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According to an exclusive report from the Wall Street Journal, Russia is withdrawing some of its military forces from Ukraine to bolster their floundering response to Ukraine's incursion into Russia's Kursk region. That's an unprecedented development in more than two years of fighting that has largely been focused, of course, inside Ukrainian territory. Anonymous US officials told the Journal that they're still trying to determine the scale of the Russian withdrawal and would not specify how many troops they estimate to be part of the redeployment. But it supports claims made by senior officials in Kyiv that their surprise incursion, started on August sixth, has forced Russia to shift forces from other fronts to the Kursk region, including Wagner Group mercenaries, fighting as far away as Africa. Meanwhile, Ukraine is sending additional tanks and other armored vehicles to bolster their forces on the new front lines inside Russia. Ukrainian military jets have also joined the fight using American-made joint direct attack munition glide bombs to bombard strategic Russian targets in the region. While Ukrainian officials have been tight-lipped about the incursion, on Tuesday, officials close to Zelensky expanded on the thinking behind the operation. A senior Ukrainian Ukrainian presidential advisor told the journal, Russia is sure that its territory is informally inviolable, and no one will destroy the logistics and infrastructure of the war there.

Today, Ukraine is showing that this is not the case. As of Tuesday, officials in Kyiv said they had pushed at least 20 miles into Russian territory and seized some 74 settlements in the Kyrsk region. Alexander Siersky, Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Army Forces, has claimed that Their forces have captured a stunning 386 square miles of Russian territory. That's a figure that's also supported by a separate independent assessment from the Institute for the Study of War. The situation is a complete embarrassment, I think that's fair enough to say, for Russia's Vladimir Putin, who's blamed Ukraine's success on the West. Of course, it's the West's fault. Putin accused the West earlier this week of using Ukraine as a proxy to wage war on Russia. Apparently, Putin does not see his invasion of Ukraine as the actual problem here. At last count, the fighting has forced nearly 200,000 Russian citizens to evacuate the region. Ukrainian forces have also been capturing Russian prisoners of war, adding to what officials call their Exchange Fund, which they intend on leveraging to free captured Ukrainians. Now, reports suggest fighting on the ground remains intense, and the Russian Defense Ministry claimed Tuesday that their forces were inflicting heavy losses on Ukraine's troops, though it's difficult to confirm the narrative.

Ukrainian President Zelenskyy acknowledged the fluid situation inside Kursk, saying Tuesday, Despite difficult and intense battles, our forces continue to advance in the Kursk region, and our state's exchange fund is growing. Meanwhile, Putin continues to vour revenge on Ukraine, saying his forces won't rest until they dislodge the enemy from our territories. Well, of course, one way to actually resolve this entire situation would be for Putin to dislodge his Russian troops from Ukraine's territories. All right, coming up after the break. Nearly two years after the sabotage of the Nord Stream Pipelines, Germany has issued an arrest warrant for a Ukrainian diving instructor who is believed to have worked with at least two other Ukrainian nationals on the plot. I'll be right back.

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Welcome back to the Afternoon Bulletin. Nearly two years after explosions disrupted the critical Nord Stream Pipelines in the Baltic Sea, German authorities have issued an arrest warrant for a Ukrainian diver, suspected of involvement in the sabotage. The pipelines became a flashpoint following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The Nord Stream one and two pipelines, constructed by Russia's state-controlled energy company Gazprom, were central to transporting getting Russian gas to Europe, particularly Germany, and were controversial due to the EU's dependency on Russian energy. On 26 September, back in 2022, multiple explosions along the pipelines led to significant gas leaks. Now, initial speculation from Western nations pointed fingers at Russian involvement. However, this theory was questioned due to the apparent lack of motive. Subsequent reports suggested a pro-Ukrainian group might be responsible. Investigations were launched by Germany, Denmark, and Sweden, but only Germany has continued pursuing suspects. The investigation took a significant turn this week when German authorities, through surveillance and media reports, identified an individual referred to as Volodymyr Z, a professional diver living in Poland, as a prime suspect. This individual is alleged to have orchestrated the attack with the assistance of at least two other Ukrainian nationals.

German authorities tracked down the suspects after a speed camera captured a van with Ukrainian license plates on the German island of Rugen just weeks before the sabotage. The trio reportedly used a yacht to reach the pipelines. There, it's alleged that the individual, Volodymyr Z, and one of the two other suspects, put on diving gear and executed the underwater sabotage with explosives. Polish authorities were alerted to Volodymyr Z's presence in a village near Warsaw. However, by the time, Polish authorities moved to act on the European arrest warrant while the suspect had fled to Ukraine. The other two suspects, a married couple who have not been named or had warrants issued against them, have denied knowing Volodymyr Z and claimed they were vacationing in Bulgaria at the time of the sabotage. No direct links between the suspects and the Ukrainian government have been established, and Ukrainian President Zelensky has consistently denied any state involvement in the pipeline attack. That, my friends, is the PDB Afternoon Bulletin for Wednesday, 14, August. If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at pdb@thefirsttv. Com. Of course, to listen to the show ad-free, become a premium member of the President's Daily Brief by simply visiting pdbpremium.

Com. I'm Mike Baker, and I'll be back tomorrow. Until then, stay informed. Stay safe. Stay cool.