RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE Ukraine's counteroffensive has 'failed' – Putin Ukraine’s ongoing counteroffensive has not “stalled” but failed, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared on Monday. With Ukrainian losses mounting and Kiev ramping up its conscription efforts, Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu affirmed his commander-in-chief's assessment. The Ukrainian operation “is not stalled; it is a failure,”Putin declared, following talks with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in the resort city of Sochi. “At least, this is how it looks today,” he continued. “Let’s see what happens next. I hope this will continue to be the case.” In early June, Kiev launched its long-awaited counteroffensive…

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE Two more ships pass through Black Sea corridor, Zelenskiy says Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Saturday that two more ships had passed through a "temporary" Black Sea shipping corridor established since Russia withdrew from a U.N.-backed grain export deal in July. "Two ships have successfully passed through our temporary 'grain corridor'," Zelenskiy posted on X, previously known as Twitter. The president did not identify the vessels involved or say when they had completed their passage. Officials on Friday said two vessels had cleared the corridor -- bringing to four the number that have used it. Zelenskiy said…