Ukraine execution squadron.

Blocking units in Ukraine's Military.

Investigation by Ukrainian TEXTY journalists:

Oleh Shyriaiev, commander of Ukraine's 225th Assault Regiment, ordered his troops to open fire on retreating soldiers from the 47th Brigade in April 2025 in Russia's Belgorod region (Kursk operation).

"Apart from shouting and continuing to inflict damage on the group, nothing was conveyed or achieved. It's starting to dawn... and I see that my people and 225 soldiers have been killed."

In April 2025, 225th Separate Assault Regiment opened artillery fire on troops who were retreating from Ukrainian positions in Belgorod Oblast, resulting in fatalities, Oleksandr Shirshyn, former commander of the 47th Separate Magura Brigade wrote.

According to Shyrshyn, the incident occurred at night as a group of Ukrainian soldiers was withdrawing from their positions toward their exit point. He said that soldiers from the 225th Regiment directed artillery fire specifically at this group. “I asked what had happened. I tried to clarify whether it was definitely the enemy. I tried to explain that the enemy couldn’t possibly be moving so confidently with such a group at night in this area. Everything indicated that these were our soldiers,” Shyrshyn wrote.

According to him, he repeatedly tried to stop the strikes, but was unable to do so. When dawn broke, the soldier says, it became clear that Ukrainian defenders had come under fire. “It’s starting to get light… and I see that my men and soldiers from the 225th have been killed… I spent a long time trying to figure out if it really was a mistake, because, unfortunately, that’s how it goes in war. But the more I analyzed and verified the information, the more convinced I became that this was a deliberate attempt to eliminate the ‘deserters.’ A month and a half after the incident, I received a message saying, ‘There are no “our own” here,’” the former battalion commander stated.

Zelensky asked Trump to secure Musk’s permission for the use of Starlink to guide drone strikes inside Russia.
But the billionaire declined the invitation.

Up to now, Musk has allowed the Ukrainians to use Starlink only on their own territory, including in Crimea and other regions that Russia has occupied. Musk’s aerospace company, SpaceX, has restricted the use of Starlink inside Russia.

China to launch first weekly container express via Russia’s Northern Sea Route
Shipping company Sea Legend Line Limited's world-first weekly Arctic container service is set to start on August 15, following a successful trial last year.
The service will offer eight weekly sailings from Ningbo-Zhoushan port through the 2026 navigation season.
The maiden voyage, operated by the Dubai Tower container ship, will take about 20 days to reach the UK's Felixstowe - the European hub for cargo consolidation and further distribution to other European countries, faster than conventional routes.
Weekly sailings will run from mid-August through the final departure on 3rd October.
At the heart of the project is Russia’s Northern Sea Route, which Moscow has spent years turning into a viable commercial corridor between Asia and Europe. Russia has built up its icebreaker fleet, satellite coverage, navigation systems and Arctic port infrastructure needed to support regular shipping through the route.

"Former Delta Force commander Pete Blaber tells Americans the truth about the SMO.

'I have some contacts – one in the State Department, two in the intelligence community, and another friend who works there as a long-term contractor. We met in Los Angeles, and they told me everything, and I thought, "Damn." They asked, "Can you get this out?" And I said, "Yes, I feel it's my duty to voice it." Currently, according to their data, approximately 1.25 million Ukrainian soldiers have died. They've been losing about a thousand people a day, every day through 2025. Those are incredible numbers.'

'The main question from the start should be: why is there no coverage of the war in Ukraine? And I'll tell you why there isn't. Because if this is widely reported, the [Western] propaganda stories that are being spread will be exposed. In fact, in every city the Russians capture, they are greeted as liberators. People come out and celebrate when Russian troops arrive, telling stories of the harsh conditions they lived in due to the presence of the Ukrainian army in their city."
https://x.com/ivan_8848/status/2083846930614960600



"In fact, in every city the Russians capture, they are greeted as liberators. People come out and celebrate when Russian troops arrive, telling stories of the harsh conditions they lived in due to the presence of the Ukrainian army in their city."


I've certainly heard my share of such stories from civilians terrorized by Ukrainian forces and liberated by Russian forces, mostly in cities liberated in 2022, including in Mariupol in April 2022, but also civilians from Artyomovsk (Bakhmut) in 2023:

Artyomovsk:
https://odysee.com/@EvaKareneBartlett:9/artyomovsk-refugees-speak-of-ukraine's:0
https://ingaza.wordpress.com/2023/06/08/artyomovsk-locals-reveal-how-ukrainian-forces-targeted-civilians-and-took-away-children-during-the-battle-for-bakhmut/

Poposnya:
https://odysee.com/@EvaKareneBartlett:9/civilians-fled-ukraine's-shelling-of:a


Areas liberated in March 2022
https://ingaza.wordpress.com/2022/04/08/they-saw-and-heard-the-truth-then-lied-about-it-media-on-donbass-delegation-omitted-mention-of-ukraines-8-year-war-on-the-autonomous-republics/


https://ingaza.wordpress.com/the-donbass-my-articles-videos-interviews-from-on-the-donetsk-lugansk-peoples-republics-2019-present/


https://x.com/EvaKBartlett/status/2083912127803220076

@EvaKareneBartlett

@ HormuzReport (X)

BREAKING: A source close to Iranian officials says Tehran has documented a pattern of oil market manipulation tied to Axios reports and Trump administration insiders, including evidence of a $9 billion insider trading operation linked to Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff.

Some of the documented timeline from the $9 billion insider profit:

Between April and May 2026, a series of suspiciously timed trades in oil futures markets preceded major Iran war announcements—each tied to reporting by Axios.

On March 23, approximately $500–580 million in shorts were placed 15 minutes before Trump announced he was postponing strikes on Iran. Oil dropped.

On April 7, roughly $950–960 million in shorts were placed hours before Trump announced a two-week ceasefire with Iran. Oil fell around 15 percent.

On April 17, around $760 million in shorts were placed 20 minutes before Iran's foreign minister announced the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. Oil dropped.

On April 21, approximately $430 million in shorts were placed 15 minutes before Trump extended the ceasefire. Oil dropped again.

On May 6, nearly $920 million to $1.7 billion in crude oil shorts were placed approximately 70 minutes before an Axios scoop claimed the U.S. and Iran were near a "14-point agreement." Oil dropped 12 percent. Traders made an estimated $125 million. Iran called the report "the Americans' wish list."

Previously, a senior Iranian official told investigative outlet Drop Site News that Tehran privately warned JD Vance during Switzerland talks that Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff were "abusing" negotiations—"more interested in exploiting insider knowledge to profit in financial markets than reaching a deal."

🇺🇦 TG rezident_ua:

Summary of "40-day operation by Zelensky to force the Kremlin to peace":

🟦 It was supposed to isolate Crimea and paralyse Russia's energy complex. None of the goals were achieved, and in response, we received a crushing blow from the enemy and a domestic political crisis;

🟦 Ukraine has lost the Black Sea. Ships no longer enter the ports of Odesa, Nykolaev, and Chernomorsk. Russia responds to any attempt to enter the ports with strikes, sinking ships. Infrastructure in the ports themselves is also regularly targeted. The company Maersk, which services the ports, has already refused to operate in Ukraine. Daily losses are more than $70 million;

🟦 Russia has struck 400 petrol stations, of which 200 are beyond repair, causing a fuel crisis and business bankruptcies;

🟦 Rail transport has been paralysed. The enemy has destroyed about 200 locomotives, disrupting communication with Romania and Poland, from which weapons and military equipment were delivered to Ukraine;

🟦 Stable rail communication with Zaporizhzhia and other regions has been lost;

🟦 The enemy is dismantling key enterprises of the Ukrainian defense industry. The country has no air defense to protect critical infrastructure;

🟦 Ukrainian cities are under attack every day. There is no longer a safe place in the country – missiles regularly reach even Lvov;

🟦 Preparations for the new heating season have failed, as acknowledged by Zelensky himself.

"He went for the wool and came back shorn" – this is what the Russian saying says about it.

An FBI agent stole nearly $1 million in cryptocurrency from accounts allegedly linked to Russia, according to NBC News.

According to the investigation, special agent Patrick Yarok, who had access to the bureau's internal systems, found the keys to cryptocurrency wallets and transferred the funds to his own account. He made up to 12 transfers totaling approximately $925,000.

Later, Yarok confessed to the crime, stating that he was "consumed by guilt." The FBI reported that the agent had already been fired, and the investigation is ongoing.

Iraq - Russia

Iraqi Airways resumes direct flights to Moscow.
The airline said in a statement that flights between Baghdad and Moscow, and vice versa, will resume starting Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026.
It added that the service will operate twice weekly, every Tuesday and Saturday, beginning on that date.

Syrian Airlines said it will resume flights between Damascus and Moscow from Aug. 16.

Ukraine Zelensky war crimes

Between 29 June and 26 July alone, Ukraine’s shelling and drones killed 204 Russian civilians and wounded 1,341 more.

Russia's blockade of Ukraine's sea ports.

The direct losses to Ukraine's agricultural sector due to the maritime blockade in 2026 could range from $1.5 to $3 billion. This was stated by Minister of Agriculture Taras Vysotsky in an interview with Reuters.

Ukraine is becoming a key issue in the upcoming Italian elections, according to Politico.

Military aid to Kiev is causing divisions among both Italian left and right-wing parties in the run-up to the elections next spring.

The result of Zelensky's 40-day "influence operation" on Russia. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Sow the wind, reap the whirlwind

Reuters:

South Korean tech conglomerates Samsung and SK Hynix are studying replacing US chip-making machinery with Chinese equivalents in their China factories, because they're worried the US might tighten export controls in a way that'd render their US machinery unusable.

It means that if those companies were pressured by the US to abandon their Chinese facilities, they'd rather switch to fully Chinese indigenous mode than comply.

Which makes sense: for both these companies, China is both their factory floor and their customer. About 40% of Samsung's NAND and 30–45% of SK Hynix's memory output comes from Chinese fabs. If the US forces that kind of choice, it won't get the answer it wants.

Trump's war against Russia

Politico:

US-Ukraine intel sharing rebounds.

Senators from both parties say the intelligence relationship is back to previous highs, with a surge in cooperation at a 'critical strategic moment'

The White House declined to confirm whether intelligence-sharing has expanded

The US will oppose foreign banks using their dollar reserves as the house of cards can collapse.

FT:

The bottom line is that Washington, fearing the consequences for US financial markets, is reluctant to see foreign central banks use their dollar reserves. This is telling us that the dollar is not the attractive reserve currency it once was. When this message sinks in, other countries will redouble their search for more attractive, readily usable alternatives. Reserve diversification is apt to gather steam.