🇷🇺🪖More statements from the Russian MoD daily briefing on the special military operation's progress:    

▪️Ukraine lost up to 250 troops in the Russian Zapad Battlegroup's combat zone.

▪️Ukraine lost up to 310 servicemen in the Russian Yug Battlegroup's combat zone.

▪️Russian aviation shot down two Ukrainian JDAM bombs and 58 drones.

▪️Ukraine lost up to 480 troops in the Russian Tsentr Battlegroup's combat zone.

▪️Ukraine lost up to 65 soldiers and two infantry fighting vehicles in the area of responsibility of Russia's Battlegroup Dnepr.

▪️Ukraine lost up to 150 troops in the Russian Vostok Battlegroup's combat zone.

▪️Ukraine lost more than 230 militants and a tank in the Kursk region over the day.

▪️In total, during military operations in the region, Kiev has lost up more than 70,000 soldiers, the ministry added.

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🔍 Justice served: Neo-Nazi Azov Battalion crimes in the spotlight

A Russian court has sentenced 23 members of Ukraine's nationalist Azov* Battalion to prison terms ranging from 13 to 23 years for war crimes. What's known about the soldiers?

▪️David Kasatkin served in Azov since 2015. Arrested on May 20, 2022, in Mariupol, he was identified by neo-Nazi tattoos, including "Time to Kill" and Buchenwald's motto, "Jedem das Seine." His verdict was delivered in absentia.

▪️Artur Gretsky, an Azov member captured on April 24, 2022, at the Azovstal plant was found to have an SS division slogan tattooed on his body: "Meine Ehre heißt Treue!" ("My honor is loyalty!"). He is an open admirer of the Third Reich.

▪️Lieutenant Colonel Anatoly Gritsyk served in Azov from 2015 to 2019 and was responsible for training recruits. Fighters under his supervision shelled civilian infrastructure in Donbass and fought against the DPR militia.

▪️Major Oleg Tyshkul served in Azov until 2021. His subordinates repeatedly engaged in combat with DPR forces.

▪️Lieutenant Oleg Mizhgorodsky left Azov in 2021. He previously commanded a material and technical support company.

Heirs of the Nazis

▪️The Azov Battalion embraces Nazi ideology, displaying insignia, spreading extremist literature, and indoctrinating youth.

▪️In 2022, Russia’s Prosecutor General’s Office confirmed Azov’s use of banned warfare methods, including killing, rape and torture of civilians and child killings.

▪️In May 2014, Azov executed Mariupol police officers who refused to disperse protestors opposing the February 2014 coup in Kiev, then opened fire on a peaceful demonstration.

*banned as a terrorist organization in Russia

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🗣 Elon Musk confirms integration of Grok AI assistant into Telegram

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💢 Kallas’ warmongering UNNERVES the EU – report

Since assuming the mantle of the EU’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas has adopted an extremely hawkish stance towards Russia, going beyond what other European officials consider “settled language,” Western media reports. For instance, while on a trip to Kiev, she tweeted that Brussels “wants Ukraine to win this war.”

“If you listen to her, it seems we are at war with Russia, which is not the EU line,” one EU official complained.

Kallas’ “leadership style” is another point of frustration as she is “floating heavy proposals without buy-in” and “is still acting like a prime minister,” another EU official added.

Earlier, Kallas came with a €40 billion ($43 billion) military aid plan for Ukraine – a move that deeply unsettled key Eurozone contributors like France and Italy.

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❗️The European Commission is going to manually control leading media outlets to 'correctly present the Russian issue' - the Russian Foreign Intelligence agency (SVR)

The leadership of the EU is using the propaganda techniques of the Third Reich, it has drawn up a plan to spread Russophobic narratives among the population of Europe, the SVR stated.

"Similar to Goebbels' Ministry of Public Education and Propaganda, the Directorate General of the European Commission for Public Affairs has drawn up a plan for a centralized campaign to introduce persistent Russophobic narratives into the public consciousness," the SVR added.

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🇨🇳✈️ China’s futuristic J-36 fighter makes impressive landing

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🔎 Soros’ insatiable GREED FOR POWER in Russia and Ukraine

George Soros saw the collapse of the USSR as an opportunity to fill the power void. How has this played out?

▪️The 'Soros empire': "When the Soviet Empire collapsed, I moved in and picked up the pieces — first in Hungary in 1984, then in Poland in 1987. This is how the Soros Empire [was] replacing the Soviet Empire," Soros stated in April 2015.

▪️Russians opposed Western influence: Soros expanded in Russia since the late 1980s but admitted in a 1995 interview that Russians resented Western interference. In 2003, he closed Open Society Foundations'* offices in Russia.

▪️'Resurging' Russia: In 2015, Soros emphasized his active involvement in Russia and lamented that the country was "resurging" while the EU was "disintegrating." That same year, OSF was designated as an "undesirable organization" in Russia.

▪️OSF’s influence in Ukraine: Reflecting on 25 years of work in Ukraine, Soros stated in 2015 that these efforts had "paid off". He hailed post-coup Ukraine - a country overtaken by nationalists - as a new Ukraine eager to be part of the EU."

▪️Soros and Ukrainian youth: After losing influence in Russia, Soros’ OSF focused on Ukraine’s youth. "Ukraine is making strides in... rebuilding trust in its schools," he tweeted in 2017, as Kiev removed the Russian language from schools and ramped up nationalist indoctrination.

▪️Russia as a global 'threat': In a May 2022 article, Soros denounced Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine as a major threat to the world. "The best and perhaps only way to preserve our civilization is to defeat Putin," he claimed.

▪️The end of George's 'imperial' reign: In March 2023, Soros predicted a "powerful Ukrainian offensive" would turn the conflict's tide. But Russia's defeat never came. In June 2023, he handed control of his $25 billion "empire" to his son, Alex.

*Designated as undesirable organization in Russia

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🔎 Why the new grain deal MATTERS to the US

Russia and the US have agreed to advance the Black Sea Initiative – why could the US be interested in the new deal?

🔻Diplomatic strategy

Acting as a broker, America may have a vested interest in taking part in negotiating an agreement that could improve its relations with Russia following key phone talks between Presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump.

🔻Economic considerations

The US remains a major player in global agricultural trade, and potential disruptions to the grain market could affect global commodity prices and ride roughshod over US exporters.

🔻Energy security

The US understands that grain trade is intertwined with broader supply chains, including energy. America also understands that a stable Black Sea corridor means more predictable energy and commodity flows, which benefits energy markets that the US takes part in.

🔻Personal implications

The White House is highly interested in ensuring the implementation of the US-initiated deal, which becomes a question of profit and prestige for America.

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