Ukraine admits shelling area around nuclear plant

"The Ukrainian military publicly admitted striking the area around the Zaporozhye nuclear
power plant in an official General Staff briefing on Friday. Previously, Kiev had claimed that Russian forces used the plant as a military base; now it says all troops have relocated due to the visit by IAEA inspectors. " RT

Lavrov warns Moldova about threats to peacekeepers

"Russia’s foreign minister warned that any actions seen as endangering a Russian

peacekeeping contingent in a separatist region of Moldova would be considered as an attack on Russia itself.

Sergey Lavrov’s statement in an address at Russia’s top foreign affairs school underlined concerns that Moldova’s Transnistria region, which borders Ukraine, could be drawn into the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Russia has stationed peacekeepers there since the 1992 end of a three-month war that left Transnistria outside Moldovan control. Russian forces also guard a large ammunition dump in the region." TheHill

UN team at Ukraine nuclear plant ‘not going anywhere’

"The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, says the team of inspectors at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine will stay at the facility.

“We are not going anywhere,” Grossi told reporters. “The IAEA is now there, it is at the plant and it is not moving. It is going to stay there.” CNBC

Argentina VP targeted in apparent assassination attempt

"Argentina’s Vice President Cristina Kirchner was threatened by an armed person near her
home in Buenos Aires, with a gunman seen pointing a firearm at the VP’s face before she was whisked away to safety. No shots were fired and the official was not injured." Lind

Russian Oil Oligarch Who Criticized Ukraine War 'Falls' Out Of Hospital Window To His Death

"Ravil Maganov, the vice president and chair of the board of directors of Russian oil giant
Lukoil, died after falling out of a sixth floor hospital window in Moscow.....Maganov was in Moscow's Central Clinical Hospital - reportedly a top-notch medical facility that serves senior Russian officials and other elite clients - when he "fell out of the window" and died from his injuries." ZH

Ukrainian troops captured during raid on nuclear plant

"Three Ukrainian soldiers, who participated in a botched attempt to capture the Russian-
controlled Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant have been taken alive.....Of the three, two have been injured and are in serious condition....Some of the Ukrainian troops failed to reach the southern bank of the Dnepr when their vessels were hit and sank, the ministry stated. Up to 60 commandos used speedboats to make a landing, before Russian forces engaged them." RT

China Puts Megacity Chengdu Under Lockdown As Zero-Covid Intensifies

"Asian stocks tumbled after China announced the metropolis of Chengdu would lock down its
21 million residents as authorities battled a new Covid-19 outbreak.

In China's Western region, officials in Chengdu launched massive Covid testing and requested residents to abide by "stay home in principle" from 6 pm on Thursday. The new measure allows one person per household the ability to procure essential items at places like supermarkets. 

"The current state of epidemic control is abnormal, complex, and grim," officials said, adding the lockdown aims to "decisively arrest the spread of the outbreak and guarantee the health of all citizens." ZeroHedge

Ukrainian officials accused of stealing trainloads of aid

"Ukrainian officials in the eastern Zaporozhye Region are being investigated for allegedly
stealing massive amounts of humanitarian aid sent to them. They are accused of looting hundreds of freight cars’ worth of goods. The raids targeted the Kiev-appointed administration and members of the city council, according to the SBU and NABU. The agencies also reported confiscating what they believe to be narcotics and illegal firearms while searching the premises." RT

Ukraine Outraged Turkey Opened Straits For Russian Ship Carrying S-300 SystemUkraine Outraged Turkey Opened Straits For Russian Ship Carrying S-300 System

"Ukraine has voiced its anger with Turkey over allegedly allowing a Russian cargo ship
through the Bosphorus Strait laden with weapons days ago, summoning the Turkish ambassador to lodge a formal complaint.  

The Ukrainian foreign ministry complained that a Russian "warship" was allowed passage in violation of the Montreux Convention - as the diplomatic note verbalized to Turkey 's ambassador to Ukraine Yagmur Ahmet Guldere said." ZH

Ukraine targets possible IAEA route to Zaporozhye

"Ukrainian forces are shelling a route that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
inspection mission could take to reach the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant this week." RT

US Embassy Anti-Air Defenses Activated Over Baghdad As Death Toll Rises In Night Of Chaos

 "The American embassy in Baghdad has reportedly engaged inbound rocket attacks with its
air defense system, the C-RAM which protects aerial threats against the Green Zone. Some reports suggest the streets have finally grown calmer in the early morning hours (local time), but this is after an evening and overnight death toll of at least 15, including unconfirmed reports of police casualties. AFP citing local medical sources also says some 350 protesters were injured. " ZH

Turkey Says Greek Missiles Locked On Its F-16s Over Mediterranean

"Greece’s Russian-made S-300 air defense systems stationed on the island of Crete locked
onto Turkish fighter jets as they crossed international airspace over the Mediterranean, Turkish ’s Defense Ministry claimed, amid mounting tensions between the two NATO states." ZH

Zelensky promises to recapture Donbass

"Zelensky said in his daily evening address on Sunday that Ukraine will recapture Donbass,
which is now almost fully seized by Russian forces. 

“We have not forgotten and will not forget any of our cities and any of our people,” he said. " RT

Iraq Presidential Palace Stormed, U.S. Embassy Helicopter Evacuation

"The Iraq presidential palace was stormed by angry protestors on Monday, while the U.S.

Embassy was evacuated by helicopter in a scene reminiscent of the last days of South Vietnam.

Initial reports are that the helicopters were ordered in and the staff ordered out when rioters breached the Zone. I also saw a report that one person had been shot and killed, but no clue whether they were American, American staff, or a rioter.

That’s pretty much all we know so far about the situation at the embassy.

This marks the Biden Administration’s second humiliating bugout from an Islamic country in just over a year. 13 Americans were killed in Kabul during Biden’s botched retreat from Afghanistan on August 17. Untold hundreds of Americans and thousands of our allies remain stranded there." PJM

Russia manages to transport S-300 missiles through Bosporus from its bases in Syria

"Russia has managed to transfer missiles for the S-300 air defense complex through the
Bosporus to the Black Sea from its bases in Syria.

It is noted that Turkey has closed the Bosporus to warships, so Russia cannot transfer its warships from the Mediterranean Sea to the Black Sea.

The merchant ship Sparta II crossed the strait.

Sparta II's destination was Novorossiysk, a Russian port and major naval base near the Kerch Bridge. Naval News writes that the S-300 missiles should strengthen the Russian "defense" near Kerch or in other areas." UkrainianNews