RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE Putin offers estimate of Ukrainian losses Russian President Vladimir Putin has provided an update on the casualties the Ukrainian military incurred since their operation commenced in early June. He further noted that Kiev had not achieved the anticipated results it had initially sought. Putin said at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok on Tuesday: “There are losses, big losses. Since the start of this counteroffensive, the casualties [have reached] 71,500 people.” The president claimed that Kiev is seeking to achieve results “at any cost,” which makes it look like the Ukrainian leadership does not care about its own…

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE Ukrainians blame Zelensky for corruption – poll The vast majority of Ukrainians believe that President Vladimir Zelensky is at fault for widespread corruption in the country’s government and military, a new study has revealed. The poll, released on Monday, found that 78% of Ukrainian adults see Zelensky as “directly responsible” for Kiev’s corruption problem. It was conducted by the Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Charitable Foundation and the Kiev International Institute of Sociology. Prior to the launch of Russia’s military offensive in February 2022, Ukraine consistently ranked among the world’s most corrupt nations, but it was touted as a…

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE Russian strikes on Ukraine kill 2 foreign aid workers and target Kyiv Two foreign aid workers were reportedly killed in eastern Ukraine on Sunday as Russian shelling hit a van carrying a team of four working with a Ukrainian nongovernmental organization, while dozens of Russian drones targeted Kyiv and wounded at least one civilian. The four volunteers from the Road to Relief group, which helps evacuate wounded people from front-line areas, were trapped inside the van as it flipped over and caught fire after being struck by shells near the town of Chasiv Yar, the organization said on…

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE Russia launches overnight drone attack on Kyiv Russia launched an air attack on Kyiv early on Sunday, with blasts ringing out across the Ukrainian capital and its region for almost two hours and drone debris falling on several of the city's central districts, officials said. The scale of the attack was not immediately known. Reuters witnesses heard at least five blasts across Kyiv, and Ukrainian media footage showed a number of cars damaged. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said that one person was injured in the historic Podil neighbourhood and a fire broke out near one of the city's…