🤖🇷🇺 Watch Marker combat robot in action

The Marker is a special platform with a set of payloads consisting of a universal module on which various types of weapons can be installed and unmanned aerial vehicles can be launched. The system could play a significant role in countering UAVs.

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The Chinese Embassy in the United States said there was "nothing to share" on US Secretary of State Antony Blinken's visit to China

"Nothing to share at the moment on the specific questions you have raised," the embassy said in a statement to Sputnik.

"China is open to having dialogue with the United States. We hope the US will work in the same direction with China, and jointly implement the important common understandings between the two presidents in their Bali meeting."

Earlier on Thursday, US media reported, citing two people familiar with the matter, that Blinken was scheduled to potentially visit China as soon as next week. The State Department was still working on finalizing details, the report said.

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The population of the UК could increase by almost 16 million by 2046 if the government does not take measures to reduce the flow of migrants

"With net migration now running at over 600,000 a year, the most glaring result will be a worsening of the housing crisis with new Migration Watch UK projections suggesting that the UK population is on course – on present immigration levels – to shoot well past 80 million by 2046," Migration Watch UK, an independent and non-political think-tank, said.

"A new Migration Watch UK report finds that if net migration remains close to last year’s record level of 606,000 (the highest ever) and the birth rate remains at around the present level, nearly 16 million people would be added to the population of the UK over the next 25 years – that is approaching twice the current population of London."

The UK's current population stands at 69 million people, but it could reach between 83 and 87 million by 2046 if net migration continues at the present record level, the report said.

💬 "I'm an innocent man"

🗣 Donald Trump has issued an address to American citizens in which he criticizes the policies of the Joe Biden administration and claims that his growing popularity in the run-up to the presidential election is causing the US authorities to use illegal means against him

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📹 The Russian military destroyed a Ukrainian self-propelled gun mount during a counter-battery fight

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💬 BIDEN: "There's gonna be a billion people in Africa very shortly. One billion."

😁 REMINDER: The population of Africa reached one billion people in 2009.

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Taiwanese foreign minister is due to travel to Europe next week

Unnamed sources have told a UK media outlet that while in Prague, Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu will attend a security conference slated for June 14, when he may speak immediately after Czech President Petr Pavel opens the event.

European leaders typically do not share the stage with senior Taiwanese officials, so Wu’s speech will come as a diplomatic breakthrough, one of the insiders claimed.

Neither Beijing nor Taipei or Pavel’s office have commented on the matter yet.

Beijing reacts angrily to any official foreign contacts with Taipei and considers Chinese sovereignty over the island indisputable, in line with the One-China principle.

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❗️ The death toll after the sabotage at the Kakhovka HPP rose to six, emergency services told Sputnik

The Pentagon may announce as early as Friday a long-term arms package for Ukraine that includes air defense munitions worth over $2 billion

The package will be conducted in the framework of the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI) and will possibly include Hawk missile launchers and two types of advanced Patriot air defense missiles.

As the US media report states, the first, Pac-3, or the Patriot Advanced Capability Missile-3, is manufactured by Lockheed Martin Corp, the second, GEM-T, the Guidance Enhanced Missile - by Raytheon Technologies Corp.

The announcement comes amid the background of the Ukrainian "counter-offensive", Kiev has been promising for the past month, but Ukrainian troops have failed to advance, only losing several key positions, including the city of Artemovsk (Bakhmut) in the DPR. However, Ukraine has boosted its activity on the frontlines following Kiev's alleged attack on the Novaya Kakhovka dam, which led to the flooding of a major area in the Kherson region.

❗️The drone crashed in the Russian city of Voronezh, two people are injured, the governor of the region Alexander Gusev said

The emergency services are working at the site of the incident, he added

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📹 Russian artillerymen destroyed a US-made 155-mm M777 howitzer, along with ammunition, near Donetsk

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📸 Several apartments were damaged as a result of a drone crash in Voronezh; the victims had minor cuts, Sputnik was told by the management company

▪️The governor of the Voronezh region arrived at the crash site of the drone, where he said that the special services had the situation under control.

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Kazakhstan may reduce its oil production in 2024 due to the OPEC+ decision to extend oil production cuts until the end of next year

"We will return to this issue next year, depending on the need for reduction. If necessary, we will reduce [the oil production]," Kazakh Energy Minister Almassadam Satkaliyev told reporters.

The minister did not specify the volumes of expected oil production in Kazakhstan in 2024.

This past Sunday, the Kazakh Energy Ministry said that the country would voluntarily extend oil production cuts at the level of 78,000 barrels per day until the end of 2024.

Saudi Arabia, Russia and several other oil producers from the 10-nation OPEC and its non-member partners, known as OPEC+, announced in April that they would voluntarily take a total of 1.16 million barrels of crude oil per day off the market from May to December 2023 in a bid to prop up prices.

📹 Experts at the crash site of a drone in Voronezh are deciding whether the residents of a home need to be resettled, the governor said

▪️According to him, the room hit by the drone was empty.

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💬 Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov commented on the drone attack on Voronezh

▪️“We saw reports that it was shot down. And, in fact, an already downed drone got there. Details are being clarified, special services are working,” Kremlin spokesman said.

▪️The Kremlin regards the drone incident in Voronezh as an attack by Kiev on the civilian infrastructure of Russia, Peskov also noted.

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📹 Footage appeared on social media allegedly showing the moment the Ukrainian drone hit the residential apartment in the city of Voronezh

The "weaponization of federal law enforcement" in the US is a "mortal threat to a free society," Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis said 

"The weaponization of federal law enforcement represents a mortal threat to a free society. We have for years witnessed an uneven application of the law depending upon political affiliation. Why so zealous in pursuing Trump yet so passive about Hillary [Clinton] or Hunter [Biden]?" DeSantis tweeted, adding that "the DeSantis administration will bring accountability to the DOJ [Department of Justice], excise political bias and end weaponization once and for all."

Earlier on Thursday, Trump said on Telegram that "the corrupt Biden administration" had informed his lawyers that he had been indicted in a federal investigation over alleged mishandling of classified documents at his Florida residency and summoned to appear in court on Tuesday. The ex-president expressed despair over the indictment, pointing out that he is being prosecuted as polls show he is by far the leading candidate among both Republicans and Democrats.

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🇮🇳 Indian Air Force Su-30MKI fighter jets excel in 8-hour mission with midair refueling support

🛫 The aircraft covered both the eastern and western seaboards of the country during the successful mission.

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❗️ The Russian Investigative Committee has reported that a case of a terrorist attack has been opened after a drone hit a residential building in Voronezh.

According to the investigation: "Acting in the interests of the military-political leadership of Ukraine, [they] carried out an attack using a UAV equipped with an explosive device."

Belgium is not going to suspend military aid to Kiev even without clarity on the issues of possible use of the country's supplied weapons in Russia

Last week, Belgian media reported that the Belgian Foreign Ministry and Defense Ministry will turn to Kiev "at the first opportunity" for an explanation due to the use of Belgian-made weapons in the Belgorod Region of by a Ukrainian sabotage and intelligence group.

"Are we going to suspend deliveries in anticipation of its [Kiev's] response? No, it is not on the agenda. We are in the zone of conflict, a lot can happen. I hope that we find everything out at some point," Belgian Defense Minister Ludivine Dedonder told Belgian newspaper.

All weapon supplies to Ukraine are accompanied by a document stating that their goal is "protecting the Ukrainian territory and its population," but not for attack on another state, the minister explained.

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📹 Footage of the destruction of armored vehicles of the Armed Forces of Ukraine by the crews of reconnaissance and attack helicopters Ka-52 in the south of the DPR

The helicopter crew discovered a moving Western-made tank of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and struck with a guided missile. As a result of the impact, the tank was destroyed along with the crew.

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