Victorious news of 491st day of war: Defense Forces advance 1.3 km towards Berdiansk, hold dominant positions near Avdiivka, Wagner soldiers won't fight in Ukraine

The Ukrainian Armed Forces advanced by 1,300 meters in the Berdiansk sector

The Defense Forces are consolidating their positions and bleeding the enemy out in southern Ukraine. This was stated by Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar.

“In the Rivnopil-Volodyne direction, our troops are successful, now they are consolidating their positions and inflicting serious losses on the enemy. In fact, we are exhausting the enemy's offensive potential by destroying equipment, warehouses, control points and personnel,” said Hanna Maliar. “In the Zaporizhzhia and Melitopol directions, we are destroying the invading Russian forces. The enemy is pulling up all its reserves for defense, even a marine brigade that once fled Kherson.”

According to the deputy minister, there is a 1,300-meter advance in the Berdiansk sector.

Budanov is confident that the Wagner PMC will no longer fight in Ukraine

The Wagner PMC mercenaries, which are Russia's most effective military unit, will no longer fight in Ukraine. This was stated by the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate, Kyrylo Budanov.

“We have compromised the Russian leadership. The myth of the Russian regime's steadfastness has been destroyed once again. The Russian Aerospace Forces suffered losses. Moreover, the Wagner PMC will no longer participate in hostilities on the territory of Ukraine. And this is the most effective unit of the Russian Federation, which knows how to succeed at any cost,” he said.

Ukrainian startup which specializes in using drones in agriculture, raises over half a million dollars

FarmFleet, a Ukrainian agri-tech startup that uses drones in agriculture, has announced the successful completion of its first round of funding. The startup raised USD 550,000 with a valuation of USD 3.7 million

The company reports that the investment will be used to expand the functionality of FarmFleet in accordance with the requirements of Ukrainian agricultural producers, as well as to strengthen the country's agricultural sector in general.

“Our mission is to create a transparent and intelligent outsourcing market in agriculture, thus expanding opportunities for farmers to run their operations efficiently and with exceptional quality,” said Fevzi Ametov, one of the project's founders.

The National Guard has taken dominant positions near Avdiivka

The Avdiivka area is under the control of the Ukrainian Defense Forces, which include the Omega special forces unit of the National Guard. This was reported by the press service of the National Guard.

Despite the enemy's claims that Avdiivka is almost surrounded in a semi-ring and that Ukrainian forces will not be able to break through their defense line, the commander of the Omega 5 unit says that it is the Ukrainian Defense Forces that have the dominant positions here, although he does not deny that this is one of the most difficult sections of the front.

“We are on the heights, we have dominant positions, so it is very difficult for the enemy to get closer to our positions. The enemy is still trying to move towards the city, but they are not coming closer than 6 kilometers with their equipment. Now the occupiers are trying to advance only with infantry, which our intelligence officers see and promptly destroy. As a result, several Russian soldiers are approaching our positions with their hands up. The Russian soldiers, who did not surrender and tried to storm our positions, are cut off from their logistics hubs, and we are watching them digging in on the approaches and coming out twice a day to drink water from a puddle. This is already saying something: they cannot feel safe on this section of the frontline. And this is our advantage,” the National Guard’s press service described the situation.

Four Ukrainians are longlisted for the Angelus Central European Literature Award

Stanislav Aseyev, Oksana Zabuzhko, Tamara Horikha Zernia, and Natalka Sniadanko were longlisted for the Angelus 2023 Central European Literature Award.

The longlist includes 14 candidates in total, including four Poles, one Slovak, two Germans, and writers from Albania, Austria, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The shortlist will be published in September, and the winner will be announced on October 14.

The Angelus is a literary award that has been given annually since 2006 for the best prose book published in Polish in the past year.