First, links to reports from the Associated Press, Reuters, and Tass; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. Finally for today, via Popular Resistance, commentary from a Substack account. — MCM

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7 killed in Ukraine’s Kherson region, including a 23-day-old baby girl, by Susie Blann | AP  KYIV — Seven people including a 23-day-old baby girl were killed in Russian shelling in Ukraine’s southern Kherson region today, the country’s Internal Affairs Ministry said. Artillery shelling in the village of Shiroka Balka, on the banks of the Dnieper River . . . READ MORE . . .

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Russian warship fires warning shots on cargo ship in Black Sea, by Guy Faulconbridge | Reuters MOSCOW — A Russian warship today fired warning shots at a cargo ship in the southwestern Black Sea as it made its way northwards, the first time Russia has fired on merchant shipping beyond Ukraine since exiting a landmark UN-brokered grain deal last month. Russia in July halted participation . . . READ MORE . . .

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Russian naval ship stops Palau-flagged ship in Black Sea for inspection — top brass. From Tass. MOSCOW — The Russian naval ship Vasily Bykov forcibly stopped the Palau-flagged dry cargo ship Sukru Okan heading for the Ukrainian port of Izmail for inspection, Russia’s Defense Ministry said today. “At about 6:40 a.m. Moscow time on August 13 . . . READ MORE . . .

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Amid ‘staggering’ Ukrainian toll, Biden seeks billions more for Ukraine, by Aaron Maté | Substack  The Biden administration is asking Congress for an additional $24 billion for the Ukraine proxy war, more than half of it in military aid. The request comes one week after a CNN poll showed, for the first time, that a majority of Americans oppose additional funding to Kiev. For a White House committed to ensuring a Russian “quagmire” in Ukraine, public opinion is of secondary . . . READ MORE . . .