“Ukraine – Russia”

With a hypersonic missile slung under its belly, a Russian MiG-31K bomber roared into the air from Savasleyka airbase, 180 miles east of Moscow. It was less than 24 hours after suspected Ukrainian drones had struck at the Kremlin, and the pilot had orders to exact revenge.

The jet dropped its load as it raced towards the Ukrainian border. A short fall, blaze of flame and trail of smoke later, the Kinzhal, or Dagger, was arching towards the atmosphere in the direction of Kyiv. Ukrainian air defence command had only minutes to stop the Mach 10 ballistic missile from striking the seat of President Zelensky’s government.

#Ukraine: Footage from the kamikaze USV that managed to severely damage the "Olenegorsky Gornyk" Project 775 large landing ship. As per the source, this was a joint SBU & Ukrainian Navy attack.

The drone is said to have carried 450kg of explosives. https://t.co/o3cRb5hc4z pic.twitter.com/Vs2gfnyPi2

— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) August 4, 2023

The first edition of Playboy to be printed in Ukraine since Russia launched its invasion has featured a survivor of a suspected assassination attempt as its cover star, clad in an eyepatch and a metal bikini.

Iryna Bilotserkovets, a model and TV presenter, was forced to undergo several rounds of reconstructive surgery after being hit by bullets in Kyiv shortly after Russia began its offensive. The attack was blamed on pro-Russian forces.

Washington is doing a poor job of monitoring whether the weapons it sends to Ukraine are ending up in the right hands.

Fears of loose weapons in Ukraine have become reality: Once American weapons arrive, Ukrainian criminals steal them. If U.S. arms transfer policies are not changed, Washington will inevitably accidentally arm groups that actively want to harm the United States.

In June, two separate Department of Defense inspector general reports revealed poor monitoring when U.S. weapons are transferred to Ukraine. Challenges in Ukraine’s war zone have made it nearly impossible to track the weapons.

WASHINGTON — When Volodymyr Zelenskyy was asked whether he was worried by Russian attempts to kill him, he answered he couldn’t afford to be.

“If I were thinking about it constantly, I would just shut myself down, very much like Putin now who doesn’t leave his bunker,” the Ukrainian leader said in an interview with CNN last month. “Of course, my bodyguards should think how to prevent this from happening, and this is their task. I don’t think about it.”

Elon Musk forced Ukraine to drop a planned naval drone strike in the Black Sea by refusing access to the Starlink satellite network, according to a US report.

The Ukrainian military was not able to remotely pilot a drone laden with explosives into a Russian ship in occupied Crimea following the decision of the SpaceX chief executive.

Mr Musk, the 52-year-old South African-born billionaire, has previously said he does not want Starlink used to conduct long-range offensive strikes.

Collapsed grain and gas deals spell disaster for Europe

Amid the never-ending coverage of the latest offensive or counteroffensive in Ukraine, it is often unappreciated just how much worse the global economic repercussions from the conflict could have been. Russia is the world’s leading exporter of gas and provided around 50% of the EU’s demand before the war; Ukraine, meanwhile, is a major exporter of grain, alongside Russia itself. The complete disruption of either of these channels would have resulted in catastrophe.

“We have a dangerous future because of … Xi Jinping.”

When Edward Luttwak speaks, world leaders listen — and now they must consider heeding his advice on Ukraine.

Luttwak has been advising world leaders, including U.S. presidents, since the 1980s. He is the author of seminal books on history and strategy, including The Grand Strategy of the Roman Empire, The Grand Strategy of the Byzantine Empire, The Rise of China vs. The Logic of Strategy, Strategy: The Logic of War and Peace, and Coup d‘État: A Practical Handbook. Most recently, he has been writing about the Russia–Ukraine war and about China for the online journal UnHerd, and he recently appeared in an hour-long podcast on UnHerd’s website. 

Moscow said it shot down two Ukrainian missiles over southwestern Russia on Friday, including one that fell and exploded in a city center — apparently rare instances of Ukraine using such powerful weapons to attack targets inside Russia.

Coming as Ukraine, within its own borders, steps up its counteroffensive against the Russian invaders, the missile attacks could signal a more aggressive effort to expand a war that until now has brought death and destruction almost exclusively to Ukrainian territory.

#Ukraine: A Ukrainian M-55S tank was destroyed by a strike of the Russian army near Kreminna, #Luhansk Oblast. pic.twitter.com/tLZvbGmT2S

— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) July 22, 2023

A Ukrainian push to break through heavily fortified Russian lines in the southeast of the country is likely to be the “opening salvo” in a larger battle that has drawn comparisons to the Normandy landings.

Fierce battles are under way in the Zaporizhzhia region, involving thousands of western-trained and equipped Ukrainian reinforcements in what appears to be the most significant phase so far of Kyiv’s counteroffensive.

Despite having to overcome huge minefields, bunkers and tank traps, as well as blistering artillery and airstrikes, Ukrainian brigades have made some limited progress in a number of areas south of the town of Orikhiv, according to analysts and pro-war military bloggers in Moscow.

#Ukraine: The Ukrainian 72nd Mechanized Brigade chased down a Russian T-80BV with an FPV loitering munition in the vicinity of Vuhledar, #Donetsk Oblast- blowing the tank apart on impact, as the ammunition on board exploded. pic.twitter.com/pMBOB0ls0s

— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) July 26, 2023

The general in charge of Ukraine’s stuttering counter-offensive in the south has said Russian defences are making it difficult for military equipment, including Western tanks and armoured vehicles, to move forward.

Gen Oleksandr Tarnavskyi says his forces are struggling to overcome multi-layered minefields and fortified defensive lines.

“That is why most of the tasks have to be performed by troops.”

He says Russia’s military has displayed “professional qualities” by preventing Ukrainian forces from “advancing quickly”.

#Ukraine: The spectacular destruction of a Russian TOS-1A thermobaric multiple rocket launcher by an FPV loitering munition of the Ukrainian SBU "Alpha". pic.twitter.com/BCGYMAfc5s

— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) July 27, 2023

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has every right to feel deeply aggrieved over his shameful treatment at the recent Nato summit, where he failed to secure a firm commitment that his country will ultimately be allowed to join the alliance.

Zelensky had travelled to the Lithuanian capital Vilnius, the venue for this year’s summit of Nato leaders, in the hope of securing a clear timetable for Ukraine to become a fully fledged member of the alliance.

But how do the Biden crime clan’s Ukraine bribery allegations fit into this calculus.

Is it a threat by Senile Joe’s handlers to ensure Zelensky prevents any embarassing leaks during Biden’s re-election campaign?

🚨ZELENSKY ALLEGEDLY HAD KNOWLEDGE OF BIDENS’ WRONGDOINGS | USING THIS INFO AS LEVERAGE?

Zelensky allegedly holds proof in the Biden bribery scandal. The meeting between Hunter Biden and Burisma, outlined in the FBI’s FD-1023 form, was attended by a top associate of Zelensky.… pic.twitter.com/VchGmoLPyu

— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) July 25, 2023

The counteroffensive against Russia is being hampered by the entrenched ways of Ukraine’s senior military, a leaked report says

Germany’s armed forces have criticised the tactics adopted by the Ukrainian army in its counteroffensive against Russian positions and said that battle-hardened troops and officers were ignoring methods taught in western training, according to a leaked Bundeswehr paper.

The Bild newspaper reported that it had obtained a confidential German army assessment of the Ukrainian assault that Kyiv has admitted is making slower progress than hoped.

The Ukrainian forces were splitting their western-trained brigades into small units of just ten to 30 soldiers in some cases to attack an enemy position, which meant they weren’t putting their western training, superior weapons or large troop numbers to use, the report said.

#Ukraine: A Russian 2S7[M] Pion 203mm self-propelled howitzer was destroyed by a GMLRS strike of the Ukrainian army near Roty, #Donetsk Oblast – filmed by a 🇵🇱 WB FlyEye recon UAV.

📹: @lost_warinua pic.twitter.com/JJ7Ekk0Z6l

— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) July 23, 2023

Shipments of military-capable hardware expose a China-sized loophole in Western sanctions.

The pictures posted on the Chinese company’s website show a tall, Caucasian man with a crew cut and flattened nose inspecting body armor at its factory.

“This spring, one of our customers came to our company to confirm the style and quantity of bulletproof vests, and carefully tested the quality of our vests,” Shanghai H Win, a manufacturer of military-grade protective gear, proudly reported on its website in March. The customer “immediately directly confirmed the order quantity of bulletproof vests and subsequent purchase intention.”

#Ukraine: The first photo of 155mm cluster projectiles which were recently transferred by the US in Ukrainian service.

We can see 🇺🇸 M864 extended range (29km) base-bleed projectiles, each carrying 72 dual-purpose submunitions. Normally these rounds are treated as war reserve. pic.twitter.com/nMobQqk80V

— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) July 24, 2023

Donald Trump accused Europe of ‘smiling all the way to the bank’ because it has avoided forking over too much cash and military aid to Ukraine during its war with Russia.

Instead, Trump says, the U.S. has been burdened with the brunt of assistance for Ukraine – even coming from a less at-risk area across the ocean from the fighting.

MARIA BARTIROMO: Would you stop the money to Ukraine at this point?

TRUMP: Uh, I'd get the war settled. pic.twitter.com/x3W35eI0I0

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 23, 2023

… In eight months, Putin faces re-election with his popularity ratings having dropped by 20 percent and his myth punctured by the Wagner rebellion. Four months after that, Biden, if he manages to get his party’s nomination, will also face re-election. Both men need to show something for the immense resources they have used, or wasted, on a needless war.

… A number of events, under-reported by global media, point in that direction. First, there were leaked reports about the opening of a track-2 diplomatic channel by the US to Russia. Track-2 designates “probing talks” with an adversary conducted through unofficial or semi-official figures. In World War II, US President Franklin Roosevelt used the method through his dentist who held talks with a representative of the SS chief Heinrich Himmler in neutral Stockholm.

This seems a probable route to a politically necessary “peace.”