Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.6 was recorded off the eastern coast of Kamchatka. This was reported on Thursday, August 21, by the Kamchatka branch of the Federal Research Center of the Unified Geophysical Service of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
“UTC time: August 21, 03:44:48 (15:44 Kamchatka time, 06:44 Moscow time. — Ed.). Coordinates: 51.4469 north latitude, 160.1343 east longitude. Magnitude: 5.6,” the branch’s Telegram channel says.
The epicenter of the earthquake was located 208 km from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky in the Pacific Ocean, the source of the tremors was located at a depth of 50.4 km.
Earlier, on August 21, an earthquake with a magnitude of 4.5 occurred in the Pacific Ocean near the Southern Kuril Islands. The tremor of 2-3 points could have been felt by residents of the islands of Kunashir and Shikotan, but no tsunami threat was announced.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Korrespondent] The enemy has not yet carried out offensive operations in the Gulyai-Polye, Orekhov and Dnieper directions.
Since the beginning of the current day, 77 combat clashes have occurred on the front. This was reported by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in an operational report on Thursday, August 21.
Thus, in the Severo-Slobodskoy and Kursk directions, our defenders repelled two attacks by Russian invaders.
In the South Slobodskoy direction, five enemy attacks were repelled near the settlements of Vovchansk, Khatneye, Ambarnoye, and Zapadnoye.
In the Kupyansk direction, the Ukrainian Armed Forces successfully stopped five assaults in the areas of Golubovka, Yampol and Kupyansk.
In the Liman direction, 13 military clashes occurred near the settlements of Karpovka, Zelenaya Dolina, Kolodyazy, and Dibrova.
In the Seversky direction, the enemy attacked five times in the areas of Serebryanka, Vyemka, Seversk and Fyodorovka.
In the Kramatorsk direction, the enemy advanced three times in the areas of Konstantinovka and Predtechnoye.
In the Toretsk direction, the invaders attacked four times in the areas of Pleshchievka, Sofievka, Poltavka and Toretsk.
In the Pokrovsk direction, Russians have started clashes of varying intensity 24 times near the settlements of Nikanorovka, Novoekonomichnoe, Nikolaevka, Rodinskoye, Mirolyubovka, Chervony Liman, Promen, Pokrovsk, Zvirovoe, Novopavlovka, Muravka, Novoukrainka, Zatishok, Kotline, Udachnoye. One combat clash continues.
In the Novopavlovsk direction, the aggressors tried to advance eight times in the areas of the settlements of Zelenoe Pole, Tolstoy, Lesnoye, Olgovskoye and in the direction of the settlements of Komyshuvakha and Filiya. Four combat clashes continue.
At the same time, the enemy did not conduct offensive operations in the Gulyai-Polye, Orekhov and Dnieper directions.
Let us recall that on August 20, 167 combat clashes occurred on the front in 24 hours. The Pokrovsk direction remains the most active, where the Ukrainian Armed Forces repelled 53 Russian assaults.
It was also reported that over the past 24 hours, Russia lost more than 800 fighters killed and wounded. The total number of Russian losses is approaching 1.1 million people.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[NewsFront] 21:35 Russian Ministry of Defense showed the work of UAV operators of the Vostok group of forces and FPV drone crews of the Rubicon Center. 18:47 Russian Aerospace Forces inflicted strikes using FAB-3000 and FAB-500 aerial bombs with UMPK and Kh-39 missiles.
17:54 In the period from 16.50 to 17.35 Moscow time, air defense systems on duty destroyed two Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles of the airplane type over the territories of the Belgorod and Rostov regions.
17:52 Strike by FAB-500 with a universal planning and correction module struck an area of concentration of manpower and equipment of the 144th Separate Mechanized Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the area of the settlement of Kuty Vtorye in the Chernihiv region.
16:05 At 14:40 Moscow time, air defense systems on duty intercepted one Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicle of the airplane type over the territory of the Belgorod region.
15:02 Footage of Objective control recorded a precise hit of an aerial bomb on the elevator building, where a large number of manpower of the 57th Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces are concentrated.
14:16 Russian Aerospace Forces destroyed temporary deployment points and UAV warehouses for the Ukrainian Armed Forces units.
13:04 On August 21 at 12:32 hours from the State Test Cosmodrome of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation in the Arkhangelsk Region, a combat crew of the space forces successfully implemented launch of the light-class launch vehicle Angara-1.2 with spacecraft in the interests of the Russian Ministry of Defense.
12:22 Summary of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation on the progress of the special military operation as of August 21, 2025
Tonight, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation carried out a group strike with high-precision weapons, as well as strike unmanned aerial vehicles, on enterprises of the military-industrial complex of Ukraine, energy facilities that provided their operation, military airfield infrastructure, positions of operational-tactical missile systems, ammunition depots and property of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
The strike target has been achieved. All designated objects have been hit.
Units of the North group of forces inflicted losses on the manpower and equipment of two mechanized, airborne assault, two assault brigades and two assault regiments of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the areas of the settlements of Novaya Guta, Andreyevka, Novaya Sich, Proletarskoye, Katerinovka, Varachino, Sadki and Yunakovka in Sumy Oblast.
In the Khar'kov direction, units of the mechanized and motorized infantry brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were defeated in the areas of the settlements of Gatishche and Volchansk in the Khar'kov region.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces lost up to 115 servicemen, a tank, an armored combat vehicle, 13 vehicles, three field artillery pieces, including a US-made 155mm M-198 howitzer. Eleven ammunition, fuel, and supply depots were destroyed.
Units of the "West" group of forces occupied more advantageous lines and positions. They defeated formations of three mechanized, assault brigades of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and a territorial defense brigade in the areas of the settlements of Kupyansk, Andreyevka, Novy Mir in the Khar'kov region, Srednee and Kirovsk in the Donetsk People's Republic.
The enemy's losses amounted to 230 servicemen, five combat armored vehicles, including four Western-made, 24 cars and an artillery gun. Seven electronic warfare stations and six ammunition depots were destroyed.
As a result of decisive actions by units of the Southern Group of Forces, the settlement of Aleksandro-Shultino in the Donetsk People's Republic was liberated.
The manpower and equipment of two mechanized, mountain assault, and airmobile brigades of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and a National Guard brigade were damaged in the areas of the settlements of Seversk, Markovo, Nikolaevka, Minkovka, and Vasyukovka of the Donetsk People's Republic.
The enemy lost up to 240 servicemen, an armored combat vehicle, two pickup trucks, two field artillery pieces, four ammunition and supply depots.
Units of the "Center" group of forces improved their tactical position. They defeated formations of five mechanized, infantry, assault, two airborne assault brigades, an assault regiment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, a territorial defense brigade and two national guard brigades in the areas of the settlements of Krasnoarmeysk, Rodinskoye, Chunishino, Udachnoye of the Donetsk People's Republic and Filiya of the Dnipropetrovsk region.
The losses of the Ukrainian armed forces amounted to 380 servicemen, six armored combat vehicles, including a US-made M-113 armored personnel carrier and a Turkish-made Kirpi armored car, 12 cars and two artillery pieces.
Units of the "East" group of forces continued to advance into the depths of the enemy's defense. They defeated the manpower and equipment of the mechanized, assault brigades of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and a naval infantry brigade in the areas of the settlements of Velikomikhailovka, Dibrova, Ivanovka in the Dnipropetrovsk region, Poltavka, Olgovskoye, Dorozhnyanka in the Zaporizhia region and Kamyshevakha in the Donetsk People's Republic.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces lost over 225 servicemen, a tank, four combat armored vehicles, 12 cars and three field artillery pieces, including a US-made 155mm M-198 howitzer. Three warehouses of materiel were destroyed.
Units of the Dnepr group of forces defeated formations of a mechanized, mountain assault brigade, three coastal defense brigades of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and two territorial defense brigades in the areas of the settlements of Belogorie, Stepovoe in the Zaporizhia region, Novoberislav, Ponyatovka, Sadovoe and Belozerka in the Kherson region.
The enemy's losses amounted to more than 80 servicemen, a US-made HMMWV armored fighting vehicle, 13 vehicles, two artillery pieces, including a US-made 155mm M-777 howitzer.
Eight electronic warfare stations and four ammunition and supply depots were destroyed.
12:10 As a result of decisive actions by units of the "Southern" group of troops released settlement of Aleksandro-Shultino, Donetsk People's Republic.
11:17 The crew of the frigate Marshal Shaposhnikov of the Pacific Fleet successfully completed firing high-precision cruise missiles "Kalibr" and "Uran" at a sea target in the waters of the Sea of Japan.
10:36 Between 7:00 and 10:00 Moscow time, air defense systems on duty intercepted and destroyed 21 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles of the aircraft type:
16 UAVs – over the territory of the Republic of Crimea,
Four UAVs – over the waters of the Sea of Azov,
One UAV – over the waters of the Black Sea.
08:37 Artillerymen of the "Center" group of forces inflicted a strike from a 122mm BM-21 Grad MLRS on an enemy concentration area near Krasnoarmeysk.
07:22 During the past night, air defense systems on duty intercepted and destroyed 49 Ukrainian aircraft-type unmanned aerial vehicles:
21 over the territory of the Rostov Region,
Seven over the territory of the Voronezh Region,
Five over the territory of the Belgorod Region,
Four over the territory of the Republic of Crimea,
Three over the territory of the Bryansk Region,
Three over the territory of the Kaluga Region,
Two over the territory of the Oryol Region,
Two over the waters of the Black Sea,
One over the territory of the Kursk Region,
One over the territory of the Tula Region.
05:02 Crews of 122mm D-30 howitzers of the North group of forces destroyed camouflaged strongholds with Ukrainian Armed Forces manpower in the Khar'kov direction.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. by Sergey Adamov
[REGNUM] In three problematic areas of the front in the DPR for the enemy - in the area of the cities of Konstantinovka and Druzhkovka, in the Krasnoarmeyskaya direction and in the area of the city of Dobropolye - the command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is trying to stabilize the situation by throwing reserves into battle.
But so far the attempts have been unsuccessful.
On August 21, the Russian Defense Ministry confirmed the liberation of the village of Aleksandro-Shultino, approximately 10 kilometers from Konstantinovka, by fighters from the Yuzhnaya group. Aleksandro-Shultino is the last "inhabitant" before the Russian Armed Forces reach the outskirts of Konstantinovka from the southeast.
The occupation of positions at Aleksandro-Shultino is part of a major offensive launched after the liberation of Chasov Yar. Russian troops are increasing the pace of their offensive on Konstantinovka, an enemy defensive node adjacent to the Slavyansk-Kramatorsk agglomeration from the south.
Konstantinovka, like neighboring Druzhkovka, lies in a lowland. Control over Chasovy Yar and neighboring heights allows keeping the Konstantinovka area under heavy fire. Currently, assault units of the Russian army are developing an offensive on Konstantinovka simultaneously from the south and east.
In recent days, information has been coming in about the advancement of Russian Armed Forces to the southern outskirts of the city.
Developing the offensive on Konstantinovka, units of the Southern Group drove the enemy out of the village of Shcherbinovka, located west of Dzerzhinsk (Toretsk).
Shcherbinovka, which is located on the Konstantinovka-Yasinovataya railway section, has long been one of the powerful defensive points of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, covering Konstantinovka from the south.
The fighting in this area has been going on for over a month. Thus, the settlement of Petrovka, adjacent to Shcherbinovka, was liberated at the end of July.
Using the advantageous positions near these two settlements as a springboard, Russian troops advanced north, taking up positions on the outskirts of the villages of Katerinovka and Kleban-Byk near the Kleban-Byk reservoir.
If successful in this direction, assault units of the Russian army will be able to reach the outskirts of Konstantinovka in the near future, notes a front-line source of the Regnum news agency.
"A kind of "pocket" has now formed south of the Kleban-Byk reservoir. For now, the Ukrainian Armed Forces are holding positions in Katerynivka, but they will most likely be forced to retreat. Because there is a reservoir behind them, and our forces are on three sides. Beyond the reservoir, the suburbs of Konstantinovka begin - Pleshcheyevka, Ivanopolye. That is, we are approaching the city from the south," our interlocutor explained.
A number of Telegram channels report that advanced units of the Russian army entered the outskirts of Konstantinovka from the east, from the village of Predtechino. These reports speak of clashes within the city limits, in the area of Volkhovskaya and Samarkandskaya streets.
But sources of the Regnum news agency note that these reports are premature. Be that as it may, there are indications that the enemy's command and military-civil administration are assessing the situation in Kostiantynivka extremely seriously. It has become known that the authorities are closing all Ukrposhta branches in the city.
The company explained its decision by saying that it had become “too dangerous to continue working” in the city. Earlier, social services vehicles and valuable equipment from factories were removed from Konstantinovka.
DEEP BREAKTHROUGH NEAR KRASNOARMEYSK
Last week, a number of Ukrainian media outlets and officials reported a deep breakthrough by Russian troops deep into the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ defenses north of Krasnoarmeysk (Pokrovsk in Ukrainian terminology).
There are reports that the Russian Armed Forces' advanced units have managed to advance 11 kilometers into the Ukrainian Armed Forces' advanced positions and have reached the town of Dobropillya. Russian officials have not confirmed these claims, but local authorities have begun evacuating a number of villages and towns that unexpectedly found themselves near the front line.
At the same time, Russian sources confirm the liberation of the settlement of Pankovka. A frontline source of the Regnum news agency reports that our military has started fighting on the outskirts of the villages of Oktyabrskoye (Shakhovo) and Vladimirovka north of Krasnoarmeysk.
There is information that the Ukrainian Armed Forces have driven the Shakhovsky rural community out of the village of Pankovka.
"In the area of Oktiabrskoye (Shakhov), several roads converge. One of them leads to Dobropillya, the other to Konstantinovka. That is, the village acquires strategic importance. If it is taken under control, it will turn into a powerful springboard for the final cleansing of that part of Donbass that remains under the control of the Ukrainian Armed Forces," our source explained.
Another important success of the Russian troops was the liberation of the village of Sukhetskoye. It is located one kilometer from the city of Rodinskoye, north of the agglomeration of Krasnoarmeysk - Dimitrov (Mirnograd).
The T0515 highway, a key supply route for the Ukrainian Armed Forces garrison in Krasnoarmeysk, passes through Rodynskoye. The liberation of Rodynskoye will leave the enemy with only one road leading to the city: the E50 highway from the Dnipropetrovsk region, which can be cut off by simultaneous attacks from the north and south.
In an effort to stop the breakthrough of Russian troops, Kyiv transferred elite units to Donbass, including the Azov assault corps* (formed on the basis of a neo-Nazi group whose activities are banned in the Russian Federation).
However, the enemy has not yet managed to stabilize the front line.
EXPANSION OF THE BUFFER ZONE
Russian troops continue their offensive in several directions at once. Having completed the clearing of border areas in the western part of the DPR, units of the Vostok group liberated the village of Voronoe in the Velikomykhaylivka district of the Dnepropetrovsk region.
The settlement was defended by units of the 110th Mechanized Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, which suffered serious losses and retreated. Earlier, the villages of Yanvarskoye, Maliyevka and, to the north, the village of Dachnoye were occupied in these same "buffer" territories.
Later it was reported that fighters from the 57th Motorized Rifle Brigade of the 5th Army drove the VSAS out of the village of Novogeorgievka in the Dnepropetrovsk region, at the junction with the borders of the DPR and Zaporozhye region.
During the battle, Russian troops destroyed several Ukrainian tanks and inflicted losses on the infantry.
An 11-kilometer section of the border between the DPR and the Dnepropetrovsk region came under the control of the Russian Armed Forces.
PROBLEMS OF THE ARMED FORCES OF UKRAINE
In an effort to explain the failures of the Ukrainian troops, a number of Ukrainian sources have drawn attention to the serious problems faced by Ukrainian drone operators.
It is reported that most of the Ukrainian drones used for reconnaissance and strikes at depths of up to 15-20 km are intercepted in the air, including drones operating at high altitudes.
Because of this, the Ukrainian Armed Forces are often unable to promptly track the operational movement and deployment of Russian units, as well as effectively conduct counter-battery combat.
But it is possible that in this way the Ukrainian command is trying to absolve itself of some responsibility for the failures at the front. Although many officers of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, both anonymously and publicly, have accused the command of the group and the General Staff in Kyiv of the collapse of the front in Donbass.
In any case, the Russian Armed Forces continue their simultaneous offensive in several directions, approaching the encirclement of key enemy defense nodes. And even Kiev's use of its last reserves seems unable to change the situation.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. by Gevorg Mirzayan
[REGNUM] Security guarantees for Ukraine, which it is now loudly bargaining for, are one of the most difficult issues in the context of preparing a peace agreement.
For example, the adviser to the head of the President's Office, Mikhail Podolyak, who made a practically sensational statement in an interview with La Repubblica about his readiness to freeze the conflict along the front line and actually recognize part of his territories as lost, at the same time insists on the direct obligation of the "partners" to automatically intervene in the conflict if it resumes. Moreover, as part of a whole separate alliance.
And they, in turn, try in every way to avoid such formats that involve a military clash with Russia.
At the same time, Zelensky himself has already fundamentally rejected participation in the potential pool of guarantors of China, because it is helping not Ukraine, but Russia, by “opening the drone market.” But mighty Estonia has already offered a whole company of its peacekeepers.
Western experts and politicians offer various options, invent schemes. But at the same time they do not pay attention to the fact that some of these schemes have already proven their unviability, and some are simply unrealistic. After all, instead of security, it leads to a big war
BACK TO THE PAST
Russia's position in this whole story is very simple: security guarantees must be comprehensive, fair and, so to speak, inclusive. That is, not be directed against Russia and not be implemented without it.
"I am sure that in the West, first and foremost in the United States, they understand perfectly well that seriously discussing security issues without the Russian Federation is a utopia. It is a road to nowhere," said Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. According to him, the Russian side does not overstate its interests, but will ensure its legitimate interests firmly and harshly.
The minister made it clear that he sees a good option for guarantees in the formula that was proposed by Kiev itself in the spring of 2022, at the Istanbul talks. At that time, according to the draft, the role of guarantors was assigned to the permanent members of the UN Security Council, as well as a number of other interested states (among which Germany and Turkey were mentioned).
“And in that context, the Ukrainian proposal clearly meant that these guarantees would be equal, the security of all interested parties, including Ukraine’s neighbors, would be ensured on an equal, equal, indivisible basis,” Lavrov recalls.
The mechanism has not been fully worked out, but the discussion could most likely involve the deployment of civilian observers on Ukrainian territory.
However, the West is not considering this option yet. In Europe's understanding, guarantees to Ukraine should include the deployment of not only observers there, but also troops. As well as the creation of an air-free zone and the supply of weapons to the Kyiv regime.
The Italian government also proposes the “NATO Light” option – that is, not to include Ukraine in the organization, but to accept obligations towards it that are similar to Article 5 of the Charter of the North Atlantic Alliance.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has been tasked with formulating something viable from these proposals. And, according to a number of journalists, it will be very difficult for him to achieve success. After all, the formats and conditions proposed by Western countries are not just unrealistic – some of them have already proven their uselessness in practice.
SPY OBSERVERS
Take the simplest point - observers.
Western countries assume that these observers will be their representatives from some pro-Western organization, like the OSCE. However, Moscow is not interested in this, because the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe is a structure that has proven itself to be an extremely unreliable observer during the attempts to implement the Minsk agreements.
In particular, it deliberately did not record the numerous artillery strikes of the Kyiv regime on the cities of Donbass. But first of all, there is no trust in it because its employees worked for foreign intelligence services.
“According to the information we have, they transmitted data regarding our positions and the number of our personnel to foreign intelligence agencies,” DPR head Denis Pushilin said in 2022.
Moscow does not need a repeat of the monitoring of the Minsk agreements, when the Kiev regime violated almost all points of the road map, and the West, with the connivance of the OSCE, said that Russia was violating these points. Moscow is also unlikely to agree to the deployment of Western observers on its territory.
Senior researcher at the IMEMO RAS Dmitry Ofitserov-Belsky explains to the Regnum news agency that “it would be strange for a great power to allow observers to come to it.”
"We are not a failed state or a rebel entity, Russia is a responsible country and a member of the UN Security Council. We do not need observers," the expert is sure. Moreover, in the format of the conflict settlement in Donbass, the Russian side has always complied with all the agreements it signed, unlike Kiev.
And this is not to mention the fact that Western observers themselves will refuse to be deployed in the Russian territories of Donbass and the Black Sea region - because then they will effectively recognize the sovereignty of the Russian Federation over these lands.
Inviting observers from the SCO or BRICS could solve some of the problems, but Europe will not agree to this. First of all, because by doing so it will not only recognize the high status of these (alternative to Western) global governance structures, but will also sign up to the fact that Asians are now engaged in peacekeeping in Europe.
A humiliating fact for the West.
WHO WILL SEND?
As for the deployment of Western troops and airless space, the question is whose forces will do all this. Yes, nominally there seem to be participants.
"I can confirm that more than three countries are ready to send soldiers to Ukraine," said Zelensky's office chief Andriy Yermak.
One of them is already known and named by us - it is Estonia.
According to Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal, his country is ready to send about a hundred soldiers to Ukraine. Preliminary, the list of potential participants includes France and Great Britain, as well as Germany. However, in reality, these countries are not so decisive.
For example, in February 2024, Ukraine signed agreements on security guarantees with Germany and France. According to them, Berlin and Paris pledged to simply provide assistance to Kyiv for 10 years, as well as put pressure on Russia.
But there was no talk of introducing troops.
It did not work because Moscow is categorically against any deployment of Western troops in Ukraine. Foreign intervention, as Sergey Lavrov called it. “ And I very much hope that those who hatch such plans, either they are simply trying to attract attention to themselves, but I hope that they understand that this will be absolutely unacceptable for the Russian Federation and for all sensible political forces in Europe, ” the minister noted.
One of the goals of the SVO was precisely to prevent Ukraine from becoming an anti-Russian stronghold, and Moscow intends to achieve these goals.
And without Russian consent, the deployment of troops could lead to them becoming legitimate targets for Russian missiles – something that has also been repeatedly discussed in Moscow. The planes that will supposedly ensure an airless zone in Ukraine will become targets for fighters and air defense of the Russian army.
Which would involve the West in direct conflict with a nuclear power.
CHANCE FOR A POSTCARD
Oddly enough, a partial way out of this situation could be the implementation of the Italian “NATO light” scheme: the absence of foreign troops on Ukrainian territory and the presence of only guarantees to intervene in the event of a war.
Moreover, it is far from certain that this intervention will look like sending combat brigades. In fact, the NATO Charter does not imply automatic entry into war. After all, literally in Article 5 it is stated that in the event of an attack on one of the countries, the others will immediately take individual or joint actions that they deem necessary. Including (but not necessarily) the use of armed force.
“They can send troops, weapons, or just a postcard with words of support to help,” Ofitserov-Belsky says ironically.
However, there are some serious downsides here too.
The presence of such guarantees could become a pretext for, say, Estonia, after some provocation by the Kyiv regime, to send its unfortunate company of soldiers to Ukraine, and after its liquidation (and after attacks on Estonia itself as an aggressor), to raise the issue of attacking a NATO member country.
Which again risks causing a major war in Europe, whereas the point of security guarantees is to avoid this war.
Therefore, it is possible that sooner or later the West will return to the option proposed by Russia: broad guarantees, multiplied by the non-confrontational nature of the new Kyiv government, which should replace the Zelensky regime. Which, in principle, is the main guarantee of peace.
But if the West returns to it too late – in the Estonian style – then perhaps there will no longer be a need to give guarantees.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] During excavations at Yaroslav's Court in Veliky Novgorod, specialists from the Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences found a lead seal of Prince Yaroslav the Wise. This was reported on Thursday, August 21, by the press service of the institute.
The seal that was found depicts Saint George with a spear at his right shoulder, and on the other side there is an image of the prince's sign in the form of a trident with a circle on top of the middle rod. Around them are the remains of a circular Greek inscription, which is divided at the top by a cross. Before this, historians only assumed that such a seal could exist.
“The find is one of the oldest Russian seals,” says a statement on the Institute of Archaeology’s website.
According to scientists, the discovery can be confidently linked to the activities of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, who could have used such bullae to certify documents during his reign in Novgorod.
"The discovery of the seal is of extremely important scientific significance. It provides additional information about the first century of Novgorod's existence, which is very sparingly reflected in written sources," the report notes.
Before this, the only seal of Yaroslav in Novgorod was found in 1994 at the Troitsky excavation site. Researchers believe that the new find is important evidence that Yaroslav's court was the city's socio-political center already in the 11th century. Thanks to the materials of archaeological excavations, the history of early Novgorod is gradually becoming more specific and clear.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] Colonel General Yevgeny Nikiforov has become the new commander of the Russian Army's North group of forces. This follows from a report by the Russian Defense Ministry on August 21 about the visit of the head of the military department, Andrei Belousov, to the group's command post.
"The commander of the group, Colonel General Yevgeny Nikiforov, reported to the Russian Minister of Defense on issues of equipping the group's units with modern weapons and military equipment and on its modernization, taking into account the experience of combat use during the SVO," the statement said.
The Defense Ministry specified that Belousov was also shown drones that can provide remote mining of the area and destroy armored objects. In addition, the report specified that the use of a repeater on the UAV made it possible to increase the operating range of ground robots used to deliver food and water to 15 km.
The head of the defense department thanked the commanders of the Northern Group units for the high results of their combat work, and also presented state awards to the servicemen who demonstrated courage, bravery, and heroism.
[BBC] Russia has launched 574 drones and 40 missiles on Ukraine in one of the heaviest bombardments in weeks, Ukrainian officials say.
One person was killed in a drone and missile strike on the western city of Lviv, while 15 others were reported wounded in an attack on the south-western Transcarpathia region.
The attacks came as US President Donald Trump spearheads diplomatic moves to halt the war. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said the strikes highlighted why efforts to bring it to an end were "so critical".
President Volodymyr Zelensky has said Ukraine was ready to meet Russia's Vladimir Putin "in neutral Europe" - mooting Switzerland or Austria - adding that he was not against Istanbul either.
Zelensky has stated his willingness to meet Putin in "any format", although he has poured cold water on the idea of talks taking place in Budapest, which he said "is not easy today".
The prospect of direct talks emerged after Trump met Putin in Alaska, and then hosted Zelensky and European leaders at the White House on Monday.
The US president initially suggested trilateral talks involving him, Putin and Zelensky, but has since suggested he might not take part: "Now I think it would be better if they met without me... If necessary, I'll go."
Ukraine's air force counted 614 drones and other missiles fired by Russia overnight into Thursday and said it had stopped 577 of them. It is the biggest air attack since July.
While Russian strikes tend to focus on eastern regions close to the front lines, the latest attacks hit western areas as well.
RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS IN LVIV WERE HIT DURING THE OVERNIGHT STRIKES
Since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, its forces have occupied most of Ukraine's eastern Donbas region, including Luhansk and Donetsk.
Russia currently controls around a fifth of Ukrainian territory, including the Crimean peninsula, which it annexed in 2014.
Sybiha said hypersonic, ballistic and cruise missiles were among the weapons used in the overnight barrage.
The Ukrainian air force said many of the attacks came from western Russia, as well as from the Black Sea, while one missile came from Russian-occupied Crimea.
In the western Lviv region, where one person was killed, three more were injured in attacks that damaged more than 20 civilian buildings including residential homes and a nursery.
Another 15 people were injured when cruise missiles hit a US electronics firm in the far south-western town of Mukachevo in Transcarpathia, not far from Ukraine's borders with Hungary and Slovakia.
"One of the missiles struck a major American electronics manufacturer in our westernmost region, leading to serious damage and casualties," Sybiha wrote on social media on Thursday. The plant produces coffee machines and other household goods, officials say.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] The heads of the general staffs of the United States, a number of European NATO member countries and Ukraine have developed “military options” to support the negotiation process aimed at achieving a “lasting peace” in Europe. This was reported on August 21 by the press service of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff.
US General Staff spokesman Joseph Halstead said the military options developed would be shared with each country's national security advisers for appropriate consideration as part of ongoing diplomatic efforts.
"Planning and engagement will continue as negotiations progress," Halstead said in a statement.
On August 19, the Axios portal reported that US Secretary of State Mark Rubio will lead a negotiating team to develop security guarantees for Ukraine. In addition to the head of the State Department, the discussions will also include national security advisers from Ukraine and European countries.
On August 18, US President Donald Trump said that he had discussed security guarantees for Ukraine with the head of the Kiev regime, Volodymyr Zelensky. According to him, they will be provided by European countries in coordination with the US. The head of the White House also noted that the prospects for peace in Ukraine will be determined in one or two weeks.
#1
The Ukraine War will be ended on the battlefield The Russians, as Trump realizes, want Ukraine as a demilitarized, deradicalized neutral state with no connection to NATO. They can only get that on the battlefield and they will continue until they do. Opinion.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] The United Aircraft Corporation (UAC, part of the Rostec state corporation) has sent another batch of new Su-35S multirole fighters to the Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS).
"UAC has delivered another batch of new Su-35S multirole fighters to the Russian Aerospace Forces. The 4++ generation aircraft have undergone a full cycle of factory tests, were accepted by the technical staff and tested in various operating modes by pilots of the Russian Ministry of Defense," UAC reported on its Telegram channel.
The press service noted that the VKS flight crew expressed gratitude to the manufacturer for reliable and modern equipment.
Rostec also added that several batches of Su-35S fighters were delivered this year. In addition, the new aircraft are already in the production stage.
“For almost all types of such (military – Ed.) products, an increase in production volumes is planned for the current year, in connection with this we are continuing to modernize our production facilities,” said Vadim Badekha, General Director of UAC.
On August 12, the fleet of operational-tactical aviation of the Russian Aerospace Forces was replenished with new Su-34 fighter-bombers. The aircraft have undergone a full cycle of factory tests. They have been tested in operating modes. At the moment, the Su-34s have flown to their home airfield.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
