Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] The first department for investigating especially important cases of the regional department of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation has opened a criminal case against a resident of the city of Kamyshin in the Volgograd Oblast. The man is suspected of murder committed with particular cruelty, as well as illegal possession of firearms.
According to the Volgograd Investigative Committee, on the evening of August 14, the body of a judge with gunshot and stab wounds was found near the city court building.
"The suspect in the murder has been detained. The man is engaged in commercial activities. A range of investigative actions aimed at establishing all the circumstances of the crime are being carried out," the investigators explained.
The issue of choosing a preventive measure in the form of detention for the suspect is being decided.
According to information from 112, a local resident, 47-year-old Sergei, found out that his wife was having an affair with Judge Vasily Vetlugin, lay in wait for him around the corner from the city court and brutally killed him.
"Sergey opened fire with a carbine. Then he cut off the judge's genitals and stuck a knife into his eye. He did not hide. He waited for the police and surrendered," 112 wrote.
That definitely meets the definition of brutality.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Korrespondent] In the Pokrovsky direction, the Russian army carried out almost 40 attacks in the areas of 20 populated areas.
Since the beginning of the current day, 67 combat clashes have occurred on the front. Ukrainian units have stabilized the situation near Pokrovsk and achieved new successes in the Sumy region, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported in an operational report as of 16:00 on Thursday, August 14.
Thus, in the Severo-Slobodskoy and Kursk directions the enemy twice attempted to carry out offensive actions, and at present the clashes continue.
"Our units continue to take active action, and there have been some successes in certain areas," the statement said.
In the South Slobodskoy direction, an enemy assault near Glubokoe was repelled.
In the Kupyansk direction, the Russians attacked three times in the areas of Kupyansk, Golubovka and Zagrizove.
In the Liman direction, the Ukrainian Armed Forces units repelled seven attacks in the areas of the settlements of Ridkodub, Grekovka, Mirnoye, Shandrigolovo, Kolodyagi. Three attacks are still ongoing.
In the Seversky direction, our soldiers repelled one enemy attack near Grigoryevka.
In the Toretsk direction, Russian occupiers twice tried to advance in the areas of Toretsk and Aleksandr-Kalinov. One battle continues.
In the Pokrovsk direction, the occupiers carried out 37 attacks in the areas of the settlements of Popov Yar, Zolotoy Kolodets, Nikanorovka, Mayak, Vladimirovka, Shakhovo, Rubezhnoye, Volnoye, Novoekonomicheskoye, Mirolyubovka, Nikolaevka, Rodinskoye, Krasny Liman, Promen, Lisovka, Sukhoy Yar, Pokrovsk, Zvirovo, Udachnoye and Novoukrainka. Our defenders have already repelled 34 attacks, the fighting continues.
"The situation in the area is stabilizing, the Defense Forces are taking all necessary measures to identify and destroy groups of Russian occupiers who penetrated into the rear areas of our defense the day before. Thus, over the past 24 hours, servicemen of one of our mechanized brigades captured five invaders," the General Staff said.
In the Novopavlovsk direction, the enemy has launched an offensive nine times near the settlements of Tolstoy, Aleksandrovograd, Maliyevka and in the directions of Filiya and Zaporizhzhya. One combat clash continues.
Five enemy assaults were stopped in the Dnieper direction.
At the moment, no military clashes have been recorded in the Kramatorsk, Gulyai-Pole and Orekhov directions.
Earlier, the representative of the Dnepr OSUV, Viktor Tregubov, reported that the Ukrainian military was blocking and destroying those small units of the Russian Federation troops that were advancing near Dobropolye in the Pokrovsk direction.
Also this week it became known that the Azov Corps took up defensive positions in the Pokrovsk area.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Korrespondent] Donbass is the main outpost that holds back the enemy and prevents it from advancing into the central and western regions of Ukraine.
While the Defense Forces have stopped the advance of the Russian army in the Dobropillya direction and the situation in this region is stabilizing, it is the topic of Donbass that will play a key role in the negotiations between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday, writes the British publication The Independent.
Journalists warn that the complete loss of Donbass could have "catastrophic consequences" for Kyiv, which are further down in the story.
SIGNIFICANT OCCUPATION
The Russian Federation illegally included Crimea, Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhia and Kherson regions among its subjects. However, these territories are part of Ukraine and are not recognized by the United Nations.
Russia is now believed to have occupied about 88 percent of the Donbas. According to Reuters, this includes almost all of the Luhansk region and 75 percent of the Donetsk region.
Some 6,600 square kilometers are still controlled by Ukraine, but the Kremlin is massing most of its troops along the front in the Donetsk region, advancing toward the last major cities remaining, such as Pokrovsk and Dobropolye.
STRATEGIC REGION IN WAR
Donbas' hyperindustrialized economy is based primarily on coal mining and metallurgy. The region has some of the largest coal reserves in Ukraine, even as coal production elsewhere has declined.
In 2014 alone, Ukrainian coal mining companies in Donbass suffered a 22.4 percent reduction in raw coal production compared to 2013.
But beyond its economic importance, the Donbas has been described by the Institute for the Study of War as a "belt of fortresses" in terms of its strategic importance in the war. The Donetsk region forms the main fortified defensive line along the front, which stretches through Slavyansk, Kramatorsk, Druzhkovka and Konstantinovka.
"Ukraine currently holds a key defensive line in the Donetsk region," said CEPA researcher Elina Beketova.
She added that Russia has not been able to break through since 2014 and they have lost a lot of people there because the whole region is heavily mined.
"These are not just trenches, but deep, multi-layered defenses with bunkers, anti-tank ditches, minefields and industrial zones built into the terrain. This terrain includes dominant hills, rivers and urban areas, making it extremely difficult to capture," Beketova said.
She said the loss of this fortified line would have "catastrophic consequences" as it would curb Russia's advance into central and western Ukraine.
"The front would have shifted about 80 km to the west, and Russia would have received open terrain - flat steppe without natural obstacles - which would have given it direct routes to Kharkov, Poltava and the Dnieper," the expert is convinced.
WHAT ZELENSKY SAID ABOUT DONBASS
Zelensky has repeatedly rejected Russia's calls to abandon Donbass.
In response to Putin's ultimatum to withdraw Ukrainian troops from the Donetsk region, he promised that Ukraine would "never leave" the Donbass and warned that Putin's forces could use it as a springboard for a future invasion.
"We will not leave Donbass. We cannot do this. Everyone forgets the first part - our territories are illegally occupied. For the Russians, Donbass is a springboard for a new offensive in the future," he said.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[NewsFront] 21:45 South Donetsk direction
Troops of the "East" group of forces continue to develop the offensive in the direction of Velikomikhailovka and drive the enemy out of the settlement of Voronoe.
To the north, from the side of Yanvarskoye, the Russian Armed Forces are attacking in the direction of Novoselovka.
21:25 Ukrainian drone attacked a civilian car in the village of Svoboda, Rylsky District, Kursk Region. As a result of the strike, a married couple was injured. The 42-year-old man and woman suffered moderate shrapnel wounds.
Another drone attack occurred in the village of Zvannoye, Glushkovsky District. As a result of the strike, a 75-year-old man who was riding a bicycle along the road was injured. He has minor injuries.
All victims were taken to the Kursk Regional Hospital by ambulance.
20:30 TCC employee sarrange dmass beating of civilians who stood up for a man caught by military commissars
The Odessa regional TCC has already officially blamed the incident on civilians who offered “malicious resistance.”
19:58 Ministry of Defense RF:
A crew of the Lancet loitering munition from the Guards Artillery Brigade of the Airborne Forces destroyed an American M-777 howitzer and a Bogdana self-propelled gun of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the right bank of the Dnieper in the Kherson region.
Operators of attack drones of the "West" military group burned an enemy pickup truck in the Khar'kov region.
Drone operators of the motorized rifle unit of the "Center" group of forces hit the firing positions and command posts of Ukrainian militants on the approaches to Krasnoarmeysk.
FPV drone crews of the Vostok group of forces carried out strikes on enemy vehicles in the area of the settlement of Aleksandrograd.
UAV operators of the Southern Group of Forces continue to disable enemy hexacopters.
19:52 The Russian Armed Forces have started fighting on the outskirts of Alexandrograd in the Velikomikhailovsky direction, –MAP.
17:32 In the period from 14:00 to 17:00 Moscow time, air defense systems on duty destroyed 11 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles of the aircraft type over the territory of the Belgorod region.
16:51 Calculation of the Iskander-M OTRK struck HIMARS MLRS positions in the area of the village of Zhikhovo in the Sumy region.
16:20 Konstantinovskoye direction
Units of the South Group of Forces, continuing to clear the Kleban-Byk pocket, liberated the settlement of Shcherbinovka. Fighting in Katerinovka and Kleban-Byk. Some units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces make unsuccessful attempts to break through in the area of the dam on the eastern bank from the encirclement in the direction of Pleshcheyevka.
14:33 Between 11:00 and 14:00 Moscow time, air defense systems on duty intercepted and destroyed 10 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles of the airplane type:
Eight UAVs – over the territory of the Belgorod region,
Two UAVs – over the territory of the Krasnodar region.
13:42 The attack aircraft of the "East" force group, acting competently and decisively broke defense and completely drove Ukrainian militants out of the settlement of Iskra in the DPR.
12:43 Summary of the Russian Ministry of Defense on the progress of the special military operation as of August 14, 2025
The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continue to conduct a special military operation.
Units of the North group of forces inflicted losses on the manpower and equipment of two mechanized, two airborne assault, and a ranger brigades, two assault regiments of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, and two territorial defense brigades in the areas of the settlements of Boyaro-Lezhachi, Korchakovka, Kiyanitsa, Khrapovshchina, Vakalovshchina, Yunakovka, Pershe Travnya, Varachino, and Andreyevka in Sumy Oblast.
In the Khar'kov direction, units of the mechanized brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the territorial defense brigade were defeated in the areas of the settlements of Volchansk, Ambarnoye and Sinelnikovo in the Khar'kov region.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces lost up to 155 servicemen, two tanks, an armored combat vehicle, nine vehicles, seven field artillery pieces, including two NATO-made ones, two electronic warfare stations, and an ammunition depot.
Units of the "West" group of forces occupied more advantageous lines and positions, and defeated formations of a tank, two mechanized and assault brigades of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the areas of the settlements of Senkovo, Glushkovka, Novosergeevka, Kupyansk in the Khar'kov region, and Kirovsk and Kolodezi in the Donetsk People's Republic.
The enemy's losses amounted to 225 servicemen, an armored combat vehicle and eight cars. Eight electronic warfare stations and three ammunition depots were destroyed.
Units of the Southern group of troops took decisive action to liberate the village of Shcherbinovka in the Donetsk People's Republic.
The manpower and equipment of five mechanized, mountain assault brigades of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and two territorial defense brigades were damaged in the areas of the settlements of Minkovka, Fedorovka, Vasyukovka, Chervone, Nikiforovka, Berestok, Zvanovka, Novodmitrovka and Stepanovka of the Donetsk People's Republic.
The enemy lost over 265 servicemen, an armored combat vehicle, five vehicles, three field artillery pieces, including a US-made 155mm M777 howitzer, and two electronic warfare stations.
Units of the "Center" group of forces continued to advance into the depths of the enemy's defense. They defeated the formations of four mechanized, a ranger, an assault brigades, two assault regiments of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, a marine brigade and a national guard brigade in the areas of the settlements of Novonikolaevka, Shevchenko, Dimitrov, Novoaleksandrovka, Krasny Liman, Udachnoye, Rodinskoye and Krasnoarmeysk of the Donetsk People's Republic.
The losses of the Ukrainian armed forces amounted to over 355 servicemen, four combat armored vehicles, including the Turkish-made Kirpi armored car, eight pickups, five field artillery pieces and a US-made AN/TPQ-37 counter-battery station.
Units of the "East" military group actively liberated the Iskra settlement of the Donetsk People's Republic.
The manpower and equipment of two mechanized brigades of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and two territorial defense brigades were damaged in the areas of the settlements of Poltavka, Zeleny Gai, Kulturnoe in the Zaporizhia region, Voronoe in the Dnipropetrovsk region and Aleksandrograd in the Donetsk People's Republic.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces lost up to 230 servicemen, four combat armored vehicles, eight cars and two artillery pieces, including a US-made 155mm M-198 howitzer. Two electronic warfare stations were destroyed.
Units of the Dnepr group of forces defeated formations of a mechanized, mountain assault brigade, two coastal defense brigades of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and three territorial defense brigades in the areas of the settlements of Kamenskoye, Chervona Krynitsa, Stepovoye in the Zaporizhia region, Tokarevka, Antonovka and Kamyshany in the Kherson region.
More than 85 Ukrainian servicemen, 10 vehicles, a 155mm self-propelled artillery unit "Bogdana", a 155mm howitzer M-777 made in the USA, seven electronic warfare stations and a RADA radar station made in Israel were destroyed.
Operational-tactical aviation, strike unmanned aerial vehicles, missile forces and artillery of the Russian Armed Forces groups have damaged storage sites for unmanned aerial vehicles, ammunition depots, temporary deployment points of Ukrainian armed formations and foreign mercenaries in 147 districts.
Air defense systems shot down four guided aerial bombs and 268 unmanned aerial vehicles.
12:25 Krasnolimanskoe direction
The units of the GrV Zapad continue their offensive, having advanced more than 500 m in Shandrigolovo and Sredniy over the past 24 hours. On the western bank of the river Netrius in the Karpovka area, our units are attacking and gradually advancing in the direction of the Koroviy Yar-Redkodub highway with the aim of cutting off the logistics of Karpovka and Redkodub, where several enemy assault groups continue to be located.
Battles for Glushchenkovo and Novy Mir. Our sabotage and reconnaissance groups are operating west of the river Netrius in a fairly large area (no details).
West of Kolodezi, the Russian Armed Forces have advanced in the direction of Stavki. Reaching the heights in the Stavki and Drobyshevo area will allow control of Krasny Liman.
In Torskoye our units completely control the northern part and part of the southern part. The enemy periodically tries to jump into the southern part from the side of Krasny Liman and Yampol.
11:35 In the period from 8.00 to 11.00 Moscow time, air defense systems on duty destroyed eight Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles of the aircraft type:
Seven UAVs over the territory of the Belgorod region and
One UAV over the territory of the Kursk region.
11:13 Crews of 152mm 2S19 self-propelled howitzers "Msta-S" of the "West" group of forces daily perform combat missions in the area of the Special Military Operation.
10:47 Sumy region. The Russian army storms the small border village of Pershe Travnya, –MAP.
09:40 Footage strikes by the Russian Armed Forces on design bureaus, rocket fuel production plants and missile weapons assembly plants of the Ukrainian military-industrial complex.
09:28 Crew of T-72B3M tank with direct fire defeated enemy stronghold in the Krasnoarmeysk direction.
07:35 During the past night from 20:00 on August 13 to 07:00 Moscow time on August 14, air defense systems on duty intercepted and destroyed 44 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles of the aircraft type:
14 over the Black Sea,
Nine over the territory of the Volgograd region,
Seven over the territory of the Republic of Crimea,
Seven over the territory of the Rostov region,
Four over the territory of the Krasnodar region,
Two over the territory of the Belgorod region,
One over the waters of the Sea of Azov.
05:02 Calculation of the 122mm BM-21 MLRS "Grad" of the Guards 58th Army of the "Dnepr" group of forces caught the rotation of the Ukrainian Armed Forces personnel in the Zaporizhia region.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[REGNUM] When it's not those who attack that go to jail, but those who defend themselves
by Daniil Moskovsky and Yuri Zainashev
The Supreme Court has recognized a knife as an acceptable means of self-defense when attacked with batons. The highest court came to this conclusion while studying the case of Magnitogorsk resident Zulfan Aznabaev, who was sentenced to more than ten years for premeditated murder.
The verdict was handed down on July 16, but the name of the defendant was only revealed on August 7.
"The Judicial Collegium of the Supreme Court has determined: to overturn the appellate verdict of the Chelyabinsk Regional Court and the cassation ruling of the Judicial Collegium for Criminal Cases of the Seventh Cassation Court of General Jurisdiction in relation to Zulfan Faritovich Aznabaev, and to transfer the criminal case for a new appellate hearing to the Judicial Collegium for Criminal Cases of the Chelyabinsk Regional Court," the verdict reads.
Aznabaev was released from custody in the courtroom.
SELF-PROCLAIMED COLLECTORS
According to the defendant's lawyer, Evgeny Kaiguzin, Zulfan is an ordinary Russian who was involved in furniture assembly and other small businesses.
As stated in the verdict, on November 13, 2022, two acquaintances came to Aznabaev's apartment, demanding money. "They clearly did not come with good intentions, because one of the victims brought a rubber truncheon, " Kaiguzin tells the Regnum news agency." That is, they initially went there to harm my client. They came in without permission - they burst in. They started threatening, used violence. Yes, they had a conflict. The guests thought that Aznabaev owed them money, but my client did not think so."
As the case says, the guests beat the host with a rubber truncheon, breaking his finger. When Aznabaev's friend, who was in the apartment, stood up for him, the blows rained down on him too. Then Aznabaev grabbed a kitchen knife and "caused bodily harm."
One of the attackers was killed, the other was seriously wounded.
THEMIS'S HESITATION
The Ordzhonikidzevsky District Court of Magnitogorsk agreed that the man was defending himself, but found that the limits of self-defense had been exceeded. In addition, it turned out that in the fall of 2020, he had already been tried for drug possession and had gotten off with a suspended sentence. This time, the defendant was given six months in a penal colony.
In early 2024, the regional court overturned the sentence as too lenient. Aznabaev was found guilty of murder and attempted murder and sentenced to 11 years in a maximum security prison. According to the Chelyabinsk judges, by the time Zulfan attacked the guests, the conflict had been resolved, the owner of the apartment had no longer been beaten, which means there was no reason to use a knife.
The Supreme Court, however, in its verdict of July 16, objects: the owner of the apartment had every reason to fear the continuation of the conflict, since the guests did not leave it and continued to demonstrate the baton. If the end of the attack "was not obvious to the defender", he has the right to use self-defense.
"Success in the Supreme Court does not mean that the battle is over," warns Kaiguzin. " Theoretically, he could be taken into custody again. This happens. But I think they will sort it out now. After all, the Supreme Court pointed out the shortcomings that were made when the appellate verdict was issued."
"I COULD HAVE STABBED HIM WITH A ROSE"
Similar tragedies occur regularly in the country.
A recent nighttime brawl in Crimea caused a great stir. On July 25, in Yevpatoriya, a drunk man attacked two guys and a girl, picking on their "informal" appearance. The girl used pepper spray, and one of the informals stabbed the attacker with a knife. The blow was fatal.
It was later revealed that the attacker, 33-year-old Dzhankoy resident Eredzhep, supported radical Islamists. A murder case was opened against 22-year-old informal Kirill (name changed) and he was placed in pretrial detention. As his fiancée Alisa (name changed) told IA Regnum, her boyfriend defended himself.
"Kirill thought that this man would attack us, maybe hit me on the head with this bottle or stab me with a rose. But he didn't want to kill anyone," said Alice.
The girl is echoed by the detainee’s lawyer, Roman Lychkov.
According to him, all hope is that the investigation will consider what happened as an excess of the limits of necessary self-defense, and not as a premeditated murder. "There was definitely no such intent in the actions of the defendant," Lychkov explained to the Regnum news agency.
It was later revealed that the detainee's phone contained information that became the reason for initiating another criminal case - on the rehabilitation of Nazism. But that, as they say, is another story, and does not at all change the fact that Kirill could have decided that he and his girlfriend were in danger and tried to defend themselves.
In December 2023, an incident also happened to the Moscow metro driver Yuri, in which he had to use pepper spray. He was walking along the platform and saw two teenagers. Judging by their behavior, it seemed to him that they were not Muscovites, but visitors from the Caucasus.
"When I was passing by, they spat at my feet. I made a remark. "Is there something you don't like?" - the teenagers immediately "pouted". One punched me in the shoulder, another came closer and started threatening. Then I sprayed gas from a canister. They ran away. I dialed the police and gave the attackers' description," Yuriy says in an interview with IA Regnum.
He was sure that the incident was over, but in February he received a call informing him that a case had been opened. Not against the troublemakers, but against him. "Apparently, the parents of these teenagers started going to offices and asking for me to be charged with hooliganism," the driver suspects.
Thus, Yuri himself became a suspect. However, the case quickly attracted the attention of the public: the Investigative Committee leadership was bombarded with parliamentary inquiries and appeals from the Human Rights Council, and the Chairman of the Investigative Committee, Alexander Bastrykin, ordered the case to be closed.
IT IS POSSIBLE TO DEFEND YOURSELF - BUT ONLY THEORETICALLY
Experts say that the reason for such distortions in the interpretation of self-defense is the peculiarities of the law enforcement system, in which the work of a specific employee is assessed by the number of cases he has solved. Because of this, many in their work follow the path of least resistance, says Vladimir Mikhalevich, a retired police major general and member of the presidium of "Officers of Russia".
"If the limits of self-defense are exceeded, the police officer sort of gets a ready-made solved crime. No effort, no need to think long. Here he is, the alleged killer, and here is the victim. You can quickly fill out all the paperwork and send the case to court," explains IA Regnum Mikhalevich.
It is no coincidence, he says, that Aznabaev was accused not of exceeding the limits of self-defense, but immediately of “wet work.”
"Solving a murder is cool for the record, you know? Some prosecutors go that route, and judges do too. And everyone is happy, except for the victim, who was simply defending himself or his family," the general is indignant.
A week after the Supreme Court’s verdict, on July 22, the same issue was on the agenda of the Human Rights Council, at a meeting with the participation of the Council’s Chairman, Valery Fadeev.
Lawyer Igor Baranov, who spoke at the meeting, complained that the right to self-defense in the country is, in essence, only formal. Having once held senior positions in the prosecutor's office and the Investigative Committee, Baranov sees an accusatory bias in the work of his former colleagues.
"It seems to us that the investigation often applies the most severe qualification of the actions of those who defended themselves. The reasons? Sometimes officials are afraid that they will be thought badly of if they show leniency. That they will then be accused of corruption, negligence or incompetence," Baranov lists in an interview with IA Regnum.
The problem lies precisely with the investigators, because the courts, on the contrary, often soften the qualifications, transferring “deliberate actions” to necessary defense, the lawyer believes.
REFORM THE INVESTIGATION
"Together with the member of the presidium of the Human Rights Council Kirill Kabanov, we proposed such an innovation - to oblige in such cases to conduct an analogue of a comprehensive forensic examination. That is, at least three specialists - a doctor, a psychiatrist, a criminologist - must answer all the key questions about the circumstances of self-defense, including the psychological state of the person who was attacked," Baranov explained.
According to current rules, the investigation conducts a short examination with one simple question: is the suspect sane or not. According to the lawyer, experts must also assess how the person perceived the situation, how traumatic it was, whether the victim of the attack could correlate the level of threat with the methods of defense that she decided to use.
The members of the HRC, headed by Fadeyev, decided to convene an extended meeting of the Council with the participation of the judiciary and relevant departments, and to include this issue in the report that is prepared annually for the head of state. In the meantime, a working group has been created, which plans to present its proposals by the end of August.
In Russia, the legal system is not precedent-based, so lower courts are not obliged to follow the Supreme Court's verdict, says Baranov.
"Even in the case of the Magnitogorsk resident, we see that different authorities had different opinions. Personally, I believe that the Supreme Court made an absolutely correct decision: it was self-defense. Maybe the person exceeded its limits, but it happened in a traumatic situation. When you have a few seconds to make a decision, you often cannot adequately assess the level of threat," the lawyer explains.
ACQUITTED OF SELF-DEFENSE
The case of Zulfan Aznabaev, despite the Supreme Court's verdict, is not yet over. However, cases where people who killed criminals who attacked them in self-defense were fully acquitted, although rare, do happen.
In the winter of 2016, in the same Chelyabinsk region, five drunk criminals attacked the house of Alexander Grigoriev.
One of the attackers had a knife, the other had a stick, which he broke over Grigoriev's head. After the blow, Alexander was able to crawl to the gun safe. He shot four people and wounded the fifth. Investigators opened a murder case, sending the man into custody. The case also became resonant, after which Bastrykin ordered the Chelyabinsk resident to be released and the case to be closed.
In 2022, Grigoriev was mobilized to the North Military District ; he died in May of this year.
In the fall of 2021, the Tver Regional Court rehabilitated Alexander Zobenkov, who, with a knife in his hands, confronted a group of people who broke into his property and beat his wife and relatives with sticks. As a result, Zobenkov ended up in the dock on charges of triple murder. According to investigators, the defendant could have simply escaped, and therefore there was no need for a massacre.
But, according to Zobenkov, defending himself with a knife was the only chance to save his family and loved ones – and in the end the court sided with him.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. by Denis Davydov and Andrey Khrustalev
[REGNUM] On the eve of the meeting in Alaska, a Ukrainian news channel with two million viewers made an incredible discovery: 93 people with the last name Putin live in Ukraine. Both the news itself and the reaction to it show the confusion that has taken hold of society: there is a strong desire to say something, but it is unclear what and, most importantly, why.
The well-known political scientist Kost Bondarenko, who is in Austria, very accurately described the mood regarding the upcoming summit.
"Any statements addressed to Ukraine... should be perceived in much the same way as assurances addressed to a seriously ill person that "everything will be fine" and "you will definitely recover." Neither the outcome of the summit, nor the position of Trump or Putin, nor the fate of Ukraine depend on these wishes. European leaders are not subjects in the eyes of Trump - especially after they capitulated to the United States in tariff wars. The only thing that can be stated based on the results of today's video conference of the leaders of Ukraine, European states and Donald Trump is that the US President was polite. Nothing more," he wrote on his Telegram channel.
Various political centers try to generate a reaction: to fight to the end, to negotiate or not, what conditions might become acceptable. But information bubbles are fragmenting, decreasing in size and increasing the number of groups and small groups whose opinions can be formed into some kind of unified position.
But the main thing that is felt is the awareness of the changed situation.
News about the fall of Chasov Yar and the failures at the front near Pokrovsk (and now Kupyansk) have ceased to cause a violent reaction. Rather, they are accepted with humility and an uncertain wave of the hand - leave me alone; or they simply disappear into oblivion, crushed by the desire to avoid unpleasant thoughts.
The anniversary of the Kursk operation on August 6 passed almost unnoticed. Almost because the commander-in-chief Alexander Syrsky had to justify himself to the commander of the 47th separate mechanized brigade Alexander Shirshin, who publicly criticized the military actions in the Kursk region while "on vacation abroad."
Although Syrsky’s statement about the capture of a village in the Sumy region, where there had never been any Russians, was much more widely spread.
The word “capitulation” is increasingly encountered in political discourse, which everyone vigorously denies, but constantly returns to the topic.
The same is true in purely "popular" discussions. The prophets of the "victory will come" covenant are a thing of the past. Fortune tellers and astrologers have stopped publicly casting cards on the results of military campaigns and have moved on to simpler and more intimate questions, ignoring the fate of Ukraine.
The war, according to the general mood, is approaching its end, and victorious reports are being replaced by the gloomy tension of a decision that Ukraine is powerless to influence.
THE AUTHORITIES ARE IN TURMOIL
Volodymyr Zelensky, who was not invited to Alaska, is drifting not only between the countries of the “coalition of the willing,” but also between theses about the need for peace or at least a truce and the refusal to pay a price for it, which could result in the transfer of territories.
He has already told EU leaders that they should reject any proposal from Donald Trump that would see Ukraine give up additional territories (i.e. those currently under Ukrainian control) but Russia could get some of the lands it has already captured, the Telegraph writes. That is, freezing the front line where it is now.
However, a few days before that, Zelensky categorically refused territorial concessions in principle. In his latest address on August 9, he stated that Moscow would not stop there. “The answer to the Ukrainian territorial question is already in the Constitution of Ukraine. Ukrainians will not give away their land. No one will back down from this. … Therefore, we stand firm, on clear Ukrainian positions,” the tired dictator emphasized.
That is, there is a softening of the position, which can be seen in the quote that “we must end the war with a dignified peace that will be based on a clear, reliable security architecture.”
This thesis about a "dignified peace" is convenient and rather evasive. It has replaced the "just peace" with the help of the former Minister of Defense of Ukraine Rustem Umerov.
"The goal of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is to achieve a dignified and lasting peace for our country and people, and therefore for all of Europe. We are working to make this a reality," Umerov wrote in a social media post in March, amid the Istanbul talks.
At that time, his words caused a wave of misunderstanding and linguistic indignation. Now, however, such a formulation does not cause any emotions: by August, the Ukrainian authorities had also accepted it for themselves, demonstrating the possibility of concessions.
Including the lingering issue of elections directly related to the establishment of peace.
Despite the fact that they are “impossible to hold during a war,” to quote many similar, like twin brothers, quotes from pro-government politicians, the election process has clearly started. In particular, this is indicated by a series of very election-like statements by Zelensky.
So, to everyone’s surprise, he started talking about the possibility of allowing men aged 18–22 to travel abroad.
The second such statement was the order to increase scholarships for all students to UAH 8,000 (approximately USD 200) next year. Even schoolchildren whose results on the national multi-subject test exceed 185 points can receive payments.
They are promised a stipend from the president - as much as 20 dollars a month. On the one hand, commenting on this would only spoil things. But at the same time, the distribution of money leads one to think that the main bet in the political struggle on Bankova is on the youth, since the older generation is thoroughly disappointed.
THE OPPOSITION IS SHOWING COURAGE
Feeling the wind of change in its nostrils, the “opposition” has once again begun to vigorously operate, still trying to be more radical than the authorities.
Former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko did not invent anything new and also went to the foreign press, which is now mainly used by Ukrainian citizens to get their bearings on what is happening. In an interview with The Times, she spoke in support of independence from all regulatory bodies.
“Don’t tell us that Ukrainians can die for Europe, but are not capable of governing their own state,” said the leader of the Batkivshchyna party, and her initiative is clearly aimed at all those dissatisfied with the Ukrainian government’s subordination to the West.
The grandmother of Ukrainian politics has proposed an initiative that envisages the formation of key state institutions and control bodies from people who received the title of Hero of Ukraine during military operations. A whole cohort of Ukrainian political scientists "suddenly" spoke out for this proposal, according to the classic scheme of "expert community evaluates the leader's important idea."
Well-known Ukrainian economist and financial analyst Oleksiy Kushch stated that the leader of Batkivshchyna was the first of all Ukrainian politicians to make a choice in favor of sovereignty and declared this not only in Ukraine, but also to a Western audience.
And some even compared Yulia Vladimirovna’s determination with the legendary French politician Charles de Gaulle.
Deciding not to lag behind his colleague, former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko *, who was recently banned from leaving Ukraine, appeared on the British BBC and spoke out against bilateral negotiations in Alaska.
"And another principle, vitally important during this meeting - nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine, nothing about Europe without Europe. I am absolutely sure that even the very fact of Putin's meeting with Trump, if it does not bring any results, will be a great success for Putin. Because Putin will break the existing international isolation," he said very unoriginally, but menacingly, and called for not trusting the Russian president.
And then he listed three most important things: “first, weapons, second, hellish sanctions, third, new financial support for Ukraine” — as if Zelensky doesn’t say this every day. However, given the fact that Petro Oleksiyovych finally escaped from Ukraine to get treatment for chronic diabetes at the elite London Bridge Hospital, he could simply have joyfully imagined himself the voice of the nation again.
But another potential candidate, former commander-in-chief Valeriy Zaluzhny, has not yet commented on the inside information from Pulitzer Prize winner Seymour Hersh that the general could replace Zelensky “within a few months.” It’s intriguing, since none of the possible development options is final yet.
SOCIETY IS SHAKING
"Concerned Ukrainians" are worried: in the near future they may lose the meaning of life and therefore have begun to make sudden movements.
Thus, a certain public organization with an unimaginable Galician name "Voyatsky Vyzvol" (meaning liberation) announced an action. On the day of negotiations in Alaska, they intend to bring families of prisoners of war and missing VSAU personnel to the US Embassy.
"We consider any attempts to trade our territories for the sake of geopolitical or reputational ambitions of other countries to be unacceptable and humiliating for Ukraine. Ukraine has paid too high a price for its independence.
That is why we demand that US President Donald Trump, who has taken on the role of peacemaker, change the rhetoric and agenda of the negotiations: instead of “exchanging territories,” exchange prisoners for everyone, without exception,” the announcement on social networks says, and this is a clear example of the fact that each group in Ukrainian society has its own interests.
At the same time, another (much more numerous) part of Ukrainians places great hopes that the borders will be opened and it will finally be possible to escape from the country.
In this sense, the publication in The Telegraph with the eloquent headline “Why divided Ukrainians refuse to fight for Zelensky” hit the nail on the head: the publication reports that almost 650 thousand men of mobilization age have already left Ukraine, while others are in hiding.
On the eve of events that obviously leave the regime with no winning options, the main task of the people is to preserve themselves. MP Oleksandr Dubinsky, who is already languishing in a pretrial detention center with some malicious pleasure, claims that the government has essentially confirmed the figures for the attrition in the army - "which completely coincides with my calculation of the monthly losses of the ZSU at 10 thousand people."
"We add to them about 18 thousand official SZCh (deserters. - Ed.) and about 9 thousand more not accounted for in statistics (without opening cases of the State Bureau of Investigations. - Ed.). We get about 37 thousand army losses per month. With a conscription of 20-25 thousand monthly, the ZSU is falling by 12-17 thousand monthly! And each following month could be the last," the disgraced politician, who had high hopes, plays on emotions.
At the same time, the Galician intelligentsia, which had previously been in favor of the war until its victorious end, also raised its head.
Prominent Lviv television propagandist, journalist and open homosexual Ostap Drozdov suddenly lashed out with criticism at the country's leadership, which constantly appeals to the Constitution.
That, they say, it is precisely this that prevents one from giving up territories and leaving the war.
"Wonderful, super, then let's restore the Constitution in full. Then let's start with Article 34, which declares freedom of speech, thought and free expression of one's beliefs and views to every person. And let's not chase after anyone, because someone there may [be] out of step, or have a different view, for example, on the models for ending the war. We are talking about the Constitution - let's also talk about open borders, since Article 33 declares the free right of movement and the free right to leave the territory of Ukraine," Drozdov says in a specially recorded video, listing other basic articles of the Basic Law.
Demanding, in general, the impossible for now - that the government renounce dictatorial powers and include the promised freedom.
And this is an obvious symptom of the fact that any "territory exchange" scenario undermines the regime from within. If you agree, radical and nationalist circles will raise this on the banners as betrayal, starting to seize power. If you refuse, you will receive a sharply negative reaction from those who no longer want to fight, and at the same time be left without military and financial support from the outside.
"Behind the scenes, an architecture of pressure has already been built: from freezing arms supplies and intelligence sharing to ready-made packages of personal and sectoral sanctions, criminal cases and blocking of financial flows. The US and Russia are keeping Bankova in a state of zugzwang, and the Ukrainian government itself is trying to build legal, procedural and legitimation barriers to delay the implementation of any agreements. But the outcome in both cases is obvious: an internal crisis, a decline in political capital, an increase in street activity and a gradual loss of control over the country's governance," sums up Ukrainian political strategist Mykhailo Pavliv.
The only difference is how quickly and in what form it happens.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] The Russian Ministry of Justice has added Reporters Without Borders to the register of foreign and international organizations whose activities are considered undesirable in Russia.
One can understand why…
The relevant data appeared on the agency’s website on August 14.
"Reporters sans Frontières (RSF), France," the registry entry reads.
The Prosecutor General's Office made a decision to recognize the activities of this organization as undesirable in the Russian Federation on July 23.
Regnum IA observer Viktor Lavrinenko noted earlier: “Reporters Without Borders” in its new “press freedom” rating put the Baltic countries in very high places, which, in the conditions of unprecedented censorship in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, looks like a mockery and clearly demonstrates the degree of hypocrisy of this and other similar Western NGOs.
Earlier, the Prosecutor General's Office declared the activities of the international non-governmental organization Amnesty International undesirable in the territory of the Russian Federation. The department stated that since the beginning of the special operation, Amnesty International activists have been attempting to intensify the military confrontation in the region, and to this end, they justify the crimes of Ukrainian neo-Nazis, call for an increase in their funding, and also call for the political and economic isolation of Russia.
More from regnum.ru Special flight Il-96 arrived from Moscow to Anchorage
A special flight Il-96, which took off from Moscow's Vnukovo Airport, landed in Anchorage. This is evidenced by data from the Flightradar service.
There may have been a Russian special group on board preparing for the upcoming summit of the two states.
The Russia-US summit in Alaska will begin on August 15 at 11:30 local time, Moscow time at 22:30, and Vladivostok time at 05:30 (August 16).
Moscow and Washington will hold talks at the Elmendorf-Richardson military base. Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump will hold one-on-one talks, followed by delegation talks. Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov previously reported that the leaders will discuss options for achieving a long-term peaceful settlement to the crisis in Ukraine.
Putin admits that Russia and the US may sign an agreement on strategic weapons Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] If the negotiations on the settlement of the Ukrainian crisis are successful, at the next stage it will be possible to reach agreements in the area of control over strategic offensive weapons. This was stated by President Vladimir Putin on August 14 at a meeting with the top leadership of Russia, held on the eve of the Russia-US summit.
“[The US administration is making efforts] to stop the military actions, to end the crisis and to reach agreements that are of interest to all parties involved in this conflict, in order to create long-term conditions of peace between our countries and in Europe, if the next step is to reach agreements in the area of control over strategic offensive arms,” the president said.
The Russia-US summit will take place on August 15 at the Elmendorf-Richardson military base in Alaska. Putin and US President Donald Trump will talk one-on-one, followed by negotiations in delegations. Putin's aide Yuri Ushakov reported that the leaders will discuss options for achieving a long-term peaceful settlement of the crisis in Ukraine.
In February 2023, Putin announced the suspension of Russia's participation in the Treaty on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms (START-3). The head of state noted that Washington, by not complying with the treaty, was simultaneously trying to put pressure on Moscow and accuse it of not complying with the agreement. In 2024, the Russian Foreign Ministry indicated that the United States was not yet ready for either an equal dialogue or respect for Russia's interests.
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.
