📹 New footage of damaged Nord Stream pipelines

The Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline appears to have been blown up by a small explosive device and suffered much less damage than the Nord Stream one, a German TV channel has reported.

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❗️Estonian general admits Ukrainian forces struggling to overcome Russian defensive network known as “Surovikin line”

Former chief of Estonia's Foreign Intelligence Rainer Saks believes Ukraine's counteroffensive attempts have failed due to Russia's large number of defenses and air superiority.

💬 "The Russians have built long defense lines along the entire front line, with the fewest defense lines in the north. Russia considers it very important to keep the southern part in its hands, that is why more defense lines have been built there," Saks explained in an interview with Estonian media.

Russia has built several lines of defense in the southern sector of the special military operation, and the strongest of them is the third, so-called 'Surovikin Line', which the Ukrainian Armed Forces have not even reached, said former DPR Security Minister Pinchuk.

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Kremlin on Biden's remarks on Xi: US pursuing controversial, unpredictable policy

During his address to supporters in California on Tuesday, the US president said that Xi did not have all the information about the incident regarding the balloon earlier this year, adding that this is "a great embarrassment for dictators."

US foreign policy is displaying conflicting behavior that is unpredictable and unacceptable to many states, according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. He also stated that it is up to the US to address the issue.

China has strongly protested against Joe Biden's recent remark and called it absurd, irresponsible, and a violation of diplomatic etiquette that infringes on their political dignity.

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❗️LIVE NOW: Vladimir Putin meets graduates of higher military educational institutions

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🇪🇺 EU Commission says will present proposal on immobilized Russian assets before summer break

The commission spokesperson Christian Wigand announced that EU representatives, commissioners and legislators would begin discussions on a legal framework in July that would allow confiscation of assets of the Russian citizens and entities accused of violating EU sanctions.

EU banks were holding 24.1 billion euros' ($26.3 billion) worth of assets belonging to individuals and private entities, Wigand added.

EU member states have also reported having more than 200 billion euros' worth of Russian Central Bank assets frozen in their banks. The next European Council meeting will consider ways of physically working with the interest on the assets, according to the spokesperson. The Russian Foreign Ministry has accused the European Union of stealing the assets.

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

▪️Russian forces destroyed one tank, an infantry fighting vehicle, and three armored fighting vehicles close to the Vremevsky salient;

▪️In the Kupyansk direction, Russian forces destroyed up to 40 Ukrainian troops, one armored fighting vehicle, a US-made M109 Paladin self-propelled howitzer, and a Polish Krab self-propelled howitzer. The actions of three Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance groups were thwarted. One Ukrainian serviceman surrendered;

▪️In the Krasny Liman direction, Russian forces neutralized up to 135 Ukrainian personnel, one infantry fighting vehicle, two armored fighting vehicles, three Gvozdika self-propelled howitzers, and one D-30 howitzer. Eight Ukrainian servicemen surrendered. The actions of three Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance groups were thwarted;

▪️In the Donetsk direction, Ukrainian losses amounted to over 400 troops, one tank, and two armored fighting vehicles;

▪️In the South Donetsk and Zaporozhye directions, Russian forces destroyed over 200 Ukrainian troops, eight tanks, six infantry fighting vehicles, 13 armored fighting vehicles, one Gvozdika self-propelled howitzer, one Msta-B and two D-20 howitzers, and a Grad multiple rocket launcher combat vehicle. The actions of three Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance groups were thwarted;

▪️In the Kherson direction, Russian troops neutralized up to 60 Ukrainian servicemen, one Akatsiya self-propelled howitzer, two Msta-B howitzers, and one US-made M777 artillery system;

▪️Several ammunition depots were destroyed in the DPR, Kharkov, and Zaporozhye regions;

▪️Air defenses shot down seven HIMARS and Uragan projectiles, as well as 12 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles in the DPR, Zaporozhye, and Kharkov regions.

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⚡️ Ukraine is afraid of future losses on the battlefield, which could lead not only to the general loss of its army's capabilities, but also of the army itself, Putin says

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❗️Vladimir Putin's key statements on Kiev's counteroffensive:

▪️Ukrainian troops are not conducting active offensive operations, there’s a lull in the conflict;

▪️Ukrainian forces suffered serious losses, they are restoring their combat capability;

▪️Russian forces destroyed about 245 enemy tanks and about 678 armored vehicles;

▪️New, modified, heavier Sarmat ICBMs will soon be ushered in to combat duty;

▪️Russia's nuclear triad makes it possible to maintain a balance of power in the world;

▪️At least half of the units of Russia’s Strategic Rocket Forces are equipped with the latest Yars missile systems, they are being re-equipped with modern Avangard missile systems;

▪️The arsenals of the Russian aviation and naval components of the nuclear forces are being replenished strictly according to plan;

▪️The descendants of the heroes of the Great Patriotic War are vigilantly fighting for truth and justice in the special military operation.

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📹💸 ‘Accounting error’: Pentagon mistakenly overestimated cost of weapons transferred to Ukraine by $6.2 billion

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🇮🇹🇸🇪 Sweden to procure up to 3,000 NATO-compatible military trucks from Italy

The Swedish Defense Materiel Administration has signed a framework agreement with the Italian company Iveco Defense Vehicles to provide up to 3,000 light vehicles to the Swedish Armed Forces.

The initial order will be for 400 Light Multi-Purpose Vehicles of the MUV 4×4 type at a cost of SEK 850 million ($79 million). Iveco will also provide Sweden with associated maintenance and services.

The first delivery to the Armed Forces will take place at the end of 2024 and the majority of the vehicles will be delivered in 2025.

The MUV 4x4 is the successor to Iveco's M40E15-WM purpose-built vehicle. The latest version is touted as rugged, mobile and deployable in austere environments in temperatures from ranging from minus 32 to plus 49 degrees Celsius. It is NATO-compatible can carry payloads weighing up to 4,000 kilograms.

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🇿🇼 🇺🇸"Your time of destroying other countries is up": Zimbabwe's anti-sanction chief's message to the US

While thanking Russia, China, and Latin American countries - among others - for standing with Zimbabwe in opposition to Western sanctions, Martin Zharare had a strong message to the US, telling Sputnik Africa that "the world is waking up... your sanctions are coming back to hit you, because the sanctions have actually caused our people in Zimbabwe to stand up and start working hard for themselves."

Zharare has also expressed support for Russia in the latter's special military operation in Ukraine.

🗣 "We see what [the US is] doing in Ukraine - pumping weapons, destroying the Ukrainian people. They are dying like flies there. What human rights are you doing to the Ukrainian people?", Zharare asked

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Putin on Ukraine's counter-offensive: We are observing a lull, the enemy is suffering serious losses, foreign equipment is "burning up in flames."

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🇷🇺 A new Russian FPV drone called "Ovod" has been tested in the Donetsk People's Republic.

According to the developers, the first batches have already been delivered to troops in the Avdeevka direction.

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🇫🇷 Four people in critical condition after gas explosion in Paris

At least four people are in critical condition after an explosion occurred in the firth arrondissement of Paris on Wednesday, a French media reported.

According to the preliminary information, a gas explosion caused the incident. The explosion occurred on the Alphonse Laveran square not far from the American Academy fashion design school.

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo arrived at the scene. According to the police data, the facades of several houses collapsed, and several neighboring houses caught fire.

The video from social media.

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Pentagon magically finds extra $6Bn of arms for Ukraine in 'accounting error'

The Pentagon announced on Tuesday that it had revised up the figure — previously reported to be around $3 billion — for the "valuation errors," conveniently allowing it to send more arms from its stocks to prop up the Kiev regime.

The DoD argued it should have written-down the value of equipment in the same way businesses do with fixed assets such as company cars, rather than using the price taxpayers would have to pay to replace items like tanks and artillery at today's prices.

The new figures break down into $2.6 billion for the 2022 fiscal year, which ended on September 30 last year, and $3.6 billion for the nine months since.

DoD spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said the difference from the "misvaluation" was “just going to go back into the pot of money that we have allocated” to arm Ukraine. She referred to the new figures as the "final calculation."

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🗣️”Europe needs to decide whether it wants to counter that, [and] offer an alternative, or whether it just wants to stand on the ship and sink below the wheels with the old imperial powers”: Phil Kelly, Belfast-based political commentator and socialist activist, on the new world model where Europe must decide which side to take

🎧Listen to more of Kelly’s analysis in our podcast Political Misfits

❗️ Exclusive: Poland Plane Grounding Shows NATO-Aligned States' Disrespect for African Sovereignty: SA's EFF Party

South Africa's Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party has expressed deep concern over Poland's recent denial of access to its territory to the South African presidential security detail and the media team accompanying the African Peace Initiative Mission.

The party's national spokesperson Sinawo Tambo told Sputnik Africa that the Polish authorities' actions are a part of the ongoing "Cold War" strategy aimed to force South Africa to align with NATO to isolate Russia.

🗣 "The behaviour is unbecoming and should be an indicator of the disrespect NATO aligned nations have for African sovereignty," the EFF representative said. "It is a clear sign that NATO has no interest in peace and will humiliate nations who pursue it through a stance of non-alignment."

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