NEW – Two US Air Force B-1B Lancers will participate in Finnish Air Force's main air show in Turku this weekend. This type of supersonic bomber has not visited Finland before. The bombers will make three flybys and do not land on Finnish soil.

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According to Spanish Defense Minister Margarita Robles, 20 M113 armored personnel carriers for the Armed Forces of Ukraine will arrive from Spain in Poland on June 19 - this batch will be added to the 40 armored personnel carriers already delivered to Kyiv.

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British Royal Marines call in US HIMARS rocket strikes in Nato exercise

Royal Marines have called in rocket strikes and raided the Polish coastline in NATO exercise Baltops in the Baltic Sea.

Commandos and a Royal Navy amphibious task group were among 6,000 troops from 19 allied nations who took part in the exercise on Nato's eastern flank.

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BREAKING – Jordan army said that it had shot down a drone carrying weapon parts from Syria, after earlier this week it shot down a drone with drugs

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GERMANY – The German Navy wants to purchase up to 15 multi-purpose combat boats for the "Seebataillon".

The proposed framework specifically calls for an off the shelf solution with the 2 main contenders being the Swedish CB90 and Finnish M18 AMC.

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Greece plans to purchase Meteor air-to-air guided missiles for the fifth-generation F-35A Lightning II fighters purchased from the United States into the range of weapons.

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Sweden, as part of the 12th support package for Kyiv, decided to train Ukrainian pilots to fly JAS-39 Gripen fighters.

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IRAN – The public relations service of the Quds Special Forces of the IRGC ground forces reported the destruction of an armed group in the area of the city of Hamun in the province of Sistan and Balochistan. Two criminals were killed, six people associated with them were arrested, and a certain amount of weapons and ammunition was confiscated from them.

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Ukrainian counter-offensive: Advancing Ukrainian troops are facing "desperate resistance" from Russian forces around the eastern city of Bakhmut, and are inflicting big losses on Russian troops in the south, Ukrainian military chiefs said on Friday.

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CHINA – The PLA will send troops to Mongolia to participate in the "Khaan Quest-2023" multinational peacekeeping exercise in mid-June, said Zhang Xiaogang, spokesperson for China's Ministry of National Defense on Friday.

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Ukrainian Naval Ships Chernihiv (ex-HMS Grimsby) and Cherkasy (ex-HMS Shoreham) sail from Rosyth this morning.

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Israel's Rafael defense industry unveils Sky Sonic, an anti-hypersonic missile, that will soon go into testing and has been in the works for several years.

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2023 military strength ranking:

1. 🇺🇸United States
2. 🇷🇺Russia
3. 🇨🇳China
4. 🇮🇳India
5. 🇬🇧United Kingdom
6. 🇰🇷South Korea
7. 🇵🇰Pakistan
8. 🇯🇵Japan
9. 🇫🇷France
10. 🇮🇹Italy
11. 🇹🇷Turkey
12. 🇧🇷Brazil
13. 🇮🇩Indonesia
14. 🇪🇬Egypt
15. 🇺🇦Ukraine
16. 🇦🇺Australia
17. 🇮🇷Iran
18. 🇮🇱Israel
19. 🇻🇳Vietnam
20. 🇵🇱Poland
21. 🇪🇸Spain
22. 🇸🇦Saudi Arabia
23. 🇹🇼Taiwan
24. 🇹🇭Thailand
25. 🇩🇪Germany
26. 🇩🇿Algeria
27. 🇨🇦Canada
28. 🇦🇷Argentina
29. 🇸🇬Singapore
30. 🇬🇷Greece
31. 🇲🇽Mexico
32. 🇵🇭Philippines
33. 🇿🇦South Africa
34. 🇰🇵North Korea
35. 🇳🇴Norway
36. 🇳🇬Nigeria
37. 🇸🇪Sweden
38. 🇲🇲Myanmar
39. 🇳🇱Netherlands
40. 🇧🇩Bangladesh

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British intelligence believes that Russia has gained a temporary advantage in southern Ukraine.

The reason: the introduction of 20 attack helicopters to Berdyansk.

This will put more pressure on NATO to expedite jet deliveries to Ukraine.

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Baiba Braže, NATO Assistant Secretary General for Public Diplomacy, published today on Twitter:

"In a show of solidarity and force
🇺🇸 strategic bombers flew above the Freedom Monument in Riga 83 years after the Soviet occupation of Latvia started.

B1-B bombers’ forward posture in Europe enables NATO Allies & partners cohesion."

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BREAKING – Ukraine confirms tactical successes in all main sectors of the southern Ukraine counter-offensive

Ukraine's Defence Ministry claims that its forces are moving at up to 2km along each main axis in southern Ukraine.

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Ukrainian forces destroyed a “significant” ammunition depot near the Russian-occupied port city of Henichesk in the southern region of Kherson, spokesman for the Odesa military administration Serhiy Bratchuk said on Sunday.

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UKRAINE – An epidemic of cholera is spreading among Russian military personnel in Kherson Oblast and Crimea following a Russian terrorist attack onthe Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant, the Atesh partisan movement reported on Telegram on June 17.

Several Russian deaths due to the disease have been reported.

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Ukraine counter-offensive: Occupied Skadovsk, Lazurne, Genichesk, Partizans (Rykove) - Russian warehouses with ammunition are detonating everywhere today.

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ZAPORIZHZHIA FRONT /0245 UTC 18 JUN/ Early contact reports suggest that UKR troops have broken through South of Novodanvilivka. Preliminary info suggests that UKR is expanding a widening pocket from Novopokrovka in the E, Verbove and Novoprokopivka in the S and Kopani in the West.

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The USA has approved the sale of 153 M982A1 Excalibur tactical projectiles to Spain.

The contract is valued at 48.2 million USD.

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