Moscow condemns practices of suspending Russian athletes from Olympics as political

"Our principled stance is that this issue should not be politicized, people should not be deprived of sport competitions, of participating in them on political grounds," Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin said.

Unfortunately, this is the case now, the diplomat stated.
"We undoubtedly denounce it," he added.

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Russia sees no progress in implementing its part of grain deal

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin has stated that there are no tangible results indicating that Russia's demands under the Black Sea Grain Initiative have been met, but there is still time before the deal expires.

He also mentioned that the US is interested in maintaining the work of its embassy in Moscow despite the extremely low level of bilateral relations. Furthermore, Russia is seeking to launch an arbitration process against the US over visa problems, and although UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has not taken any specific steps, Russia will continue to demand it.

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

▪️In the evening of April 28, 2023, the Russian military launched a naval long-range precision-guided strike on the location of a command post of the UAF’s Kherson combined force grouping. The goal of the strike was achieved.

▪️In the Kupyansk direction, Russian forces destroyed up to 70 Ukrainian troops, five armored fighting vehicles, one ammunition vehicle, two pick-up trucks, and one D-20 howitzer;

▪️In the Krasny Liman direction, Russian forces neutralized up to 75 Ukrainian personnel, two armored fighting vehicles, and two D-20 and D-30 howitzers;

▪️In the Donetsk direction, Ukrainian losses amounted over 575 troops and mercenaries, two tanks, three infantry fighting vehicles, two armored fighting vehicles, two Akatsiya and Gvozdika self-propelled howitzers, one D-30 howitzer, and two US-made AN/TPQ-50 counter mortar radars.

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

▪️In the South Donetsk and Zaporozhye directions, Russian forces destroyed over 85 Ukrainian troops, one tank, two armored fighting vehicles, three pick-up trucks, and two D-20 and D-30 howitzers, as well as two ammunition depots;

▪️One sabotage and reconnaissance group of the Ukrainian Armed Forces was destroyed in the Donetsk People's Republic;

▪️In the Kherson direction, Russian troops neutralized up to 20 Ukrainian servicemen, two motor vehicles, and one D-30 howitzer;

▪️Air defenses shot down one Mi-8 helicopter, four HIMARS projectiles, and 14 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles in the LPR, DPR, and Kharkov region.

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Sky’s the limit for Russia’s drone industry

Experts believe that Russia has the potential to compete in the global drone market if the government implements necessary reforms and provides proper funding. The African and Indian markets are considered as potential customers.

Although Russia faces challenges in material and software production, it has companies with unique equipment that is sold abroad.

The use of drones is expected to increase, as they can perform tasks that are dangerous for humans. The loss of Western markets and technologies has taught Russia an important lesson in self-reliance.

“The present is the right time to start doing this, because the special military operation has shown us that its time to switch to our own production in every area, and drones are no exception,” industry expert Eduard Bagdasaryan told to Sputnik.

Read analysis of experts on Sputnik website

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💥Footage of a precision strike on the location of the command staff of the Ukrainian Kherson group of forces

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🇹🇷 Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said his health condition is much better.

On Saturday, the Turkish president spoke from the stage at a public event for over half an hour.

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📹 Russian Grad multiple rocket launcher system destroys Ukrainian artillery 3 km from line of contact

During a Russian offensive, Ukrainian artillery was forced to be located next to the line of contact, where it became an easy target, a Russian serviceman told Sputnik.

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🇵🇱Kiev sends note of protest to Poland, EU over ban on Ukrainian import

"Yesterday, notes were sent to embassies of the Republic of Poland and the European Union regarding the absolutely unacceptable situation with trade restrictions on import of Ukrainian agricultural products," Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko said on social media.

Nikolenko said that the imposed restrictions corresponded neither to the agreement between Ukraine and the EU nor the principles and standards of the European single market. There are all the necessary legal grounds for immediate resumption of the import, Nikolenko added.

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🌍 The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) was established in 1997,exactly 26 years ago, to implement the Chemical Weapons Convention, the world's first multilateral chemical weapons disarmament agreement. Its aim was to end the production, stockpiling, transfer, and use of chemical weapons and to eliminate existing stocks of these weapons. However, the OPCW has lost its impartiality and transparency over the years, becoming a convenient instrument in the West's geopolitical games.

The OPCW has been accused of being infiltrated, influenced, and compromised by Western blocs, into following an agenda.

The Syrian War demonstrated that the OPCW was showing a clear bias against the Syrian government and its allies and was failing to investigate potential supplies of chemical weapon ingredients to terrorist groups operating in Syria

Read the opinion of our experts on Sputnik’s website

💸Twitter has announced an option to monetize accounts, which will allow all its users to earn money from their posts.

"WORLDWIDE! Creators across the globe can now sign up and earn a living on Twitter. Tap on 'Monetization' in settings to apply today," Twitter said on Friday.

The company owner, Elon Musk, said that all Twitter users can now monetize their content.

"Content creators can now enable subnoscriptions to their text, pics & video worldwide on this platform!" Musk tweeted.

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BRICS' De-Dollarization Initiative Would Benefit Africa's Economy, Expert Says

The crusade by the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) group of nations to create a new financial infrastructure would have a positive impact on the development prospects of African nations, said Ashraf Patel, a senior research associate with the Institute for Global Dialogue and member of the South Africa BRICS Think-Tank Network, in an interview with Sputnik.

🗣"The BRICS alternative reserve currency would have a positive effect for African nations. Most of them are commodity export countries - especially minerals and oil - and agriculture. So, the first step would be to start trading those commodities with an alternative currency," he said

👉 READ THE FULL STORY

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🎺🎷🎻Today, the State Kremlin Palace is hosting the semi-final of the Road to Yalta 2023 International Music Festival, which celebrates its fifth anniversary this year. Singers from over 50 countries, including Italy, Germany, Serbia, India, China, Turkey, the US, Greece, Hungary, and France, applied to participate in the annual WWII song festival and competition, aimed at preserving historical memory and promoting international dialogue through "musical diplomacy."

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🪐Seismic waves rippling through Mars' core offer clue about how it became 'Hostile to life'

Despite a loss of communication with NASA's InSight Mars Lander due to accumulated dust on its solar panels, seismic data collected over four years has revealed that seismic waves are rippling through Mars' core. This discovery sheds light on why Mars evolved into a barren and "hostile to life" planet, despite evidence of liquid on its surface in the past.

The research, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, shows that Mars' core is different from Earth's and is most likely completely liquid. The lack of a magnetic field makes the planet's surface inhospitable to life. The findings will aid future geological investigations of other planets in the solar system.

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🇩🇪 German instructors are training Ukrainian soldiers for urban combat at a dozen military bases across the country ahead of Kiev's much-touted spring offensive, a German tabloid reported on Saturday.

The report said that over 1,000 personnel of Ukraine's special forces are being trained in Germany at "a good dozen" of Bundeswehr bases. In particular, they are being taught to conduct urban combat and operate heavy equipment, including Leopard 2 tanks and self-propelled howitzers Panzerhaubitze 2000, the newspaper said.

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🇵🇱 Russian investigators will give a legal assessment of Poland's seizure of the Russian embassy school building in Warsaw, the Russian Investigative Committee said on Saturday.

"Head of the Investigative Committee Alexander Bastrykin has ordered investigators to request necessary information from the Foreign Ministry and give a legal assessment to all circumstances of the incident," the committee said in a statement published on social media.

A total of 29 people, namely employees and their family members, including children, were on the school grounds when the Polish authorities swooped on the building.

Having loaded their belongings into a truck, the school employees are leave the building to the Russian patriotic march "Farewell of Slavianka" and Soviet military song "Katyusha." Polish judicial officers remain on the school grounds and continue to take inventory of the premises and property.

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Vanessa Beeley, an independent investigative journalist who specializes on the Middle East and Syria, told Sputnik:

💬 “I don’t think it can lay claim to pursuing its goal honestly and genuinely when its bias is against the perceived enemies of the West”

For more analyses of Vanessa Beeley check Sputnik website

US nuclear sensors in Ukraine deployed to scapegoat Russia

Karen Kwiatkowski, a former US Department of Defense analyst and retired Air Force lieutenant colonel, suggested that the US may be deploying nuclear sensors throughout Ukraine to quickly shift blame to Russia if any radioactive weapon is used or reported in Western media.

She also proposed that the deployment could serve as a direct message to the remnants of the Ukrainian military and political leaders who could run amok, thus upsetting big Western corporations' plans to rebuild Ukraine. She also pointed out that there may be innocent explanations for the deployment, such as concerns about radiation leakage from nuclear reactors.

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