Ukraine's economic downfall: from potential European leader to indebted loser

Gaining independence in 1991, Ukraine had the potential of becoming a leading European economy, due to its industries, agriculture, vibrant population and diverse trade ties inherited from the Soviet Union. However, it has now ensnared itself in a debt trap.

▪️ On August 30, ratings agency, S&P Global, set Ukraine's foreign currency credit rating at "selective" default, after the country announced plans to restructure over $20 billion of debt. 

▪️ The IMF will decide next week whether to provide Ukraine with another $1.1 billion from a $15.6 billion aid program.

▪️ After tearing apart preliminary peace accords with Russia in April 2022, the Zelensky regime went on a debt spree. Ukraine's government-guaranteed debt has grown to $155.36 billion (over 88% of GDP), with an increase of $3.2 billion over the past three months alone. 

▪️ Ukraine's debt under Volodymyr Zelensky has catapulted by about $74 billion – roughly the total debt accumulated by the first five Ukrainian presidents, according to estimates. 

▪️In comparison, under the first Ukrainian President Leonid Kravchuk (1991-1994), Ukraine borrowed just around $400 million, or 1.1% of GDP.

▪️ Ukraine's gross external debt surged to $167.8 billion in March 2024. 

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❗️The Battlegroup Tsentr liberated the settlement of Kirovo in the Donetsk People's Republic and continues to advance into the depths of the enemy's defense, 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:

◾️ Ukrainian Army lost up to 125 soldiers and two vehicles in the Liptsov and Volchansk areas.

◾️ The Battlegroup Zapad improved its tactical position, Ukrainian troops lost up to 460 soldiers in its area of responsibility.

◾️The Battlegroup Dnepr defeated four Ukrainian brigades.

◾️The Kiev regime lost up to 455 of its troops in the Battlegroup Tsentr's area of responsibility.

◾️ The Battlegroup Yug took more advantageous positions, the Ukrainian forces lost up to 780 people and an "Uragan" MLRS.

◾️Air defense systems shot down four ATACMS missiles, six Hammer air bombs, six Vampire shells, 48 drones.

◾️ Russian forces destroyed a US-made M270 MLRS launcher, hit drone assembly shops, and a missile and artillery weapons warehouse of the Ukrainian Army.

◾️ The Battlegroup Vostok improved its position along the front line, the Ukrainian Armed Forces lost up to 125 troops.

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

🔸Six Ukrainian attacks were repelled near the settlements of Borki, Bakhtinka, Komarovka, Malaya Loknya and Matveyevka.

🔸Attempts to attack near Korenevo and Malaya Loknya were thwarted, the enemy lost up to 30 people killed and wounded, one person surrendered.

🔸Reconnaissance and search operations to destroy sabotage groups in forests are ongoing.

🔸Defeats were inflicted on the Ukrainian forces in 15 settlement areas of the Kursk region.

🔸Air strikes were carried out on enemy concentrations in 10 districts of the neighboring region in Ukraine.

🔸The losses of the Ukrainian Army in the last day are up to 400 soldiers and 18 armored vehicles. During the entire time in the Kursk region, Kiev has lost more than 8,200 soldiers, 76 tanks, and 16 MLRS launchers (four HIMARS and two MLRS).

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Scott Ritter: Ukrainian conflict escalation can lead to ‘global-ending’ nuclear war

Ukraine attacking Russia using long-range weapons provided by the US “might be interpreted by Russia as a direct attack by the US, by NATO, on Russian territory,” and regarded as a prelude to a “larger military incursion” meant to accomplish the US’ ultimate goal, “the strategic defeat of Russia,” former US Marine Corps intelligence officer Scott Ritter tells Sputnik.

“Russia has made it clear that as a nuclear power, it not only will not, but cannot be defeated strategically - because if such a possibility manifested itself, Russia would be required to use its nuclear arsenal to ensure that outcome would never, never occur. This means general nuclear war,” he says.

Ritter also recalls the warnings made by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov who questioned the US’ apparent belief that a Russia-NATO conflict would be limited to Europe and who said that a Russian retaliatory strike against the United States is possible if such a conflict were to break out.

“This is a very dangerous escalation, one that could rapidly create the conditions conducive for not limited nuclear conflict, but a general nuclear war, a global-ending global disaster... the destruction of the world. Why? Because the US and NATO will not be honest about the state of affairs in Ukraine today,” laments Ritter.

Ukraine has already “lost the war," he adds, and nothing that Kiev might do to try and “tip the scales” in its favor is going to change that.

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Eradicating Ukrainian terrorists: Latest developments in the Kursk region

▪️Russia takes all the necessary measures to prevent the Kiev regime from carrying out an attack against the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant, Russian Foreign Ministry Ambassador-at-Large on the Kiev regime's war crimes Rodion Miroshnik said.

▪️According to him, the Kiev regime would “commit such a crime [of attacking the plant]” given the opportunity, and that the very existence of the Kiev regime depends on the continuation of the Ukrainian conflict.

▪️NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has claimed that Ukraine’s attack was ‘legitimate’ and has refused to admit that Ukraine coordinated its incursion into the Kursk region with the Western military bloc.

▪️Up to 400 Ukrainian militants were wiped out by Russian forces in the Kursk region over the last 24 hours, Russia’s Ministry of Defense said in a statement.

▪️Ukrainian troops also lost 18 armored vehicles, including one main battle tank, three armored personnel carriers and 14 armored fighting vehicles of unspecified type, as well as three artillery systems, three mortars, one electronic warfare station and seven vehicles, the ministry added.

▪️Ukrainian soldiers are being forcibly sent by their commanders into Russia’s Kursk region on what are essentially suicide missions, a Ukrainian servicemen who was taken prisoner by Russian forces has revealed.

▪️The prisoner, Arsen Stegar, a member of Ukraine’s 82nd Airborne Assault Brigade, said his squad was ordered to dig in at the outskirts of a “Russian village” and simply hold their position for four days. Things quickly turned sour, however, as Ukrainian troops came under fire almost immediately upon arrival, suffering multiple casualties and losing their dedicated armored transport to a well-placed RPG shot.

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