💬 "Turning F-16s over to the Ukrainians isn't doing them any favors"

On the latest episode of the New Rules podcast, Scott Ritter explains why F-16 deliveries to Kiev will condemn Ukrainian pilots to death.

🔊If you missed the episode, watch it on Rumble or listen to it via the website or app!

Musk vs Zuckerberg: Cage fight ‘might actually happen’, Tesla CEO says

Amidst reports of Meta planning to launch a rival platform to Twitter called Threads, Elon Musk has expressed his willingness to train for a proposed MMA cage fight with Mark Zuckerberg.

Musk tweeted that he would start training if the fight were to happen and warned that it could go badly for Zuckerberg if the Twitter owner takes it seriously.

The exchange began when Musk stated he would be up for a cage fight, and Zuckerberg responded with a challenge to specify the location.

A Meta spokesperson confirmed Zuckerberg's seriousness about the fight, and Musk jokingly mentioned the UFC Octagon in Las Vegas, suggesting it as a potential venue.

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📹 UAF armored vehicles hit by a Ka-52 reconnaissance attack helicopter (video by Russian MoD)

Ka-52 crews detected the movement of UAF armored vehicles and destroyed the target with a guided missile.

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US concerns about stalled Ukrainian counteroffensive ‘surely not vote of approval’

The slow progress of the Ukrainian counteroffensive against Russian forces has raised concerns in Washington, with Kiev fearing a potential halt in US military supplies if Joe Biden fails to win the 2024 election, according to analyst Mark Sleboda.

A US military official noted that the counteroffensive is falling short of expectations, while Russian forces have displayed greater competence than anticipated.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's acknowledgment of the slower progress suggests that the Ukrainian regime is attempting to mitigate the situation.

Sleboda believes that Kiev's concerns over potential changes in US military assistance due to a change in presidency are unwarranted, as the president's influence over foreign and military policy is limited.

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China backs Russia's efforts to stabilize situation amid Wagner events

Beijing has expressed support for Moscow's efforts to stabilize the situation in Russia amid recent developments involving the Wagner Group private military company (PMC) and its head Yevgeny Prigozhin, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Sunday.

"The Chinese side expressed support for the efforts of the leadership of the Russian Federation to stabilize the situation in the country in connection with the events of June 24 and reaffirmed its interest in strengthening the unity and further prosperity of Russia," the ministry said following a Sunday meeting of Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko and Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang in Beijing.

The Russian ministry stressed that Moscow and Beijing are bound by "trust-based" relations.

"The sides praised the current state of Russian-Chinese relations and confirmed readiness for joint efforts to steadily strengthen them," the statement read.

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North Korea supports Russia's leadership in situation with Wagner mutiny attempt

North Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Im Chon Il met with Russian Ambassador in Pyongyang Alexander Matsegora on Sunday and expressed his country's support for the Russian leadership during an attempted armed mutiny by the Wagner Group private military company (PMC), the North Korean news agency reported.

"Im Chon Il, vice foreign minister of the DPRK, met with Alexandr Matsegora, Russian ambassador to the DPRK [North Korea], on June 25 ... During the talk, Im Chon Il expressed firm belief that the recent armed rebellion in Russia would be successfully put down in conformity with the aspiration and will of the Russian people, saying the DPRK will strongly support any option and decision by the Russian leadership," media reported.

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The situation at the frontline in the Zaporozhye region remains stable and Ukrainian troops have not made any significant advances, Vladimir Rogov, a senior official of the Zaporozhye regional administration, told Sputnik.

"The frontline in the Zaporozhye region is stable and is under the control of our troops. The enemy is making attempts to advance, fighting is underway in the gray zone and on a small section of the first line of defense, where the enemy is trying to gain a foothold," Rogov said.

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Japan’s Self-Defense Forces (SDF) are testing Elon Musk's Starlink satellite communications network in a bid to officially introduce the technology next fiscal year starting April 2024, a Japanese newspaper has cited unnamed government sources as saying.

The sources claimed that the service has been tested for the SDF’s land, sea and air forces since March with the system deployed in about ten locations and in training.

According to the insiders, although the Japanese Ministry of Defense already has access to communication satellites in geostationary orbit, using Starlink’s constellation of satellites in low Earth orbit would provide an additional layer of capability. The Defense Ministry has not commented on the matter yet.

The reported developments come after Musk’s SpaceX aerospace manufacturer and space transportation services company said it had orbited 72 more Starlink satellites on a Falcon 9 medium-lift launch vehicle.

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🇷🇺 Behind the scenes: Russia’s MoD shows how logistic specialists work in the field

The Russian Defense Ministry has released a video showing how logistics forces of Russia's Western Military District are working in the field to provide logistical support to the troops engaged in the special military operation.

In particular, logistics specialists cook food, bake bread and maintain bathing facilities, as well as provide repairs, maintenance and refueling for military vehicles in the field.

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Iran’s Foreign Minister expresses support to Lavrov amid Wagner mutiny attempt

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian has expressed support to Russia’s leadership in ensuring constitution order during a phone conversation with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, the Russian Foreign Ministry informs.

The Saturday phone call was held at the initiative of the Iranian side.
"The Iranian side expressed support for the actions of the Russian leadership to ensure constitutional order," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a Saturday statement.

The foreign ministers also discussed Russian-Iranian agenda and regional and international topics.

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'He speaks for us all': Blinken defends Biden's 'dictator' remark on Xi

Secretary of State Antony Blinken affirmed that President Joe Biden's comment referring to Chinese President Xi Jinping as a "dictator" was not a mistake but a deliberate stance.

Blinken stated that the president speaks candidly and that the US will express views that China may not like.

Biden made the remark during a Democratic Party fundraiser in California, following Blinken's recent visit to Beijing, where some limited progress was reported amidst the "spy balloon" controversy.

This is not the first time Biden has made strong comments about China, as he has previously pledged to protect Taiwan militarily, despite China's claims over the island.

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FBI knew Hunter Biden's laptop was 'reliable' before smearing it as 'Russian disinfo'

In November 2019, the FBI verified the authenticity of Hunter Biden's laptop, confirming it as his.

The bureau found no evidence of fabrication or wrongdoing on the device, as per IRS whistleblower Gary Shapley's memo.

However, when the New York Post released its bombshell report in October 2020, both the FBI and intelligence chiefs dismissed the laptop's content as part of a "Russia's disinformation operation."

During 2020, the FBI warned Twitter about an alleged "Russian hack-and-leak" operation involving Hunter Biden. Twitter promptly banned the laptop story after communication from FBI Special Agent Elvis Chan.

Simultaneously, a top Biden campaign operative, Antony Blinken, sought assistance from former acting CIA Director Michael Morell to discredit the laptop saga. Morell testified that Blinken's outreach set in motion events leading to a public statement undermining the laptop story's credibility.

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📹 Ka-52 reconnaissance and attack helicopter crew destroys UAF armored personnel carrier and crew with guided missile

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South Korea and the United States are pushing the Korean peninsula to "the brink of a nuclear war"

The United States is encroaching upon the sovereignty and security of North Korea more persistently this year, something that Pyongyang can no longer tolerate, the North Korean foreign ministry’s Institute for American Studies warned in a report.

"...bellicose moves of the U.S. have pushed the military tensions on the Korean peninsula and in Northeast Asia already plunged into an extremely unstable situation closer to the brink of a nuclear war," the report, released by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), says, as quoted by the South Korean Yonhap news agency.

The report slams Washington and South Korea for their "delusional anti-communist military confrontation" and "rhetorical threats" and says that a war on the peninsula would "rapidly expand into a world war and a thermonuclear war unprecedented in the world," causing "the most catastrophic and irreversible consequences."

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Russian Defense Minister Shoigu checked the forward command post of the «Zapad» group of troops in the zone of the special operation

▪️ Shoigu also held a meeting with the command of the group and noted the high efficiency of identifying and destroying military equipment and concentrations of enemy personnel in the tactical areas of the group's responsibility zone.

▪️ The commander and leadership of the group were tasked with continuing active reconnaissance in order to reveal enemy plans in advance and prevent their implementation as they approached the line of contact.

▪️ The minister also paid special attention to the organization of support for the troops involved in the special military operation and the creation of conditions for the safe deployment of personnel.

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📹 Footage showing Russian Defense Minister Shoigu checking the forward command post of the Zapad group of troops in the zone of the special military operation.

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🇷🇺🇺🇸 The US Embassy has been in contact with the Russian MFA on the issue of security in connection with the events around Prigozhin, a source told Sputnik

📹 The combat work of the Russian Airborne Forces’ assault group in the zone of the special military op

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The Counterterrorist Operation regime has been canceled in Moscow and the Moscow Region

Moscow's Mayor Sobyanin said that all restrictions related to the introduction of the counterterrorist operation are being lifted in Moscow.

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The use of international trade and the dollar as a weapon by the West makes the fragmentation of the world economy inevitable

"The blatant use by the West as a weapon of international trade, finance, as well as the dollar and the euro itself, makes the fragmentation of the world economy not only inevitable, but also irreversible," Aleksei Mozhin, Executive Director for Russia at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), said.

He pointed out that Western representatives at the IMF are trying to avoid this problem, and the leadership of the international organization cannot ignore the pressure that Western participants are exerting on it. As an example of the fragmentation of the world economy Mozhin mentioned the consequences of Western sanctions introduced against Russia.

"We have learned this lesson, we will never allow ourselves to be so dependent on imports again, at least in the strategic sectors of the economy," Mozhin told Sputnik, adding that the whole world is now aware that globalization is forcing all countries to follow the path of specialization to the detriment of economic diversification and that the process of deglobalization will continue.

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The Counterterrorist Operation regime has been canceled in the Voronezh Region