Putin Drops Thermobaric Bomb –

Moscow is stepping up its defenses and launching a counterattack in the Russian border region of Kursk, where Ukrainian troops have been carrying out an incursion that has taken their adversaries by surprise since Tuesday. The Russian Defense Ministry reported air strikes against Kiev’s forces and the use of a powerful missile with a thermobaric warhead. The weapon was reportedly launched against a group of “foreign mercenaries” killing 15 on the southern outskirts of the city of Sudza. Security measures have been increased in three border regions with Ukraine, namely Belgorod, Bryansk and Kursk itself, in what Moscow has called an anti-terrorist operation. These measures allow the government to relocate residents, monitor telephone communications and requisition vehicles.

Russia’s Ministry of Emergency Situations said more than 76,000 people had been evacuated from the border areas of Kursk. Russia is also concerned about the nuclear power plant in the area. Alexey Likhachev, CEO of the state-owned Rosatom nuclear corporation, said in a conversation with Rafael Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, that “the actions of the Ukrainian military pose a direct threat to the plant” as well as “the global nuclear industry.” The plant is currently operating normally and radiation levels in the region are normal, according to Russian authorities. The attack launched by Ukrainians in Russia on Tuesday is the largest cross-border incursion since the war began and has raised questions about whether the fighting could spread far beyond Ukraine.

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In neighboring Belarus, President Alexander Lukashenko said his air defenses had shot down unspecified objects launched from Kiev that were flying over Belarusian territory, probably attack drones. “Any provocation will not go unanswered,” the authoritarian leader warned, who then gave instructions to reinforce troops in the border area with Ukraine. The Russian Defense Ministry has also recruited Temirlan Eskerkhanov, one of the killers convicted of killing politician Boris Nemtsov, a critic of Vladimir Putin, who was assassinated in 2015 on the bridge in front of the Kremlin. The killer was released from prison after signing a contract with the Defense. Meanwhile, rescue workers have completed clearing the rubble of a supermarket in the town of Kostiantynivka in the Donetsk region that was hit by a Russian attack yesterday. Ukrainian Defense Minister Igor Klimenko said via Telegram that the final toll was 14 dead and 44 wounded. The dead reportedly included two girls aged 12 and 10. The United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU) warned that July was the deadliest month among civilians in Ukraine since October 2022. In total, 219 people were killed and 1,018 were injured.