Russian President Vladimir Putin continues to use the threat from nuclear weapons to try to influence Western decision-making. In his July 28 speech during the Main Naval Parade in St. Petersburg, he said that if the US deploys long-range missile systems in Germany in 2026, the flight time to Russian industrial and defense targets will be about 10 minutes.
Putin also commented on the deployment of missile systems in Denmark and the Philippines for joint exercises, threatening that Russia would no longer be bound by the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty and would take "reciprocal measures".
Russia is using the celebrations to demonstrate efforts to create a group of countries united against the West. Ships from the navies of China, Algeria and India participated in the celebrations, with representatives from 31 countries including Azerbaijan, Venezuela, Vietnam, Cuba, Libya, Myanmar, Syria, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and others.
This is according to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) daily analysis.
Ukrainian forces carried out a drone strike against a Russian oil depot in Polevaya, Kursk Region on the night of July 27-28. The Ukrainian General Staff reported that the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and other Ukrainian forces struck the Polevaya oil depot, causing an explosion and fire.
The Ukrainian General Staff reported that the Polevaya oil base consisted of 11 tanks with a total volume of 7,000 cubic meters and supplied oil to the Russian military. The Ukrainian General Staff said there was also an explosion at an electrical substation in the Kursk region, but was still clarifying the details of the damage to the oil depot and the substation. Kursk Oblast Governor Alexei Smirnov said Ukrainian drones had struck the oil depot, causing three fuel tanks to catch fire.
Footballs released on July 28 allegedly show a fire at the Polevaya oil depot.
The Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) claims that Russian forces shot down two Ukrainian drones over the Kursk region.
A rebel coalition in Mali reportedly killed and wounded dozens of Russian servicemen and mercenaries from the Wagner group, as well as a prominent blogger associated with Wagner, on the Mali-Algeria border on July 27.< /p>
The rebel movement of the Permanent Strategic Framework for Peace, Security and Development claims to have "destroyed the entire column of Malian army and Russian mercenaries" and the Critical Threats Project's Africa File will cover the situation in northern Mali in its upcoming update .
Footballs on social media reportedly show multiple slain employees of "Wagner" and Mali - including the body of the administrator of the Telegram channel "The Gray Zone" Nikita Fedyanin, who regularly covers Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine and sharply criticizes the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD).
Sources from Fedyanin's close circle confirmed Fedyanin's death to TASS on July 28.
A Russian insider claims that the losses of "Wagner" were: 33 killed and 18 wounded, and various Russian sources claim that several prisoners were captured - with some speculating that Commander Anton Elizarov (known by the nickname "Lotus") was among them.
Russian sources claim that the Africa Corps of the Russian Ministry of Defense has successfully brokered a prisoner exchange.
A Russian blogger claims that the Russian Ministry of Defense has paid a ransom for every captured mercenary except Elizarov. Other bloggers claim that Elizarov died in the ambush.
ISW cannot independently verify its fate. It was previously reported that Elizarov had overestimated his ability to convince former Wagner staff to join the Rosgvardiya and avoid joining the Russian Defense Ministry.
The Governor of Primorsky Krai, Oleg Kozhemyako, recently announced the creation of an independent volunteer squad to police migrants as the Russian government continues its efforts to tighten its grip on them.
"Tiger Law and Order Squad" consists of 300 veterans of the Russian war in Ukraine, which will "ensure public safety" and will "put the newcomers in their place" in Vladivostok.
Kozhemyako stated that the order and legality unit "Tiger" will coordinate its actions with Rosgvardia and the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) and intends to expand patrols to other cities in the Primorsky Krai once the unit recruits more personnel.
ISW has previously seen local Russian officials take harsher measures against migrants.
The formation of such a squad indicates that at least some local Russian government officials have likely caved to Russian ultra-nationalist demands for severe restrictions on migrant activity in Russia. The Russian government wanted to use migrants to compensate for domestic labor shortages. The decision to use veterans may be part of an effort to integrate them into Russian society, as the Kremlin is concerned about the long-term social and political consequences of the war in Ukraine.