⚡️ The Russian MoD's latest statements on the Ukraine crisis:

▪️ Over 75 Ukrainian troops and about 30 pieces of equipment have been destroyed in Nikolaev region.

▪️ The Tornado battalion has been hit by a high-precision missile strike in Dnipropetrovsk region; more than 40 of the militants have been killed.

▪️ More than 30% of Ukrainian military personnel have been eliminated in a strike on positions in the Soledar area; most of the artillery units has been disabled.

▪️ Two points of deployment of foreign mercenaries in Kharkov region have been hit.

▪️ Five ammunition depots have been destroyed, as well as a fuel storage for military equipment

▪️ Two Ukrainian Su-25s have been shot down.

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❗️ Chief of opposition SJB party refuses to participate in talks with Sri Lankan PM

❗️ Sri Lankan party leaders urge president Rajapaksa to resign amid mass protests

👀 "Is this what she's gonna teach our children?" People can't believe that an MP who gave protesters the middle finger has been promoted to education minister.

The footage shows Andrea Jenkyns making the gesture to protesters while entering Downing Street just a day before she was given the role of education minister.

🗣 The video went viral, with many netizens criticizing the gesture of the Conservative MP: “Can’t wait for you to teach our children good manners”. Others noticed that, “Ministers aren’t expected to be perfect. But is it really too much to ask that they don’t treat the public like this?”

But the "magic" finger gesture doesn't seem to be limited to the Tories. A couple of months earlier LABOUR candidate Iman Less posted a picture of herself making an obscene gesture in front of a war memorial.

❗️ Defence Secretary Ben Wallace says won't be running for PM after Johnson steps down

❗️ Sri Lankan Prime Minister Wickremesinghe agrees to resign, reports suggest

"412 little lives": A Spanish war correspondent reveals how many have been killed in Donbass with weapons bought with "European taxpayer's money".

"I am only human": Andrea Jenkyns says she 'flipped off' the crowd in response to insults.

As the newly-appointed UK education minister faced a backlash, she tweeted that she should have shown more composure, but did not apologize directly for the incident.

❗️ A Sausage too far? Ukraine’s insult-spouting ambassador to Germany Andriy Melnyk fired by Zelensky

Earlier the ambassador sparked outrage in the Bundestag after calling Chancellor Olaf Scholz an "offended liverwurst sausage" and refusing to apologize.

❗️ Zelensky has also fired ambassadors to Hungary, Czech Republic, Norway and India

With Finland and Sweden applying for NATO membership this year, Sputnik has made an infographic about the alliance, in which you can learn about its creation, purpose, and its 30 allies

❗️Transport Secretary Grant Shapps announces his bid for Conservative party leadership & PM

📹 "You are killing children in Donbass with your arms supplies!" - A German journalist in Donetsk calls for her fellow Europeans to stop financing the Ukrainian Army as she witnesses civilians dying in Donbass every day.

❗️ Sri Lankan president to step down on July 13, local media says, citing parliamentary speaker

🇷🇺🌌 Russia's state space agency Roscosmos has launched an initiative to organize the rehabilitation and training of soldiers injured during the course of the special military operation in Ukraine who are unable to return to service, so that they may be employed by the agency, Roscosmos Chief Dmitry Rogozin said.

The official explained that around 30 partnering universities will set up special training courses, which will allow soldiers to receive additional education in Law, Economics or Engineering, opening prospects for future Roscosmos employment.

"A dead end that offers no way out”: US-China ties are at risk of being poisoned by Washington’s “growing Chinaphobia,” Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said.

As Wang held talks with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, he told his counterpart that tensions in the China-US relationship are caused by Washington’s “misperception of China.”

🗣 “The self-contradictions and say-do gap in the US policy toward China reflect serious miscalibration of its views on the world, on China, on China-US relations, and on interests and competition. Many people thus argue that the United States is taking on growing Chinaphobia. If such threat inflation continues unchecked, the United States’ China policy will only lead to a dead-end that offers no way out,” Wang warned.