Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger ask UN Security Council to take action over Ukraine's support of terrorism in Africa

"The Foreign Ministers of Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso strongly condemn the support and glorification of terrorism by the Ukrainian authorities and call on the Security Council to uphold its commitments regarding Ukraine's conscious choice to support terrorism in Africa, particularly in the Sahel region," reads the countries' joint letter to the UN Security Council president.

Mali and Niger previously severed diplomatic relations with Ukraine, accusing it of supporting terrorist groups in Africa.

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How the Sahel Region is stopping the ‘hegemonic craziness’ of US and the West?

In the past two years, several key Western troop withdrawals have taken place in Africa, including in Mali, Burkina Faso, Chad and, most recently in 2024, Niger. This situation threatens the hegemonic aspirations and exploitation of natural resources in the Sahel region by the US and Western countries.

The presence of US forces where “ostensibly to fight ISIS*” but he thinks that “for the United States has been more important to try to extend its influence”, Larry Johnson, the former CIA Intelligence Officer and State Department Official, pointed to Sputnik.

Western forces have apparently taken advantage of the Sahel region's natural resources, “uranium comes out of there, Niger has particular yellowcake (powdered uranium concentrate), and maybe some lithium, some other minerals,” said Johnson, noting the military control of the area and past governments that allowed this to happen.

“This is part of I call it US hegemonic craziness. All we can do is figure out other places that we want to go conquer, occupy. This is really a sort of the imperial imperative,” said Johnson.

This was echoed by Nkasiobe Oluikpe, the Political Analyst, who said that the Western troops might have provided support to the terrorist groups in an organized way to continue their military operations in Sahel region.

“The conflict in Sahel is believed to be orchestrated by the West to justify its military presence and control of governments in Africa. What is at issue is national pride and the governments of these countries restoring sovereignty” Oluikpe told Sputnik.

“The extraction of resources was mainly linked to the presence of French troops, protected by the Americans. So now that both of them are gone, I think the new governments are in a better position to actually dictate the terms of extractions, without, or with less fear,” Prof. Alexis Habiyaremye, senior DSI/NRF researcher at the University of Johannesburg, told Sputnik.

*ISIS (also known as ISIS/IL/ISIS-K/Islamic State) is a terrorist group banned in Russia and many other countries

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❗️Marines of the 810th Black Sea Fleet Brigade captured 18 Ukrainian servicemen near the village of Spalnoye in the Kursk region, security forces told Sputnik

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Chinese response to Biden's new nuke strategy

The US is the world's largest creator of strategic risk, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said, commenting on reports of the newly approved US nuke strategy.

The US is promoting the "Chinese nuclear threat" theory to evade its disarmament commitments, Beijing noted.

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🎥 Mongolia conducts first joint training session as part of Selenga-2024 drills with Russia

Soldiers from Russia's Eastern Military District and the Armed Forces of Mongolia have collaborated to identify advancement routes adapted for the terrain at the training ground. They also focused on establishing effective communication and coordination strategies.

"For the first time, FPV drones were used in Russian-Mongolian drills. Almost all types of troops are involved in these exercises. Servicemen from both sides act in a coordinated and organized manner," said Chief of Staff of the tactical group Adam Matsiev.

According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, this year marks the first time that units from the Ground Forces, Aerospace Forces, and special forces of the Armed Forces of both Russia and Mongolia are participating in inter-service drills.

Approximately 700 personnel and around 200 pieces of military equipment are involved in this exercise.

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🎥 Around 50 rockets were fired on Wednesday morning from Lebanon into northern Israel, the Israeli military’s press service reported.

Some rockets fell near the town of Katzrin in the Golan Heights, wounding one person.

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‘The dead are better off than we are’: Khan Yunis refugees forced to spend the night in cemeteries

Thousands of Palestinians who have lost their homes due to Israel’s bombing campaign must constantly look for shelter. To save themselves from the airstrikes, tents are even pitched near graves. Sputnik spoke with local resident Wasim Mohammed, who was forced to take such a step.

"I live here with my wife and children, who are afraid of the cemetery. They are very scared at night. But I try to keep calm. Perhaps the dead are better off now than we are. And we can be buried here at any moment. We tried to find another place, but we could not find anything. It is really difficult, of course. Every day there are funerals here, people are crying. Though it is already terrifying from the bombing, and then we have to see such processions near the shelter," he said.

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❗️Russian battlegroup Tsentr liberated the settlement of Zhelannoye in the DPR, the Russian Defense Ministry reported

🇷🇺🪖 More statements from the Russian Defense Ministry’s daily briefing on the progress of the special military operation in Ukraine:

◻️ Ukraine lost up to 100 militants in the Russian Battlegroup Sever's combat zone in the Kharkov region.

◻️ Russian air defense systems intercepted 7 Hammer bombs, a Neptune-MD anti-ship missile, 15 HIMARS rockets, and 63 Ukrainian drones.

◻️ Units of the Russian Zapad Battlegroup secured more advantageous positions, repelled 6 counterattacks, and inflicted losses of up to 470 militants and a tank on the Ukrainian forces.

◻️ The Russian Vostok Battlegroup repelled four Ukrainian counterattacks, resulting in the loss of up to 130 militants.

◻️ Ukraine lost over 700 militants, a RAK-SA-12 MLRS, and an ammunition depot due to actions by the Russian Yug Battlegroup.

◻️ Russian forces destroyed concentrations of Ukrainian manpower in 131 areas.

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Why is the price of gold on a bullish trend?

Gold is currently valued at $2,516 per ounce after setting a new record on August 16, eclipsing $2,500 for the first time in history. Since last year, the price of the precious metal has soared by almost 30%. There is every reason to expect further gains. Here’s why:

The Fed's monetary policy

🔸 Gold soars on the prospect of further interest rate cuts by central banks, led by the US Federal Reserve. As a rule, the precious metal’s price goes up when interest rates go down, since lower rates diminish the likely yields, or returns, from bonds and shares.

🔸 Investors are waiting for Fed’s Chair Jerome Powell’s speech on August 23 for hints on further rate cuts. Traders expect a total of 100 bps in rate cuts by the US central bank in the three remaining decisions this year.

Dollar decline

🔸 In anticipation of rate cuts, the US dollar fell by 2.2% against rival currencies, with benchmark 10-year Treasury yields similarly sinking, making bullion more attractive.

🔸 Central banks have been buying up gold while their holdings of dollar-denominated assets reached a historic low of 58.9% in 2024 amid US weaponization of the greenback. Net buying of gold in H1 amounted to 483 tons.

🔸 China has led the bullion buy-up, with the People’s Bank of China bolstering gold purchases by 30% last year, increasing reserves to 2,264.32 tons in the second quarter of 2024.

Geopolitical turmoil

🔸 The ongoing NATO proxy war in Ukraine, Israel’s war on Hamas in Gaza, risks of a full-blown conflict with Lebanon and Iran, and the Yemeni Houthi militia’s campaign in the Red Sea are fueling the gold-buying spree.

🔸 The looming US presidential election and possible US foreign policy course add to the uncertainty.

🔸 Against this backdrop, central banks are likely to continue ditching the dollar and other fiat currencies in favor of stacking up gold holdings.

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❗️Ukrainian forces are already withdrawing some units from the Kursk region to redeploy them in other areas, 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.

Ukrainian troops have been stopped in the Kursk area, and the Russian Army has begun to push the enemy back, he said.

According to Alaudinov, Ukrainian units are regrouping and may strike in another area in the near future.

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🎥Anti-drone ‘barbecue’ protection doesn’t save Ukrainian vehicles from destruction

Sputnik has obtained a video of an armored HMMWV vehicle struck by Russian drone. It was destroyed despite anti-drone protection made of a metal structure referred to as a "barbeque."

Sputnik's interlocutor, who served in the unit that destroyed the armored vehicle, said the equipment was hit near the village of Kurakhovo.

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🎥 Vladimir Putin meets with Chinese State Council Premier Li Qiang in the Kremlin

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NATO states dragging feet over Ukraine weapons deliveries - report

Several NATO states are failing to deliver on their lavish military aid promises made to Ukraine, Bloomberg reported.

Commitments made at the alliance’s July summit that included the speedy delivery of US-made Patriot surface-to-air missile defense systems to the Kiev regime are unlikely to be fulfilled by fall, sources cited by the outlet revealed.

The US, Germany, and Romania each pledged to send a Patriot system, the Netherlands and others were to provide Patriot components to assemble a battery, while Italy promised Ukraine a SAMP-T air defense system.

The stalled military aid delivery prompted a disgruntled Volodymyr Zelensky to openly castigate his NATO patrons. As he told them off for failing to speed up the delivery of weapons supplies, he singled out the US, UK, and France as being particularly at fault.

Russia has continually warned that arms deliveries to Ukraine only lead to further escalation of the conflict, while the Russian military has been churning through the costly NATO hardware, turning it into scrap metal.

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🇷🇺 One Lancet drone crew of the Russian Airborne Forces destroyed 12 Ukrainian 155-mm M777 howitzers made in the USA on the right bank of the Dnepr river in the Kherson region in six months, the Lancet UAV crew commander with the call sign Rys (Lynx) told Sputnik.

Lancet operators also conduct reconnaissance of the area and identify targets for artillery.

The commander said the unit conducts aerial reconnaissance using quad-copters, Zala Aero drones and Supercam drones.

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Modernized Russian Yak-52 aircraft to be upgraded to fight drones

The Aviastroitel Design Bureau is working on an upgraded version of the Yak-52 that will allow one of the most popular sports aircraft to be used not only for training flights, but also to fight against attack and reconnaissance drones.

The modernized Yak-52 trainer aircraft will be upgraded to combat drones, Dmitry Motin, head of the modernization project at the Aviastroitel Design Bureau, told Sputnik.

"Today, one of the priority projects of our bureau is the modernization of the Yak-52 trainer aircraft into the Yak-52B2 capable of combating UAVs. It is currently waiting for a certificate of airworthiness from Rosaviatsia [Russia's Federal Air Transport Agency]," he said.


According to him, the aircraft modernization concept includes installing new equipment, including a multi-function display in the rear cockpit.

Russia’s Yak-52 is a single-engine, tandem-seat trainer aircraft designed by Yakovlev Design Bureau. The model is a derivative of the Yak-50 and is known for its impressive aerobatic capabilities and robust design.

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Chinese Premier Li Qiang noted the Russian economy’s steady growth during his meeting with President Vladimir Putin, and also emphasized Beijing's desire to expand cooperation with Moscow.

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Ukrainian forces are regrouping after taking heavy losses - latest updates on the Kursk incursion

The Russian Defense Ministry says Ukraine has now lost 4,400+ troops, more than 400 armored combat vehicles, and nearly 190 other vehicles in the Kursk region, with up to 300 troops and 26 armored vehicles being destroyed over the past 24 hours.

◻️18 Ukrainian troops were captured near the village of Spalnoe in the Kursk region by Russian Black Sea Fleet Naval Infantry.

◻️Akhmat special forces commander Apti Alaudinov told Russian TV that Ukraine’s forces in Kursk were regrouping after being stopped and suffering heavy losses, and may attempt to strike in another area. The Russian military has pushed them back from multiple settlements. Akhmat has no foreign mercs among the enemy PoWs it is holding, Alaudinov said.

◻️The attack on the Kursk region was carried out with “comprehensive support” from Western countries and was sanctioned by them, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters.

◻️The Russian Foreign Ministry warned foreign journalists against illegally traveling to occupied areas of the Kursk region, saying such cases will be monitored and investigated in due course.

Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev said in a Telegram post that the Kursk provocation has made it clear that there can be no more negotiations with Ukraine “until the enemy is completely defeated!” adding that the Kursk incursion would lead to “significantly more damaged military equipment, and dramatically more coffins.”

◻️Jailed former Rada lawmaker OIeksandr Dubinsky accused Volodymyr Zelensky of becoming a “hostage” to the Kursk attack, saying it was launched in the hopes of further lowering Ukraine’s connoscription age. Zelensky has fewer and fewer options for maneuver, and the risks from his rash decisions are growing, according to Dubinsky.

A Ukrainian serviceman told French media that every additional day of operations in the Kursk region brings with it larger and larger numbers of Russian drones, impeding Ukrainian forces’ ability to advance.

◻️ Business Insider warned that Ukraine’s “audacious offensive in Kursk could backfire,” draining the military of elite troops and NATO equipment if it does not meet its objective.

◻️ Bloomberg warned that Ukraine is experiencing problems with Western support, and that if Zelensky fails to stir up funding via his “Kursk gambit,” he is going to have “problems” with further aid and may even be forced to sue for peace.

Meanwhile, Bloomberg noted, the attempt to lure Russian forces from other fronts to Kursk has failed, with Russian troops only “intensifying” their advance through Donbass.

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Ukraine outlawing Orthodox church fits with West’s ‘globalist agenda’ – psyop veteran

New Ukrainian legislation banning the Orthodox church conforms with the ‘globalist agenda’ pursued by the West, ex-US Army psychological warfare officer Scott Bennett told Sputnik.

The Verkhovna Rada approved the final reading of a bill banning the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) on August 20. The law will come into effect 30 days later.

The strategy relies on outlawing religious institutions to stop people from practicing religious worship, along with targeting churches, the former US State Department counterterrorism analyst said.

“The Ukrainian leadership is using the tactic of a political witch-hunt and attempting to brand religious orthodoxy as somehow a Russian intelligence secret military operation,” Bennett noted.

The law’s passage confirms the “absolute corruption of the Ukrainian parliament,” he said, recalling that Zelensky’s presidential term expired in May and so he can no longer ratify acts of parliament.

“Ukraine adopting a bill outlawing the Ukrainian orthodox church opens the door for Russia to be the religious salvation-defender,” Bennett said, adding that it could redefine Russia as country “rising up to preserve the Ukrainian people’s right to worship God in the orthodox religious manner they have been practicing for hundreds of years."

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