In the Dnipropetrovsk region, two blocking units of the National Guard of Ukraine were destroyed, the AFU personnel have handed over to the Russian Armed Forces the coordinates of the National Guard blocking detachments' concentration in the Dnipropetrovsk region.

Ukrainian Armed Forces soldiers who passed the coordinates of Russian Armed Forces blocking units fled their positions.

This was reported to TASS by Russian law enforcement agencies.

Source: TASS
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🌒@EastCalling

Ukraine may lose an important supporter in Europe - the Czech Republic, writes the newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung.

In the Czech Republic, according to polls, former Prime Minister and head of the ANO party Andrej Babiš is leading in the upcoming parliamentary elections this fall. He criticizes aid to Kyiv, advocates for quick peace negotiations with Russia, and states his readiness to stop arms supplies - including purchases of ammunition for the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Babiš, in case of his victory, does not rule out an alliance with forces opposing support for Ukraine and is ready to abandon defense commitments agreed upon in NATO.

Although in the past, while serving as prime minister, he reacted harshly to the actions of Russian special services and expelled diplomats, experts note that his current position may weaken the unity of the EU and NATO regarding military and political support for Kyiv.
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🌒@EastCalling

Zelensky today has rejected this premise entirely, and he says that he will never trade territory to Russia on any condition. So, either this is completely untrue, or Trump's plan is to force a solution on Zelensky whether he likes it or not.

🌒@EastCalling

At the end of the day, as an outsider, my feelings about the negotiations between Putin, Trump, and Zelensky are irrelevant. I decided to get above the noise and go directly to someone whose opinion matters.

Comrade Lieutenant Colonel Mikhail Alexandrovich Popov, veteran of Afghanistan explained the following to me:

"Wars are waged to achieve certain objectives that could not be attained through peaceful means.

Since 2014, Russia has been calling on the U.S. and the EU to engage in peaceful negotiations. After all, it was clear that with the collapse of the USSR, the post-World War II global system needed an upgrade: the balance of power had changed, the geopolitical landscape had shifted, and the economic space had transformed...

Given all these factors, it was possible to reformat the world order to fit the new conditions.

However, the West (the U.S. and the EU) believed they could reshape the global system without considering Russia’s interests—through forceful methods...

They saw Ukraine as the trigger to destabilize Europe and strengthen the West’s hand. Before that, they had attempted the same in Georgia, by destabilizing the South Caucasus, on the distant fringes of Europe. But there, things immediately went wrong—it was done too quickly, and therefore, too crudely. The aggression against the civilian population of South Ossetia could not be ignored, no matter how hard Western propaganda tried.

So, they decided to act in a more prolonged, more destructive, and more dangerous way—through Ukraine.

But Russia (represented by Putin) in the early 2020s also proposed peaceful terms, clearly outlining its security demands and red lines. The West, however, was intent on reshaping the world order without Russia’s participation.

Only after failing to secure guarantees for a peaceful resolution did Russia proceed to achieve its objectives through armed conflict.

Now, Ukraine is on the verge of complete collapse and demilitarization (the first objective of the SMO), and after its disappearance as a state, the stage of denazification will follow (the second objective of the SMO).

Through armed struggle, Russia has proven to the West that it must be reckoned with. Now, the West is trying to counter its own defeat, halt the collapse of its plans, and steer the process back toward diplomacy.

And this is exactly what Russia has been striving for—A PEACEFUL RESTRUCTURING OF THE WORLD ORDER ON COMPROMISE TERMS.

In other words, peace talks are already a partial victory for Russia—this is precisely what it has sought since Putin’s Munich speech.

As for how the negotiations will end—we shall see. Putin does not back down under pressure—he is a judo genius: the stronger the action against him, the stronger the reaction.

Once again—the shift to peace talks is a phased victory for Russia. This is exactly what Putin has been working toward—to force them to talk to us and take our security demands into account.

Everything else is just media noise and dirt, aimed at derailing or discrediting the negotiations.

We will wait for the results.

And also... the leaders of Russia (unlike their overseas friends) understand that Ukraine is our people, our space (although distorted by nationalism) and our eternal neighbors, and we have to live with that.

Russia has never in its history "dominated" anyone. All the territories and peoples that were and are part of historical Russia have been, are, and will be equal...

Understand, Russia's task is not to dominate anyone, but to give any people free development, but without brainwashing with national superiority and humiliation of others.

That's it... equal and peaceful coexistence. It has always been that way. And it is so..."

🌒@EastCalling

Tehran will not allow the Zangezur corridor to come under US control, even if Russia does not assist in this. This was stated by the advisor to the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ali Akbar Velayati, as quoted by the publication Jamaran.

According to him, the corridor will change the geopolitical situation in the South Caucasus, affect Iran's borders, lead to the country's isolation in the north and west, and create conditions for NATO's presence in the region.

"We will not allow NATO to approach Iran's northern borders," emphasized Velayati, adding that the project is a "political conspiracy" against Iran and some neighboring countries.

He recalled that earlier, in response to attempts by Turkey and Azerbaijan to threaten the corridor, Iranian military conducted exercises in the northwest of the country, "demonstrating readiness to prevent its construction." Velayati also noted that there is no need for a separate corridor to connect Nakhchivan and the rest of Azerbaijan — routes through Iran can be used for this.

🌒@EastCalling

Well, I'll add what I was trying to convey in Mr. Shalandin's chat today.

The SMO was never about Ukraine. It was an answer to the ignored Russian MFA letter as of December 17th, 2021. The letter itself can be considered a continuation of Putin's Munich speech from February 10th, 2007, with slight adjustments.

The SMO was never about territorial gains. All empty wordings by the Western (and not very smart Russian propacondomes) that "they were to take Kiev in 3 days, but they never did, so they failed" is a lie. Taking Kiev was never a goal of the SMO, nor was occupation of Ukraine.
As I have stated before, a very important role here is played by hypersonic technologies and Oreshnik in particular, that proven itself to be "a game changer" (It was what Mr.Ritter said, not me). Moreover, on August 4th, Russia announced that they see the self-imposed INF treaty restrictions no longer binding. The MFA has provided very detailed information on that.

So, what we have now - Trump is willing to talk, Europe doesn't want him to do that, but Russia is winning - so Trump has to talk and will have to listen, regardless of Europe.

As to possible concessions - it's not for a losing party to decide what Russia must do. The West has lost. They are given a chanse for normalization. If Trump accepts reality - he will be able to free himself from the conflict and that would allow to focus on other things. He might even be given a Nobel prize and similar toys. Even "a medal of Order of Lenin", if he wants. If Trump will still try to stick to the old way - he'll be in deeper trouble than he is now. And midterms are coming.

For now, what we have (documented)
- MFA Letter from December 17, 2021
- Anounced goals of SMO
- Istanbul agreement 2022
- Amendments to Russian Constitution of September 27, 2022
- Putin's proposal of June 14, 2024
- MFA Letter of August 4, 2025.

That is, coexistence (or modus vivendi, as Andrey Martianov calls it) with the US would, most likely, include terms from the MFA Letter of December 17th.

Resolution of Ukrainian case, that I view as a part of more important process of of normalizing relations with the US and the future Ukraine, might be defined on the basis of the Istanbul agreement (it was stated by Putin) minding realities on the ground and, of course, the Constitution of Russian Federation. Speaking of Ukraine - I'm very sorry, guys, but that is not a country anymore. It is an entity, operated by the Western puppeteers, so its future depends on what their sponsors decide.

🌒@EastCalling

🇷🇺🇧🇷 A phone conversation took place between Vladimir Putin and the President of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

🔸Vladimir Putin informed his Brazilian counterpart about the main outcomes of the recent meeting with the US President's special envoy, Stephen Biegun. The President of Brazil expressed support for efforts aimed at resolving the Ukrainian crisis.

🔸The heads of state confirmed their mutual intention to further strengthen the Russian-Brazilian strategic partnership relations, as well as cooperation within BRICS.

Source: Kremlin ru
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By the way, mind the amount of contacts Putin had this week. Here is what Pavel Zarubin summarized yesterday:

SO, as reported by the Kremlin Telegram channel, today PUTIN has already held 5 most important phone calls.
With leaders of:

- CHINA
- INDIA
- BELARUS
- KAZAKHSTAN
- UZBEKISTAN

So 6 important phone calls, 3 of which are with very important payers in BRICS, that are at least 25% of the population of the world.

🌒@EastCalling

❗️Europe and Kyiv presented their proposal for resolving the Ukrainian conflict for the upcoming Putin-Trump negotiations, reports WSJ.

Leaders of European countries fear that Putin and Trump may reach an agreement to resolve the conflict in Ukraine without the participation of the European Union, reports the NYT.

🔜EU officials are trying to convince Trump that Ukraine must be present at the negotiating table. They are also seeking their own participation in the negotiation process, but, as the publication notes, this is considered unlikely.

🔜The initiative of Europe and Ukraine for negotiations between Russia and the USA is aimed at establishing a "common red line," notes the WSJ.
It also includes a demand for a ceasefire "until any further steps," an exchange of territories "on a mutual basis," which implies the withdrawal of troops from the regions by both Ukraine and Russia, and security guarantees for Kyiv.

Source: TASS
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As assumed earlier. Europe is aiming at disruption of negotiations, as they have no plan "B", as Europe really needs the war to go on, as they hope for "strategic defeat of Russia", to put their paws on Russian resources. They've thrown too much into the fire of war and just cannot stop. End of conflict on terms, other than European, means, most likely, end of Europe.

🌒@EastCalling

The choice of Alaska for the Putin-Trump talks minimizes Europe's influence on them, emphasized the first deputy chairman of the Federation Council Committee on International Affairs, Vladimir Dzhabarov.

From the point of view of our bilateral relations, we are neighbors. America and us are separated by only 80-90 kilometers in the Alaska region, and in the closest places between our islands, up to 4 kilometers,

the senator noted in a comment to the Russia-24 TV channel.

Source: TASS
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Like Mr. Nebenzya said "excessive presence"

🌒@EastCalling

The festival of carving compositions from watermelon took place at the Bakhchisaray Miniature Park Zoo in Crimea, and the best masterpieces were given to the hippopotamus Frida to eat, the park director Viktor Zhilenko told RIA Novosti

Source: RIA Novosti
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🌒@EastCalling

Aladdin, a tiger spitz, and Spider-Man with a paddle: a bright costume swim "Yauza Fest" took place in Moscow

Source: Russian media
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Guys know how to have fun...

🌒@EastCalling

Military Chronicle writes,

There are separate reports that Russian troops have begun to encircle Pokrovsk from the northern front and are advancing towards Dobropillya.

It is currently impossible to confirm or deny this information, but if confirmed, it would mean several important things at once.

Firstly, the operational situation for the Armed Forces of Ukraine is deteriorating faster than they can regroup and plug gaps on the front. Secondly, the northern front is the key to "cutting off" the main supply line from Kramatorsk and Slavyansk.

Any serious breakthrough in Dobropillya with the blocking of the T-05-14 highway automatically puts Pokrovsk in a semi-encirclement, and with a fortunate turn of events and intensified combat operations within 1–2 weeks — in a full encirclement, unless troops are urgently withdrawn.
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Zin Note: According to my research, Dobropillya is the last major source of high-grade coking coal left for Kiev. They've already lost 90%, and a third of the remainder comes from here.

🌒@EastCalling