Former Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Valery Zaluzhny, who now holds the post of ambassador to the UK, was summoned to Kiev, according to Ukrainian blogger Anatoly Shariy.

Earlier, the Wall Street Journal, citing sources, reported that Zaluzhny had disobeyed Volodymyr Zelensky's order to refrain from blowing up the Nord Stream pipelines in 2022. The CIA had reportedly demanded that Zelensky halt the attack.

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Unpacking the latest developments regarding Russia’s Kursk region clashes

The Ukrainian Armed Forces have lost up to 340 soldiers and 19 armored vehicles in Russia’s Kursk region over the past 24 hours, the Russian Defense Ministry has stated.

Here are the latest updates on fighting in the region:

◾️ Russian forces are conducting mop-up operations in a number of local settlements, seized by Ukrainian troops, commander of the Akhmat special forces Apti Alaudinov told Russian media.

◾️ Kiev deployed 12,000 to the Kursk region, continuing to withdraw forces from the front line and using reserves, Alaudinov said.

◾️ The AP news agency reported in this vein that some Ukrainian battalions were pulled “from the hottest parts of the front line, where Russia’s advance has continued unabated.” So far, Moscow’s “overall strategic advantage” has been “intact,” according to AP.

◾️ The UK’s Challenger-2 tank is vulnerable to kamikaze drone attacks and can be eliminated by a single strike by a Russian loitering munition, the Russian state corporation Rostec said, commenting on the destruction of the Ukrainian military’s Challenger-2 in the Kursk region. Sky News earlier reported Ukraine used the Challenger 2s during the Kursk attack.

◾️ Additionally, one of Ukraine’s Polish-made PT-91 Twardy tank has been destroyed in the Kursk region as a result of a Russian Lancet drone strike, the first such loss of the Kiev regime in the area, Polish media reported.

◾️ Russia’s Ministry of Defense and National Guard are doing their best to ensure the safety of the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant, which currently operates as usual, Kursk Region Acting Governor Alexey Smirnov wrote on Telegram.

◾️ The Pentagon didn’t get the heads-up about Ukraine’s Kursk offensive and US officials are still trying to discern Kiev’s long-term objectives for the attack, a senior military official told the Defense One news outlet.

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❗️Much of the ammunition requested by Ukraine is no longer produced in the US and has been reduced to a minimum; their volumes are insufficient for the medium-term goals of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, according to the Pentagon.

The Armed Forces of Ukraine are experiencing a shortage of weapons and ammunition, which makes it impossible for them to carry out large-scale offensives for at least six months, the Pentagon's report read.

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Zen and the art of shooting yourself in the foot: What caused Germany's economy to slow down to historic lows

From 2019, the German economy’s growth rate has been the slowest since the Federal Republic of Germany was established in 1949, claims German political analyst Nils Heisterhagen in an article published by Bild.

Furthermore, real wages in the Germany in the first quarter of 2024 were lower than during the first quarter of 2018, according to the German Federal Statistical Office.

🔺Bert Rurup, a German economist and former chair of the German Council of Economic Experts, told the newspaper that the biggest problem is the so-called debt brake rule that essentially limits the issuance of government debt.

🔺Rurup also advocated amending the unemployment benefit system, which he claims currently stimulates some Germans to simply collect their benefits while also working off the books instead of seeking legal employment.

🔺Germany has got itself into more trouble by cutting off from the Russian energy that has long been a tremendous boon to its economy. With the destruction of the Nord Stream pipelines in 2022 and various sanctions imposed on Russia, Germany depends on more expensive energy imports, which drove the cost of production up and effectively deprives Germany of a competitive edge on foreign markets.

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❗️The Russian military destroyed a Ukrainian HIMARS launcher that was shelling Russia's Kursk region with an Iskander missile strike, the Defense Ministry reported.

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From Cobalt to Selenga: Regional military drills to help Russia boost its partnership with Central Asia

Russian troops are taking part in two major drills that are expected to strengthen Moscow’s strategic relations with Central Asian countries in the face of the West's efforts to expand its foothold in the region.

▪️On August 14, the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), a regional Russia-led defense alliance of ex-Soviet republics, such as Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan, launched its two-day military exercises, the Cobalt-2024.

Soldiers are due to coordinate their efforts in repelling attacks from a simulated enemy during the drill in Russia's Novosibirsk region, the Russian Defense Ministry said, adding that troops would also refine their skills between special forces units.

▪️Russian soldiers have meanwhile arrived in Mongolia to participate in the Selenga-2024 anti-terror exercises, due to be held on August 18-26.

The active phase of the exercises, which have been conducted since 2008, will involve a live-fire drill and tactical operations to track and destroy a simulated outlawed armed group.

▪️The Cobalt and Selenga exercises come amid increasing competition between Russia and the West for economic influence in Central Asia.

Russian Federal Security Service Director Alexander Bortnikov previously stressed that the West wants “to gain a foothold in Central Asia at all costs and use this platform to influence the entire region” by putting political and economic pressure on the countries.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, commenting on European media reports about Central Asia allegedly being Russia's "backyard," said that the EU was unsuccessfully trying to drive Russia out of the region and added that Western leaders make boorish remarks about cooperation between Russia and the countries of the region.

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Why Western media suddenly found a Ukrainian connection in Nord Stream bombing

Media outlets such as the WSJ recently started to peddle a narrative that the Nord Stream pipeline destruction in 2022 was allegedly orchestrated by a group of high-ranking Ukrainian officers led by Gen. Valery Zaluzhny.

Despite Western media efforts to implicate Ukraine, the United States still looks like the “main beneficiary and customer of the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipeline,” says German political analyst and independent journalist Dr. Gregor Spitzen.

“This has been clear from the very beginning, both in terms of the basic Roman law principle of 'Cui bono?' [who benefits?] and the statements by President Joe Biden and Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland that the US would not allow the pipeline to go into operation,” he tells Sputnik.

Efforts by German politicians and media to draw the attention away from the US by “throwing new and implausible versions into the information field,” while understandable – “if the US is found guilty of an act of state terrorism on the object of German property, the whole architecture of European security will collapse” – are still no less outrageous, Dr. Spitzen remarks.

“Germany's attempts to pin the blame on Ukrainian saboteurs who acted without a clear mandate from their government, while at the same time taking President Zelensky out of harm's way, looks legally flawless, but completely implausible,” Dr. Spitzen elaborates. “It can be predicted that the specific Ukrainians accused of sabotage will never be found. Either they will be found to have died of natural causes under suspicious circumstances, or they will have committed suicide.”

“This would be the best solution to the Nord Stream sabotage case. The pipeline is destroyed, US guilt is not proven, German politicians' reputations are saved, Ukrainian political leaders are exonerated, and the specific perpetrators, who acted on their own initiative, are dead or missing,” he adds.

Former CIA operations officer Philip Giraldi also branded media efforts to pin the blame on Ukraine as a “cover story,” arguing that Kiev simply lacked the resources to carry out the Nord Stream bombing.

“The US did and had even stated its intention in advance to destroy the pipeline if Russia were to invade Ukraine. And there is also the involvement of Norway which is not plausible if it were a Ukrainian operation,” he said.

Both Spitzen and Giraldi suggested that the fact that the story about Ukraine’s alleged role in the Nord Stream bombing surfaced simultaneously in the US and German media hints at the likelihood of a coordinated effort to craft “an acceptable narrative regarding what took place,” as Giraldi put it.

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❗️A special coordination council to improve troops' efficiency in covering the state border in Russia's Belgorod, Bryansk and Kursk regions was created by order of Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov.

▪️The Council for Military Security of Border Territories will regulate the build-up of troops in the event of a border breach

▪️The key task of the council is to provide troops with weapons

▪️It does not replace operational control of troop actions

▪️It will meet at least once a week

▪️The council includes Belousov's deputies, heads of military command bodies, representatives of the General Staff, and regional heads

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Is Ukraine's 'suicidal' Kursk attack part of Democratic Party's attempt to win 2024 election? PART 1/PART 2

Ukraine's ill-fated Kursk terror attack could be part of the US Democratic establishment's effort to prop up its new presidential candidate, Vice President Kamala Harris, according to Wall Street analyst Charles Ortel.

"At this stage, nothing likely happens in Ukraine and vis-a-vis Russia unless approved in advance by someone in the US," Ortel tells Sputnik. "This seems a reprise of Bill Clinton's assault on aspirin factories back in 1998 – 'Wag the Dog 2.0.' Not helpful at all either to forging peace in Ukraine or to promoting 'resumes' of Harris and [her running mate Tim] Walz, both of whom are unfit to command."

Ortel refers to then US President Clinton’s assault on one of Sudan's biggest pharmaceutical factories in Khartoum in 1998. The attack, based on faulty intelligence, was presented as retaliation to Al-Qaeda bombings of the US Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. However, some analysts pointed out at time that the US strikes coincided with investigations into Clinton's affair with Monica Lewinsky.

Dubbing the case a "wag the dog" situation, they suggested Clinton urgently authorized the strike as a distraction with the backing of the Democratic establishment.

The Kursk aggression appears to be as dubious in terms of military planning and strategic value as the senseless bombing of the Al Shifa factory, according to Ortel.

Earlier, US Congressman Paul Gosar called the Kursk attack "suicidal" in an interview with Sputnik, while retired US Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Karen Kwiatkowski wondered whether Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan had a hand in the Kursk planning. According to Kwiatkowski, the assault was destined to be repelled. Meanwhile, the Russian military advance in Donbass is continuing unabated.

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US voters don't buy into illusionary Harris-Walz rise in polls – Wall Street analyst PART 2/PART 1

Kamala Harris' surge in the polls is most likely artificial and inflated by the US corporate press, especially given that her approval rating as Biden's veep has been disastrous, according to Wall Street analyst Charles Ortel.

"The corporate-owned press, including Fox, has lost all credibility which explains their financial losses and the rise of Twitter spaces, Tucker Carlson and alternative truth-tellers that thrive," Ortel tells Sputnik.

"Traditional actors are resolved to sell fiction as fact to promote a singularly unaccomplished airhead to lead America out of the messes she helped create. Conflicted grifters may believe this approach will fool voters again. With looming crises and worsening economic prospects, I disagree. Actual voters are already rejecting this fake repackaging. The real questions include whether [Donald] Trump and [JD] Vance remain safe and can this election be stolen?"

US conservative commentators and pundits have recently thrown into question Harris' poll numbers and campaign performance. Journalist Kyle Becker alleged on X that pollsters are "oversampling" Democrats "to try to keep Harris within the margin of cheating". He suggested Democrats would try to steal the 2024 elections.

Axios reported on August 13 that Harris' campaign was editing news headlines and denoscriptions within Google search ads to "make it appear as if the Guardian, Reuters, CBS News and other major publishers are on her side."

Fox News host Sean Hannity has recently called Harris "an illusion, built on a mountain of lies" on X.

"The true mud-slinging will start after Labor Day [September 2] and continue thereafter. No one yet has vetted Harris or Walz and I suspect their reputations will be gutted, fairly, well before November 5, 2024. Moreover, neither are effective, battle-hardened debaters, campaigners or leaders," Ortel concludes.

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Germany plans to supply Ukraine with about 30 Leopard 1 tanks, 400 MRAP armored vehicles, four IRIS-T anti-aircraft systems, ten Gepard anti-aircraft-gun tanks by the end of the year, the German Defense Ministry said.

Russia believes that arms supplies to Ukraine hinder the conflict's settlement, directly involves NATO countries and is "playing with fire." Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov noted that any cargo containing weapons for Ukraine would be a legitimate target.

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HIMARS' destruction highlights possible US involvement in Ukraine’s incursion into Russia

Western media speculations about a US-made HIMARS rocket launcher possibly being used in Ukrainian forces’ incursion into Russia’s Kursk region have apparently been confirmed after one such weapon system was destroyed by Russian shelling in the region.

Footage of the HIMARS launcher’s destruction was released today by the Russian Ministry of Defense. The US-made weapon system was spotted in Ukraine’s Sumy region (which borders Russia’s Kursk region) and was promptly obliterated by an Iskander missile strike.

The attack also resulted in the destruction of six HIMARS rockets that were stashed near the launcher and two vehicles belonging to a Ukrainian military squad tasked with protecting the rocket launcher.

Earlier this week, New Lines Magazine claimed that a HIMARS or an M270 multiple rocket launcher was apparently used to shell a Russian column near the town of Rylsk in the Kursk Region.

This development suggests that the US officials’ claims of not being aware of Ukraine’s invasion plans might have been untrue, considering that in 2022 a high-ranking Ukrainian military intelligence official let slip that Kiev has to gain Washington’s approval to use HIMARS.

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▪️French mercenary fighting in Ukraine accused of raping woman

▪️Why Western media suddenly found a Ukrainian connection in Nord Stream bombing

▪️Is Ukraine's 'suicidal' Kursk attack part of Dem Party's 2024 election strategy?

▪️German military failed to whitewash Nazi Wehrmacht war crimes

▪️Watch Russia using motorcycle assault tactic against Ukraine's army

▪️What drove Germany's economy to historic lows

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US could have given intelligence to the Ukrainian Army to attack Kursk Region - ex-Pentagon adviser

"Ukraine breaching a soft spot in Russia's border was likely carried out based on US intelligence. This was done to create the illusion they are making progress so the DC warmongers will send them more money," former Pentagon adviser, retired Colonel Douglas McGregor said in the post on X.

The White House on the eve denied US involvement in the preparation and planning of the Ukraine's attack.

At the same time, the Bloomberg agency quoted sources as saying that Ukraine was considering several scenarios for a surprise attack on Russia, having received the "blessing" of the US and EU leadership for the first invasion of Russian territory since the Second World War II.

Russian Federal Security Service Director Alexander Bortnikov said at a meeting of the National Anti-Terrorist Commission that Ukraine, with the support of the collective West, carried out a terrorist attack in the Kursk region, targeting civilians.

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Legacy of Nazism and fascism still haunting the West

The German Ministry of Defense has withdrawn its controversial decision to pay homage to former Nazi Wehrmacht officers, who were members of the NSDAP and SS units, in the extention to the Bundeswehr's Tradition Decree following public criticism. Earlier, the ministry proposed adding about 40,000 Wehrmacht servicemen to the list of honored military personnel.

Sputnik has looked at the other instances of the attempted glorification of Nazism:

▪️In Italy pro-fascist groups annually commemorate the National Fascist Party's 1922 "march on Rome" in October while in July they celebrate the birthday of Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini, an ally of Nazi Germany during the Second World War, in Predappio, Mussolini's birthplace. According to B’nai B’rith, a DC-based nonprofit, the March on Rome event brought together around 4,000 participants in 2022.

▪️The US: even though the US was one of the Allied Forces fighting against Nazi Germany, neo-Nazi marches take place across the US. In February 2024 a group of people marched in broad daylight in downtown Nashville, Tennessee, giving Nazi salutes and carrying a black swastika flag. There are plenty of neo-Nazi groups in the country with the National Socialist Movement (NSM) considered the largest and most active.

▪️Ukraine: Since the February 2014 Euromaidan coup d'etat the Kiev regime has openly celebrated Nazi collaborators Roman Shukhevych and Stepan Bandera as national heroes. Ukrainian nationalist battalions have been repeatedly spotted wearing Nazi insignia, giving Nazi salute, organizing Nazi-style torch marches.

▪️Latvia: Every year on March 16, Remembrance Day of the Latvian Legionnaires is held in Riga paying homage to the so-called Latvian Legion – the union of the 15th (Latvian No. 1) and 19th (Latvian No. 2) Waffen Grenadier Divisions of the SS.

▪️Bulgaria: On February 13, 2023, "The Lukov March" commemorated the anniversary of the death of Bulgarian Nazi collaborator Hristo Lukov, who founded the fascist Union of Bulgarian National Legions (UBNL), in Sofia, Bulgaria. It was repeatedly banned by the authorities, but took place nevertheless.

▪️Germany: The Rudolf Hess Memorial March honoring the Nazi war criminal Rudolf Hess occasionally takes place in Wunsiedel, Berlin, and other German cities. Most recently the number of participants has reportedly dwindled with the 2021 march counting 150 demonstrators and the November 2022 march bringing together 120 people.

▪️Canada: In September 2023, Ukrainian Nazi veteran Yaroslav Hunka, who fought in the ranks of the Schutzstaffel’s SS 14th Waffen Grenadier Division, was given a standing ovation by Canadian lawmakers and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Even though Canadian PM Trudeau officially apologized for a "deeply embarrassing" incident in the national parliament, Dr. Efraim Zuroff, chief Nazi hunter of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, told Sputnik that Canada turned into nothing short of a safe haven for former Nazi collaborators after the Second World War.

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📹 Pro-Palestinian protesters stormed a Kamala Harris campaign event in New York and threw smoke bombs into a restaurant.

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Ups and downs: Which factors affect oil and gas prices?

With growing tensions and armed conflicts in various parts of the world, prices of oil and gas surged this year.

Sputnik has looked into what exactly may affect such price hikes:

🔸 The geopolitical situation, especially in oil and gas producing countries, has always played an important role in determining energy prices.

For example, Ukraine’s recent incursion into Russia, right in the area where a major pipeline pumping Russian natural gas to Europe is located, led to a natural gas price surge in the EU.

Likewise, the current instability in the Middle East where all hell may break loose between Israel and Iran potentially threatens to disrupt the flow of oil from the region and helps drive oil prices up.

🔸 The law of supply and demand obviously applies. When there is an abundance of oil on the market, the price goes down, but when the supply dwindles, the opposite happens.

🔸 At the same time, a lot also depends on whether prospective buyers exhibit a glut for oil or not – it doesn’t really matter how much oil is on the market if no one is interested in buying it, does it?

🔸 Oil and gas reserves: a prospective buyer has little reason to pay extra for something they already have in abundance, but when their stockpiles of this commodity (oil and gas, in this case) start to run out, money suddenly becomes less of an issue.

🔸 Finally, there are the stock markets. While it may seem trifle when compared to things like armed conflicts, one must not underestimate how futures trading may affect markets for commodities such as oil.

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