🗣️ On Ukraine’s turn from peace to war:

“And bear in mind that Zelensky ran for president in 2019 on a pro-peace platform and calling for better relations between Ukrainian and Russian speakers, and calling for accommodations, reasonable linguistic accommodations for the Russian-speaking minority, but I should probably say majority. And he was forced to backtrack because he was met by an intransigent right wing in Ukraine itself and also by the US, which was intent on a showdown with Russia,” Dan Lazare, author and journalist, told Sputnik.

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

👉 Watch the full episode of our show on Rumble

Putin has signed a law banning gender changes in Russia, now it will only be possible based on medical considerations.

In the event of a gender change by a spouse, the marriage will be annulled, and individuals who have changed their gender are also prohibited from adopting children.

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Ukraine Watch: Facts without the fluff.

"By 2031, we must and want to invest well over 20 billion euros in ammunition," German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius told a German magazine in an interview. He added that without ammunition, even the most modern weapons systems are of no use, "even if they are standing in our backyard ready to deploy."

His remarks came as Western countries are facing the issue of a munitions deficit after massive shipments to Ukraine, where they are spent quickly due to the high intensity of the military action.

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🗣"Then they brought in journalists, who filmed - shattered glass all round and allege that "Russia was destroying museums"

Residents of Mariupol told Sputnik about how Ukrainian Azov militants opened fire on the center of the city before the arrival of Russian troops, and then brought foreign journalists to the locations of the destruction in order to blame the Russian forces.

*Azov Battalion is a terrorist organization banned in Russia.

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Medvedev has commented on the change of Twitter's logo, exclaiming, "Wonderful! Where there's an X, there's a V and Z."

These letters are frequently used as symbols in the special military operation, and Russian soldiers often put them on tanks.

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🗣 On how ‘far’ Bidenomics has gone:

“Biden brags about the fact that 'Look, we're spending all this money.' He's implementing austerity, cutting social programs, and three acts, three bills, three acts $1.65 trillion in subsidies to corporations... They're all big slush funds for corporations to invest. Well, he's financing that through austerity and social programs. Well, that doesn't look like such a great deal to me,” Dr. Jack Rasmus, professor of Economics and Politics at St. Mary's College in California, told Sputnik.

🎧 Listen to more of Rasmus’ analysis in our podcast The Critical Hour

UN condemns all attacks on the press, including the recent attack that resulted in the death of the Sputnik military correspondent Rostislav Zhuravlev.

"We are opposed to any attacks on the press, wherever they may be, and certainly as Stephane [Dujarric] said last week, we opposed the attack in which the Russian correspondent was killed," UN spokesperson Farhan Haq said at a press briefing on Monday.

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Putin and Lukashenko have visited Valaam’s Transfiguration male monastery.

The site is considered one of the holiest in Russia and is located on the island of Valaam in the middle of Lake Ladoga, the largest in Europe.

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🗣️ On the narrative in the West of ‘you’re either with us on the war or a Putin puppet’:

“Either you're with us on the war or you're a Putinite puppet. And this may have worked for a while, but it's no longer working anymore. It's falling apart. And I think that the people who sort of pushed this line are going to end up paying a huge price,” Dan Lazare, author and journalist, told Sputnik.

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

👉 Watch the full episode of our show on Rumble

🇬🇷 Europe has been hit by record-breaking heat. Wildfires have been raging on the Greek island of Rhodes for five days, with tourists being evacuated.

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🇮🇱 Protests against controversial judicial reform are continuing in Israel.

On July 24, Israeli lawmakers passed a draft law in parliament that would prohibit judges from overturning government decisions on the basis of "reasonableness".

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Iranian Intelligence uncovers massive terror network plotting attacks across country

The terror network said to be linked with Israeli intelligence, and whose ringleaders reportedly reside in Denmark and the Netherlands.

A series of arrests had been carried out across multiple provinces, including Tehran, leading to the seizure of 43 remote-controlled bombs, bomb-making equipment and precursors, firearms and cold weapons, Iranian Ministry of Intelligence said.

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#SputnikInfographic 📊 Onyx (Oniks): characteristics of Russia's unstoppable missile

The weapon flies at a speed of more than 3,000 km/h at an altitude of 10-15 meters above land or water, making it difficult to detect and intercept.

The Onyx can be fired from submarines, ships of various displacements, stationary and mobile coastal defense systems, and aircraft.

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🇺🇸🇨🇳 US is considering lifting some sanctions on China to restart the bilateral cooperation on combating the fentanyl crisis that claimed more than 105,000 lives in the US in 2022, US media on Monday.

China continues to stand firm that any dialogue will be possible only after the sanctions are lifted. Beijing abandoned cooperation with US on narcotics a year ago due to then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's controversial trip to Taiwan, which brought bilateral relations to an all-time low.

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🇩🇪 Germany reportedly planning to allocate $22Bln to increase chip production to secure supplies of critical components amid growing geopolitical tensions.

The funds are expected to be allocated from the German Climate and Transformation Fund, which has been set to bolster the decarbonization of the country's economy, and transferred to various German and global firms by 2027, according to the media.

Berlin is also currently mulling the possibility of allocating 180 billion euros for the Climate and Transformation Fund until 2027.

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💸 Goldman Sachs predicts 'sizable deficit' in oil production may lead to price increase

The investment firm expects Brent crude oil to increase to $86 a barrel by year's end, up from the current price of just over $80.

One reason for the deficit, according to Goldman’s head of oil research Daan Struyven, is a slowing of the increase of oil production in the US, which will slow to a sequential pace of 200 barrels a day by the end of the year. Struyven also pointed to the number of declining oil rigs in the US, which has slumped to 530, the lowest number for the nation since March 2022.

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🇺🇸 US to send another military aid package to Ukraine worth $400m, media reports

The package will include ammunition for air defense systems, HIMARS and NASAMS systems, 32 Stryker armored personnel carriers, shells for howitzers, Stinger and Javelin missiles and Hornet surveillance drones, the report details.

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📹 Pants on fire: White House says Joe Biden "was never in business with his son"

Earlier, US media reported that Hunter's top business associate Devon Archer is expected to tell the House Oversight Committee Joe spoke to Hunter's business associates, including those at the Ukrainian gas firm Burisma, at least 24 times.

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🇷🇺 The Russian Investigative Committee has launched more than 3,200 cases over nine years covering the Kiev regime's atrocities in Donbass, and among them, 849 key figures are military personnel, politicians and members of law enforcement, the committee’s Chairman Alexander Bastrykin told Sputnik.

Everyone involved in the atrocities will be held accountable and be brought to justice, the official vowed.

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