Russian Strike on Odesa Leaves One Dead, Dozens Injured and Historic Cathedral Badly Damaged

"Russia struck the Ukrainian

Black Sea city of Odesa again, local officials said, keeping up a
barrage of attacks that has damaged critical port infrastructure in southern Ukraine in the past week. At least one person was killed and 22 others wounded in the attack in the early hours.

Regional Governor Oleh Kiper said that four children were among those wounded in the blasts, which severely damaged the historic Transfiguration Cathedral, a landmark Orthodox cathedral in the city." Breitbart

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu Recovering After Emergency Heart Surgery

"Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was recovering in hospital after being fitted with a pacemaker. 

Netanyahu said: “A week ago I was fitted with a monitoring device. That device beeped this evening and said I must have a pacemaker and that I must do this already tonight." 

Breitbart

Ukraine Drone Strikes Crimean Munitions Depot, Cluster Bombs Belgorod

"A Ukrainian drone attack on Crimea Saturday blew up an ammunition depot, sparking
evacuations on the Moscow-annexed peninsula and halting rail traffic, just five days after drones damaged Russia’s symbolic bridge across the Kerch Strait." Breitbart

Wagner Paramilitary Troops Training Lukashenko’s Army in Belarus

"Belarus said Friday that instructors from the Russian mercenary force Wagner were training
its troops, following weeks of uncertainty about the future of the group after its failed mutiny in Russia....Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko had cast doubt on the deal when he said earlier this month that no Wagner fighters had moved to the country yet....The Belarusian defense ministry appeared to confirm that at least some Wagner fighters had arrived." Breitbart

Russia Targets Ukraine’s Farm Storage Sites After Collapse of Black Sea Grain Deal

"Russia followed its withdrawal from a grain export deal by expanding its attacks from port
infrastructure to farm storage buildings in Ukraine’s Odesa region, while also practicing a Black Sea blockade.

Other Russian missiles damaged what officials described only as an “important infrastructure facility” southwest of the port city of Odesa, in what appeared to be an effort to cripple Ukraine’s food exports." Breitbart

Putin Comments on AI (Artificial Intelligence)

"Russian President Vladimir Putin said: “Artificial intelligence is the future, not only for
Russia, but for all humankind. It comes with enormous opportunities, but also threats that are difficult to predict. Whoever becomes the leader in this sphere will become the ruler of the world.” LHF

Ukraine Begins Firing U.S.-Supplied Cluster Bombs on Battlefield

"Ukraine is using cluster bombs against Russian forces less than a week after they were first
delivered from U.S. reserve stores, the White House confirmed. Biden called the decision to send the deadly munitions “very difficult” while acting in defiance of allies like the UK, Canada, New Zealand and Spain who stand opposed their use. Cluster munitions are a category of rockets, bombs, missiles, and artillery projectiles that break apart in the air and blanket a large area. The munitions often fail and can devastate civilian populations." Breitbart

Explosions heard in Odesa region

"The spokesman for Odesa Regional Military Administration, Serhiy Bratchuk, citing the
Ukrainian Air Force, also reported in Telegram that supersonic anti-ship missiles Oniks had been launched towards Odesa region and urged people to stay in shelters.

As Ukrinform reported, Russian troops have been shelling Odesa region for several days in a row, with several people killed and wounded." Ukrin

Ukrainians complain of ‘morale-zapping’ Russian mines

"Ukrainian troops’ inability to breach Russian defensive lines is, to a large extent, due to
minefields that are “destroying NATO-supplied armor, wounding soldiers and zapping morale,” according to the Financial Times.

Kiev’s much-lauded counteroffensive, launched last month, has stalled in the face of staunch resistance from Russian troops.“We can push with 10 brigades but it won’t work because the mines are everywhere, every half a meter there are mines,” a Ukrainian unit commander told the British newspaper." RT

MI6 Chief Warns Of Chinese 'Data Traps' - Says UK Using AI To Disrupt Russian Weapons Flow

"The head of Britain's

MI6 intelligence service, Richard Moore, delivered a rare public speech
in Prague on Wednesday, where he warned that China has been striking deals with other countries which allow Beijing to capture data on foreign citizens and national projects.

Meanwhile, MI6 is using artificial intelligence "to augment, but not replace, their own judgement about how people might act in various situations," said Moore, who cited the use of bulk data "to identify and disrupt the flow of weapons to Russia for use against Ukraine." ZH

 

Russian Lancet Kamikaze Drone Destroy Ukrainian Air Defenses

"A clip published by the Defense Ministry shows Russian Airborne Forces taking out a
Ukrainian Osa air defense system with a Lancet kamikaze drone.

Loitering munition (a.k.a. kamikaze drone) is a projectile that can loiter by definition – passively wait for its prey and immediately attack once the target is located." Sputnik

Ukraine’s Air Force launches 12 strikes on enemy positions, hits three anti-aircraft missile systems

"Air Force of Ukraine carried out 12 strikes on Russian personnel, weapons and military
equipment clusters, also hitting three anti-aircraft systems." Ukrin

Ammo depot fire forces evacuation in Crimea

"Crimean authorities have shut down a major highway and ordered the evacuation of four
settlements in the immediate vicinity of an ammunition depot in the east of the peninsula, which “caught fire” on Wednesday morning.

A message attributed to Kirill Budanov, Ukraine’s chief of military intelligence, was reported in the media, saying the fire was the result of a joint operation by his department and the regular Ukrainian military. However, hours later a spokesman for the agency denied the reports, saying the social media channel quoted by the news outlets was not verified." RT

Moscow claims attacks were retaliatory

"Russia’s defence ministry says all targets were hit in overnight air attacks on Ukraine’s Odesa
and Mykolaiv ports, describing them as a “mass revenge strike” to avenge an assault on the Crimea bridge." AlJazeera

Zelensky, Pentagon Acknowledge Counteroffensive Had To Be "Paused" Amid Losses

"The New York Times in a weekend story admitted that things are looking grim for the
chances of Ukraine's counteroffensive, acknowledging that President Zelensky had been forced to put it on "pause" at one point....... losses have also slowed because the counteroffensive itself has slowed — and even halted in places — as Ukrainian soldiers struggle against Russia’s formidable defenses. And despite the losses, the Ukrainians have so far taken just five of the 60 miles they hope to cover to reach the sea in the south and split the Russian forces in two.....within the first couple weeks of the counteroffensive Ukraine forces lost some 20% of the weaponry newly supplied by the West, including tanks and armored vehicles. The report underscored that that the Pentagon has since publicly acknowledged the "pause"." ZH