▪️ The Armed Forces of Ukraine shelled Shebekino, a town in Russia's Belgorod region using Grads; there is no light in the town, the governor said

▪️ He added, that in Shebekino, a hostel building is on fire from a direct hit by shells, there is destruction in the administration building.

▪️ According to Belgorod region's governor, information about those killed in the shelling of a bus in Shebekino is not confirmed, it was empty.

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📹 Footage from Shebekino, where a hostel is on fire after a Ukrainian shelling

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📹 🇿🇦 🇷🇺 Naledi Pandor & Sergey Lavrov's meeting on the sidelines of the BRICS foreign ministers' event

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⚡️ A fresh attempt by the Kiev regime to carry out a terrorist act against the civilian population of Russia's city of Shebekino in the Belgorod region was thwarted this morning, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.

At about 3am, Ukrainian formations with up to two motorized infantry companies, reinforced with tanks, attempted to invade. The Russian military repelled three attacks by the terrorist groups.

Formations of the Kiev regime were thrown back, having suffered significant losses. More than 30 Ukrainians were killed.

🇷🇺🇸🇦 Sergey Lavrov holds talks with a counterpart from Saudi Arabia on the sidelines of the BRICS Ministerial Summit

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Washington is worried over a possible threat to the US that emanates from the Russian Northern Fleet as Moscow is “seeking to expand its military presence” in the Arctic

“The fear is that a modernized Russian Northern Fleet could swing down through the straits between Greenland, Iceland and Britain, a move known in NATO as a ‘red right hook,’ to cut sea lanes and underwater cables and threaten the American East Coast with cruise missiles,” an American newspaper has claimed.

According to the media outlet, Russia remains “a vast Arctic power, with naval bases and nuclear missiles stationed in the Far North but also along Russia’s western edge: in the Kola Peninsula, near Norway, where Russia keeps most of its nuclear-armed submarines.”

The newspaper argued that climate change had led to a situation where shipping routes are becoming “less icebound and easier to navigate, making the Arctic more accessible and attractive for competitive commercial exploitation, as well as military adventurism.”

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📹 The Russian Armed Forces’ TOS-1A Solntsepyok heavy flamethrowers destroy fortified long-term strongholds and positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the zone of the special military op

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❗️ The Russian Foreign Ministry made a statement about the US intelligence service information disclosed by the FSB, which indicated that Washington infected several thousand Apple smartphones:

▪️ No state has the right to abuse its technological capabilities in such a sensitive area as access to the personal data of smartphone owners;

▪️ US intelligence agencies have been using IT corporations for decades to massively collect data from internet users without their knowledge;

▪️ The United States is a state that puts itself above the law, and evidence of this country's double standards has been repeatedly presented to the UN;

▪️ The Russian Foreign Ministry calls on all interested parties to form understandable and fair regulatory mechanisms in the digital sphere, mandatory for all states and for developers of information and communication technologies.

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Roman Popkov*, a Russian opposition activist living in Ukraine, was mastermind behind murder of Russian military correspondent Tatarsky - Russian investigators

▪️ Tatarsky was assassinated on April 2 during a creative evening which he held in a cafe in St. Petersburg. There was an explosion in the building - a device mounted in a figurine, which was presented to the military correspondent, blew up.

▪️ Tatarsky covered the military operation in Ukraine. His telegram channel had more than 500 thousand subscribers.

* recognized as a terrorist in Russia

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❗️Latest statements by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov:

▪️ President Putin is in constant contact with the relevant departments and the Belgorod governor, Dmitry Peskov said. According to Kremlin spokesman, support is being provided for the resettlement of those leaving their homes.

▪️ The situation with the shelling in the Belgorod region cannot in any way affect the course of the special military operation, Peskov added.

▪️ The use of iPhones for official purposes in the presidential administration is unacceptable and prohibited, said Dmitry Peskov. He noted that the Kremlin cannot restrict officials in the use of smartphones, but decisions about their safety are the prerogative of the special services.

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NATO Secretary General announces visit to Turkiye to discuss Sweden's membership bid

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Thursday he would travel to Turkiye in the near future to discuss Sweden's bid for membership in the alliance.

"I always highlight the importance of making progress on the accession of Sweden. And I will also travel to Ankara in the near future to continue to address how we can ensure the fastest possible accession of Sweden," he said ahead of an informal meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Oslo.

Stoltenberg also said that he had a conversation with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan earlier this week, but did not specify the precise date of the visit.

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Russia’s GDP increased by 3.3% in April, when compared to the same period of last year

"In annual terms, the GDP increased by 3.3% year-on-year in April (minus 0.7% y-o-y in March 2023," the Economic Development Ministry said in a report. The ministry added in the report that Russia's GDP declined in January-April by 0.6% year-on-year.

The report also indicates that industrial production provided support to the economy in April - it increased by 1.8% with the elimination of the seasonal factor. In addition, the review notes that the growth of investments in fixed assets in the first quarter of 2023 by 0.7% in annual terms was higher than the expectations of the Economic Development Ministry.

The ministry predicts that Russia's GDP growth in 2023 will be 1.2%.

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🎥 In this week's episode of the New Rules podcast, host Dimitri Simes Jr. speaks with Jacques Sapir, a French economist, about why Western sanctions failed to inflict serious damage to the Russian economy.

Jacques Sapir, Director of Studies at the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences (EHESS) in Paris, one of the leading European experts on the Russian economy warned that European economy is headed for turbulent waters over the next decade, including a potential energy crisis in the winter of 2023-24.

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❗️ South African FM to Sputnik: African Nations Deserve Better Representation in UNSC

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🤭 Fake news alert

🧐 Footage of the collapse of a house in the United States was passed off as the consequences of a drone attack on Moscow

🥴 American journalists mixed everything up and showed a destroyed building in Davenport in a story about a terrorist attack on the Russian capital. The fake newsmakers were not even embarrassed by the signs in English that can be seen in footage…

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💭 "India🇮🇳 shouldn’t become the Ukraine of Asia – i.e., a geopolitical pawn for 🇺🇸 America to contain China," SL Kanthan, an Indian geopolitical analyst and writer has told Sputnik.

Ahead of Lloyd Austin's visit to India this week, Sputnik reached out to Kanthan to hear his opinion on Indo-American ties, US attempts to embroil India in tensions of its own making and India's foreign policy guided by strategic autonomy — a concept that is increasingly gaining traction.

👉 READ FULL INTERVIEW

Scott Ritter on his trip to Russia: sanctions against Russia failed. I saw It firsthand.

"Upon my arrival to Russia, I expected to see a nation heavily impacted by the consequences of American-led sanctions. Instead, I saw a nation undergoing an economic revival, in large part thanks to the policies Russia was compelled to undertake because of Western sanctions," former US Marine Corps intelligence officer and Sputnik columnist Scott Ritter says.

Read the full story of Scott Ritter's trip across Russia on our website

🗣️”So the significance of this is yet another step in what we're just seeing happening across the globe and these are pushes towards a more regional integration”: Beirut-based journalist and editor of The Cradle, Esteban Carrillo, on the current tendency of regional integration

🎧Listen to more of Carrillo’s analysis in our podcast Fault Lines

What do Democrats and Republicans think of US debt ceiling bill?

The House has cleared the US debt ceiling deal that was earlier clinched between President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to avert a looming government default. How did Republicans and Democrats react to the bill and what was the GOP presidential candidates’ stance on the matter?

Sputnik answers these and other questions