📹 Russia’s Solntsepyok flamethrower system wipes out Ukrainian stronghold with thermobaric shell during advance on Svatovo

While advancing on Svatovo in Donbass, a Solntsepyok unit from the Western Military District eliminated a Ukrainian stronghold with personnel using a thermobaric projectile, the unit’s commander, who goes by the call sign ‘Ural’, told Sputnik.

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CAESAR self-propelled howitzers not suitable for military action in Ukraine

French activist Xavier Moreau, a military academy graduate who served in a French airborne regiment, said the self-propelled vehicles supplied to Ukraine are unarmored, and they were mainly used in Africa, where the threat of counter-battery fire is very low.

The CAESAR can shoot up to 40 kilometers, "if it has normal ammunition," Moreau explained. At the same time, he noted that "normal ammunition" was not sent to Ukraine because "it is very expensive," and France does not produce it itself but buys it from Germany.

Moreau noted that the CAESAR should not be used in conditions such as those in the Donbass, otherwise it would fail quickly and would have to be "repaired". However, according to him, these howitzers "cannot be repaired," "the secret of CAESARs" is that they have to be rebuilt.

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🇰🇵🇯🇵 Japan vows 'destructive measures' after North Korea announces satellite launch

The statement by Japan’s Defense Ministry comes after Pyongyang informed the Japanese coast guard of a scheduled launch into orbit of its satellite in the coming days.

💬 “We will take destructive measures against ballistic and other missiles that are confirmed to land in our territory,” the ministry said, adding that it was preparing to use its Standard Missile-3 or Patriot Missile PAC-3 for the purpose.

Pyongyang had specified that the launch window was between May 31 and June 11, as per the Japan Coast Guard website.

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⚡️ Vladimir Putin signed law on denunciation of Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe

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❗️LIVE NOW: Russia's FM Sergey Lavrov holds presser in Nairobi
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❗️ Russian armed forces have opportunity to respond to intentions of Netherlands and Denmark to train Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16, Lavrov says in response to a Sputnik's question

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🇨🇳🚀 China to launch Shenzhou-16 space mission to orbital station on May 30, Deputy Director of the China manned Space Agency Lin Xiqiang confirms

Shenzhou-16 is planned to dock with the core module of Tiangong, and its taikonauts will replace the crew members of the previous six-month Shenzhou-15 mission, which will be the second crew rotation in the station’s history.

The crew Shenzhou-16 is scheduled to stay in orbit for about five months.The Tiangong space station is China’s first long-term orbital station. It operates in low Earth orbit between 210 and 280 miles above the surface. Its first module, Tianhe, was launched in 2021.

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#SputnikInfographic: 🇹🇷🗳 Results of Turkish presidential election runoff

Turkiye went to the polls on Sunday for a second round of voting in the country’s presidential elections after no candidate managed to win over fifty percent of the vote in the first round of voting on May 14.

Incumbent Turkish President Recep Tayyip has secured victory in Turkiye’s presidential runoff, defeating his rival, Kemal Kilicdaroglu.

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🇹🇷🇺🇸 In 2019, Joe Biden said that the US needs to “embolden” the Turkish opposition in order to defeat Erdogan. “Not by a coup, not by a coup,” he underscored.

Looks like four years of effort didn’t lead to anything 🤷‍♂️

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❗️Latest statements by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov:

▪️ There is a ‘huge vacuum’ in the strategic stability area, an international security agreement needed;

▪️ Russia will not feel direct consequences of the denunciation of the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe, it was already a non-working mechanism;

▪️ Moscow counts on preserving momentum when it comes to implementation of joint projects with Turkiye after reelection of Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

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📹 Key takeaways from Russian FM Sergey Lavrov's meetings to Nairobi:

▪️Russia and Kenya ready to cooperate in energy, finance, education, telecommunications, agriculture and other areas
▪️Moscow supports broader representation of African nations at the UN Security Council
▪️Russia values Kenya's and other African nations' peacekeeping efforts on the continent and beyond
▪️Lavrov praised the friendly atmosphere at the Nairobi talks.

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❗️Lavrov: West is ready to 'support genocide' against Russians

During his visit to Kenya, Russian FM Sergey Lavrov responded to a question from Sputnik’s correspondent concerning the African peace initiative for the Ukraine crisis:

💬 "Regarding the African initiative, as they have publicly stated more than once, perhaps Washington and London cannot accept anything other than the so-called Zelensky peace formula, which they have been pushing in all G7, NATO and EU documents and demanding that everyone adhere to it. Let me remind you that this formula means the pullout of Russian troops and Russia's withdrawal from all territories - Crimea, the Donbass and the other new territories - the Zaporozhye and Kherson Regions. After that, a tribunal against Russia, and against the Russian leadership. And then, payment of so-called reparations. And only after all this, will Ukraine graciously agree to sign a peace treaty.

“Considering that two or three years ago, Zelensky said that if someone among Ukrainian citizens feels that they are Russians, then for the sake of their children’s and grandchildren’s future, go and leave for Russia.” Given what Mr. Danilov and Mr. Podolyak said, namely, that after the return of Crimea and the eastern territories of Ukraine, they will obliterate everything Russian there, up to and including the physical destruction of Russian citizens. This position by the West and its commitment exclusively to this barbaric, bestial formula of Zelensky means that they are ready to support genocide. There is nothing more for me to add here."

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🇮🇱 IDF announces successful test of Iron Dome defense system for naval operations

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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 65 Ukrainian troops, as well as one D-20 and a D-30 howitzer. The actions of two Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance groups were thwarted;

▪️In the Krasny Liman direction, Russian forces neutralized up to 55 Ukrainian personnel, one D-20 howitzer, and one Gvozdika self-propelled howitzer;

▪️In the Donetsk direction, Ukrainian losses amounted to more than 145 troops, two armored combat vehicles, and one D-30 howitzer, one US-made AN/TPQ-50 counter-mortar radar, and two ammunition depots;

▪️In the South Donetsk and Zaporozhye directions, Russian forces destroyed over 140 Ukrainian troops, two D-30 howitzers, and one ammunition depot;

▪️In the Kherson direction, Russian troops neutralized up to 20 Ukrainian soldiers two Gvozdika self-propelled howitzer, one D-30 howitzer, and a hangar with weapons and military equipment was hit;

▪️A command and observation post and weapons depot were hit in the Donetsk People's Republic;

▪️Russian air defenses shot down three Storm Shadow cruise missiles, 13 HIMARS missiles, and 14 unmanned aerial vehicles in the LPR, DPR, Kharkov, and Zaporozhye regions.

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📹 Russian forces crush Ukrainian troops in Avdeevka direction

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OSCE observers believe Turkish voters had opportunity to choose between real alternatives

"The second round of Turkiye’s presidential election was well run and gave voters the opportunity to choose between real political alternatives, but was characterized by increasingly inflammatory and discriminatory language during the campaign period.

Media bias and ongoing restrictions to freedom of expression created an unlevel playing field, and contributed to an unjustified advantage of the incumbent, international observers said in a statement today," the OSCE's statement said.

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