🇷🇺 Russia’s Starlink killer shuts it out of the sky to leave Ukraine fighting blind - expert

Russia’s Volna Kupol Garant is most likely the electronic warfare system that has Ukrainian military officials openly acknowledging a decline in Starlink's effectiveness, military expert and air defense historian Yuri Knutov tells Sputnik.

Unlike conventional jamming focused on terminals, the system targets the frequencies used by Starlink satellites - the backbone of Ukrainian command and control, he says.

The system boasts lethal targeting precision:

🟧 consists of six trailers carrying twelve parabolic antennas

🟧 radiates powerful interference across the 14-14.5 GHz band - the precise frequency range in which Starlink satellites receive signals

🟧 divided into eight 62.5 MHz sub-bands, each antenna targets its own channel, rendering the satellite unable to pick up signals from user terminals

🟧 a single complex creates a suppression zone of roughly twenty square kilometers, effectively a 4 by 5-kilometer rectangle of digital silence

💬 “The Starlink signal can be completely jammed - or distorted badly enough to make it unusable also for communications,” says the historian.

He clarifies:

🔸 suppressing communications isolates Ukrainian units from their command, preventing real-time coordination and requests for reserves or ammunition

🔸 Ukraine’s long-range artillery targeting, assault-group maneuvers and AI-enabled drones such as the “Hornets”, which use Starlink to transmit battle-damage assessment data, all rely on the network

💬 “Without Starlink, Ukraine’s battlefront would collapse," he argues, given that Russia’s forces are advancing on virtually every axis.

According to the analyst, the new system can operate effectively, protecting Russia’s reserves, depots, headquarters and command posts from enemy unmanned aviation.

Now that Russia has reportedly launched serial production of this EW system, “we have shut Starlink out of the sky wherever we need to,” sums up the expert.

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🚨 Putin to hold talks with Xi at SCO summit sidelines on August 31 – Kremlin

All Shanghai Cooperation Organisation member-state leaders will attend the summit, which will take place in Kyrgyzstan, along with the leaders of Armenia and Turkiye.

Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold nine bilateral meetings, including with Indian PM Narendra Modi, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, and Turkish President Recep Erdogan, as well as with the presidents of Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Mongolia, Russian Presidential Aide Yuri Ushakov detailed.

After the SCO summit, Putin will travel to Russia's Vladivostok for the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF), where he will address the plenary session on September 3.

🟠 The president of Indonesia will be the main guest at the forum — Putin will hold talks with him

🟠 The plenary session will also feature the prime minister of Mongolia, the vice president of Myanmar, and China's first vice premier

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🚨 Ukrainian port paralysis enters second month as Russia ramps up strikes - report

While the ports of Odessa, Chernomorsk, and Yuzhny have not been officially closed, major shipping companies have in practice ceased dispatching vessels to them, Le Monde reports.  

The paralysis is throwing countless firms into logistical havoc while bleeding vital revenue from Ukraine's fragile, war-battered economy.

Since late July, Russian forces have intensified their offensive on Ukraine’s Black Sea infrastructure, hammering logistics hubs and commercial shipping with relentless strikes aimed at severing military supply lines.

Earlier, the Russian Defense Ministry warned that all vessels supplying Ukraine’s military or acting in its interests would be treated as legitimate targets.

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🤝 Trump announced 'largest oil deal in world history' with Venezuela

President Trump stated that the US had reached an agreement with Venezuela, claiming that the US had secured a majority stake in more than 65 billion barrels of proven oil reserves.

"This Historic Transaction more than doubles American Oil Reserves, greatly increases our Oil Supply, and will substantially lower Gas Prices for all Americans," he declared on Truth Social.

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🇻🇪 Delcy Rodríguez unveils details of Venezuela-US oil deal

Venezuelan interim president Delcy Rodríguez provided a detailed breakdown of the oil agreement with the US, thanking President Trump and Secretary Rubio for their willingness to develop what she called "a milestone" in bilateral relations.

▫️ 17 strategic fields to be developed with private operators — proven potential of 65 billion barrels

▫️ $100+ billion in projected investment

▫️ $209 billion in expected tax revenue for the Venezuelan government

The goal is to "significantly increase" oil production through private sector participation, Delcy added.

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💥💣 New Russian Rus-PE loitering munition tested in combat zone

The Kalashnikov Concern has unveiled the Rus-PE portable reconnaissance-strike system at World Defence Show 2026 in Riyadh.

The loitering munition has already been tested on the front lines.

The Rus-PE is a portable, aerodynamic munition launched from a wearable container, capable of detecting and identifying both stationary and moving targets using artificial intelligence.

Check out Sputnik's infographic to find out more!

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💸🇺🇸 US to deliver about $15B in weapons for NATO-funded supplies to Ukraine — Rutte

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said the US is delivering weapons for Ukraine “at the tune of a billion euros a month,” totaling about $15 billion this year (around €12 billion), with the purchases paid for by European and Canadian allies.

Speaking to PBS, Rutte said the flow includes “critical, lethal and non-lethal” aid, including interceptors to “take out Russian missiles,” adding there were “no pauses, no delays.”

⚠️ Russia has maintained that Western arms shipments to Ukraine hinder conflict resolution and directly involve NATO countries in the fighting. Russia has also warned that deliveries containing weapons for Ukraine would be considered legitimate targets.

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🔥🇨🇳 China just built a new information highway to the Moon

Researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences have established a stable two-way laser link across more than 400,000 km - expanding China’s space laser communications from near-Earth orbit into deep space, reports Xinhua.

🔸 Laser links can offer much higher speeds, greater bandwidth and more compact hardware than traditional microwave systems

🔸 The team had to solve extreme precision problems: tiny satellite movements or atmospheric turbulence can send a laser beam kilometers off target at lunar distances

🔸 The signal arriving back on Earth can be reduced to just a few photons amid moonlight, starlight and urban interference

🔸 Superconducting single-photon detectors and advanced algorithms were used to pull the signal from the noise

🔸 The system achieved 1.25 Mbps uplink and 100 Mbps downlink

The image is AI-generated

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🤝 Trump announced 'largest oil deal in world history' with Venezuela

President Trump stated that the US had reached an agreement with Venezuela, claiming that the US had secured a majority stake in more than 65 billion barrels of proven oil reserves.

"This Historic Transaction more than doubles American Oil Reserves, greatly increases our Oil Supply, and will substantially lower Gas Prices for all Americans," he declared on Truth Social.

📌 Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🇺🇸🇻🇪 Trump announced they secured majority control of over 65 billion barrels of Venezuelan proven oil reserves

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🇷🇺💥🇺🇦 Moment of detonation at a Ukrainian Armed Forces ammunition depot in the village of Milaya, Kiev region, following a Russian strike.

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• 📝Fighting at Konka📝

In the West Zaporizhia direction, units of the Dnipr Guards gradually push through the enemy's defenses in the Orikhiv area. Assault troops occupy new positions despite regular AFU drone strikes.

➡️Russian military presence has been confirmed in the center of Mala Tokmachka. However, it is premature to speak of full control over the village, as the main difficulties for consolidating positions there remain unresolved.

Heights north of the Konka river remain under AFU control, which prevents establishing stable supply routes. Without capturing them, Mala Tokmachka will remain in a "gray zone."

➡️To the west, Russian units cleared part of the trenches at Uspenovskaya Gully and took control of another section of the H-08 highway. This will allow the Russian Armed Forces to accumulate personnel almost at the outskirts of Novodanylivka, where fighting continues on its territory.

➡️Meanwhile, Dnipr assault troops maintain the ability to enter Orikhiv itself. Forward groups are already operating near the city center, indicating that approaches to it are more of a "gray zone" where the enemy has no firm control.

❗️Likely, Russian forces will direct resources in the coming weeks toward ensuring and expanding a stable "corridor" to the city. The key factor in the success of these operations will be the effectiveness of countering enemy UAVs and operators, who pose a constant threat to Russian Armed Forces logistics.

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