North Korea and Russia get together….
Ukraine retakes oil and gas platforms in the Balkck Sea
Ukraine begs for more arms while making more samll gains against the Russian’s….
The Russian’s are said to mistreat their Ukraine POW’s…
Ukraine grain is banned in some Euroepean Countries where it has depressed local grain prices…
Ukraine has to keep working against government corruption
Russia has dropped visa restrictions looking for tourists from the Persian Gulf, China and Iran…..
The conflict has dropped tourism from 5.1 million to 200,000 last year….
South Korea is sending the Ukraine $2.3 Billion in aid and another $300 Million…..
The Polish airport that is the jumping off point for Western supplies for Ukraine….
North Korea’s leader is expected to discuss military cooperation with President Vladimir V. Putin, including the possibility of sending more weapons for Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Here’s what we’re covering:
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Kim Jong-un is headed to Russia for talks with Vladimir Putin.
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Ukraine claims to have retaken oil and gas platforms in the Black Sea.
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Zelensky renews pleas for more military aid as Ukraine claims additional gains.
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For clues about Kim Jong-un’s travels, look for his mystery train.
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Russian torture of Ukrainians points to a state policy, a U.N. expert says….
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Here’s the latest on the war and its ripple effects across the globe.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed his condolences for the deaths of the two aid workers. In his nightly address Sunday, Zelensky added that two other wounded volunteers — German citizen Ruben Mawick and Swedish citizen Johan Mathias Thyr — were taken to Dnipro for medical care.
Ukrainian forces recaptured a group of oil and gas drilling platforms off the coast of the Crimean Peninsula, Kyiv’s military intelligence agency said Monday. According to the agency’s Telegramchannel, Ukrainian special forces used boats to retake the rigs known as the “Boika Towers,” which Russian forces had seized in 2015 and since equipped with radar and used for military purposes, notably as helipads. A video posted to that Telegram channel Monday and verified by The Post showed Ukrainian soldiers climbing onto the “Tavrida” drilling platform. Ukrainian soldiers can be seen removing a radar system and engaging a Russian Su-30 fighter jet from their speedboats
Poland said it is ready to impose a unilateral ban on the import of Ukrainian grain if the European Commission refuses to extend the current restrictions past Sept. 15, when they are due to end, Polish Development Minister Waldemar Buda told Polskie Radio 24 on Monday. Ukrainian grain is subject to a European Union import ban in the markets of Poland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Slovakia, where local governments have been angered by the flood of cheaper produce that undercuts their own farmers. Most other E.U. countries are against extending the ban, marking a significant break over Ukraine within the bloc.
Germany’s foreign minister said Ukraine must do more to battle corruption. “There is still a long way to go,” Annalena Baerbock said on an unannounced visit to Kyiv, while reiterating her support for Ukraine’s path toward the E.U. “Just as Ukraine is standing up for us, it can also rely on us and on our understanding of E.U. enlargement as a necessary geopolitical consequence of Russia’s war,”Baerbock said upon her arrival in Kyiv, according to a statement shared by Germany’s Foreign Ministry. The trip marks Baerbock’s fourth visit to Ukraine since the Russian invasion began in February 2022.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke by phone with newly appointed Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov. Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary, told reporters that Austin “provided an update on U.S. security assistance efforts and exchanged views with the minister on priorities to support Ukraine’s immediate battlefield needs and capability requirements over the long term.” Umerov, a Crimean Tatar who has a reputation as a negotiator and anticorruption campaigner, replaced Oleksii Reznikov, who resigned amid a wide-ranging crackdown on corruption in the Defense Ministry.
Russia downed two drones over its Belgorod region early Monday, regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov and the Defense Ministry said on Telegram. Gladkov said one drone fell on a road near a residential building but caused no casualties. The Defense Ministry said Russian forces also destroyed a Ukrainian-launched drone over the Bryansk region Sunday morning.
It’s “too early to say” whether Ukraine’s summer offensive has failed, Gen. Mark A. Milley, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the BBC. He added that Kyiv has “about 30 to 45 days” left before colder, wetter weather makes it harder to fight.
A declaration adopted by world leaders at the Group of 20 summit in New Delhi avoided directly criticizing Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, despite a carefully worded pledge to refrain from the use of force for territorial gain. The declaration also called for the “full, timely and effective implementation” of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, which seeks safe passage for fertilizer and grain from three Ukrainian ports. Moscow pulled out of the deal in July.
Russia began offering visa-free travel to tourists from four Persian Gulf states and Malaysia last month, Economic Development Minister Maxim Reshetnikov said Monday, in addition to recently introduced visa-free travel to groups from China and Iran. “Foreign tourists need to visit us at least once so that they can fall in love with our country,” he said. Tourism to Russia has fallen sharply since the Ukraine invasion, according to local tour operators — who reported that visitor numbers dropped from some 5.1 million in 2019 to 200,000 in 2022.
Romania and the United States are holding joint naval exercises in the Black Sea and Danube Delta starting Monday, the Romanian navy announced. Bulgaria, France, Turkey, Ukraine and Britain will also participate in the drills, which are aimed at combating explosive devices on and over the sea to ensure freedom of navigation.