Geopolitical situation
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday denied his earlier words and stated that Russian forces had not occupied Bakhmut. Mr Zelensky's answer in English to a question about the status of Bakhmut, which he had asked earlier at the Hiroshima summit, implied that he believed that the town had been taken over by the occupiers. "They destroyed everything. There are no buildings. It's a pity. It is a tragedy. But today, Bakhmut is only in our hearts. There is nothing here, so it's just land and - and a lot of dead Russians", he said beforehand.
Speaking through a translator, Zelensky later said that "Bakhmut is not occupied by the Russian Federation. We do not throw people (to die). People are assets. I clearly understand what is happening in Bakhmut. I cannot share with you the technical details of what is happening to our soldiers".
This time we take a lenient view of Zelensky's strategic communication error. The more confusion, the less accuracy and the more information fog, the harder it is for analysts and experts of all kinds to understand what is actually happening at Bakhmut, and the clearer it is for us to know who is at least somewhat involved in the military field and who is merely showing the sparrows the ropes.
The Russian Ministry of War Crimes continues to claim that Wagner and regular units have 'completed the liberation of Bakhmut' and have fully occupied the unoccupied town. When the 'world's second army' has been unable to take and control a small settlement for almost a year, it is only necessary to declare a great victory in the hope of fooling its zombie public.
It would also be fair to tell them that taking the ruins of an unoccupied city has cost Russia around 100 000 dismounted Drisks. We estimate that some 30 000 Russians died in the fighting for Bakhmut and another 70 000 were wounded.
Mr Biden, standing next to Mr Zelensky at the G-7 meeting, announced an additional USD 375 million in aid to Ukraine, which included more ammunition, artillery and vehicles. The new pledge comes after the US agreed to allow training with American-made F-16 fighter jets, paving the way for their possible transfer to Ukraine. Mr Biden said on Sunday that Mr Zelensky had "categorically assured" the US that Ukraine would not use F-16 fighter jets to attack Russian territory.
Meanwhile, a delegation of six African leaders has gathered for talks with Kiev and Moscow. The political clowns want to "start a peace process", but the only and most important issue on their agenda is how to circumvent the sanctions against Russia and allow it to export fertiliser freely.
Although Russian fertilisers are not subject to international sanctions, the US and some Western countries have imposed sanctions on Russian cargo ships. The sanctions have also restricted Russia's access to the global financial transaction system SWIFT, making it difficult for African countries to pay orders.
International negotiator Jean-Yves Ollivier, who has spent six months trying to arrange the talks, said African leaders would also discuss the related issue of how to get more grain from war-torn Ukraine. He said there would also be talks on the possibility of exchanging prisoners when they go to both countries "on a peace mission". Talks are likely to take place next month, Ollivier said.
He arrived in Moscow on Sunday and will later travel to Kiev to work out the "logistics" of future talks. For example, the six presidents of the African countries (South Africa, Senegal, Egypt, Republic of Congo, Uganda and Zambia) are likely to have to travel to Kyiv by overnight train from Poland as the fighting continues, he said.
The aim is to make a start, said Ollivier, the 78-year-old Frenchman who in the late 1980s brought the opposing sides together in a series of high-stakes talks that helped end apartheid in South Africa.
It seems to us that the main objective here is to convince the international community that, without Russian fertilisers and Ukrainian grain, the starving African states will not be able to provide food for their citizens. If they are hungry and thirsty, they will no doubt flock north to Europe in their millions.
That is the aim of Führer Putin and the criminals in the Kremlin.
Significant developments
"The battle for the town of Bakhmut continues", the General Staff of the Ukrainian army reported last night. Ukrainian forces control the outskirts of the town, while "defence forces continue their offensive in the flanks near Bakhmut". Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Malyar said that Ukrainian troops "have taken the town in a semi-encircled position".
"The enemy has failed to encircle Bakhmut and has lost part of the dominant heights around the town," Malyar said. "This means that our troops' march in the suburbs along the flanks, which is still ongoing, is making the enemy's presence in Bakhmut very difficult."
Serhiy Cherevaty, a spokesman for the Ukrainian Eastern Force Group, said that the Ukrainian army was managing to hold its positions in the vicinity of Bakhmut.
"The President has rightly said that the city has indeed been flattened. The enemy is being wiped out every day by massive artillery and air strikes, and our troops report that the situation is extremely difficult. Our troops are holding fortifications and several buildings in the south-western part of the city. Heavy fighting is ongoing," he said.
Bakhmut is virtually non-existent due to the incessant bombardment by Russian artillery in fierce house-to-house fighting. According to Ukrainian officials, Wagner's mercenaries are climbing over the bodies of their own soldiers. Despite this, Sergei Shoigu, Russia's Minister for War Crimes, claimed that the capture of the town allows Russia to continue its offensive further into the Donetsk region.
Shoigu's ravings remind us of Mussolini's delusions about the invincible fleet of fascist Italy during the Second World War. You probably know how those delusions ended - the duce was hung upside down in Milan.
Briefly
A far-right Israeli cabinet minister visited Jerusalem's most sensitive holy site on Sunday to declare that "we are in power", while Israel's cabinet held a rare meeting in Jerusalem's Old City to celebrate its control of the area.
Itamar Ben-Gvir's visit to the disputed hilltop complex was condemned by the Palestinians and Israel's neighbour Jordan. The site is respected by Jews and Muslims alike, and competing claims are at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Estonia and Latvia plan to jointly buy German air defence systems to protect the airspace of both NATO countries in what would be the biggest defence cooperation deal between the Baltic neighbours bordering Russia, the Estonian and Latvian defence ministries said on Sunday.
Under the preliminary agreement, deliveries of the IRIS-T SLM medium-range air defence system, produced by German arms manufacturer Diehl Defence, could start next year and the systems could be operational in 2025. The value of the deal and details of the quantity of weapons were not disclosed as negotiations with the supplier are still ongoing.
On Sunday, Russia announced that the judge and prosecutor of the International Criminal Court who issued the war crimes warrant against President Vladimir Putin have been charged in absentia. The National Investigative Committee said in a statement that Judge Rosario Salvatore Aitala and Prosecutor Khan Karim Asad Ahmad are accused of "preparing to attack a representative of a foreign state that enjoys international protection in order to complicate international relations".
Each of them is also facing other charges. If found guilty, they face up to 12 years in prison. The Committee also reported that the actions of other ICC officials are under investigation.
The pathetic losers and utter dullards in the Kremlin not only live in a different matrix, in a parallel universe, but also do not realise that the imminent end of Russia as a state is inevitable and that it is only a matter of time before the war criminals in Moscow suffer the fate of Mussolini.
Lithuania
Our country mourns the death of First Lady Alma Adamkiene after a serious illness.
We will not be spared.
Any statements we make will sound like empty pots compared to the life lived by the deceased.
We will wish each one of us to be at least one hundredth as elegant and humane as the woman who has gone to meet her eternal life.
Photo shows Ukrainian soldiers firing a D-30 howitzer at the front line near Bakhmut (Roman Shoop via AP)
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