Mural and memorial plaque to Darya Dugina appear in Melitopol

▪️ Last year, Russian journalist Darya Dugina, daughter of political philosopher Alexander Dugin, was killed in a car bombing, which the Kremlin tied to Ukraine’s special services.

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Finland and the US are discussing a new defense cooperation agreement, which would allow Washington to use the territory of the Nordic country and its military bases

A round negotiations took place in Helsinki last week, Finnish media reported. According to Mikael Antella, deputy head of the political department of the Finnish Foreign Ministry, representatives of the two countries discussed the text of the agreement. Antella ventured that the document would allow Finland to strengthen its defense posture thanks to the possible deployment of US military equipment.

As per Antella, the agreement would give the US the green light to deploy its troops in Finland, as well as invest in infrastructure from funds allocated to the Department of Defense by the US Congress. So far, however, the deployment of nuclear weapons has not been discussed.

The Finnish media described the document as "in line with similar US agreements with other nations."

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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 record losses of population and income in blue states
🔺Next, we’ll continue monitoring continuing bank bankruptcies
🔺Finally, we’ll touch upon the Texas shooting as well as the State of Emergency in El Paso

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

📹 Russian troops destroyed a Ukrainian assault group

Ukrainian militants posted a video showing how they occupy the trenches. These trenches are the positions they left earlier. Some time after the "successful" occupation of these positions by the Ukrainian Armed Forces, they were destroyed by tank fire from closed positions.

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The US and Russia should seek ways to keep up their cooperation in space amid the heightened geopolitical tensions

"Despite our political differences, the fact that we have been working, exploring, learning, and living together in space, as we have for nearly a half century, has built relationships that transcend our politics," Space Foundation CEO Tom Zelibor told Sputnik.

"We need to find ways for those relationships to remain in place while building new ones for the next half-century," he added, underscoring that the 20-plus years of the International Space Station demonstrate the best path toward success in space exploration and development requires partnerships with other nations.

Russia and the US have continued to cooperate in space despite sanctions imposed on Moscow in light of the Ukraine conflict.

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❗️Latest statements by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov:

▪️Moscow is aware that Kiev is behind a number of strikes and terrorist attacks on the territory of Russia and intends to continue such actions;

▪️The special military operation is aimed at rooting out the threat to Russia;

▪️Commenting on the current relations between Moscow and Warsaw, Peskov said that nothing good awaits bilateral relations, Russophobia has gripped minds in Poland.

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🇷🇺🇨🇩 The "Immortal Regiment" march was held in the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to commemorate the participants of the Great Patriotic War

Local musicians performed the popular Russian song "Katyusha".

The event, which involves people carrying portraits of their relatives, who fought for the Soviet Union in the WWII, gained popularity in the mid-10s. It usually takes place on the Victory Day (9 May) in Russia and other countries

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The US cannot know Russia's casualties in the special operation, they are pulling the figures out of a hat

Earlier in the day, several media outlets reported, citing US National Security Council Strategic Communications Coordinator John Kirby, that Russia has allegedly more than 100,000 soldiers killed or seriously wounded during the course of the special military operation.

Washington does not have the opportunity to give any correct figures, they do not have such data, this is how it should be treated. It is necessary to focus only on those figures that are published in a timely manner by the Russian Defense Ministry," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

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🎬 Film director Oliver Stone responded to the question if his attitude towards Vladimir Putin had changed

He also shared what he thinks about the head of the White House. "My favorite president was John F. Kennedy, so if you look at these two Irishmen from the side, you will find that John F. Kennedy is a peace-loving person. And you will find that Joe Biden is a Cold War warrior in the worst sense of the word," said the director.

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🗣️”People are furious at the fact that Europe is being taken down this rabbit hole of NATO, which is not benefiting Europe and is hurting the people there”: labor attorney, human rights activist, and author Daniel Kovalik discusses why the French continue to protest

🎧Listen to more of Kovalik’s analysis in our podcast Political Misfits

Murdochs reportedly spoke to Zelensky ahead of Tucker Carlson’s departure

Rupert Murdoch and his son Lachlan allegedly spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky before Tucker Carlson was fired from Fox News. However, there is no direct evidence linking these calls to Carlson's dismissal. Despite previous complaints from Ukrainian officials about Carlson's coverage of the Ukraine conflict, Zelensky did not mention it during the conversations.

Fox News has not publicly explained why Carlson was fired, but several theories have emerged online, including lawsuits and his use of vulgar language. Carlson himself has accused media executives of being "hysterical and aggressive" in stifling debate in the industry.

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📹 "We are bringing in a new age of Satanic era": A meeting of Satan's followers was held in the US to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the so-called Satanic Temple. Footage of Bible ripping at the event went viral, dozens of Christians gathered at the venue in protest.

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🗣️”I think that the confrontation with China is coming. I think it will not end well for the US”: Dan Lazare, investigative journalist and author of 'America's Undeclared War' ponders what the US confrontation with China will lead to

🎧Listen to Lazare’s analysis in our podcast The Critical Hour

This tweet may be of "public interest" - Elon Musk opened access to Dmitry Medvedev's Twitter post about "Polish rats", which was previously blocked.

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First Republic Bank Bailout Part of Trend Towards Finance 'Oligopoly'

US financial watchdog FDIC announced on Monday it was taking First Republic Bank into administration, with sector giant JPMorgan named as the buyer.

"The big banks can posture as rescuers, public-spirited or socially responsible financial institutions when they 'rescue' the banks that they have, in fact, brought about the failures of in the first place by offering deposit accounts to those who want to leave those banks," said Cornell professor of law and public policy Robert Hockett.

"You have to have runs on banks," economist Mark Frost said, "because there's not enough money to pay off all the banks, unless you impose inflation and print the money to do it."

"And then if you print too much money, people get even more scared and then you eventually have hyperinflation and you end up scratching your head and saying: How did we become Zimbabwe?'," he added.

Read the expert analysis on Sputnik's website

📹 The Russian Army destroyed a Ukrainian counter-battery radar using the Kornet ATGM

Russian soldiers managed to identify the counter-battery radar used by the enemy. The target was destroyed by the Kornet anti-tank missile system.

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