RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Putin visits Ukraine military operation headquarters

Russian President Vladimir Putin met the head of the General Staff, Valery Gerasimov, and other high-ranking military commanders during an unannounced visit to the headquarters of Russia’s Southern Military District, the Kremlin said on Saturday morning.

The head of state received classified briefings from Gerasimov and other senior commanding officers involved in the ongoing military operation in Ukraine, the brief statement said.

Russian state media shared a video of the rare visit, which shows the head of the General Staff greeting Putin at the headquarters ahead of the closed-door meeting. However, it remains unclear when exactly the meeting took place.

Last week, Putin convened a meeting with members of Russia’s Security Council and on Monday addressed the Army-2023 expo outside Moscow. In a video message to the congress, Putin lauded the expo's contribution to multifaceted relations between Russia and other nations, emphasizing that Moscow “is open to deepening equal technological partnership and military-technical cooperation with other countries.”

The city of Rostov-on-Don hosts the headquarters of the Southern Military District, currently primarily responsible for the military operation in Ukraine. In June, the forces of Wagner private military company briefly captured the headquarters armed with heavy weapons, but faced little resistance, as officials negotiated a peaceful resolution to the short-lived mutiny attempt.

The southwestern Rostov Region borders the frontline Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, and has repeatedly come under Ukrainian drone and artillery attack over the past year and a half.

In July, the port city of Taganrog, some 60 kilometers from Rostov, was hit by a repurposed anti-aircraft S-200 missile, injuring over a dozen civilians and inflicting material damage.

** Kiev taking huge armored vehicle losses – Bild

As Ukraine struggles to breach Russian lines during its counteroffensive, the attacks are taking a heavy toll on its armored formations, with vehicle losses numbering in the dozens in just one sector of the front, Bild reported on Thursday, citing video materials reviewed by its journalists.

According to the report, while Kiev managed to capture the village of Staromayorskoye in the southwestern part of Russia’s Donetsk Region after more than a week of fighting, the success came “at a high price” in terms of destroyed armor. The Russian Defense Ministry has not confirmed this information, but did report numerous artillery strikes by Moscow’s forces in the area.

Citing Russian drone footage, Bild claimed that during the battle for Staromayorskoye, Kiev’s forces lost at least 31 armored personnel vehicles, including 23 mine-protected NATO-supplied vehicles. The wrecks of the destroyed vehicles still remain on the battlefield although some damaged armor has been salvaged, the outlet added.

Bild described the results as “a success from the Russian point of view,”explaining that Moscow aims to destroy as many Western-supplied armored vehicles as possible.

“Moscow's army knows that replacing and repairing vehicles is much more difficult for Ukraine than it is for Russia,” the article said, noting that while many damaged vehicles can be restored, they have to be transported to repair bases hundreds of kilometers away from the frontline.

Ukraine launched a major counteroffensive against Russia in early June, but has so far failed to gain any ground, according to Moscow. The Russian Defense Ministry has estimated that since the start of the push, Ukraine has lost more than 43,000 troops as well as over 4,900 pieces of heavy weaponry. 

In mid-July, Business Insider reported that Kiev had lost one-third of its US-supplied Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, while around the same time The New York Times claimed, citing Western officials, that Ukraine’s counteroffensive had cost it 20% of the weapons it sent to the battlefield in the first two weeks of its counteroffensive.

Amid these apparent difficulties – which Ukraine has attributed to delays receiving Western assistance – The Washington Post reported on Friday that US intelligence officials strongly doubted that Kiev would make headway in the southern sector of the front closer to the Crimean Peninsula. Meanwhile, an earlier Newsweek report suggested a growing rift among top Ukrainian officials, with some purportedly pushing to call off the counteroffensive. 

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Troop deaths, injuries in Ukraine war nearing 500,000 - NYT citing US officials

The number of Ukrainian and Russian troops killed or wounded since the war in Ukraine began in February 2022 is nearing 500,000, the New York Times reported on Friday, citing unnamed U.S. officials.

The officials cautioned that casualty figures remained difficult to estimate because Moscow is believed to routinely undercount its war dead and injured, and Kyiv does not disclose official figures, the newspaper said.

Russia's military casualties are approaching 300,000, including as many as 120,000 deaths and 170,000 to 180,000 injuries, the newspaper reported. Ukrainian deaths were close to 70,000, with 100,000 to 120,000 wounded, it added.

The NYT quoted the officials as saying the casualty count had picked up after Ukraine launched a counter-attack earlier this year.

Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, commenting on the NYT article, said only the General Staff could disclose such figures.

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"We have adopted a model that only the General Staff has the right to voice the figures on the wounded, the disabled, people who lost limbs, and the missing, and, of course, the number of people who died in this war," he said in a live broadcast on the Youtube channel of journalist Yulia Latynina on Friday.

The Ukrainian military on Thursday claimed gains in its counter-offensive against Russian forces on the southeastern front. Kyiv said its forces had liberated a village, the first such success since July 27, signaling the challenge it faces in advancing through heavily mined Russian defensive lines without powerful air support.

There was no immediate response from Ukrainian officials to Reuters requests for comment. Russia made no immediate comment on the report.

** Ukrainian forces could fail to retake strategic city of Melitopol -US official

Ukrainian forces do not appear likely to reach and retake the Russian-occupied strategic southeastern city of Melitopol during their counteroffensive aimed at winning back territory from Moscow's army, a U.S. official said on Friday.

The Ukrainian military on Thursday said it had made gains on the southeastern front, pushing forward from a newly-liberated village, Urozhaine, in an attempted drive towards the Sea of Azov.

Melitopol, which had a pre-war population of about 150,000, has been under Russian control since March 2022 and has roads and railways used by Russian troops to transport supplies to areas they occupy.

Urozhaine in Donetsk region was the first village the Kyiv government said it had retaken since July 27, signaling the challenge it faces in advancing through heavily mined Russian defensive lines without powerful air support.

The U.S. official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, was citing an intelligence report on Melitopol but the prediction is largely in line with Washington's view that the counteroffensive is going slower than expected.

The official added that despite the report and limited progress towards Melitopol, Washington believed it was still possible to change the gloomy outlook.

The assessment on Melitopol was first reported by the Washington Post.

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan on Friday declined to comment but said there had been a number of analyses about the war in Ukraine since Russia invaded in February 2022 and many of them had changed as it unfolded.

Russia controls nearly a fifth of Ukraine, including the peninsula of Crimea, most of Luhansk region and large tracts of the regions of Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson.

RT/Reuters

After arguing with his mother about overdue homework, a 10-year-old boy in China ran away from home and straight to the local police station to complain and beg to be put into an orphanage.

Chinese media recently reported a bizarre incident that took place in Chongqing. CCTV footage shows a young boy storming into the Huixing Police Station in Yubei and being approached by two policemen. They start chatting and the 10-year-old boy tells them that he had been reprimanded by his mother for not completing his homework, so he left the family home to join an orphanage. After a bit of convincing work by the officers, the boy gave them his parents’ contact information, so the police contacted his mother who confirmed their argument about the overdue homework. However, she never imagined that her son would run away from home to join an orphanage because of it.

“My mom scolded me every day for not doing my homework and left the house,” the 10-year-old complained. “She just nags me to study every day. I’d rather go to an orphanage.”

After calming the boy down, the police called his father to pick him up, and even though he was reluctant to return home, they manged to persuade him that it was the right choice, much better than going to an orphanage, that’s for sure.

The news and CCTV footage went viral in China last week, where people were shocked by the boy’s reaction. Some saw it as a sign of a lazy generation of spoiled children, while others simply applauded the way the police calmed the boy down and ultimately solved the problem.

Oddity Central

Although it’s common knowledge that drinking too much is unhealthy, research sometimes conflicts about where the dividing line is between permissible and risky alcohol consumption — and whether drinking a small amount could come with any health benefits.

In the last few months alone, two large studies have further complicated the picture: A March analysis found that moderate drinkers do not have a lower risk of death than lifetime nondrinkers, while a June study found that heart health benefits associated with moderate alcohol consumption could be linked to the way it can reduce stress activity in the brain.

Meanwhile, a study published last month showed that deaths related to excessive drinking are rising in the United States, especially among women.

So how harmful is a weekly or even nightly glass of wine? NBC News spoke to eight nutritionists and doctors about the risks and supposed benefits of alcohol. They generally agreed that abstaining is healthiest, but that for most people, a modest level of drinking doesn’t carry significant risk.

The notion that drinking may somehow improve health, they said, is misguided.

“There’s no absolute safe level of drinking,” said Tim Stockwell, former director of the Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research. “We usually underestimate the risks from alcohol because we’re so familiar with it.”

What to make of studies suggesting health benefits of drinking

Perhaps the most common myth about the benefits of alcohol is the idea that an occasional glass of red wine boosts heart health.

Over the last few decades, several studies have found a link between moderate alcohol consumption and reduced risk of heart disease. However, experts said such research does not necessarily account for the possibility that light drinking can be associated with other healthy lifestyle factors, like being active and eating a balanced diet, or that participants who don’t drink may have experienced negative health effects of alcohol before deciding to go sober.

Dr. Krishna Aragam, a cardiologist and researcher at the Massachusetts General Hospital and the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, said some past research has found that light to moderate drinkers may be more likely to have lower body mass index, eat more vegetables and engage in more physical activity than people who do not drink at all.

“There is a general theory that maybe people who can impose moderation with regards to how much alcohol they consume are also more able to impose moderation broadly in other aspects of their life,” Aragam said.

Aragam co-authored a 2022 study that also found a trend of healthy lifestyle habits among light to moderate drinkers, but concluded nonetheless that any level of alcohol consumption increased the risk of cardiovascular disease. The risk increased exponentially with heavier drinking, defined as more than eight drinks per week.

When it comes to the red wine myth, Dr. Zhaoping Li, division chief of clinical nutrition at UCLA Health, pointed out that the antioxidant thought to benefit the heart is also found in the skins of red grapes.

“I never would recommend to someone, ‘Go ahead and drink wine, even if you don’t like it, because you’re going to be less likely to have a heart attack,’” Li said.

How much alcohol is unhealthy?

The long-term health risks of drinking include liver and heart disease, a weakened immune system and several types of cancer. Studies have also shown that drinking large quantities of alcohol in one sitting or even a single drink a day can raise blood pressure.

U.S. dietary guidelines define a moderate, low-health-risk alcohol intake as one drink or less per day for women and two or less for men. (That does not apply, however, to people who are pregnant, have medical conditions that can be worsened by drinking or take medications that interact with alcohol.) The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also provides a screening tool to help people assess their level of alcohol consumption based on individual health factors.

But Canada’s revised guidelines on alcohol, released in January, advise far less drinking: They list two drinks per week as a moderate, low-risk level.

Li said she generally tells people not to drink more than two or three times per week.

“Let’s say I’m going to drink alcohol, I know it’s going to come with calories and energy,” Li said. “So for dinner, I will drink the wine, I’ll have vegetables and fish, but I’m not going to have bread and other things that come with energy.”

When should you cut down on drinking?

Estimates suggest that more than 140,000 people die from alcohol-related causes annually, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Alcohol-related deaths have climbed nationally in the past few years: The U.S. saw a 25% spike in deaths during the first year of the pandemic, a trend that particularly affected middle-aged adults.

Katherine Keyes, professor of epidemiology at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, said her research has shown that adolescents drink less than they did a few decades ago, while drinking rates have risen among young and middle-aged adults.

For people who drink several times a week and do not have alcohol dependency, even slightly reducing intake can have significant health benefits, Keyes added.

“It’s not that ‘OK, you think you’re drinking too much, now you can’t drink at all’ — that health advice turns a lot of people off,” Keyes said. “Thinking about drinking as a continuum, not a binary, is an approach that we think will be really useful for improving population health.”

Emma Laing, director of dietetics at the University of Georgia College of Family and Consumer Sciences, said she decided to be sober in 2020, after considering the health consequences of alcohol and a history of breast cancer in her family.

For people trying to cut down on drinking, Laing said she recommends balancing alcohol with nonalcoholic drinks, drinking slowly and consuming a meal before drinking. She often brings her own nonalcoholic beer or wine to social gatherings, Laing said, and most bartenders are happy to make a mocktail.

“Sometimes the toughest part about living a sober life or taking an alcohol break comes from peer pressure among those around you — even strangers — who question why you are abstaining from alcohol,” Laing said. “I have found that having a nonalcoholic alternative in my hand will reduce this type of societal pressure.”

NBC News

The relief aid given to the states by the federal government to cushion the effects of the removal of the petrol subsidy is a loan, TheCable can report.

Earlier, the federal government announced a N5 billion relief package for each state of the federation, including the federal capital territory (FCT).

Babagana Zulum, governor of Borno, who spoke on Thursday at the end of the national economic council (NEC) meeting presided over by Vice President Kashim Shettima, said the palliative would enable state governments to procure 100,000 bags of rice, 40,000 bags of maize and fertilizers to cushion the effect of food shortage across the country.

However, in a memo to governors entitled “Re: Distribution of Palliatives – Terms of FG Facility”, Asishana Okauru, director-general of Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF), said states might opt out of the offer and return a sum of N2 billion already given to them.

“I have been directed by the Chairman, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq to forward the terms of the facility as follows,” Okauru said in the memo.

“Facility size: N4,000,000,000.00
Loan (48%): N1,920,000,000.00
FGN Grant: (52%)
N2,080,000,000.00 Beneficiary each state government
Tenure: 20 months
Interest Rate: Nil
Moratorium: Three months
Repayment Mode: Monthly
Repayment Amount: N120,000,000.00
Security Irrevocable Standing Payment Order (ISPO)

“Your excellency is invited to note that this offer is optional and states that do not wish to participate may opt-out and refund the N2 billion already disbursed to them.”

The Cable

Former Vice President and presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the 2023 election, Atiku Abubakar has described the $3bn loan injected into the economy by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited to stabilise the naira as fraudulent.

Speaking through his Special Assistant on Public Communications, Phrank Shaibu in a statement on Wednesday, Atiku described the purpose given for the loan as a ruse to force the naira to appreciate in the parallel market.

He added that the move was cosmetic and unimaginative and had once again “Exposed President Bola Tinubu as a Lilliputian economist that lacked ideas on how to rescue the economy he had pushed to the edge with unviable policies.”

According to him, monetary policy is not the job of the NNPCL but the Central Bank of Nigeria and wondered why the former, “Which claimed to be a profit-making organisation, would go ahead to take a loan for the primary purpose of stabilising the naira.

Atiku also drew parallels between the actions of the NNPCL and the CBN under the authority of Godwin Emefiele.

He also claimed that oil production has dropped on Tinubu’s watch due to continuous oil theft, stressing that instead of boosting forex liquidity by increasing production and exports, “The President decided to take the jejune path of obtaining foreign loans, an inglorious road that his predecessor had travelled.

He said, “For many years, Tinubu claimed that he built the economy of Lagos from scratch. Now, he has been exposed as a charlatan. His administration detained Emefiele and vilified him for taking FX loans from JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs running into $7.5bn, which was used in defending the naira.

“Now, Tinubu’s administration is doing the same thing by forcing the NNPCL to take a loan of $3bn to defend the naira. We, however, have it on good authority that this is all a ruse to force the naira to appreciate at the parallel market, an action that will further affect the government’s credibility.

“The NNPCL has failed to shed the toga of an ordinary government agency. No wonder it has refused to become a public limited liability company, as stated in the Petroleum Industry Act. The NNPCL boss, Mele Kyari, who is also desperate to retain his job, has allowed himself to become a willing political tool just like Emefiele. If the NNPCL was a publicly listed oil firm like Aramco and Mobil, would it obtain a loan in order to ‘defend the naira’?”

He chided Tinubu for lacking a clear economic blueprint, arguing  that his policy flip-flops had already begun affecting Nigerian bonds.

Punch

Housewives in Rigasa community of Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State, along with their children, held a peaceful protest to highlight the pressing issues of hunger and exorbitant food prices in the state.

The protesters, who marched on the streets kept chanting slogans like “Tinubu, we are hungry.”

Some of the women appealed to the President for assistance, saying they had never faced such dire circumstances before.

One elderly woman, despite her illness, joined the protest to advocate for her five orphaned grandchildren whom she said were in need of nourishment.

She explained that the passing of her late husband’s siblings, who had been assisting her and the children, left her with no choice but to seek help publicly.

Another woman, aged 50, asserted that two children had tragically lost their lives due to hunger in the community, attributing their deaths to their parents’ inability to provide adequate sustenance.

The protesters emphasized that they were not seeking handouts, but rather urging Tinubu to address the food price crisis so that they can afford essential items at lower prices.

Another woman echoed this sentiment, imploring Tinubu for food assistance, stressing that this was to meet their primary need.

One of the protesters said in her 62 years on earth, she had never witnessed the cost of a mudu (cup) of grain selling at N1400 and a mudu of rice selling for N1700.

Daily Trust

Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has introduced a foreign exchange (FX) price verification system (PVS) portal to enable importers to access forex.

The CBN, in a statement on Thursday night, said a price verification report from the portal is now mandatory for all Form M requests, effective from August 31, 2023.

The Form ‘M’ is a declaration of intention to import physical goods into Nigeria.

“Following the successful conduct of the pilot run and various trainings held with all the banks, the Central Bank of Nigeria hereby announces the Go- Live of the Price Verification System (PVS),” the statement reads.

“All applications for Forms M shall be accompanied by a valid price verification report generated from the price verification portal.

“For the avoidance of doubt, by this circular, the price verification report has become a mandatory trade document precedent to the completion of a Form M.”

“All authorised dealers are, hereby, advised to bring this to the attention of their customers”.

CBN also said any case of infraction would be appropriately sanctioned.

“Please, ensure compliance,” the bank urged exporters.

In June 2023, the CBN announced the unification of all segments of the foreign exchange (FX) market, signalling the end of its control of the forex market.

Since the decision — which was in compliance with the federal government’s directive — the exchange rate of the local currency has been experiencing significant volatility as market forces continue to determine prices.

The Cable

A consortium led by Transcorp Power Limited has acquired a 60 percent stake in Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC).

Following the acquisition, Christopher Ezeafulukwe has been appointed managing director/chief executive officer (MD/CEO) of AEDC.

Ezeafulukwe, who is currently the MD/CEO of Transcorp Power Limited, will play a pivotal role in rejuvenating AEDC, the supplier of power to the nation’s capital.

“Prior to his appointment as MD/CEO of AEDC, Ezeafulukwe was the MD/CEO of Transcorp Power Ltd, Ughelli, a 972-MW thermal plant,” a statement seen by TheCable reads.

The Tony Elumelu-led Transcorp secured approval as the strategic investor in AEDC in May 2023

“Under his leadership, Transcorp Power Ltd has consistently led the Nigerian  power sector, being the first successor power company from the 2013 power privatization program, to be discharged from post-privatisation monitoring by the National Council on Privatization, having surpassed the expectations of the Council.

“The Ughelli Power plant, which Transcorp Group acquired during the privatisation of the power sector in 2013, demonstrates the Group’s transformative prowess.

“The plant’s available capacity, which was 160MW on acquisition, increased by 227% to 680.83MW in 4 years, surpassing the Bureau of Public Enterprise’s (BPE) five-year target of 670MW.”

Peter Ikenga, CEO of Transcorp Energy, is expected to succeed Ezeafulukwe as MD of Transcorp Power.

In December 2021, United Bank of Africa (UBA) took over AEDC over the inability of its major stakeholder, Kann Consortium, to service the $122 million debt owed to the bank.

Kann Consortium had secured a loan from UBA to acquire AEDC in 2013, making it hold a 60 percent stake in the DisCo.

However, in April 2023, the bank said it would sell AEDC to recover the $122 million debt.

In May 2023, the national council on privatisation approved the Transcorp-led consortium as the preferred bidder for AEDC.

The Cable

West Africa’s economic bloc is open to talks or a rare military intervention to overturn a coup in Niger, an official said.

Democracy will be restored “by all means available,” Abdel-Fatau Musah, the Ecowas commissioner for political affairs, peace and security, said at a high-level regional meeting in the Ghanaian capital, Accra, Thursday. “If push comes to shove we are going into Niger with our own contingent,” he said.

Top military officers representing nations of the Economic Community of West African States are meeting over the next two days to discuss possible intervention in Niger, where soldiers overthrew President Mohamed Bazoum in a July 26 coup, and continue to hold him hostage.

The majority of member-states are ready to participate in a standby force, but “Ecowas hasn’t ruled out diplomatic options,” Musah said.

The 15-nation bloc is taking a stand after the region’s sixth coup in three years. Mali, Burkina Faso and Guinea have also recently succumbed to military power grabs.

Abdourahamane Tiani, Niger’s self-appointed leader who was the head of the presidential guard, has so far ignored Ecowas threats to intervene, missing a deadline earlier this month to relinquish power.

France and the US, which have troops stationed in the landlocked country, have also condemned the coup and the poor treatment of Bazoum, who had been a key ally in the global fight against jihadists linked to al-Qaeda and Islamic State.

Ecowas seeks to ensure the constitutional order is restored, Musah said. “If other democracy-loving partners want to support us, they are welcome.”

Bloomberg

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Ukraine scrambling to avoid Russian strikes on airbases – FT

Russia has ramped up attacks on airbases used by Kiev to launch long-range missile attacks, forcing Ukrainian personnel and aircraft to constantly be on the move to avoid being struck, the Financial Times reported on Thursday, citing sources.

Ukrainian officials told the paper that Kiev and its backers believe that Moscow’s recent attacks on airbases and pilot training facilities in western Ukraine are aimed at decimating its fleet of bombers used to fire British Storm Shadow and French Scalp missiles.

Ukraine is “racing to move around crucial weaponry and its skilled personnel” across dozens of airbases and commercial airports, the report said.

Ukraine’s Air Force Command spokesman, Yury Ignat, acknowledged the issue, claiming to the FT that Moscow was trying to undermine the country’s air power because “our pilots are bothering them… [and] causing a lot of trouble.” 

Meanwhile, Yury Sak, an adviser to Ukraine’s defense minister, called on the West to provide Kiev with more air defense systems as well as to speed up pilot training and deliveries of F-16 fighter jets. Ukrainian officials have been asking for US-made advanced jets for months, but do not expect them to arrive until 2024.

In May, the UK supplied Ukraine with Storm Shadow missiles with a range of about 250km. France followed suit by sending Scalp missiles capable of reaching targets at the same distance. After receiving the deliveries, Kiev used Storm Shadow missiles to attack civilian facilities and infrastructure in the Russian city of Lugansk and on the Crimean Peninsula.

Reports of intensified attacks on Ukrainian facilities storing long-range assets come after the Russian Defense Ministry said last week that it had conducted high-precision strikes on a military airbase in Ivano-Frankovsk Region in the western part of Ukraine, successfully hitting all the designated targets.

Moscow has repeatedly warned the West against supplying Ukraine with weapons, arguing that this will only prolong the conflict. Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov has cautioned that the Russian military would take adequate countermeasures.

** Ukrainian naval drone targets Russian vessels – MOD

Two Black Sea Fleet vessels thwarted an attempted attack by a Ukrainian maritime drone Thursday evening, the Russian Defense Ministry said. 

“Today at 22.55, the armed forces of Ukraine made an unsuccessful attempt to attack the ships of the Black Sea Fleet, performing the tasks of controlling navigation in the southwestern part of the Black Sea, 237 km southwest of Sevastopol,” the Russian military said.

The unmanned boat was destroyed by gunfire from the patrol frigate Pytlivy and the patrol ship Vasily Bykov, before it could reach its target.

Thursday’s attack is the second time this month that Ukraine has attempted to sink the Bykov. On August 1, three maritime drones attacked the patrol ship and its sister Sergey Kotov in the Black Sea, but were likewise destroyed by on-board cannons.

With its fleet reduced to a handful of patrol boats, Ukraine has resorted to attacks on Russian ships and infrastructure by remotely operated vessels. In mid-July, a drone damaged a span of the Crimean Bridge, killing two civilians and injuring another. Earlier this month, the Russian tanker Sig was struck by another drone on the approach to Crimea, but was towed to port.

On Wednesday, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) provided CNN with video of the bridge attack by the drone, which its chief Vasily Malyuk called ‘Sea Baby.’ Malyuk described the drones as “a unique invention” of the SBU.

Ukraine first claimed to have sunk the Bykov in March 2022, using rockets launched from the shore in Odessa. The ship turned up unharmed in the port of Sevastopol a week later, however. 

Earlier this week, the Bykov stopped and boarded a Palau-registered cargo ship Sukru Okan in the Black Sea, after the Ukraine-bound vessel ignored the Russian requests to heave to and be inspected. 

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Drone attack damaged building in Moscow centre

A Ukrainian drone attack damaged a building in central Moscow early on Friday, causing a blast that was heard across the business district of the Russian capital, Russian officials said.

A Reuters witness who was in the area described it as "a powerful explosion".

Russian air defence systems shot down a drone and its debris fell on the Expo Center, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said in a statement on his official channel on Telegram.

The Expo Center is a large space used for massive exhibitions, less than 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) away from the Kremlin.

A video published by Russian media outlets showed thick smoke rising next to skyscrapers.

The Russian defence ministry said that Ukraine was behind the drone attack.

There was no immediate comment from Kyiv.

** US approves sending F-16s to Ukraine from Denmark and Netherlands

The United States has approved sending F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine from Denmark and the Netherlands to defend against Russian invaders as soon as pilot training is completed, a U.S. official said on Thursday.

Ukraine has actively sought the U.S.-made F-16 fighter jets to help it counter Russian air superiority.

Washington gave Denmark and the Netherlands official assurances that the United States will expedite approval of transfer requests for F-16s to go to Ukraine when the pilots are trained, the official said.

Denmark and the Netherlands had recently asked for those assurances. The U.S. must approve the transfer of the military jets from its allies to Ukraine.

A coalition of 11 countries was due to start training Ukrainian pilots to fly the F-16 fighter jets this month in Denmark. Denmark's acting Defense Minister Troels Poulsen said in July that the country hoped to see "results" from the training in early 2024.

NATO members Denmark and the Netherlands have been leading international efforts to train pilots as well as support staff, maintain aircraft and ultimately enable Ukraine to obtain F-16s for use in its war with Russia.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken sent letters to his Danish and Dutch counterparts assuring them that the requests would be approved, the U.S. official said.

"I am writing to express the United States’ full support for both the transfer of F-16 fighter aircraft to Ukraine and for the training of Ukrainian pilots by qualified F-16 instructors," Blinken said in a letter to the two officials, a copy of which was seen by Reuters.

Blinken said, "It remains critical that Ukraine is able to defend itself against ongoing Russian aggression and violation of its sovereignty."

He said the approval of the requests would allow Ukraine to take "full advantage of its new capabilities as soon as the first set of pilots complete their training."

U.S. President Joe Biden endorsed training programs for Ukrainian pilots on F-16s in May. In addition to training in Denmark, a training center was to be set up in Romania.

Kyiv will not be able to operate U.S.-built F-16 fighter jets this coming autumn and winter, Ukraine air force spokesperson Yuriy Ihnat told Ukrainian television late on Wednesday.

U.S. officials have privately said that F-16 jets would have been of little help to Ukraine in its current counteroffensive and will not be a game changer when they eventually arrive given Russian air defense systems and contested skies over Ukraine.

The F-16 is made by Lockheed Martin.

RT/Reuters