❗️ 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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Russian public's trust in Vladimir Putin rides high at 76%, poll reveals

The survey was carried out by the Public Opinion Foundation to gauge public sentiment on key political issues, and consequently, the study revealed that the public's trust in Putin remains extremely high.

The majority of Russians trust President Vladimir Putin (76%) with 77% positively assessing his performance in office, a weekly survey by the Public Opinion Foundation shows.

The poll was conducted among citizens over 18 years of age on June 2-4, 2023. The sample consisted of 1,500 respondents from 104 urban and rural communities in 53 subjects of the Russian Federation. The statistical error does not exceed 3.6%.

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📹 Military columnist Yuri Podolyaka explains that without its supply of Western weapons, Ukraine will fall in a matter of days

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Military columnist and blogger Yuri Podolyaka believes that Poland will try to appropriate part of Ukraine's territory, using its military

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

▪️ The Russian Armed Forces carried out successful strikes with high-precision weapons on ammunition depots, weapons and military equipment of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, including UAVs;

▪️ The result of night strikes with high-precision weapons was the disruption of the supply of groups of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the areas of combat operations;

▪️ Over the past day, the Ukrainian Armed Forces continued to attempt to conduct offensive operations in the south of the DPR and in the Zaporozhye region. The most active operations were carried out in the areas of the settlements of Marinka and Avdeevka in the DPR, the Russian Army successfully repelled six attacks of the Ukrainian Armed Forces;

▪️ The Russian Armed Forces repelled two attacks in the Zaporozhye direction;

▪️ In the area of the Vremevsky ledge, Russian army units repelled four enemy attacks carried out by forces of up to two battalion groups;

▪️ The Ukrainian Armed Forces lost up to 680 soldiers and 35 tanks in a day in the south of the DPR and in the Zaporozhye region;

▪️ The Russian army destroyed up to 410 military units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces during fighting in the Donetsk direction;

▪️ The Russian Armed Forces hit two command and observation posts of the Ukrainian army near the city of Dzerzhinsk;

▪️ Russian troops destroyed up to 70 Ukrainian soldiers in the Kherson direction in a day;

▪️ Fighter aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Forces shot down a Ukrainian MiG-29 in the Zaporozhye region, Russian air defense systems shot down a Su-25 in the Kherson region.

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The attitude of the Japanese government led by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida towards Russia is wrong

On Friday, ambassadors of some 40 states visited the Russian Embassy in Japan on the occasion of the upcoming Russia Day, which is celebrated annually on June 12. Former Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama  was among those who visited the embassy.

"I think that the Japanese government's attitude towards Russia is wrong. There have been various discussions, including on the territorial issues, and I thought that the improvement of relations would bring the solution of this problem closer. However, at present [Japan], in obedience to the United States, is almost giving military support to Ukraine, so Japan is supporting Ukraine and looking at Russia as an enemy. As a result, the friendship that we had until now is deteriorating. I deeply regret this," Hatoyama said.

The former prime minister said that Japan's power elite should adopt a more balanced approach to building relations with Russia.

"I think it is necessary to formulate a policy with a more correct point of view. Kishida's administration, as well as Japanese media that take the government's side, are fixated on supporting Ukraine, but I think [they] should have approached the problem with a more neutral attitude," Hatoyama said.

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Germany can become a hub of the international coalition for providing Ukraine with US-made F-16 fighter jets and even provide training to Ukrainian pilots but it will not provide the aircraft

"We have never had the F-16 in our portfolio, but we can provide airports in Germany as a hub or offer basic training for pilots who have only flown the MiG [jets] to date. The actual training on F-16 must be provided by the countries which themselves use these aircraft," Bundestag Defense Committee chairwoman Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann said on Friday.

The senior German lawmaker also said that Ukraine could not become a NATO member so long as it was involved in active armed conflict.

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❗️ The Armed Forces of Ukraine struck, presumably with Storm Shadow missiles, at a children's recreation center on the Arabat Spit in the Kherson region. Information about the victims is being specified, emergency services said