🇩🇰 Danish deminers denounce 'deeply problematic' cluster bomb transfer to Ukraine

The Danish Refugee Council didn't mince its words when it called the planned transfer of cluster bombs a breach of international humanitarian law, citing the protection of the civilians.

"It is a weapon that causes unacceptable damage to civilians. And since that is not allowed according to international law, we will consider it illegal," Richard MacCormac, head of demining efforts at the council, said.

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🇷🇺🇨🇳 Russia’s upper house speaker meets with Chinese President Xi in Beijing

During the meeting, Valentina Matvienko delivered a message from Russian President Vladimir Putin to the Chinese president.

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❗️Kremlin on possible admission of Ukraine to NATO:

▪️The Kiev regime is trying to put pressure on NATO countries to show solidarity;

▪️Ukraine's accession to NATO would have very, very negative consequences for Europe's security architecture;

▪️Ukraine as a member of NATO would be a threat to Russia, which would require a clear and firm response.

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🇷🇺 Vladimir Putin met Prigozhin in the Kremlin five days after the attempted armed mutiny, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov says:

▪️The meeting lasted about three hours, there were 35 people in total, including commanders of Wagner Group detachments;

▪️The president gave his assessment of what had transpired and offered the Wagner representatives employment options;

▪️The commanders told Putin that they are his staunch supporters and ready to continue fighting for Russia;

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🇷🇺🇹🇷 Russia considers transfer of Azov* leaders to Kiev violation of agreements, Kremlin says

Moscow expects to receive clarifications from Turkiye on transfer of Azov* leaders, the Kremlin added.

*Azov Battalion is a terrorist organization banned in Russia.

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🇷🇺 Sergey Lavrov is holding talks in Moscow with the foreign ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council. The council includes Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, UAE, Oman, and Saudi Arabia.

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Russian MoD's latest statements on Ukraine’s recruitment of mercenaries:

▪️The largest number of mercenaries arrived in Ukraine in March-April 2022. After the first losses were incurred, the dynamic significantly decreased;

▪️The largest groups of mercenaries arrived in Ukraine from Poland, the United States, Georgia, the United Kingdom, Romania, France, and Turkish-controlled areas of Syria;

▪️The destruction of 4,845 foreign mercenaries during the military operation has been confirmed, with the majority coming from the US, Canada, and European countries, while 4,801 fled Ukraine;

▪️There are currently 2,029 mercenaries operating within the ranks of the Ukrainian forces;

▪️According to Ukrainian prisoners, commanders of Ukrainian units are not held accountable for losses among foreign mercenaries;

▪️The Ukrainian command is sending units consisting of foreign mercenaries to attack Russian positions;

▪️Due to high losses, Kiev has started recruiting mercenaries in Argentina, Brazil, Afghanistan, Iraq, and in areas controlled by the US in Syria;

▪️Kiev has intensified the recruitment of mercenaries in the US and Canada, facilitated by the CIA and private military companies controlled by the US;

▪️Russian forces continue to destroy foreign mercenaries regardless of their location on Ukrainian territory.

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🇷🇺🇨🇳 Russia and China should strengthen cooperation on multilateral mechanisms and protect the interests of developing countries, Xi Jinping said in a meeting with Russian upper house of parliament speaker Valentina Matviyenko.

He added that Beijing is ready to work for the development of its partnership with Moscow and contribute to the construction of a stable and just world.

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📹 Russian Su-25 Grach aircraft crews hit Ukrainian troops in Krasny Liman direction

Russian Defense Ministry specified that fighter aircraft in combat pairs carried out missile strikes on the enemy's concentration forces, using 122-millimeter fragmentation-fugitive unguided missiles S-13OF.

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

▪️In the Donetsk direction, Russian forces destroyed over 275 Ukrainian servicemen and foreign mercenaries, one tank, as well as an ammunition depot;

▪️In the South Donetsk and Zaporozhye directions, the actions of a Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance group were thwarted. Russian troops neutralized up to 150 Ukrainian servicemen, five armored fighting vehicles, and two D-20 howitzers;

▪️In the Kupyansk direction, Russian forces destroyed up to 65 Ukrainian servicemen, and one infantry fighting vehicle;

▪️In the Krasny Liman direction, Ukrainian losses amount up to 85 servicemen, four armored fighting vehicles, and one Akatsiya self-propelled artillery system;

▪️In the Kherson direction, Russian troops neutralized up to 30 Ukrainian soldiers;

▪️A command post was hit in the Zaporozhye region;

▪️Several ammunition depots were destroyed close to Nikolayev and Kramatorsk;

▪️Russian air defenses shot down five guided missiles launched by the AFU from S-200 anti-aircraft missile systems, as well as eight unmanned aerial vehicles in the DPR, LPR, and Zaporozhye region.

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📹 Russian POW speaks about horrors in Ukrainian captivity

The soldier explained that his ransom was $20,000 and that it did not guarantee that he would make it out alive. He also revealed that Ukrainian soldiers threatened him with death and beat him, but only on his torso, so as to be able to cover up the injuries before the arrival of a Ukrainian "reporter" to record his "confession" that the Russian military had been conducting strikes against Ukrainian civilians.

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🗣️ On the possibilities of a US-China war:

“It feels inevitable. And this is because the people making foreign policy decisions in the United States have a sense of impunity from the consequences of these decisions… If conflict is averted, it'll be because of decisions China makes,” Brian Berletic, ex-US Marine and geopolitical analyst, told Sputnik.

🎧 Listen to more of Berletic’s analysis in our podcast New Rules

👉 Watch the full episode of our show on Rumble or YouTube

Russia's IT brain gain: professionals return home, reversing long-time trend

According to Alexander Khachiyan, the head of AWG IT integrator, approximately 85 percent of IT specialists who left Russia in 2022 have returned to the country. Khachiyan mentioned that the most significant wave of returnees occurred between February and March, around six months after September 2022.

Khachiyan concluded that many Russian IT expats started bearing the brunt of forfeiting their tax residency status because their personal income tax rose from about 13-15 percent to 30 percent upon returning to Russia. Employers were unwilling to make up for such a change, a significant motivator for IT specialists to return.

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Seven times Biden lied on Ukraine

The US announced last week that it would expedite the delivery of 155mm howitzer-launched cluster munitions to Ukraine, despite earlier characterizing the use of such weapons as a “war crime,” and promising to remove them from US inventories.

What other Ukraine-related promises has the Biden administration broken?

Here’s a partial list