🇮🇷 Tehran slams ‘delusional’ claims by Ukraine’s Zelensky as 'anti-Iranian propaganda'

💬 “Delusional claims made by the Ukrainian president against the Islamic Republic of Iran are in line with the anti-Iranian propaganda and media war aimed at attracting as many arms and financial aid from Western countries as possible,” Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said in a statement carried by Iranian media.

Kanaani emphasized that the Islamic Republic of Iran has repeatedly urged finding a political solution to the Ukraine crisis. However, according to the spokesman, Ukraine, had "specific political goals and motives behind such accusations" and was "avoiding expert negotiations with the Iranian side to investigate the claims."

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Internet sickened as US senator says 'Russians dying' is ‘best money ever spent’

US Senator Lindsey Graham flew to Ukraine to meet with President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday, after which he called on the Biden administration to ramp up support for the authorities in Kiev that are conducting an ongoing proxy war against Russia.

"Disgusting" and "sickening" were some of the responses on social media after footage was posted online showing Graham with Zelensky. Needless to say, users on social media were disgusted with the words of the American senator. Many commented that this was the "true face of American politics."

Others slammed the politician for being a "warmonger", and found such words coming from a sitting US senator very "concerning." Others wondered what the US response would be "if Russia was saying this about American citizens."

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❗️Russia’s FM Sergey Lavrov slammed plans to supply Ukraine with F-16 fighters as an unacceptable escalation, and noted that there are people in the West who understand this.

The recent remarks by Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, about Ukraine unlikely to recapture lost territory is a step towards comprehending this reality on the ground, Lavrov pointed out.

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📹 ‘Mistake to think that Ukraine will prevail’: Russian Ambassador to UK tells British media

Speaking about the prolongation of the Ukrainian crisis by NATO countries, Kelin said that “sooner or later this escalation may get another dimension, which we do not need and do not want.”

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🇹🇷🗳Opposition leader Kilicdaroglu arrives to cast his ballot

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❗️‘Great shame to have senators like that’: Kremlin spokesman fires back at neocon chickenhawk Lindsey Graham

💬 "It’s hard to imagine a greater shame for the country than having senators like that," Dmitry Peskov said in an interview.

Russia is facing a war on all fronts, and Moscow must maintain a clear-headed mindset, act in accordance with its interests, be firm, openly convey its concerns, added Peskov. The objectives of the special operation have not changed, and they must be accomplished, he insisted.

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Can Africa and Russia Shape a New Global Reality Together?

On the sidelines of the Moscow Export Day forum for export-oriented business, Sputnik Africa spoke with a group of visiting African business leaders and officials about the prospects for Africa's development and Russian-African cooperation.

"[Mandela] told us something very profound. He said that for several decades, Africa was going through a fight, a fight for independence. And there was, he said, nothing fabulous in that because the price paid by Africa to obtain that was very high. And he said phase one was to get out, but phase two was to reshape ourselves. He was talking not of South Africa, he was talking about the whole continent," recalled Mikhail Orlov, head of the Russian-Egyptian Business Council.

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

▪️In the Kupyansk direction, Russian forces destroyed up to 30 Ukrainian troops, one armored vehicle, as well as several ammunition depots. The actions of two Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance groups were thwarted;

▪️In the Krasny Liman direction, Russian forces neutralized up to 65 Ukrainian personnel, an armored combat vehicle, as well as Msta-B and D-20 howitzers, and one Akatsiya self-propelled howitzer;

▪️In the Donetsk direction, Ukrainian losses amounted to more than 340 troops, three armored combat vehicles, a Polish Krab self-propelled howitzer, and several ammunition depots;

▪️In the South Donetsk and Zaporozhye directions, Russian forces destroyed over 100 Ukrainian troops, one infantry fighting vehicle, a Polish Krab self-propelled howitzer, one US-made AN/TPQ-37 counter-mortar radar, and one ammunition depot;

▪️In the Kherson direction, Russian troops neutralized up to 10 Ukrainian soldiers and one Gvozdika self-propelled howitzer. Command and observation posts as well as a temporary deployment point of foreign mercenaries were hit;

▪️Russian air defenses shot down three Storm Shadow cruise missiles, six HIMARS missiles, and four unmanned aerial vehicles in the LPR, DPR, Kharkov, and Zaporozhye regions.

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📹 Russian forces destroy Ukrainian firing point with anti-tank missile in Avdeevka direction

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🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia 'in talks' to join BRICS bank to enhance 'funding options'

Riyadh is in talks to join the Shanghai-based New Development Bank, also known as the “BRICS bank,” according to a statement by the NDB, cited by a US media report.

Adding the country as the ninth member of the bank would strengthen Riyadh’s ties with BRICS member states, the statement by the lender read.

It is hoped that as the world’s largest exporter of oil joins the bank, as it would serve to bolster its funding options, the report emphasized. The latter were singled out by Ashwani Muthoo, director general of the NDB’s independent evaluation office, as “the most important thing at the moment."

"We are struggling to mobilize resources,” he was cited as saying, adding that at its upcoming board meetings, the NDB board intended to look into alternative currencies, like China’s yuan (also referred to as renminbi), or South Africa's rand.

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📹 'America remains indispensable': Kamala Harris hails 'freedom at the barrel of a gun' ideal and how military helps 'advance freedom' in West Point speech

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‼️ Voting in the second round of the presidential election has concluded in Turkiye. Polling stations closed for voting at 17:00 local time (which coincides with Moscow time).