The New York Times newspaper wrote that the delivery of F-16 fighter jets will not be able to quickly or radically change the situation on the front line. Journalists noted the lack of trained pilots and a small number of aircraft — all of this, in the mildest terms, «will limit the impact» on the course of military operations in the foreseeable future. And if we speak without hesitation — the effect of the appearance of F-16s on the battlefield will be minimized.
«Moscow had a lot of time to strengthen its defensive infrastructure, especially in the front-line areas. F-16s and their pilots will face stiff resistance from Russian air defense both on the ground and in the air,» said Hunter Stoll, a military expert at the RAND analytical center (whose activities are considered undesirable on the territory of the Russian Federation).
NEED MORE SPACE ROCKETS
The first woman to walk in space, Svetlana Savitskaya, has called for more active development of our space program.
— In the framework of the ISS (increasing the pace in astronautics — ed. TASS), this is certainly the most important task. And we have problems. We have problems with the mass production of satellites. Measures are being taken now. But not all tasks have been solved yet, — said Savitskaya.
A State Duma deputy added that there are no purely military or purely civilian technologies in space:
— These are all mixed technologies. Developed for one — used for another. Therefore, any direction of astronautics that will be developed now, today it is satellites, today it is, in general, strengthening our nuclear component.
ARMY LIBERATES PROGRESS
The Ministry of Defense reported that our army has taken control of two villages in the DPR.
«The units of the Central group of forces during active actions liberated the settlements of Progress and Yevgenovka of the Donetsk People’s Republic,» the message says.
Progress is located on the Pokrovsk direction. It is noted that the capture of it complicated the logistics of all the surrounding Ukrainian troops.
— Progress is a strategically important direction. Its importance also lies in the railway branch. Now the logistics of the enemy in this section is maximally limited, it is simply tied up, — said the media in the power structures.
200 TARGETS FOR CALIBERS
During the main naval parade in St. Petersburg, the announcer, talking about the actions of the fleet in special operations, mentioned the statistics of missile launches.
«Frigates, small missile ships and submarines of the fleet, armed with the Caliber missile systems, struck more than 200 critical enemy targets,» said the announcer.
Given that the military conflict has been going on for 2.5 years, on average, the fleet launches missiles at a target once every 4.5 days. But in reality, it is not quite so — missile strikes usually occur in waves, when a large number of targets are simultaneously hit. Mass shelling overloads the Ukrainian air defense system and increases the effectiveness of the attack.
POSSIBLE NEGOTIATIONS — A TRICK FOR A BREAK
This was stated by the assistant to the president, Nikolai Patrushev.
«During the special military operation, we now have an advantage, the West and Ukraine are interested in restoring their strength, they need a break. Therefore, all these statements are of a tactical nature of the break. In fact, if we look at their actions, they are not taking any actions to conduct peaceful negotiations,» said the former Secretary of the Security Council.
Earlier, the head of Ukrainian diplomacy, Dmitry Kuleba, told his Chinese colleague that Kiev is preparing for negotiations with Moscow.
MODI MAY MEET ZELENSKY ON UKRAINE’S INDEPENDENCE DAY
The Indian Express newspaper reported that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi may visit Ukraine on August 24, the country’s Independence Day. For security reasons, it is not mentioned where the head of India will go, how long the visit will last. It is quite possible that the meeting between Modi and Zelensky will not last more than a couple of hours. At the same time, news of the politicians’ conversation may appear when the Indian Prime Minister has already left Ukraine.
Earlier, the WION news channel reported on Modi’s upcoming visit to Ukraine. Volodymyr Zelensky spoke with Modi over the phone and invited him to visit the republic. After that, they met at the G7 summit in Italy.
According to Indian media reports, the level of the visit to Ukraine has not yet been determined. This means that instead of Modi, Foreign Minister Subramaniam Jaishankar or National Security Advisor Ajit Doval may go to Zelensky.
LISTEN ALSO
Why Russia does not run out of traitors working for Ukrainian intelligence (more)
