 Putin fired commanders amid failure to recapture Kursan region. Two Russian commanders have been dismissed for failing to recapture southern parts of Ukraine that were lost during Kiev's counter-offensive last summer, according to pro-Kremlin sources. According to Newsweek, the commander of Russia's 18th Combined Arms Army, which has been fighting near Krynkiy in the southern Kursan Oblast, was fired along with the commander of the 70th Motorized Rifle Regiment, which had been fighting near Robotin in the Zaporizhia Oblast. According to Russian military bloggers, the firing of the generals by Russian President Vladimir Putin is not excluded. The former was Lieutenant General Arkady Mazoev, although the head of the latter unit was not named by the Telegram channel Pozivnoi in a post which was shared by other prominent mill bloggers over the weekend. Ukrainian partisans' movement Atezh, operating in the occupied south of the country, has reported mass desertions by Russian forces there, with Moscow's troops refusing to carry out combat missions. Atezh wrote on its Telegram channel, Russian soldiers are disappearing en masse in the Kursan region. Our agents also note the arrival of a large number of personnel of the Occupation Army in Novo Lexivka. Atezh wrote, this refers to a rural settlement in southern Kursan, close to the Isthmus or pericop that separates the Crimean peninsula from the mainland. The group added, these soldiers are located in vacant abandoned houses. Most of them have multiple tattoos on their body. The local population believes that these are people who were previously in prison. Neither Russian unit regained all the territory that Ukrainian forces captured in Zaporizia and Kursan oblasts during last summer's offensive. According to the head of the Joint Coordination Press Center of the Defense Forces of Southern Ukraine, Natalia Humenyuk, Russians repeatedly try to force Ukrainian troops out of their positions on the left bank of the Nipro River in Kursan region, but suffer losses during the assaults. The enemy is having a groundhog day every day. They launch assaults, suffer losses, form new units, and then go round and round. She added. German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has compared Russian President Vladimir Putin to Hitler and urged Europe to prepare for large-scale aggression of the Russian Federation. As Bloomberg writes, Pistorius emphasized that Putin will not stop in Ukraine. He also made that clear, as clearly as Hitler, who also always said that he would not stop, he emphasized. In this regard, Pistorius reiterated the importance of strengthening the German armed forces amid the growing threat. We have to put this country back in a position where it can defend itself. We have to decide now whether we want to prepare for a real threat from Putin, or whether we want to make it easier for him. The German Defense Minister said Putin will not stop once the war against Ukraine is over. Pistorius said at a presentation of a new book about Britain's wartime leader, Winston Churchill. He has also said that clearly. Added Pistorius, who is a member of Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democratic Party and Germany's most popular politician, just as clearly as Hitler, who also always said that he would not stop, faced with war, people elect a leader whom they trust and whom they follow even though he presents the world in ugly terms, Pistorius said. The Defense Minister, seen as a possible successor to Scholz, last week called for a loosening of Germany's borrowing restrictions to help bolster the country's military. Once a special off-budget fund worth 100 billion euros is exhausted in 2027. We have to put this country back in a position where it can defend itself. Pistorius said at the book event a reference to years of neglect of the Bundeswehr armed forces. We have to decide now whether we want to prepare for a genuine threat from Putin to materialize or whether we want to make it easy for him. Iranian Navy commandos on Saturday seized a container ship affiliated with Israel near the Strait of Hormuz, state news agency IRNA reported. IRNA identified the ship as MCS Aries and claimed it is managed by a company owned by Israeli billionaire Eyal Ofer. The Portuguese-faggied ship was taken under the control of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy with the help of a helicopter. The ship was on its way from the UAE to India when the landing party disembarked. The ship had turned off its tracking data, which has been common for Israeli-affiliated ships moving through the region. After that, the ship was diverted to the territorial waters of Iran. A video circulated on media showed commandos raiding the alleged ship near the Strait of Hormuz by helicopter. The incident comes amid heightened tension in the region. Israel on Friday reported intercepting around 40 missiles fired from the territory of Lebanon where Iran-affiliated Hezbollah is stationed. The attack raised fears of possible Iranian attack on Israel. US President Joe Biden made a statement on Friday, warning Iran not to attack Israel.