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the Olenya military airfield in the Murmansk region were attacked by drones launched by the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine (GUR). In addition, an oil refinery in Ryazan was damaged in a drone strike. It is noted that Tu-95MS, Tu-22M3, Tu-134UBL, and Il-78 aircraft are based at the airfield in Diaghilev, as well as an aircraft repair plant. There were also explosions at the Engels airfield, where Russian strategic aviation is situated. According to reports, due to an aircraft-type UAV hitting the Olenya airfield in the Murmansk region, damage to a TU-22M3 long-range strategic strike bomber was previously recorded. The Olenya military airport is located the farthest away, about 1,800 kilometers from the Ukrainian border. Meanwhile, Russia's Ministry of Defence stated that, in total, at least 12 kamikaze drones were shot down over its territory in the Kursk, Belgorod, Rostov, Bryansk, and Lipetsk regions.
The Russian government has paid out approximately 2.75-3 trillion rubles ($31-34bn) to war participants and their families in the twelve months between July 2023 and June 2024, According to estimates published by the research project Re:Russia. it makes up 1.4-1.6% of Russia’s estimated 2024 GDP and around 8% of total federal budgetary spending.
Russian authorities are not even remotely considering a new wave of mobilization in support of the Ukraine campaign, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov claimed on July 27. ”No one is talking about mobilization at all, it is not on the agenda,” the spokesman stressed. Russia announced a partial mobilization in September 2022, several months into the Ukraine conflict, calling up about 300,000 soldiers. At the time, the Russian Defence Ministry said the move was necessary to man the length of the front line that had been established. Russian President Vladimir Putin said in June that Moscow has no plans for additional mobilization, as Russia is sticking to the tactic of gradually “pushing out” Ukrainian troops from the areas it seeks to establish control over. He added that the military enjoys a steady stream of patriotic volunteers. Earlier this month, the Defence Ministry said that some 190,000 contract soldiers had joined in 2024 alone, and estimated that about 1,000 people were signing contracts every day. Last December, the ministry put the total number of contract soldiers at 640,000. In June, Putin also revealed that some 700,000 soldiers were operating in the zone of the military operation.
Losses in the Ukrainian Armed Forces (UAF) are increasing daily,
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in an interview with the BBC. “I know how many people we lose every day <...>, and I see, unfortunately, these changes, and they are not positive, they are not getting any smaller,” he said ( quoted by TASS). The Ukrainian leader did not give the exact number of the dead. According to him, now a lot depends on "the morale of the military, it depends on the morale of the people who work so that the military gets paid, and it depends on the unity between the military and civilians in Ukraine." "And this depends on the unity of the West," he added.
Russia still recruiting Cubans due to generous payments, Russian
72 RUSSIA Country Report August 2024 www.intellinews.com