinated humanitarian assistance missions to northern Gaza, only 34 were facilitated by Israeli authorities. The rest were either denied, impeded or canceled due to security, logistical or operational reasons," OCHA said in a daily bulletin.

In the south of the Palestinian enclave, Israel allowed only 63 missions out of 122, OCHA said.

"The cumulative impact of these access constraints driven by intense hostilities and insecurity, challenges in moving between the north and the south and frequent evacuation orders is perpetuating a continued cycle of deprivation and distress among affected people who are facing death, pain, hunger, thirst, on a daily basis," the bulletin added.

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📹 Afraid of press: Harris evaded her press pool – report

Vice President Kamala Harris purportedly traveled to Howard University in Washington, DC, having avoided her press pool.

A Fox News reporter wondered as to "why she didn't want a small group of reporters documenting her trip across town."

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"The United States and the Europeans are seen as complicit
in this genocide," Iranian analyst on Israeli war on Gaza

"The West is not seen as an honest broker. The United States and the Europeans are seen as complicit in this genocide. They are partners in this genocide and in other conflicts across the region and across the world," Mohammad Marandi, a professor of English literature and Orientalism at the University of Tehran told Sputnik’s Fault Lines.

Israel, which is currently waging a war in the Gaza Strip that has killed tens of thousands since October, has provoked Iran with attacks in April as well as recently. Iran has said it plans to retaliate as the US continues to stock Israel with military arms.

Marandi emphasized that the West has been playing a role in Palestine-Israel conflict by fortifying their support for Israel.

“The Israelis, when they bombed the Iranian consulate in Damascus, killing 12 people, the expectation, of course, for the international community was universal condemnation. But when Iran took its complaint to the UN Security Council, the US, France, and Britain supported - and so did the Germans, supported the Israeli regime,” the professor clarified.

"The Global South, which includes the whole of Asia, countries like Russia and China, are moving away from the West ... In the past, people, whether they liked it or not, they had to go and negotiate in the West or with the West. Now they are increasingly seeking alternatives, just like trade has moved away from the West to China and to other parts of the world," Marandi emphasized.

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Hunter Biden tried to influence US officials to promote the Ukrainian Burisma project – report

US President Joe Biden's son wrote to the American embassy in Italy in 2016 seeking help for a Ukrainian gas company of which he was a board member, The New York Times reported.

In 2016, Hunter Biden wrote "at least one letter" to the US ambassador to Italy on behalf of Burisma. The representative of the diplomatic mission responded evasively, explaining that since it is a Ukrainian company it is necessary to first consult with the US Department of Commerce, according to the report.

Hunter Biden's lawyer claimed the President's son “asked various people,” including the US ambassador to Italy at the time John R. Phillips, to arrange an introduction between Burisma and the president of the Tuscany region of Italy where the project was planned, but the encounter did not come to fruition, the report said.

“No meeting occurred, no project materialized, no request for anything in the US was ever sought and only an introduction in Italy was requested,” the lawyer claimed.

The White House claimed Biden forgot did not know at that time that his son had contacted the embassy on behalf of the Ukrainian company, the newspaper said.

Video from social media.

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😷 Two brigades of the Ukrainian armed forces have been suffering an outbreak of tuberculosis in the territories under their control in the Kherson region and the Donetsk People’s Republic, the pro-Russian underground in Kherson told Sputnik.

“A major outbreak of tuberculosis has been reported among the servicemen of the 35th Ukrainian Separate Marine Brigade.... Tuberculosis outbreaks caused by mobilized Ukrainian prisoners are also reported in the 81st Separate Air Assault Brigade of the Ukrainian forces,” the group said.

According to underground activists, the Kiev regime and the Ukrainian army command are trying to conceal information about the outbreak, which could lead to tuberculosis spreading to other units.

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