For today, links to six reports: from the Moscow Times, Reuters, the Associated Press, Tass, and the Kyiv Independent; and to commentary from Reuters, the Kyiv Post, and, via Consortium News and ScheerPost, from Antiwar.com. (GAZA and RITTER entries for this date are HERE and HERE.) — MCM
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FROM AUG. 16 Ukrainian army destroys bridge in Russia’s Kursk Region. From the Moscow Times. Ukrainian forces on Friday destroyed a key bridge in Russia’s southwestern Kursk region, disrupting a link between Russian-controlled areas and those where Kyiv has made incremental advances, according to pro-Kremlin media and military bloggers. READ MORE. . .
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Russia says Ukraine used Western rockets to destroy bridge in Kursk region. From Reuters. MOSCOW — Russia’s foreign ministry said Friday Ukraine had used Western rockets, likely U.S.-made HIMARS, to destroy a bridge over the Seym river in the Kursk region, killing volunteers trying to evacuate civilians. “For the first time . . . READ MORE . . .
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Russia continues to suppress Ukrainian breakthrough attempts in Kursk area — top commander. From Tass. MOSCOW — Russian troops are suppressing Ukrainian breakthrough attempts in the Kursk area around the clock, according to the Deputy Chief of the Russian Armed Forces’ Main Military-Political Department, Akhmat Special Forces, Commander Maj. Gen. Apty Alaudinov. READ MORE . . .
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Russian missile sparks blaze in Ukraine as Kyiv’s troops push into Russia’s Kursk region. From AP. Russia kept up its assault on Ukraine today even as Ukrainian forces pushed into Russia’s Kursk border region. A Russian missile sparked a blaze in the city of Sumy that . . . READ MORE . . .
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Russian air defenses down 10 HIMARS rockets, 35 Ukrainian drones over day. From Tass. MOSCOW — Russian air defenses destroyed 10 U.S.-made HIMARS rockets, two French-made Hammer rockets and 35 Ukrainian drones over the past 24 hours, the Defense Ministry said today in a broader statement. READ MORE . . .
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Thousands flee as Russian troops take one Donetsk Oblast village after another, by Emmanuelle Chaze | The Kyiv Independent For the thousands of civilians living under the constant threat of Russian fire, life has become unsustainable, but leaving is not always an option. In the village of Selydove . . . READ MORE . . .
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How Russia looked the wrong way as Ukraine invaded, by Mark Trevelyan, Anastasiia Malenko and Gleb Stolyarov | Reuters LONDON / KYIV — In the hours before Ukrainian soldiers stormed across Russia’s western border, there was no sign from Moscow that anything was amiss. At midnight at the start of Aug. 6 . . . READ MORE . . .
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Ukraine’s incursion into Russia’s Kursk Region is a game-changer, by Eugene Czolij | Kyiv Post Ukraine’s successful military incursion into Russia has not only amazed the West, but also stunned the Kremlin by exposing its actual vulnerability, both to NATO and Russia’s oligarchic elite, particularly when . . . READ MORE . . .
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FROM AUG. 16 When presidents kill, by Andrew P. Napolitano | Antiwar.com / Consortium News / ScheerPost Today, American troops are on the ground in Ukraine showing Ukrainian forces how to use American weapons to kill Russian troops and in Israel showing the Israeli Defense Forces how to kill civilians in Gaza — by secret presidential orders that . . . READ MORE . . .