❗️Ukrainian forces lost over 20,650 troops, 136 tanks, and 33 multiple launch rocket systems during combat operations in the Kursk direction, the Russian Ministry of Defense said.

Russia’s Battlegroup Sever continued offensive operations in the Kursk region, resulting in the loss of over 400 Ukrainian militants during the past day. Seventeen surrendered, and 16 armored vehicles, including a tank, were destroyed, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported.

Ukraine lost over 30 militants and a tank in an unsuccessful attempt to break through into the Kursk region, while 12 militants surrendered.

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❗️Contact lost with Hezbollah secretary-general nominee Hashem Safieddine after Israeli strikes on Friday – report

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Israel-Lebanon: how current strikes have outpaced intensity of 2006 and 1982 wars

The death toll from Israel’s escalating bombardments of Lebanon over the past two weeks has already exceeded that of the 2006 war involving the two sides, FT reported, citing data from conflict monitoring group Airwars. This makes Israel’s ongoing campaign ostensibly targeting Hezbollah strongholds across the country the ‘most intense aerial campaign’ outside Gaza in the last two decades, it said.

▪️ Over 2,000 people have been killed so far in Israel’s attacks on Lebanon, including 127 children and 261 women, according to the country’s Health Ministry. On September 23 alone, at least 558 people, including 50 children and 94 women, were killed.

▪️ Use of massive 2,000-pound bombs by Israel in densely-populated areas of Lebanon, as those reportedly deployed in the airstrikes that killed Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, in Beirut, has led to a surging death toll.

▪️ IDF struck at least 4,600 targets in Lebanon between September 20 and October 2, as part of a “new phase” of the war, according to posts on its Telegram channel.

▪️ On September 24-25, the Israel military said it used 2,000 munitions and carried out 3,000 strikes. This intensity exceeds the estimated 500 munitions a day used in August 2017, at the peak of the US-led campaign in Syria, Airwars director Emily Tripp noted.

▪️ Israel’s bombardments of Lebanon over the past two weeks have damaged or destroyed 3,100 buildings in the country since September 20.

▪️ After Israel began pummeling southern Lebanon on September 23, more than 1 million people (a fifth of its population) were displaced from their homes, according to Lebanon’s authorities.

▪️ During the First Lebanon War (officially called ‘Operation Peace for Galilee’ by Israel) between 1982-1985, losses among civilians amounted to between 19,000 and 27,000 people.

▪️ An estimated 1,140 civilians were killed and over 4,000 wounded during the 34 days of intense fighting during the 2006 Operation Just Reward, also known as the Second Lebanon War in Israel.

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Le Pen Trial ‘good opportunity’ for establishment to try to bring France’s ‘leading party to its knees’

The trial against National Rally parliamentary group leader Marine Le Pen is a chance for the establishment to cast some shade on her party, and “a good opportunity to bring what is now France’s leading party to its knees,” international affairs observer Edouard Husson told Sputnik.

The trial, linked to allegations that Le Pen’s party misused up to €7 mln in funds doled out by the EU to hire parliamentary assistants working exclusively for the party, began Monday. Le Pen has denied any wrongdoing, accusing the prosecution of “fabricating” “preconceived ideas” about the case.

“Let’s not kid ourselves. The more our French governments talk about the independence of the judiciary, the less they practice it,” Husson said, characterizing the trial as obviously politicized, and perhaps linked to the Barnier government’s need for political survival amid a looming parliamentary crisis.

“Madame Le Pen’s conviction will therefore be limited, in exchange for – at least passive – support for the Barnier government,” the observer predicted, noting, for example, that he doesn’t expect the trial to end in Le Pen being made ineligible for another shot at the presidency in 2027.

On one hand, “anything that appears to persecute the [National Rally] is good for the party: it encourages protest voters to support it,” Husson emphasized.

On the other, Husson doesn’t rule out that some in Le Pen’s party may try to take advantage of the trial to consolidate their own positions.

“In my opinion, the danger comes from elsewhere: Jordan Bardella, the party’s young president, could use any weakening of Madame Le Pen’s position to try to steal her nomination as a presidential candidate in 2027. Obviously this would be a big mistake, from the point of view of the [party], because Marine Le Pen is the party’s strength. But the media system will do whatever it takes to turn Jordan Bardella’s head and make him rebel against the woman who made his political career,” Husson said.

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❗️Israel has killed two 'senior members of Hamas Military Wing in Lebanon' – IDF

The Israeli Defense Forces claimed it had eliminated Muhammad Hussein Ali al-Mahmoud, who was part of Hamas' executive authority in Lebanon, as well as Said Alaa Naif Ali, a senior member of Hamas' Military Wing in Lebanon.

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🇮🇱🇱🇧 The Israeli Air Force has launched new strikes on what it said was Hezbollah infrastructure and a headquarters in Beirut, the Israeli Defense Forces stated.

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Anti-China noise about Chagos Islands’ handoff hides continued US/UK access to strategic bomber base

💬 “The primary consideration in the West is the issue of whether the Americans can continue to use a huge air base,” former MP and retired UK Defense Academy research fellow Matthew Gordon-Banks told Sputnik, commenting on the finalization of an agreement this week involving the transfer of the Chagos Islands to the Republic of Mauritius, five years after a 2019 International Court of Justice ruling that Britain’s administration over the strategic Indian Ocean island archipelago is illegal.

“The previous Conservative government chose not to make this announcement whilst it was in office, but the new Labour government has got on with the job that was expected. This is not a party-political issue but more [one of] international law; though some in the UK are using it to criticize the government,” Gordon-Banks explained.

As for sentiments expressed by some politicians in Britain that the Chagos handover amounts to the “surrender [of] Britain’s strategic interests” to China, these are overblown, according to Gordon-Banks.

“The idea that this change ‘helps’ China is nonsense. If anything, the effort has been to help the US,” the observer said, pointing to the proposed extendable 99-year base lease agreement, which would allow Britain and the US to continue using the strategic Diego Garcia base for many, many decades to come.

“Without the agreement with Mauritius the future of the US naval base might be in doubt - but the Americans tend to get what they want in circumstances like these,” Gordon-Banks stressed.

Finally, fears that the Chagos Islands agreement – which has yet to be ratified, could trigger further retreat by the UK from its other overseas territories, are also overblown, according to Gordon-Banks.

“In my view no precedents are being set for matters relating to the Falkland Islands or Gibraltar, which will remain British. However, there are some localized issues relating to Spain and Gibraltar which will be discussed between the two countries from time to time,” the observer said.

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