Statements by the Russian Defense Ministry on the situation in the Kursk region

◻️ Units of the Sever battlegroup, supported by army aviation and artillery fire, are conducting reconnaissance and search operations to identify and destroy enemy sabotage groups in forests south of the settlements of Skrylevka and Sheptukhovka.

◻️ Attacks by enemy assault groups towards the settlements of Olgovka, Russkoye and Cherkasskoye Porechnoye have been repelled. As a result, the Ukrainian Armed Forces (UAF) lost a tank, an infantry fighting vehicle, two combat armored vehicles and more than 25 troops. Four Ukrainian servicemen were taken prisoner.

◻️ Air strikes, artillery fire and the actions of the defending troops damaged concentrations of Ukrainian manpower and equipment in the areas of the settlements of Borki, Bogdanovka, Vishnevka, Viktorovka, Kositsa, Lyubimovka, Melovoy, Snagost, west of Martynovka and southeast of Korenevo.

◻️ Operational-tactical aviation carried out strikes on concentration areas of UAF personnel and military equipment reserves in the areas of the settlements of Basovka, Vorozhba, Kruzhok, Miropolye, Novaya Sich and Sadki in the Sumy region.

◻️ Over the past 24 hours, the UAF lost more than 330 servicemen and 27 armored vehicles, including four tanks, an infantry fighting vehicle, three armored personnel carriers, 19 combat armored vehicles, as well as eight cars, two artillery pieces and three mortars.

◻️ In total, during the military operations in the Kursk direction, the enemy lost up to 3,800 servicemen, 54 tanks, 26 infantry fighting vehicles, 48 armored personnel carriers, 281 armored combat vehicles, 123 vehicles, 27 artillery pieces, five anti-aircraft missile systems, seven multiple launch rocket system launchers, including three HIMARS and one MLRS, five electronic warfare stations, as well as four units of engineering equipment, including two engineering vehicles for obstacle clearance and one UR-77 mine clearing unit.

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Is the US frightened by Iran’s potential nukes?

Iran could declare itself a nuclear weapons state "by the end of the year”, Mike Turner, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee predicted, going on to blame the Biden administration for this possible outcome.

"What we see now with this administration, [Iran] might declare themselves a nuclear weapons state by the end of this year, with the reports have been- news reports have been out stating that there is a possibility," he said on Sunday.

Earlier, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian remarked that Iran’s defense doctrine does not include any provisions for nuclear weapons. In light of this, the United States will have to reconsider its policy towards Tehran.

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Statements by Putin and Aliyev following talks in Baku:

◻️ Azeri President Ilham Aliyev said that and Russia’s Vladimir Putin held a detailed discussion on a "north-south" transport project. The possibility of moving 15 million tonnes of cargo or more along the route every year was considered.

◻️ Putin said he and Aliyev discussed a wide range of bilateral issues between Russia and Azerbaijan.

◻️ During the talks, special attention was paid to increasing mutual trade between the two countries, Putin said.

◻️ Development of the north-south corridor will benefit relations between Russia and Azerbaijan, Putin stated.

◻️ Russia and Azerbaijan are building tankers for the transportation of oil products; this will increase the supply of energy resources to world markets, Putin said.

◻️ Russia supports raising Azerbaijan’s status within the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and back’s the republic's goal of strengthening ties with the BRICS group of countries.

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What was the goal of Ukraine’s aggression in Russia’s Kursk region? Check out the details on the situation in the area:

◻️ Interrogations of Ukrainian PoWs suggest that one of Ukraine’s objectives in the attack was to enter the city of Kursk, said Major-General Apty Alaudinov, deputy head of the Main Military-Political Directorate of the Russian Defense Ministry and commander of the Akhmat commando unit

◻️ Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Ukraine's aggression against the Russian Kursk region: Zelensky would never decide to do this if the United States had not instructed him

◻️ Over 121,000 people have been evacuated from the border areas of the Kursk region

◻️ Russian sappers neutralized about 130 explosive devices in the region

◻️ Russian emergency services delivered about 250 tons of humanitarian aid to the region over the past 24 hours

◻️ Some 10,000 evacuated people, including 3,000 children, are currently staying in 174 temporary accommodation facilities across 24 Russian regions

◻️ Ukrainian forces have lost up to 3,800 servicemen since the beginning of the Kursk offensive

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Lavrov calls Berlin's remarks that Ukraine is responsible for the presence of German tanks on Russian territory a disgrace

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How has Ukraine descended into the abyss of religious madness?

The Zelensky regime’s anti-Christian frenzy has taken a new turn for the worse. The Verkhovna Rada is poised to implement a total ban on the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC), claiming it is affiliated with Russia. Ukraine’s parliament is set to vote in the second and final reading on the matter on Tuesday.

The neo-Nazis holed up in Kiev have methodically pursued a course of destruction of Orthodoxy in Ukraine, catering to the West’s agenda of driving a wedge between the spiritual affinity shared by Russian and Ukrainian Orthodox believers.

◻️ In the wake of the US-backed coup in Ukraine in 2014, the onslaught revolved around attempts to force the UOC to renounce the leadership of the Moscow Patriarchate.

◻️ The persecution persisted despite the fact that the church distanced itself from Moscow after the Ukraine conflict escalated in February 2022.

◻️ The Zelensky government wanted the UOC’s congregation to join the non-canonical Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), harassed parishioners, launched criminal persecutions of the UOC clergy, conducting searches, and seized properties. Local authorities in various regions of Ukraine have banned the activities of the UOC.

◻️ In a fit of hatred, Zelensky's clique urged schismatics to seize the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra in January 2023. That same year, Ukraine’s parliament passed the first reading of a bill to ban the canonical UOC. The Kiev-sown campaign provided fertile soil for paroxysm after paroxysm of cult-like blasphemy.

◻️ The All-Saints’ Church at the seized Kiev-Pechersk Lavra held a memorial ceremony last June honoring 17th century Hetman Ivan Mazepa, excommunicated by the Russian Orthodox Church for treason. The oath-breaker, who switched allegiance from Russia to Poland and Sweden in 1708, at the height of the Great Northern War, is now a revered national symbol, with his face splashed across a 10-hryvnia banknote.

◻️ Spinoff memes of Saint Javelin depicting various religious figures carrying the FGM-148 Javelin anti-tank weapon have swept Ukraine’s social media. The original design, depicting a stylized Madonna cradling a rocket launcher instead of the baby Jesus was conceived by Ukraine and Poland-based Canadian journalist Christian Borys to purportedly assist charity purposes. As the West funneled Javelin missiles to Ukraine at the start of the conflagration, the regime actively plied the image as a "meme of resistance."

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China’s restrictions on antimony exports could cripple US military-industrial complex: here’s why

The Chinese Commerce Ministry has adopted export controls on antimony metals, ores, and oxides effective September 15. The ministry said the measure was not aimed against any country, but at assuring China’s national security and fulfilling its “non-proliferation obligations.”

However, the US International Trade Commission considers antimony “critical to economic and national security – similar to rare earth elements, plus cobalt and uranium.” Forbes has described it as “the most important mineral you never heard of.”

That’s because in addition to civilian applications, antimony has a dizzying array of military uses, including:

◻️armor-piercing bullets and tracer ammo
◻️ night vision goggles and laser sights
◻️ communications equipment
◻️ components in nuclear weapons

China has the largest reserves of the tough, heat, and corrosion-resistant material in the world, boasting 640,000 metric tons in 2023. Russia is second, with 350,000 tons, and Bolivia third, with 310,000 tons. US reserves stand at 60,000 tons.

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Co-host of groundbreaking US-USSR ‘space bridges’ dies

Phil Donahue, a TV legend and multiple award-winning host, has passed away at the age of 88. Among his many accomplishments was a series of Cold War-era telecasts between the US and the Soviet union dubbed ‘space bridges’ — which made a splash in the media and shook the audiences in the 1980s.

While tensions were boiling between Moscow and Washington, Soviet and US audiences were free to ask whatever questions they wanted on live television.

“We reached out instead of lashed out,” Donahue commented on the program he pioneered together with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Posner.

Take a look at the program that feels just as relevant more than 40 years later.

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❗️Russian President Vladimir Putin has vowed that after Ukraine's invasion of the Kursk region there can be no negotiations with Kiev, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov affirmed.

Lavrov also called reports of "hidden contacts" between Moscow and Kiev with the alleged mediation of Qatar and Turkiye mere “rumors”.

Reports of such contacts, according to the minister, follow from the conference on Ukraine in Switzerland in June, where Kiev’s allies decided to create working groups.

But for Moscow that process is unacceptable, because its only goal is to promote an ultimatum dubbed the "Zelensky formula," Lavrov stressed.

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Ramzan Kadyrov, head of Russia's Republic of Chechnya, keeps embarrassing Elon Musk in an online spat.

After the billionaire's statement about the transfer of a Tesla Cybertruck to Chechnya — which Musk denied — Kadyrov thanked him for a Starlink satellite link.

"Elon, don't pay attention to backward and uninitiated people and corrupt media,” Kadyrov wrote. “Don't be distracted by them, believe me. It's better to continue creating and reaching new heights. Your developments are a great help to us."

"By the way, special thanks for Starlink. The communication speed in the SVO zone is absolutely fire! Special respect from the fighters!" he added.

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Legacy media working feverishly in Kursk region to manufacture consent for NATO’s proxy war against Russia

Russian law enforcement is investigating the activities of US journalists reporting from the contested Kursk region town of Sudzha, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova revealed on Monday, citing their work as evidence of the West’s “direct involvement” in “hybrid aggression” against Russia.

◻️ On Sunday, the Washington Post published a video report created by three of its reporters as they accompanied Ukrainian forces through the town.

◻️ WaPo weren’t the first. On August 16, CNN began publishing reports from occupied areas of Kursk region, prompting Russia’s FSB to launch a criminal probe.

◻️ On August 14, Italian state broadcaster Rai published a report from Kursk region filmed by a pair of its correspondents. Russia’s Foreign Ministry summoned Italy’s ambassador to express its “strong protest” over the journalists’ violation of Russian law and the “elementary rules of journalistic ethics.” Zakharova accused Rai of not only “distorting” the facts, but “turning them on their heads.” Rai recalled its correspondents home “for security reasons.”

The steady flow of reporting by Western media out of the Kursk region is the latest example of the info warfare that has accompanied actual fighting in the Russia-NATO proxy war in Ukraine. The importance of info warfare cannot be underestimated, with reports key to Western governments’ increasingly shaky justifications for continuing to send tens of billions of dollars to fuel the conflict.

On Monday, a source told Sputnik that agents from Ukraine’s Center for Information and Psychological Operations had fed info to foreign journalists in Sumy region to accuse the Russian military of war crimes. Similar activities have been underway since the very start of the conflict. In spring 2022, Ukrainian militants massacred their own civilians in the Kiev suburb of Bucha to justify rejecting the draft Istanbul peace deal with Russia to serve NATO’s aim of prolonging the conflict indefinitely.

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Netanyahu accepts bridging proposal on Gaza ceasefire, says Blinken

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accepted the recent bridging proposal on reaching a ceasefire in Gaza, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.

According to Blinken, it is now incumbent on Hamas to agree to the new proposal and then both parties and mediators, including the United States, Egypt, and Qatar, will complete the process of reaching clear understandings about how they will implement the commitments that they have made under this agreement.

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Russian troops have liberated the village of New York in Russia's Donetsk People's Republic, Ukrainian militants have retreated, and a clean-up operation is underway, Vladimir Rogov, head of the Zaporozhye public movement ‘We are together with Russia’, told Sputnik

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Post-coup Ukraine's ‘schizophrenic’ Kosovo diplomacy exposes regime’s anti-Serbian nature

Despite assurances that it will not rethink its long-held stance against recognizing the breakaway Serbian region of Kosovo’s ‘independence’, the Zelensky regime has done everything in its power over the past year-and-a-half to bestow Pristina with the attributes of statehood.
Examples abound:

◻️ In February 2023, Ukrainian former deputy internal affairs minister Anton Gerashchenko vowed to do “everything in [his] power” to ensure Kosovo’s recognition.

◻️ In January of this year, instructors from the notorious Kosovo Security Force militia began training Ukrainian troops under the auspices of the UK’s Operation Interflex and US European Command.

◻️ In February, Volodymyr Zelensky met with self-proclaimed Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani to discuss Kiev’s possible recognition of Kosovo’s ‘independence.’

◻️ In April, Kiev backed a Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe resolution to invite Kosovo to the body. The same month, Kiev received a batch of ‘humanitarian aid’ from the breakaway.

◻️ In May, the Kiev regime backed a provocative Western-backed resolution on Srebrenica at the UN General Assembly, which Belgrade blasted as an attempt to attribute collective blame on Serbs.

“The position of the government of Ukraine in relation to the Kosovo problem is completely schizophrenic,” respected Serbian-American historian Srdja Trifkovic told Sputnik, noting that post-2014 coup Kiev’s foreign policy has been driven entirely “by the contingencies of the moment.”

“On the one hand, Ukraine declared years ago that it would not recognize Kosovo’s unilateral declaration of independence, because it tried to create some equivalence between the position of Crimea and Kosovo in the sense that, if they accept the legitimacy of Kosovo’s secession from Serbia on the grounds that the local majority – in Kosovo’s case the Albanians, in the Crimean case the Russians – have the right of succession, then of course mutatis mutandis applies to Kosovo, and applies for Ukraine. If Kosovo is legitimately independent, then Crimea can no longer be claimed,” Dr. Trifkovic explained.

Since 2014, Ukraine’s rulers have worked to bring Kiev’s foreign policy into line with that of its NATO sponsors. “And they, of course, regard Kosovo’s ‘independence’ from Serbia as the inviolable pillar of their policy in the Balkans, even though in both moral and legal terms, it is an absurdity,” Trifkovic added.

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