⚡️Sergey Lavrov 🇷🇺 will take part in SCO Foreign Minister's meet in Goa 🇮🇳 on May 4-5, discuss preparations for Council of Heads of States' meet in July: Moscow

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🇺🇸✈️ American F-16s 'might not last very long' if delivered to Ukraine

Most Ukrainian airfields are “too short” and "austere" to allow for safe utilization by a fully loaded F-16, air-warfare analyst for the UK’s Royal United Service Institute think tank Justin Bronk believes.

💬 “You would have to do a lot of work to get those Ukrainian, old Soviet-pattern runways to a clean enough state to use an F-16 without high risk of foreign object debris going in and damaging the engines," he said.

Accordingly, if the US were to finally decide to hand over its F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, the Kiev authorities would be facing extensive work involving resurfacing the existing runways, extending the landing strips, etc.

💬 “All of Ukraine's airbases are within reach of Russia's ballistic and cruise missiles," the air-warfare analyst said on a podcast.

Bronk summed up by saying that Russia’s missiles would make light work of destroying any Ukrainian F-16 fleet.

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👨🏻‍🦳 Joe Biden (80) "can't even say" his age

💬 "With regard to age, I can't even say, I guess, how old I am. I can't even say the number. It doesn't register with me."

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🇺🇸🏫 “Person who produces eggs”: American school goes full woke when talking about sex in “science and health class”

The Essex Westford School District in Vermont has published recommendations to use “gender inclusive” language in health class:

👦 “Person who produces sperm” should be used instead of boy or male.
👧 “Person who produces eggs” should be used instead of girl or female.

The move sparked backlash among some parents in the district. Vermont Family Alliance called the recommendations inappropriate and said the move ignores the biology of the human body.

💬 "Every student should have equal access to scientific reality," Renee McGuinness, a spokesperson, said. "It doesn't matter what their sexual orientation is, it doesn't matter what their gender identity is."

Some parents are reportedly afraid to speak up about the changes because they “get smeared and labeled as hateful, transphobic or bigoted” while raising their concerns.

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❗️Latest statements by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov:

▪️Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping did not discuss the issue of Ukraine's return to its 1991 borders during their talks in Moscow;

▪️The expulsion of Russian diplomats from EU countries provokes a degradation of relations and narrows the basis for diplomacy;

▪️Xi Jinping's conversation with Ukrainian President Zelensky is a matter of sovereign affairs between China and Ukraine, but Russia welcomes anything that can bring peace to Ukraine and accomplish the goals of the special military operation;

▪️Putin and Erdogan will hold a phone conversation before the fuel-loading ceremony at the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant.

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🇺🇸 NATO could send troops to western Ukraine if Kiev’s spring offensive fails

Anonymous Biden administration officials told US media this week that the White House is “quietly preparing” for the contingency of Ukrainian forces failing to gain any significant ground against Russia during Kiev’s much-hyped spring offensive, and for the reputational blow this might have for Washington via-a-vis other allies and clients.

💬 “I have long felt that the signals they’ve been giving are that they believe that US-led Western global hegemony, their ‘rules-based order’ is at stake here – they really do believe that," international affairs Mark Sleboda has told Radio Sputnik.

For more of his analysis and insights, click here

☢️🤖💥 US lawmakers introduce bill to prevent AI from launching nuclear weapon

The legislation is called Block Nuclear Launch by Autonomous Artificial Intelligence Act.

💬 "The bill is expected to make sure that AI will never be allowed to substitute human judgment when it comes to making a decision about launching a nuclear weapon," congressmen Ted W. Lieu said.

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Catch our Fault Lines show, where we provide updates and analysis on all the most vital stories! Here's our line-up for today:

🔺To kick things off, we’ll be discussing the situation in Haiti, where people tired of gang violence started to take matters into their own hands
🔺Next, we’ll continue monitoring the situation in Ukraine and discuss new Russian laws
🔺Finally, we’ll speak about the US debt ceiling negotiations as well as the presidential campaigns launched by Biden and Trump

More trending stories coming your way! Tune in to Radio Sputnik at 7am EST|4am PST|1pm CET via the website or app!

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

☦️📦 Humanitarian aid arrives at St. Kasperovsky female monastery in Donbass

The Moscow-Donbass international volunteer group, with the support of the First Donetsk Army Corps, has delivered humanitarian cargo to the monastery. Volunteers brought shoes, various household appliances, household chemicals, and a milk separator, which was severely needed by the monastery.

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🥷 Elon Musk reportedly took over other user's Twitter account

Zoe Schiffer, a managing editor at Platformer News, alleges that Elon Musk used his CEO and Twitter ownership status to take control of the inactive @e account, which currently follows NASA, LAist, and Musk himself.

The account was created in November 2022 and has 1,908 followers.

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❗️The Russian Foreign Ministry has summoned a senior diplomat from the US Embassy and handed the official a note of protest. Moscow castigated US diplomatic mission’s failure to issue visas to journalists as sabotage.

'We Dare Not Stop Working for Freedom': Prince Buthelezi on South Africa's Freedom Day

This year, on April 27, South Africa marks the 29th anniversary of the first democratic elections held in 1994. On this day, known as Freedom Day, Sputnik talked to one of the most prominent liberation leaders during the apartheid era – Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi, founder of the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP).

🗣"Freedom Day commemorates more than an event in our history. It is a reminder of an ideal, and the possibility of attaining an ideal, regardless of the obstacles, if one is willing to pursue it," the politician underlined

👉 READ THE FULL STORY

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📹 Russian artillerymen quash Ukrainian fortified positions in Artemovsk (Bakhmut)

Russian 2S4 Tyulpan 240mm heavy self-propelled mortars are capable of destroying even the most well-fortified enemy defense structures. Russian artillery units use them to support assault troops, engaging the most embattled Ukrainian positions in the Artemovsk direction.

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🇷🇺🇫🇮'Unacceptable' anti-Russian discrimination found in Finnish song contest

Following the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine, Russians and individuals with Russian roots have been subject to various forms of discrimination, including harassment and violence.

Recently, the Non-Discrimination Ombudsman in Finland ruled that two contestants in a popular TV show, who were Finnish-Russian dual citizens, were discriminated against due to their nationality and awarded them compensation.

This incident is part of a larger trend of discrimination against Russians and those with Russian backgrounds in Finland, which has been ongoing since the start of the conflict in Ukraine.

"Harassment or discrimination against Russian citizens or Russian speakers is unacceptable in any form," Ombudsman Kristina Stenman said in a press release.

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❗️Russian MoD briefing on progress of special military operation in Ukraine:

▪️In the Kupyansk direction, Russian forces destroyed up to 110 Ukrainian troops and two armored fighting vehicles, as well as a Grad MLRS combat vehicle;

▪️In the Krasny Liman direction, Ukrainian losses amounted to 70 servicemen, one armored fighting vehicle, as well as one D-30 and one Gvozdika self-propelled howitzer;

▪️In the Donetsk direction, Russian forces destroyed more than 400 Ukrainian troops, two infantry fighting vehicles, six armored fighting vehicles, a D-20, a D-30, and a Gvozdika self-propelled howitzer, and a US-made AN/TPQ-50 radar system;

▪️In the South Donetsk and Zaporozhye directions, Ukrainian losses amounted to 60 soldiers, a Tor-M1 anti-aircraft missile system, a US-made M777 artillery system, and one armored personnel carrier;

▪️In the Kherson direction, Russian forces neutralized up to 30 Ukrainian troops, four Ukrainian S-300 surface-to-air missile launchers, one German-manufactured Gepard self-propelled anti-aircraft system, and two D-30 self-propelled howitzers;

▪️Russian air defense systems also intercepted an Su-24 aircraft, four HIMARS missiles, as well as 21 Ukrainian UAVs in the LPR, DPR, and Kharkov region.

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South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol flew 11,000 km to impress Biden by singing "American Pie" at the White House.

😏 Well, nice choice for a tune!

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❗️LIVE NOW: Putin joins fuel delivery ceremony for Turkiye's Akkuyu NPP via video link
Join the live stream here or follow this link to Sputnik’s website