📽 Bollywood is shooting the "Snow Flower" film in the Siberian city of Khanty-Mansiysk🇷🇺, Russia's Ministry of Culture told Sputnik.

🇮🇳🇷🇺 "Indian producers have expressed their willingness to participate in full-scale tours of Russia: in particular, foreign filmmakers have shown particular interest in the possibility of filming in Moscow, Khanty-Mansiysk, Kaliningrad, as well as in other regions of Russia," the ministry's press service said.

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⚡️ Kiev deliberately destroys its military with artillery fire to prevent attempts to abandon positions and retreat under the onslaught of Russian forces, the Defense Ministry of the Russian Federation stated.

A political science professor, Glenn Diesen, joined us to discuss the Nord Stream pipeline detonation and the US involvement, according to Sy Hersh’s new article

🎧Listen to more of Diesen’s analysis in our podcast Fault Lines

❗️(1) Russian MoD briefing on the progress of the special military operation in Ukraine:

▪️ In the Kupyansk direction, Ukrainian losses amounted to 50 troops, two armored combat vehicles, two other vehicles, as well as a US-made AN/TPQ-36 radar system;

▪️In addition, today at about 8.30 am, the units covering the State border together with the border patrol of the border department of the FSB of Russia in the Bryansk region, stopped an attempt to infiltrate the sabotage and reconnaissance group of Ukrainian forces numbering more than 15 militants on the territory of the Russian Federation in Bryansk region;

▪️In the Krasno-Liman direction, Ukrainian losses amounted to 80 soldiers, two armored combat vehicles, three vehicles, one Gvozdika self-propelled howitzer, a Nona self-propelled mortar, as well as D-20 and D-30 howitzers were destroyed;

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❗️(2) Russian MoD briefing on the progress of the special military operation in Ukraine:

▪️In the Donetsk direction, Russian troops destroyed up to 140 Ukrainian soldiers, three armored combat vehicles, eight vehicles, one Polish-made Krab self-propelled howitzer, Gvozdika and Akatsiya self-propelled howitzers, a D-20 howitzer, as well as a US-made AN/TPQ-50 counter-battery radar station and one ammunition depot;

▪️Russian troops destroyed up to 35 Ukrainian troops, two armored combat vehicles, two pickup trucks, as well as D-20 and D-30 in the South Donetsk and Zaporozhye directions;

▪️In the Kherson direction, Ukrainian losses amounted 20 soldiers, two vehicles and an Akatsiya self-propelled howitzer during a day;

▪️Russian air defense hit eleven HIMARS multiple rockets;

▪️In addition, eleven Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles were destroyed in the Kharkiv region, LPR and DPR.

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🇷🇺🇹🇷Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has arrived in the Turkish capital of Ankara on an official two-day visit, a Sputnik correspondent reported on Thursday.

He plans to discuss the prospects of bilateral cooperation, in particular in energy and tourism, as well as regional issues, including the resumption of relations between Armenia and Turkiye and the situation in the Middle East.

The two ministers will also exchange views on the Ukrainian crisis and its peace settlement, discuss the Black Sea Grain Initiative and the issue of unblocking access to Russian agricultural products and fertilizers for international economic operators.

The normalization of Syrian-Turkish relations is likewise expected to be another key topic of the negotiations.

The video by Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkiye

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While Macron is in China, protesters set fire to his favorite restaurant in Paris. This is where the French president celebrated his 2017 election victory, with occasional visits to this day.

🇬🇧 The Defense Ministry of the United Kingdom said on Thursday that it had already trained over 10,000 Ukrainian soldiers on the UK territory as part of operation Interflex and planned to train a total of 20,000 recruits this year.

"Operation Interflex continues to train personnel from the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and has so far trained over 10,000 recruits. The UK's support to Ukraine remains steadfast as we aim to train 20,000 recruits in 2023," the ministry said on social media.

On Sunday, the UK ministry stated that it had completed the training of the second group of Ukrainian troops on the AS-90 self-propelled gun.

💻 Emerging technologies in areas such as cyber and artificial intelligence could become the most dangerous weapons of the 21st century, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Director Jen Easterly said on Thursday.

“I think this [emerging technologies] is the biggest issue that we’re going to deal with this century. If you think about the most powerful weapon of the last century, it was nuclear weapons… These are the most powerful technology capabilities, and maybe weapons, of this century, and we do not have the legal regimes or the regulatory regimes to be able to implement them safely and effectively, and we need to figure that out in the very near term,” Easterly said during an Atlantic Council event.

Easterly cited potential weaponization of cyber technologies, genetic engineering and biotechnologies as risks surrounding emerging capabilities.

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‼️Lawmakers from the Tennessee House have expelled the first of three Democratic counterparts for their participation in gun control protests

➡️ Backlash against Dem Reps. Gloria Johnson, Justin Jones and Justin Pearson emerged after they took part in protests calling for gun reform following the Nashville school shooting

The first presented bill - targeting Jones - passed with a 72-25 vote.

🔺NATO’s here: The expansion of NATO towards Russia's borders causes trouble and anxiety for the country's security
🔺’All out’: None of 54 African countries joined Biden’s proxy war on Russia
🔺Macron met with the world’s peacekeeper, asking for help to end the conflict: China’s ready to cooperate with France in calling for peace talks in Ukraine

The Critical Hour will cover these and more stories! Tune in to Radio Sputnik at 6pm EST|3pm PST|12am CET via the website or app

📻 Also in the United States at 105.5FM, 104.7FM, 102.9FM, 1390AM, 1140AM

The United States must develop the ability to attain and maintain air superiority to avoid a "bloodbath" situation similar to the one in Ukraine, Air Force Deputy Chief of Staff for Plans and Programs Lt. Gen. Richard Moore Jr. said on Thursday.

"We've got to get to the ability ... to attain and maintain air superiority and we don't want the kind of bloodbath that's going on in Ukraine right now, and so, therefore, we have to get to the advanced capability that it takes to change the battlefield," Moore said during an event held by the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies.

According to Moore, the main reason why the ongoing conflict in Ukraine is a "war of attrition" is because neither side has managed to establish air superiority.

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Africans 'Know Which Direction to Take' in Multipolar World, Mauritius Ambassador Says

The African International Congress (AIC), a platform for Russian-African business cooperation, is taking place in Moscow from April 5 to 6. On the sidelines of the event, Sputnik sits down with the ambassador of Mauritius to discuss the recent global economic and financial upheavals, which are driving forces for change

"We are witnessing big changes in the world, especially in the economic world. So we have to review everything because it's not the same as before, 50 or 60 years ago," Kheswar Jankee explains

👉 READ THE FULL STORY

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🛳 The Russian Northern Fleet frigate Admiral Gorshkov, equipped with Zircon hypersonic missiles, has arrived at the port of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

The ship is accompanied by the tanker Kama. The visit is a part of a trip across the Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean and Mediterranean Sea.

The ships will resupply with fuel, fresh water and food, the Russian Defense Ministry says.

The last stop of Russian Navy warships in the ports of the kingdom was 10 years ago

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🇬🇧UK King Charles III has for the first time openly supported the study of the monarchy's involvement in the transatlantic slave trade during the 17th-18th centuries by providing access to the royal archives, a spokesperson for Buckingham Palace told British media.

The announcement comes after a UK media report, which released an exclusive document revealing the transfer of shares worth 1,000 pounds sterling ($203,167) in the slave-trading Royal African Company by its Deputy Governor Edward Colston to King William III in 1689.
"This is an issue that His Majesty takes profoundly seriously … As part of that drive, the royal household is supporting this research through access to the royal collection and the royal archives," the Buckingham Palace spokesperson was quoted by the newspaper as saying.

The Historic Royal Palaces, a charity which manages some of the UK's unoccupied royal palaces, is a partner in the study that was launched in October 2022, the spokesperson added.

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Is Japan Plunging Ever Deeper Into NATO?

Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi is convinced that it is time for his country to deepen its cooperation with NATO. At the same time, Tokyo is determined to take the lead in maintaining and strengthening the free and open international order.

Sputnik discussed with experts how such statements and its increasing militarization amid prospects of joining and becoming a full-fledged participant in NATO's strategy to militarily confront China in Asia fit in with Japan's pacifist constitution.

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