Russian MoD:

Russian warship Vasily Bykov opened warning fire on dry cargo ship SUKRU OKAN under the flag of Palau, en route to the Ukrainian port of Izmail.

Russian inspection team boarded the dry cargo ship.

After that, the ship continued to move to the port of Izmail.

Impressive footage of Ukrainian forces destroying 4 x Russian 2S19 Msta-S 152mm Self-Propelled Howitzers with HIMARS strikes.

Russian commander of the reconnaissance group of the regiment 1822, Major Tomov, has been captured by Ukrainian forces after clashes near Kozachi Laheri, Kherson.

He’s now working for Ukrainian forces.

WSJ:

It was hoped that a successful counter-offensive Ukrainian forces would help force Russia into negotiations by winter. Chances of that happening now appear slim.

But now Western politicians are starting to think about preparing Kyiv for a possible offensive next spring.

Ukraine’s Strana:

Western partners allegedly want to see a woman head of the Ukrainian MoD.

Volunteer Maria Berlinskaya, Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk and Director of the Anti-Corruption Action Center Daria Kaleniuk are considered among the possible candidates.

Russian Navy forces illegally inspecting dry cargo ship SUKRU OKAN under the flag of Palau in the southwestern part of the Black Sea with Ka-29 helicopter today.

Chinese Defense Minister to visit Russia and Belarus on August 14-19.

Niger's military junta has agreed to start talks with ECOWAS leaders.

However, they intend to charge ousted President Mohamed Bazoum & his accomplices to be prosecuted on charges of treason and endangering state security.

Ukraine claims to have shot downed another Russian Ka-52 attack helicopter at 5:00 in the morning.

Ukrainian soldiers with a Russian POW.

Damaged and abandoned 3 x Russian T-90M "Proryv" tanks, MT-LB & BMP (?) near Andriivka, Donetsk.

Very rare footage of the separation and opening of the wings of 2 x FAB-500M62 guided bombs from Russian Su-34 bomber.

Bosnia and Herzegovina-based website etto claims Serbia ordered 20,000 Shahed-136 kamikaze UAVs from Iran, saying "there are no obstacles to improving relations."

Russian MoD ordered a batch of Tigr-M armored vehicles with additional armor for doors, hood and wheels.

The developers call this version of the armored vehicle "Mad Max".

WSJ, citing Austin Gray, a former US Navy intelligence officer who now works for a UAV manufacturing company:

U.S. defense-tech firms have spent months testing their drones in Ukraine, but some now leave their drones in storage because they couldn’t perform perfectly in Ukraine’s harsh battlefield conditions.

U.S. firms don’t have a mass-market consumer drone that costs only a few thousand dollars, which is what Ukraine needs to replace DJI’s Mavic-3, the ubiquitous Chinese tool on the front line.

The Pentagon or Commerce Department could encourage U.S. firms to enter the cheaper drone market, but they can’t buy drones that don’t exist at scale.