📹 Result says it all

Russian marines of the Black Sea Fleet shot down and captured a Ukrainian MaxxPro armored personnel carrier in Russia's Kursk region, a representative of the Russian security agency told Sputnik.

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Telegram CEO Pavel Durov had no negotiations with the Kremlin, nor any agreements, presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

According to him, Russian President Vladimir Puitn has never met with the founder of Telegram.

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📖 Former US President Donald Trump wrote in his new book "Save America" ​​that he got along well with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"Vladimir is a strong man, but we had an understanding, and got along well."

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🇭🇺🇷🇺 Hungarian FM Péter Szijjártó announced on social media that he has arrived in the Russian city of St. Petersburg to discuss energy security issues.

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Two Colombians suspected of fighting on Ukraine’s side apprehended by Russia's FSB

Medina Aranda, Jose Aron, and Ante Alexander have been named as defendants in a case involving mercenary activities. During searches, law enforcement discovered uniforms bearing the insignia of the Carpathian Sich* neo-Nazi battalion among their possessions.

*The 'Carpathian Sich' Battalion is a terrorist organization outlawed in Russia.

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The improved AK-12 assault rifle has been adopted by the Russian National Guard, defense manufacturers Kalashnikov said.

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🇭🇺🇷🇺 Hungarian FM Péter Szijjártó said that he met with the head of Russia's Gazprom energy corporation to ensure gas supplies to Hungary.

Budapest is pleased with energy cooperation with Moscow; it is one of the guarantees of Hungarian energy security, the head of the foreign ministry said.

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Another Western journalist illegally visits Russia's Kursk region having published corresponding material

A journalist from the British newspaper The Times, Catherine Philp, visited the city of Sudzha and one of the nearby villages, where she witnessed how the Ukrainian military was showing the local population video materials that tried to discredit the Russian Army.

Earlier, correspondents of the German media corporation Deutsche Welle*, the French newspaper Croix and the Latvian TV channel Latvian Television, which were included in the list of media outlets for which measures were introduced to restrict broadcasting and access to the internet in Russia, illegally visited the Kursk region.

Materials about their journalists illegally visiting the Russian territory were also published by the American publications Washington Post and Daily Beast and the British newspaper Sun.

Russian FM spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stated that each case of illegal entry of media employees into the Kursk region will be considered separately, this applies to journalists of all countries.

* An organization performing the functions of a foreign agent in Russia.

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❗️The main statements from the Russian Defense Ministry on the situation in the Kursk region:

▪️The losses of Ukrainian troops in the Kursk region in one day amounted to more than 380 militants and 22 units of armored vehicles.

▪️The Russian military repelled five Ukrainian attacks near Kremyanoye, Pushkarskoye and Cherkasskoye Porechnoye villages.

▪️Russian aviation struck Ukrainian militants in 11 settlements of the Sumy region.

▪️Ukrainian losses for the entire period of military operations in the Kursk region exceeded 7,800 militants, 75 tanks, while 507 armored vehicles were also lost.

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Friendly fire or defective old plane? How Ukraine lost its first F-16 jet and famed pilot

One of the first Ukrainian F-16 jets crashed on August 26, the Ukrainian Air Force confirmed on Thursday. Ukrainian MP Maryana Bezuglaya claimed the F-16 was hit by Ukraine's Patriot anti-aircraft missile system "due to a lack of coordination between units."

When were the first F-16s delivered to Ukraine?

▪️The first batch of six of the promised 80 F-16s arrived in Ukraine at the beginning of August.

▪️It's unclear who exactly provided the first batch: Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands and Norway earlier vowed to provide the Kiev regime with them.

▪️US President Joe Biden first authorized NATO's European allies to send F-16s to Ukraine in August 2023.

How much does the F-16 cost?

▪️The US-made F-16 that was delivered to Ukraine can cost up to $60 million depending on the configuration and possible upgrades, according to some estimates.

▪️As per the WSJ, many of the F-16s promised to Ukraine are second-hand and have decades of flying time already.

What's known about the crash?

▪️According to US officials, the jet wasn't shot down by the Russian military. Sources close to the Ukrainian military claim the crash's reason is "unknown."

▪️The plane was piloted by Oleksiy "Moonfish" Mes, one of Kiev's first pilots to be trained on the US-made F-16. He died during the crash. Mes had undergone months of training in Denmark, as per Forbes.

▪️US officials, cited by the WSJ, said Ukrainian pilots got an "accelerated training course" to learn to operate the F-16s and lacked flying hours.

What do Ukrainian general staff and the Pentagon say?

▪️The Pentagon said it cannot confirm the F-16 was downed by the Patriot system.

▪️The Ukrainian general staff stated that "a special commission... has been appointed to determine the causes of the crash."

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