RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE
Russia downs drones headed towards Moscow
Two explosive-laden drones that were heading towards Moscow were successfully intercepted and shot down on Thursday morning. This was confirmed by the Mayor of Moscow, Sergey Sobyanin, through his official Telegram channel, as well as Russia's Ministry of Defense.
According to Mayor Sobyanin, the air defense systems were activated at around 4 a.m. local time. One drone was intercepted over the Kaluga region, while the other was shot down in the vicinity of the Central Ring Road.
The military added that 9 more UAVs were suppressed by means of electronic warfare and, having not reached the target, crashed in the Black Sea. "As a result of the thwarted terrorist attacks, there were no casualties and no damage," the ministry stressed.
At the same time, an auto repair shop in the suburban area of Domodedovo, just outside Moscow, became engulfed in flames, consuming an area of approximately 1,000 square meters. The regional branch of the Ministry of Emergency Situations (MChS) confirmed the incident. Eyewitnesses reported hearing explosive sounds. Potential connection to the recently intercepted drones remains unclear.
Mayor Sobyanin previously reported two downed drones just a day prior. The surge in drone attacks from Kiev has been ongoing since late July.
On July 24th, two drones targeted buildings on Komsomolsky Avenue and a business center on Likhachev Avenue. Mayor Sobyanin and the Ministry of Defense had reported another thwarted attack on July 28th.
Further attempts took place on July 30th and August 1st when drones reached the "Moscow-City" business district. On July 30th, a drone crash resulted in minor damage to the facades of two office towers within the "IQ Quarter," housing key ministries including the Ministry of Digital Development, Ministry of Economic Development, and Ministry of Industry and Trade. On August 1st, a drone damaged a facade at the 21st floor level of one of the towers.
Sobyanin announced on August 6th that authorities had successfully thwarted another drone intrusion into the capital. The drone was eliminated using air defense measures. The Ministry of Defense confirmed the drone attack attempt, revealing that Ukraine had planned to target objects within the Moscow region. The drone was neutralized in the Podolsk district without causing casualties or significant damage, according to military sources. Later, the Mayor of Podolsk, Dmitry Zharikov, stated that several homes had experienced broken windows due to the incident.
In response to these attacks, Dmitry Peskov, the Press Secretary of the Russian President, commented that Ukraine's actions underscored the "nature of the Kiev regime." He emphasized that necessary measures were being taken to ensure security, and assured that there were no plans to increase the level of terrorist threat in Moscow.
** Profits of Western arms makers top $200 billion – report
The revenues of the top Western defense contractors have been soaring, with American weapons makers dominating the global arms industry, Defense News reported on Monday.
According to the magazine’s new ranking of the top 100 defense firms, in 2022, America’s top five weapons contractors made $196 billion in military-related revenue.
The ranking shows that four US-based companies were among the world’s top five military contractors. The US has emerged as the main source of weapons for Ukraine amid its conflict with Russia, having committed around $37 billion in security assistance to Kiev.
In the first half of the year, the revenue of the top 25 Western defense contractors increased by 11% to $212 billion, corporate information cited by the Ravenstvo Media Telegram channel shows.
According to the calculations, the total arms sales for these companies for 2023 are expected to amount to $448 billion – a $47 billion increase on last year. By 2026, the amount could rise by more than 20% to $554 billion on the back of arms deliveries to Ukraine and rearmament in Europe, the report noted.
It is estimated that Western defense contractors will increase revenues by $150 billion, or 37%, from 2021 to 2026. In contrast, economic growth in advanced countries will be half of that pace in the same period, Ravenstvo Media reported. It cited IMF projections that by 2026, the collective GDP for advanced nations will be $67.8 trillion, compared with $56.6 trillion in 2021.
US manufacturer Boeing is dominant among defense-focused companies, data shows, with supplies to Ukraine ranging from ScanEagle unmanned aerial vehicles and Avenger air defense systems, to Harpoon and Hellfire missiles, and Ground Launched Small Diameter Bombs.
Fellow US defense contractor RTX, formerly known as Raytheon Technologies, has also supplied an array of arms and systems, including Patriot long-range missiles, Javelin and TOW anti-tank systems, and Stinger MANPADS.
France has sent SCALP long-range missiles, which are manufactured by MBDA, a joint venture between BAE Systems, Airbus, and Leonardo.
A recent report by the Pentagon inspector general revealed that some of the military equipment supplied to Ukraine by the US and its allies has fallen into the hands of criminal groups. Moscow, which strongly opposes the supply of Western weapons to Kiev, has frequently pointed to the danger of arms being smuggled out of Ukraine and sold on the black market.
WESTERN PERSPECTIVE
Ukraine claims to uncover sleeper cell of female spies working for Russia
Ukraine claimed to have dismantled an all-female spy network operating in the Donetsk region, which allegedly had been leaking information to Russia’s intelligence services and Wagner Group mercenaries.
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“The group consisted exclusively of local women who supported Russia’s armed aggression against Ukraine,” the Security Service of Ukraine, known as the SBU, said in a statement Tuesday.
The SBU said that its Counterintelligence unit has arrested three women, all living in the city of Pokrovsk, as they were “conducting reconnaissance.”
Ukrainian investigators also allegedly identified a senior member of the spy ring, who at the beginning of the war relocated to Russia to coordinate her “team” remotely.
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According to the SBU, all four intelligence assets had been recruited by the Russians before the war “and until recently were on standby.”
The female agents allegedly worked simultaneously for Russia’s Federal Security Service, known as the FSB, and Yevgeny Prigozhin’s Wagner mercenary group.
“On the occupiers’ instructions, their accomplices collected intelligence on numbers and deployment of Ukrainian military equipment in the region,” Ukrainian security officials said.
The accused traitors’ chief mission was to identify Ukrainian fighter jets’ and attack helicopters’ flight paths — and pass that information on to their handlers in Moscow.
They were also reportedly interested in the movements of Ukrainian heavy armored vehicles to the frontline.
“To gather intelligence, the spies walked in the area and covertly took photographs of Ukrainian facilities and targets,” the SBU said.
The sensitive information was then transmitted to the enemy via secured private chats in a popular messaging app, which the SBU did not name.
When security service operatives searched the accused spies’ homes following the network’s bust, they seized cellphones “used for reconnaissance and sabotage activities against Ukraine,” according to the SBU.
All four women, including the alleged spymaster currently hiding out in Russia, are now facing charges of high treason, conspiracy and dissemination of information on transfer, movement or location of Ukraine’s forces, which are punishable by life in prison.
The trio of suspected Russian moles who were collared in Pokrovsk have been ordered held in jail.
Separately, the SBU announced Tuesday that it has foiled an attempt by a sophisticated Russian hacking team, dubbed Sandworm, to breach the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ combat information system.
“As a result of complex measures, SBU exposed and blocked the illegal actions of Russian hackers who tried to penetrate Ukrainian military networks and organize intelligence gathering,” SBU wrote on Telegram.
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The service said the hackers tried to gain access to “sensitive information on the actions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the location and movement of the Defense Forces, their technical support.”
Cyber specialists learned that the hackers planned to use Ukrainian military tablets to spread viruses in the battle system, SBU said.
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These latest developments come a day after Ukrainian special services claimed to have uncovered a failed plot to assassinate President Volodymyr Zelensky with an airstrike during his recent visit to Mykolaiv.
The local SBU office has arrested a woman — dubbed a “traitor” — who was allegedly gathering and leaking information related to the military to the Russians.
** Two dead after Russian attack on Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia - minister
Two people were killed and seven injured in an apparent missile attack by Russia on the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia on Wednesday, Ukrainian officials said.
A Reuters reporter at the scene saw emergency workers lifting a body, putting it on a stretcher and wrapping it into a black body bag.
Rescuers went through debris and an ambulance was parked near damaged buildings.
"We are waiting if they find anyone under the rubble," a doctor, Vyacheslav, said. He did not give his last name.
Ukrainian officials had earlier reported three deaths.
"Fortunately, one person was resuscitated. Doctors were assisted by police paramedics at the scene," Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said on the Telegram messaging app.
Zaporizhzhia city council secretary Anatoliy Kurtev earlier said that Russia had hit a residential area of the city. According to him, windows were blown out in several buildings.
A video posted by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy showed smoke billowing from burning and badly damaged buildings next to a church.
Andriy Yermak, the head of Ukraine's presidential administration, later posted a photo showing that the church is located close to residential buildings. Ukraine suspects that an Iskander missile was used in the attack, Yermak said.
RT/New York Post/Reuters
