NEW BRIDGEHEAD, NEW DEFEAT OF UKRAINIAN MILITARY

⚡️🇷🇺🇺🇦⚔️ #Highlight s of Russian Military Operation in #Ukraine on 17 August 2023⚡️

💎 A brilliant Video by @Rybar but 7.7 MB only instead of 53.9 MB.

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⚡️🇷🇺🇺🇦⚔️ Frontline #Summary for the Morning of 18 August 2023; pub. 08:01⚡️

🔹In the #Zaporozhye Direction, after heavy shelling, the AFU occupied the northern part of #Rabotino village.⚠️
▪️ To the east they were on the offensive along the N-08 motorway south of #Novopokrovka. There is an advance.⚠️ Thus, the Ukrainian forces are trying to expand the front of the offensive on #Tokmak and at the same time to secure the flank in the zone of a possible breakthrough.
▪️ The AFU also continued combat reconnaissance near #Dorozhnyanka. And this is already the direction to the strategic #Pologi. Obviously, the Ukrainian command has decided to restrain the Russian troops on a wider section of the front. The aim is to prevent the transfer of units to problem areas.
💥 Ukrainian positions in #Plavni, #Kamenskoye, #Lukyanovskoye, #Novoandreyevka, #Novodanilovka, Malyaya Tokmachka and #Omelnik are under fire.
💥 Russian positions are in #Zherebyanka, #Kopani, #Novoprokopovka and #Verbovoye. (Fig. 1)

🔹In the #Ugledar Section, the AFU, supported by artillery, attacked near #Priyutnoye. Without success.⚠️
▪️ But similar actions from the direction of #Urozhaynoye led to an advance⚠️ in the direction of #Kermenchik. In this settlement there are key heights over the entire #Ugledar direction.
💥 The RF Armed Forces struck the AFU in #Staromayorskoye, #Blagodatnoye, #Urozhaynoye, Bolshaya Novosyolka, #Prechistovka, #Bogoyavlenka, #Ugledar and #Vodyanoye (not to be confused with the village of the same name northwest of Donetsk).
💥 Ukrainian artillery worked Zavetnoye Zhelaniye, #Staromlynovka, #Novodonetskoye, #Novomayorskoye, and #Nikolskoye. (Fig. 2)

🔹In the #Bakhmut Direction, the AFU, supported by artillery, resumed assault operations near #Kleshcheyevka. The RF Armed Forces, in turn, counterattacked from the direction of Dubovo-Vasilyevka to the direction of #Bogdanovka. Both sides were unsuccessful.⚠️
💥 Russian forces shelled the AFU in Chasov Yar, #Pereyezdnoye, #Razdolovka, #Vyemka and #Seversk.
💥 Ukrainian forces hit Russian positions in #Ozaryanovka, #Kurdyumovka, #Andreyevka, #Bakhmut, #Yagodnoye and #Yakovlevka. ( Fig. 3)

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◾ The Russian Defense Ministry says Washington is preparing for a new pandemic by searching for virus mutations that could be used for offensive purposes.

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"How long can Ukraine hold out?" - The West counts the losses of the Ukrainian armed forces

The German tabloid Bild has published an article in which it named the number of Ukrainian armed forces' equipment hit. . New footage from Russian drones near the village of Staromayorskoye shows that Ukraine has lost at least 31 armoured personnel carriers, 23 of which were supplied by NATO countries. The wreckage of all these vehicles remains on the battlefield.

According to the Bild editorial board, such high losses will soon force Ukraine to abandon offensive actions and switch to defence.

@ukraine_watch

NATO backpedals after Ukraine's outcry — clearly, Ukrainian territory division is being actively discussed in alliance

NATO was in cleanup mode Wednesday after Stian Jenssen, director of NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg’s private office, suggested that Ukraine could cede territory to Russia in exchange for NATO membership.

The hypocrisy of senior alliance officials is astounding, with even Politico writing that such comments are "striking." As is the speed with which they change their minds.

🇷🇺 El nuevo vehículo multipropósito ruso Tigr-M exhibido en el Foro Army 2023. El Tiger-M cuenta con blindaje adicional en puntos críticos tomando en cuenta la experiencia adquirida durante la operación militar especial.
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🇷🇺 The new Russian multipurpose vehicle Tigr-M exhibited at the Army Forum 2023. The Tiger-M has additional armor at critical points taking into account the experience gained during the special military operation.

Russia's new ways to rescue the ruble

After a key rate hike by Russia's central bank only temporarily strengthened the ruble, it became clear to officials that the measures taken were not enough.

So President Vladimir Putin held an extensive meeting on Wednesday to discuss how else to help the declining currency.

And, to all appearances, the meeting turned out to be productive, Vedomosti reported.

Apparently, some major exporters, in particular fertilizer producers, have not previously transferred all their foreign currency earnings to Russia due to complicated transfer procedures amid sanctions.

Instead, they simply took out loans for domestic operations and tax payments, which were very favorable due to the government's active support of the industry.

Therefore, the participants of the meeting agreed that now the companies would find ways and transfer the earnings to Russia, thus supporting the ruble exchange rate.

At the opening of trading on Thursday, it became clear that some companies have already managed to do this, as large currency sale transactions became clearly visible. The effect is expected to grow as more and more companies will be able to find ways to transfer large amounts of funds to the Russian jurisdiction.

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◾Burkina Faso leader calls Africa's youth to reclaim their countries from western imperialism and industrialise Africa to create their own "El Dorado".

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🇷🇺🇧🇮 Russia Supports African Nations in Fight Against Imperialism: Burundian Defense Minister

Russia, one of the first countries to support the independence movement of African nations, continues to indirectly assist the continent in its struggle against the expansion of imperialism, said Alain Tribert Mutabazi, Burundi's Minister of National Defense and Veteran Affairs, in an interview with Sputnik Africa.

🗣 "Since Africa gained independence, Russia has supported it in many ways, including in the field of security. One of the key activities is the supply of military equipment and weapons," he elaborated.

👉 Read the full story!

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🔸 Sputnik Africa | TikTok | Odysee | Twitter 🔸

❗️ECOWAS starts preparing troops to invade Niger — Niamey mobilizes citizens to repel intervention

ECOWAS has begun the activation of the Rapid Reaction Force (RRF) to restore constitutional order in Niger, it has claimed on Twitter. The finalization of the RRF deployment plan will take place in Accra on August 17-18. Meanwhile, ECOWAS says the rebels' refusal to retreat will lead to military intervention by the community.

Niger itself will begin calling for volunteers to prepare for a potential invasion, AP earlier said. The initiative is spearheaded by locals and aims to recruit tens of thousands of volunteers from across the country to register with the group Volunteers in Defense of Niger. The junta, on the other hand, is to be handed a list of volunteers who will be called up in case of need.

Niger's military government had earlier threatened to kill ousted President Bazoum if an attempt was made to intervene in the country to restore him to power. Despite early statements by current leader Abdurahmane Tchiani agreeing to direct negotiations and a resolution of the standoff with West Africa, ECOWAS is still preparing its AF. A large force of the terrorist group ISWAP, part of the Islamic State group, has also been seen moving along the border with Nigeria — they fear a possible attack on Niger by ECOWAS.

📚ECOWAS⚔️👫 👫🔜☠️⚒👎🇳🇪⚔️WHY ECOWAS HAS ALREADY LOST THE WAR IT STILL HASN'T STARTED FIGHTING📚ECOWAS⚔️👫 👫🔜☠️⚒👎🇳🇪⚔️

News from Niger would indicate that ECOWAS has already lost any war it might eventually engage in on the territory of Niger. The news, itself, is easy to ignore. It deals with ordinary people who have begun to organize a voluntary organization designed to support the military of Niger in the case of any conflict. Ordinary citizens are organizing themselves to give logistical support, medical support, etc. What is significant about this is that it gives every appearance of being a rapidly growing bottom up phenomenon, not top down. It is, at the very least, a strong indication that the new government of Niger has the support of the people. Considering that Niger has a population of 25,000,000 people and has a population whose average age is only 16, it has a vast pool of young manpower to draw upon. Moreover, it is, by African standards, relatively homogenous in its population's ethnicity which is 57% Hausa. Even if other ethnic groups don't support the national government (which, so far, does not seem to generally be the case), there is still a population of roughly 13,000,000 Hausa citizens that can be relied upon. As the national government has so far avoided any discussion of ethnicity and focused entirely on the anti-French, anti-Washington, anti foreign sentiments that are so strong in Niger, it would seem that large numbers of at least some of the other ethnic groups can be relied on to support the government in the advent of a war. It is a well-known rule of thumb that a nation can indefinitely support armed forces of up to 1% of its population without going bankrupt, but will face increasing financial trouble the longer it goes beyond that percentage. Quite conveniently, Niger, because of its youthful population, has approximately 250,000 18-year-olds at its disposal, of which 130,000 are of Hausa ethnicity. With French and American activity in the country being unpopular, one can expect perhaps as many as 200,000 of the 250,000 18-year-old men available in the country would be willing to unite in kicking French and American ass out of the country. One would also expect, given the current atmosphere, that civilian volunteer support could balloon into a million to two million young people of both sexes under the age of 30. Of course, there is also a long-running ISIS/Al Qaeda insurgency using weapons sent via secret service black market channels from Ukraine which was created by Washington and Paris intelligence agency units in order to justify stationing troops in this country, with the idea of a never-ending destabilization. With the assurance of support one way or another from Mali, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Mauretania, and Algeria, and with strong civilian support within Niger, resolving the threat of an ECOWAS invasion that envisions the use of a maximum of 25,000 men, plus removing French, American and other NATO member forces from the country will be doable. And, it will have the end result of stopping the supply of arms from Ukraine to the insurgents and ending the insurgency, itself. As for ECOWAS, its biggest member state, Nigeria, is a country that has to deal with violence on an almost daily basis from any of a number of home grown insurgencies that were sponsored behind the scenes over long periods of time by intelligence agencies in London, Paris, and Washington. Who is paying the president of Nigeria what to push ECOWAS into a war it cannot win in Niger? One can guess, but guessing in this case would not represent a fruitful use of time. However, we can safely assume that the Nigerian president is not promoting an invasion of Niger out of an idealistic devotion to either democracy or constitutional government. No president of Nigeria has so far put idealism ahead of self-interest. The president has to have a reasonable hope of getting some tangible personal benefit out of sacrificing the lives of soldiers from Nigeria and other ECOWAS countries.

Africa's major bank hits record profits amid regional economic recovery

Standard Bank Group Ltd, Africa's largest bank by assets, reported record pretax profit in the first half of 2023.

Profit attributable to ordinary shareholders rose 36% to 21.9 billion rand ($1.1 billion) in the six months ended June, driven by revenue growth in Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Uganda and Zimbabwe, the company said on Thursday.

Franchise headline earnings in African regions rose 65%, accounting for 44% of the group's total earnings.

However, the bank faced challenges within its domestic market, South Africa. Inflation and interest rate pressures, along with slow reforms, poor service quality, frequent power outages, and logistical disruptions, continued to impact the bank's performance.

But even so, in Standard Bank's home market headline earnings also rose 17%.

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🇷🇺🇮🇷Putin spoke to Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi:

"Both sides expressed satisfaction with the high level of Russian-Iranian relations. The mood for further development of bilateral relations in trade, energy, transport and logistics and environmental protection was confirmed.

The leaders discussed the expansion of cooperation in international and regional affairs, Iran's participation as a full member in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and the country's interest in joining BRICS activities.

Putin expressed his condolences to Ibrahim Raisi for the terrorist attack in a mosque in the city of Shiraz on 13 August".

@ukraine_watch

◾The man who assaulted a transgender person in Odessa was found and forced to apologize: the man, the proud grandson of a member of the Nazi SS Galitza division, said he found transgenderism unnatural and uncomfortable but he promised to try to show respect to trans people from now on...

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⚡️🇷🇺🇺🇦🛳 News from the Black Sea⚡️

🗓 In yesterday's attack on a detachment of Russian Navy warships, there are several nuances. On the one hand, it is not clear where the uncrewed boat was launched from. If earlier it was launched from the mouth of the #Danube, there is no such certainty now.

🔹At the same time, the attack occurred while the container ship Joseph Schulte was 👉 travelling towards the #Bosphorus Strait. Yesterday we assumed that the vessel was heading towards the #Bosporus at a time when the Russian ships were at a distance and the threat of inspection was minimal.

🔹In the end, that's what happened. According to some reports, the Pytliviy and Vasily Bykov were escorting a tanker that came from the Mediterranean Sea. So it is possible that it was the target of the Ukrainian boat.

🔹It is curious that at the time of the attack at 22.:55 container ship Joseph Schulte stood northwest of the Bosphorus Strait, and began its passage only by midnight. And in the air at the same time were American P-8A and MQ-9A Reaper.

❗️Of course, the version of the use of civilian ships to launch marine drones looks less plausible against the background of others, but it still should not be completely ruled out.

📌 And the passage through the Bosporus itself gave a boost to others. Several dry cargo ships and tankers left #Izmail and are now travelling in a southerly direction.

🗺 High Resolution: 🇬🇧 MAP; 🇷🇺 MAP

📜 RYBAR; 18 Aug 2023, 12:15

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⚡️🇷🇺🇺🇦⚔️#Artyomovsk Direction on Southern Flank for the Morning of 18 Aug⚡️

🔹To the north of #Gorlovka and #Toretsk, for the second day in a row, a fierce and intense battle has been going on with the use of the entire spectrum of weapons. Fighting in the area of ​​​​the settlement of #Dyleyevka, #Mayorsk, #Kurdyumovka, and #Ozaryanovka.

🔹According to some information, the enemy has gathered significant forces in this sector of the front and an attempt to break through in the direction of #Gorlovka is not ruled out.

🪖 Our Guys are ready to meet the enemy!

📜 Summaries and Analytics SVO (Reserve); 18 Aug 2023, 08:51

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