Hello everyone, welcome to “Current Affairs Scan.” I am Jin Ran. “Current Affairs Scan” is a weekly program broadcast on the internet every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday in Eastern Time (New York Time) at 11 p.m., which is at noon on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday in China and Taiwan.
Today’s focus: Is Belarus preparing to attack Ukraine? Russian soldiers defecting, causing chaos among Russian military ranks; Russia’s largest-scale airstrike infiltrates Poland with drones; Major changes in Russia-Ukraine war, strategist Kim Canrong’s position in chaos.
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In the previous episode, I reported on Ukraine’s Independence Day celebration on August 24. I remembered that every time Ukraine celebrated an important holiday, Russia would launch massive attacks. On August 24, rare displays of destroyed and captured Russian military equipment were shown on the streets of Kyiv, attracting a crowd of onlookers. Why was there no movement from the Russian military in response to this?
It was later discovered that with other world leaders present in Kyiv, Russia hesitated to give NATO a direct reason to intervene during this sensitive period for fear of consequences. After Ukraine’s Independence Day, as world leaders began to evacuate, the large-scale attacks on Ukraine finally commenced.
On the morning of August 26, air raid sirens sounded across Ukraine, explosions were heard in Kyiv and other cities signaling the largest airstrike by Russia since the start of the war against Ukraine.
On August 26, civilians captured footage of a Russian Kh-101 cruise missile crashing into a reservoir near Kyiv before reaching its target, possibly due to a system malfunction.
As Russia deployed attack drones to strike cities near the Ukraine-Poland border, Poland confirmed on the 26th that a Russian attack drone had breached Polish airspace and went missing approximately 25 kilometers within the border, presumed to have crashed uncontrollably due to adverse weather conditions. Polish soldiers are currently searching for the crash site.
In a highly sensitive aspect of the war, a Reuters journalists’ team staying at a hotel in Ukraine was unexpectedly attacked by Russian missiles.
Audio clip: A Russian missile struck a hotel in Kramatorsk, Ukraine, housing the Reuters journalists’ team. Four journalists were injured, including citizens of the UK, Latvia, Germany, and Ukraine, with two hospitalized and one fatally wounded.
Following the attack, Zelensky urged neighboring European countries’ defense forces to collaborate with Ukraine’s air defense system to protect the lives of Ukrainian and neighboring countries’ citizens. In his speech, Zelensky also implicitly hinted at countering the situation, revealing Ukraine’s knowledge of Russia’s air defense deployments. Despite Moscow’s and Saint Petersburg’s air defense systems, most cities lack such protection, a hint directed at the US and NATO.
Facing missile and drone attacks, Ukraine improvised various interception methods across the country, willing to take any effective measure.
In the Lviv border region, Ukrainian forces from the 650th Independent Anti-Aircraft Machine Gun Battalion surprisingly shot down a Russian cruise missile using a US-made M2 heavy machine gun mounted on a truck.
Due to the slow speed of rotary-wing drones, Ukrainian forces began utilizing helicopters to combat them. Below is footage of a Mi-8 helicopter chasing and neutralizing an Iranian-made “Shahed” drone used by Russian forces.
Do you remember two days ago when Belarusian President Lukashenko congratulated Ukraine on Independence Day? At that time, it was interpreted as a gesture of goodwill towards Ukraine, yet Belarusian troops suddenly amassed at the Ukraine border, even including Russian Wagner mercenaries. The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has officially warned Lukashenko of Belarus’s alleged plan to attack Ukraine.
The news of a potential Belarusian attack on Ukraine on August 26 shocked the world. Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry issued a warning to Lukashenko, stating that Belarusian armed forces had assembled a significant number of troops, weapons, and equipment near the northern borders of Ukraine under the guise of military exercises.
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry cautioned Belarusian officials not to make tragic mistakes under pressure from Moscow.
Simultaneously, Ukrainian forces released a statement highlighting their stark approach amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict, emphasizing their reserved yet chilling tactic through a single image.
In the globally watched Kurk State of Russia, Ukrainian forces continued advancing inland, revealing a significant retreat of Russian forces from the 1434 “Ahmadi” regiment’s positions before any real combat.
The 82nd Independent Air Assault Brigade of the Ukrainian forces advancing into the Kurk region was equipped with new “Stryker” wheeled armored vehicles provided by the US and Challenger 2 tanks from the UK. They ambushed a group of Russian soldiers, overpowering them and capturing over 20 Russian soldiers.
In a war where no one is safe, Ukrainian tanks in the Kurk region fell prey to precision strikes by the renowned Russian “Lebed” drones. The durability of Ukrainian tanks against such attacks remains to be seen.
Meanwhile, Russian cities like Engels and Saratov were targeted by Ukrainian drones. One drone even collided with the tallest building in Saratov, located less than 12 kilometers from Engels military airport.
With Ukrainian forces steadily pushing into Russian territory, there is a constant ebb and flow of the conflict, witnessing a surge in Russian surrenders and even a shocking incident of a Russian soldier lobbing grenades into his own command center.
This soldier, known as “Silver,” retaliated after being abused and extorted by Russian officers by tossing grenades into the “Storm” unit’s underground command post, resulting in the death of 15 senior Russian officers. Following the planned escape route, Silver successfully fled into Ukraine and joined the “Russian Free Army.”
The recent major changes in the Russia-Ukraine war have left many Chinese netizens in disbelief, including the prominent figure Kim Canrong, who has closely monitored the conflict. Online users have compiled Professor Kim’s statements regarding the Russia-Ukraine war from the start of Russia’s aggression in Ukraine two years ago until now, intriguing readers with its evolving predictions.
Professor Kim’s most confident moment was in 2022, shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, when he predicted a complete occupation of eastern Ukraine, including Kyiv, followed by a possible withdrawal of Russian troops after signing a pro-Russian government agreement. However, subsequent events did not align with his forecasts. By the end of 2023, he suggested a turning point in 2024, but as Ukraine pushed into Russia recently, his narrative shifted towards potential challenges for Zelensky.
I believe Professor Kim Canrong could use his predictions elsewhere, perhaps towards analyzing China’s recent groundbreaking creation — the extraterrestrial “Housing Pension System.” When will it transcend Earth and harvest the alien leeks in the universe?
That concludes this edition of “Current Affairs Scan.” We appreciate your support; please subscribe to our channel, like, comment, and share. If you are willing to provide direct financial support, we would be most grateful. Until next time.
Production Team of New Tang Dynasty’s “Current Affairs Scan”