KASPAROV: There's a chance that Ukrainian victory, visible and symbolic one, like recovery of Crimea, will create conditions for the fall of Putin's regime and for great changes in Russia. Russians won't embrace democracy with their hearts, but may accept it with their stomachs.
BROWDER: People still naively believe Putin is ready to negotiate an end to the war, saying "Let’s give diplomacy a chance." They don’t do diplomacy or compromises in Russia. Pointless to negotiate with Putin. Only way Putin is going to stop is if he’s stopped, not by agreement.
BREAKING!!! U.S. Senate overwhelmingly passes the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026, dealing a major blow to Moscow's financial sector.
Next up: The fight moves to the House.
❗️The US Senate passed the Lindsey Graham Russia sanctions bill.
Now, it will need to be voted for in the House which can happen no earlier than September.
If passed, the bill would put mandatory sanctions on Russia's top leadership, oligarchs and companies supporting Russia's weapons production.
The bill would impose a 100% tariff on the top five countries that purchase Russian crude oil and natural gas - including China and India.
On this day in 2008, Russians invaded Georgia, killing over 1,000 people and commiting atrocities across the country.
Amid the invasion and for years after, Russian propaganda attempted to convince the world that it was actually Georgia started the war.
To this day, Russia still occupies 20% of the country.
Oleksii Yukov, the head of the "Platsdarm" group, which was dedicated to recovering the remains of fallen soldiers and civilians, has been killed.
According to Czech photographer Stanislav Krupař, since February 2022, Yukov and his colleagues had recovered more than 4,000 bodies, about half of them Russian.
For Oleksii Yukov, it did not matter whether the remains belonged to Ukrainians or Russians. He made it his life's mission to return the bodies of all the fallen to their families so they could be buried with dignity.
"You know, they came to us to murder us. Just because we’re Ukrainians. But back home, their dead are awaited just as our mothers await our fallen. And I must bring them home too; their souls must find peace as well. How will we be any different from them if we lose our humanity?" - these are the words Stanislav Krupař remembers Oleksii saying.
Oleksii Yukov was killed when a mine exploded beneath him during a mission to recover the remains of fallen soldiers. He would have turned 41 this September.
📷: Facebook / Stanislav Krupař
Russia has attacked the Chornomorets Stadium in Odesa.
Several people were injured.
What do you say to that, Infantino? Still want to allow russians back?
August 5🇺🇦
Alexei Yukov, founder and director of “Platsdarm,” a Ukrainian volunteer organization conducting search operations for the remains of soldiers and civilians killed in combat in eastern Ukraine, has passed away💔
Since February 2022, when Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Yukov and six colleagues had recovered more than 4,000 bodies, half of which were soldiers from the Russian military led by Putin.
Alexei Yukov made no distinction between the bodies of Ukrainians and Russians.
This was because he knew full well that the pain of a mother who has lost her son
is the same, whether that mother is Russian or Ukrainian.
He made it his life’s mission to return the remains of all victims to their families so they could be buried with dignity.
“Listen, they came here to kill us—simply because we are Ukrainians. But in their homelands, just as our mothers wait for their sons who died in battle, there are people waiting for them. That’s why I must send them home as well. Because their souls must also find peace. If we have no humanity left, how are we any different from them? The dead cannot defend themselves. That is why I follow in their footsteps. I feel sorry for them,”
he said.
Alexei Yukov died after stepping on a landmine while searching for the remains of soldiers killed in action;
he would have turned 41 in September🕊🕯
📸✍Text and photos: Stanislav Krupař. A Czech photojournalist who has been documenting the war in Ukraine since 2014.
He spent more time with Alexei Yukov than anyone else.