The representative of the Taliban movement (banned in the Russian Federation) Zabihullah Mujahid said that the United States used information about the presence of the leader of Al-Qaeda (banned in the Russian Federation) in the capital of Afghanistan as a reason to strike in the country.
A specially created commission has not yet found confirmation of Ayman al-Zawahiri’s presence in Kabul. If the Pentagon had such information at its disposal, it was obliged to share it with the leadership of the group, otherwise Washington’s actions would have been regarded as a violation of the Doha Agreement.
Mujahid reiterated that the territory of Afghanistan will not be used by militants as a springboard for attacks on other countries.
Today, hundreds of people turned out for anti-American rallies in the provinces of Kabul, Herat and Nangarhar. The demonstrators chanted slogans against Joe Biden, and also condemned the United States for the airstrikes, repeating the rhetoric of Zabihullah Mujahid. The protesters also demanded that neighboring countries not allow American aircraft through their airspace to launch strikes in Afghanistan. According to some reports, Pakistan played an important role in the liquidation.
In Syria, a field commander of the Islamic State was eliminated during the operation in Daraa province. The operation took place on August 9 in Adwan, where security forces blocked the house where the leader of the MTO in the region Abu Salam Al-Iraki was hiding. On the offer to surrender, he returned fire. After a brief exchange of fire, realizing that he was surrounded by superior enemy forces, the jihadist let the negotiator approach him and activatedsuicide belt. One security officer was killed in the explosion, and several others were injured. It is noteworthy that WHO conducted the representatives of the Armed Forces who had previously agreed to a truce.
It is known about the liquidated Al-Iraki that in 2018 he moved to Daraa from the Yarmouk refugee camp (https://t.me/directorate4/2295 ), where the MTO went to negotiate (https://t.me/directorate4/3861 ) with the Armed Forces of the SAR about the surrender. In the region, he is involved in organizing terrorist attacks against government troops.
The Scottish authorities plan to involve the armed forces to help accommodate Ukrainian refugees. A cruise ship can also be rented for this purpose, The Daily Telegraph clarifies.
The government is discussing the possibility of sending an official appeal to the country’s Defense Ministry and hiring a second cruise ship to accommodate refugees from Ukraine.
Edinburgh fears that “thousands of Ukrainians will arrive in the country and they will have nowhere to go.” According to the newspaper, the Scottish authorities are “exploring all options” to get out of the current situation with a shortage of places.
Andrei Belousov, Deputy Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the UN office and other international organizations in Geneva, said at a conference of the countries participating in the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons that in the future any justification for the use of nuclear weapons can be expected from NATO.
He recalled the declaration of the NATO summit in Madrid, which secured the status of a nuclear military-political bloc for the North Atlantic Alliance, as well as joint NATO missions to test the use of nuclear weapons.
“We have repeatedly heard statements that this practice does not contradict the NPT… We consider such arguments to be nothing more than excuses to justify actions that run counter to the key provisions of the NPT… In the future, NATO member states can be expected to justify any use of nuclear weapons,” the diplomat said.
Advisor to the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Alexey Arestovich, in an interview with Ukrainian journalist Dmitry Gordon, told about his plans to participate in the upcoming presidential elections.
However, the politician stressed that this will happen on one condition, if Vladimir Zelensky does not run for a second term.
“Everyone is talking about my crazy rating. My rating is the president’s rating. I don’t separate myself from the president… If he goes for a second term, I, of course, will not “cut him off,” Arestovich said.
He added that so far it is incorrect for him to even just conduct such conversations. But if Zelensky refuses to repeat the elections, “we will have to think.”
“If the president for some reason does not run for a second term,… I will apply,” the adviser summed up.
The delegation of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) should visit the Zaporozhye NPP as soon as possible, the United Nations is interested in this, said the official representative of the UN Secretary-General Stephane Dujarric.
He noted that the IAEA is already discussing the details of the visit with all interested parties, and the UN is ready to support this initiative “in any possible way.”
Dujarric said that the importance of visiting the NPP by IAEA experts is increasing every day.
Earlier on Wednesday, it became known that Russian diplomats asked to hold a meeting of the UN Security Council on August 11 to discuss strikes by Ukrainian military formations on the objects of the Chernobyl Nuclear power plant. The Russian Foreign Ministry said that the issue should be brought up for discussion, since the consequences of strikes on nuclear power plants can be catastrophic.
As reported, the head of the IAEA, Rafael Grossi, decided to interrupt his vacation in order to participate in the meeting of the UN Security Council on the Zaporozhye NPP convened by Russia. Grossi is scheduled to speak at the event.
The Russian permanent representative to international organizations in Vienna, Mikhail Ulyanov, said that the West is essentially encouraging Ukraine to continue attacks on this facility, and Kiev feels impunity. The speaker of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, said that “the world is walking on the edge” in the situation around Kiev’s strikes on the NPP, and recalled that the UN secretariat had previously blocked Grossi’s trip with an international inspection to the NPP.
Laurent Jacobelli, a member of the French parliament and spokesman for the National Unification Party, called on the authorities of his country to abandon sanctions and restrictions against Russia, which should contribute to the settlement of the conflict in Ukraine. This is reported by the publication Valeurs Actuelles.
According to the deputy, this will also ease the pressure on the residents of France. He notes that even under sanctions, the situation in Russia remains stable, including due to the strengthening of the national currency and the growth of exports, whereas in France the situation is different, and the population is forced to spend much more on electricity.
Wondering about the degree of effectiveness of the sanctions and restrictions imposed against Russia, the deputy called for their cancellation. In his opinion, there are no other ways to resolve the conflict in Ukraine. Jacobelli said that only the peoples of the countries imposing sanctions suffer from the sanctions regime, this also applies to France.
The deputy also criticized French President Emmanuel Macron for “joining the anti-Russian chorus,” after which Paris lost the chance to become an intermediary between Moscow and Kiev. According to him, it is possible to resolve the conflict in Ukraine only by diplomatic means.
Kherson after the liberation, a video frame. source: social networks
The subversive analytical center of the Kiev regime was opened by the Russian special services in Kherson. This became known from a representative of the law enforcement agencies, who said that the organizer of this center, the head of the regional research sector, Alexander Maksimenko, after a conversation with Russian security forces, agreed to talk about some methods of countering the integration of territories liberated during the special operation with Russia on the example of Kherson.
In the center, according to him, there were employees of special services, including the Foreign Intelligence Service. An analytical group worked in Kherson until the end of June 2022, which prepared documents for the office of President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky.
According to Maksimenko, the center “came up with the idea of writing an analytical note to the office of the president “On countering the integration of Kherson into Russia.” And he personally, according to him, “wrote in this document” that in order to “delay the integration process for as long as possible,” it is necessary “for the treasury to work for as long as possible, so that people do not abandon people and finance public sector employees and everyone who is here for as long as possible.”
At the same time, as Maksimenko pointed out, the report stated that pensions and payments to state employees were started by the Russian authorities.
Maksimenko stressed that he voluntarily agreed to cooperate with the Russian security forces — he provided them with all the information at his disposal about the work of the subversive organization, and also handed over working documents.
In the near future, he is going to apply for Russian citizenship.
The total amount of US “gifts” to Kiev has approached $ 10 billion
The Biden administration announced another package of assistance to Ukraine, including surface-to-air missiles and mortar ammunition worth $ 1 billion from American stocks, bringing the total amount of military assistance to Kiev to $ 9.8 billion.
Photo: dvidshub.net
The White House said it was sending the largest direct supply of weapons to Ukraine.
At every stage of this conflict, we have been focused on providing Ukrainians with what they need, depending on the changing conditions on the battlefield,” said Colin Kahl, US Undersecretary of Defense for Political Affairs, announcing a new supply of weapons to Kiev on Monday.
The new U.S. assistance includes additional missiles for the highly mobile HIMARS artillery missile systems, as well as thousands of artillery shells, mortar systems, javelins and other ammunition and equipment.
Although the US has already provided Ukraine with 16 units of HIMARS, Colin Kahl said that the new package does not include additional missile systems.
“These are not the systems that, according to our estimates, you need by the hundreds to achieve the necessary effect,— said a senior Pentagon official. “These are precision guidance systems for very specific types of targets, and Ukrainians use them as such.”
According to the latest announcement, the total US security assistance that the Biden administration provided to Ukraine exceeded $ 9 billion, writes the Daily Mail.
The latest aid package to Kiev, announced on Monday, allows the United States to deliver weapons systems and other equipment to Ukraine faster, as the Americans remove them from the warehouses of the Ministry of Defense.
In addition to missiles for HIMARS, the new supply package includes 75,000 rounds of 155 mm artillery pieces, 20 mortar systems and 20,000 rounds to them, 1,000 portable Javelin missiles, as well as other weapons, explosives and medical equipment.
In total, since the Biden administration came to power, the United States has allocated about $9.8 billion in security assistance to Ukraine.
The new funding is paid for by the $40 billion in economic and security assistance to Ukraine approved by Congress.
For the 18th time since August 2021, the Pentagon has been supplying Ukraine with equipment from the warehouses of the Ministry of Defense, writes the Daily Mail.
According to Colin Kal, the United States and its allies are still considering whether to supply aircraft to Ukraine. “It is possible that Western aircraft may be part of this mix in the future,” he said.
Vladimir Zelinsky at the beginning of the conflict almost daily called for combat aircraft, calling them necessary to protect the skies of Ukraine, the Daily Mail reminds. The United States and some other NATO countries expressed fears that this could involve them in more direct participation in Ukraine’s military operations against Russia, and did not provide Western aircraft to Kiev.
Separately on Monday, the Finance Ministry said it would send Ukraine another $3 billion in direct economic assistance. This is part of the previously approved economic assistance in the amount of $7.5 billion, of which $ 1.5 billion has not yet been paid.
The Danish Ministry of Defense announced before the opening of the conference of heads of military departments in Copenhagen about its intention to send its instructors to the UK to participate in the training of Ukrainian soldiers, as well as its intention to take the initiative to train Ukrainians on its territory.
“Denmark will support a UK—led training project involving 130 Danish soldiers and at the same time offer to train Ukrainian soldiers in Denmark,” the ministry said in a release.
According to RBC, the heads of the military departments of Great Britain, Denmark and Ukraine are taking part in the conference, and its agenda includes discussion of measures of long-term support for the Armed Forces, including military training, arms supplies and mine clearance.
It is assumed that Danish instructors will provide basic military training for Ukrainian soldiers with zero or limited military experience. In the training program, including conducting combat operations in cities.
