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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Key statements by Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova at a press briefing:

About Ukraine's aggression on Kursk Oblast:

◻️ Kiev's attack on Kursk Oblast happens with the comprehensive support of the West and was sanctioned by it.

◻️ Russia warns that all foreign combatants carrying out terrorist attacks are legitimate military targets and will be destroyed.

◻️ Terrorists who attacked Kursk Oblast will be prosecuted without a statute of limitations, unless they are subjected to fair retribution before then.

About Ukraine's provocations against nuclear power plants:

◻️ Moscow is in contact with the IAEA regarding the Kiev regime's provocations against the Kursk nuclear power plant and the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant.

◻️ A visit by IAEA chief Rafael Grossi to the Kursk nuclear power plant at the end of August is being worked out.

About terrorist attacks on Nord Stream:

◻️ Germany responds to all Moscow's requests on Nord Stream with empty formal replies.

◻️ Berlin's statements about "exchanging" information with Moscow on terrorist attacks on gas pipelines are a lie.

◻️ Moscow insists on bilateral consultations with Germany on Nord Stream.

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School where heroes are forged: What to know about Russia’s unique Spetsnaz university

During his trip to Chechnya, President Vladimir Putin stopped over at the Russian Special Forces University in Gudermes, familiarizing himself with the facilities, observing training, and meeting with special forces commanders, instructors, and volunteers fighting in the Ukraine conflict.

Here’s what you should know about this unique school:

Who founded it?

Created in 2013 at the behest of Chechen Republic leader Ramzan Kadyrov, the university is Russia’s only privately run special forces school. Kadyrov announced in February that the school would carry Putin’s name.

What kinds of training is offered?

The university offers comprehensive training across more than a dozen specialties, from urban combat and paradrops to live-fire and sniper, forest, polar, desert, diving/scuba, medical, canine, engineering, IT, and military journalism training.

That’s possible thanks to the school’s sprawling 400-hectare campus, which includes 95 buildings and other structures, including a whole mock town for combat drilling, a skydiving tunnel, landing sites, a two-hectare tactical reservoir, several shooting galleries and even a 1.6 km long runway.

Along with military training, the school offers civilian courses in elite sport, military/patriotic and physical education, sport shooting, parachuting, diving, mountaineering, CrossFit, security and bodyguard training, and more.

Who’s trained there?

◻️ Since April 2022, over 47,000 graduates (including 18,800 volunteers) have been trained here. The accelerated combat training course includes tactics, physical and medical training, psychological resilience, and specialized knowledge, as needed, and is conducted in accordance with requests from frontline commanders.

◻️ The school has also been heavily involved in the preparation of Chechnya’s security forces, including the legendary Akhmat Group Special Forces that have made a name themselves in operations to liberate the Donbass and other areas.

◻️ Training at the university is conducted by special forces veterans, including from Chechnya and the FSB’s elite Alpha counterterrorism task force.

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🇷🇺🤝🇨🇳 Cooperation between Russia and China contributes to Eurasia development – foreign policy expert

“Under the influence of the volatile global environment, the dollar hegemony continues to weaken,” Wang Yiwei, Director of the School of International Studies at Renmin University of China, told Sputnik.

“Against this background, China and Russia, relying on traditional trade, are expanding payments using the ruble-yuan pair, and are working on creating their own settlement system within the BRICS framework, including a barter system of payment,” Wang added.

He noted that Russia is the only country with which China has a comprehensive partnership and strategic cooperation.

“This kind of cooperation is manifested not only in the form of strategic diplomatic guidance from the leaders [of Russia and China], but it is also reflected in strategic cooperation at the governmental level of the two countries,” Wang said, commenting on Chinese State Council Premier Li Qiang’s visit to Moscow.

The purpose of the annual meetings between the prime ministers of China and Russia is to set the governments' policy course for the year, which also reflects the high degree of strategic trust between the countries, the commentator pointed out.

Regular meetings between the prime ministers “deepen more concrete and professional cooperation between regional authorities,” while also playing an important role in strengthening trade and economic cooperation between the two countries.

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