🇺🇸🇷🇺 The West has prevented Ukraine three times from making peace with Russia

At the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine, there were three attempts at a peaceful settlement, and all three were sabotaged by the West, according to an American media outlet.

During negotiations in the spring of 2022, both Russia and Ukraine made concessions to each other. Russia, for example, softened its position at the Istanbul meeting and was ready to allow bilateral guarantees for Ukraine in exchange for "permanent neutrality" and a refusal to join NATO.

The West remained the only party not to compromise, as it apparently hoped to exhaust Russia with a prolonged confrontation in Ukraine.

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🇷🇺🇧🇮 Russia Supports African Nations in Fight Against Imperialism: Burundian Defense Minister

Russia, one of the first countries to support the independence movement of African nations, continues to indirectly assist the continent in its struggle against the expansion of imperialism, said Alain Tribert Mutabazi, Burundi's Minister of National Defense and Veteran Affairs, in an interview with Sputnik Africa.

🗣 "Since Africa gained independence, Russia has supported it in many ways, including in the field of security. One of the key activities is the supply of military equipment and weapons," he elaborated.

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India has made it clear again: Ukraine is NOT invited to the G20 Leaders' Summit in New Delhi in September

🌐 🇮🇳 Why? Well, most likely because nobody in the Global South wants Volodymyr Zelensky to hijack the agenda of the developing nations at the event.

🤔 As the Ukrainian president has been desperately trying to get a platform at the upcoming summit under India's presidency, Sputnik India takes a look back at what he has previously said about being an “unwanted guest”.

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❗The Russian Defense Ministry said early Friday that a Ukrainian drone was shot down around 4:00 a.m. (01:00 GMT) when it attempted to attack facilities in Moscow and the Moscow region.

The drone changed its flight trajectory and landed on a non-residential building in the area of Krasnopresnenskaya Embankment in Moscow, the ministry said, adding that there were no casualties or fire.

🗃 Russian National Guard servicemen discover West-supplied ammunition depot in Donbass

The stash contained almost half a ton of ammunition:

▪️2,500 rounds of ammunition of various calibers, including armor-piercing incendiary bullets;

▪️More than 80 rounds of grenade launcher ammunition;

▪️Over 50 anti-tank mines;

▪️High-explosive fragmentation and anti-tank shells

▪️Several dozen radio detonators and grenades of various modifications.

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🇷🇺 Russia develops the first 23-mm guided detonation munition

The test firing of the new munition type is set to take place in the near future, after which it will be demonstrated to potential customers, a source told Sputnik on Thursday at the Army-2023 international military-technical forum.

'The development will allow us to multiply the effectiveness of hitting small targets such as copters and drones,' the source said.

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🇧🇩 Bangladeshi Prime Minister Says US Seeks to Control Indian Ocean

💬"Bangladesh is under pressure from the United States to hold 'free and fair elections' and 'protect human rights' from our country. But elections and democracy in Bangladesh are not America's goal. They are using democracy and elections as an excuse to exploit the situation in Bangladesh to gain control over the Indian Ocean and the Bay of Bengal," Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina told media.

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📊 All major importers of Russian fertilizers - India, Brazil and the US - have significantly stepped up their quantities to be delivered at the beginning of the year, according to a Roscongress survey.

American companies more than doubled their purchases in Q1 from $262mln to $596mln, while Indian companies sent their purchases soaring nine-fold from $78mln to $708mln.

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US 'classified forecast' predicts Ukraine counteroffensive will fail

Citing people “familiar with the document,” US media reported that the classified document focuses on Ukraine’s goal of reaching Melitopol, which it says is a principal objective of Ukraine.

One reason cited for Ukraine’s failure is the Russian minefields, which have destroyed large numbers of armored vehicles and tanks. Russian forces have also been using distance mining equipment, quickly erasing what little gains are made in the minefields by Ukrainian forces.

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🇷🇺🪖 Pure magic: Russian troops to become 'invisible' to thermal imaging cameras

Scientists of the Military Academy of Radiation, Chemical, and Biological Protection Forces have created a special three-layer material: an inner layer reflects infrared radiation (IR) from the user's body; a middle layer that absorbs IR; and an outer layer that reflects IR from the external environment.

Specialist also developed a hood with goggles offering protection against thermal imaging reconnaissance equipment.

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🇨🇳🇿🇦 China's Xi to visit South Africa, participate in BRICS summit, Beijing says

The Chinese president and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa will co-chair the China-Africa leaders summit during the visit, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said.

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🌐 What is the Global South and how can it help topple Western-led world order?

Academic and public interest in the term “Global South” has surged over the past year-and-a-half amid the fundamental transformations being observed in the global political, military and economic order during the ongoing NATO-Russia proxy war in Ukraine and a US-led effort to constrain China’s growing global economic might and geopolitical influence.

How is the Global South defined? Which nations qualify?

👉 Check out Sputnik’s explainer

🤔 The US claims there is new COVID-19 variant

A new lineage of the virus named BA.2.86 has been detected in the United States, Denmark and Israel, US Center For Disease and Control Prevention said.

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🇷🇺🇨🇳 Russian, Chinese navies hone joint patrol skills, re-fuelling drills in Pacific Ocean

During the joint patrols in the East China Sea, a drill was held to replenish water and fuel supplies to ships from support vessels, and the transfer of cargo while in motion using the traverse method was also practiced.

The Russian Pacific Fleet's large anti-submarine ship Admiral Tributs interacted with the Chinese People's Liberation Army of China Navy's integrated replenishment ship Taihu. Following parallel courses, the crews practiced synchronizing their speed and maintaining intervals, taking into account the ships' displacement, sea state, and wind speed.

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🇷🇺 Barrett Killer: Russia’s 12.7mm Astarta AMR rifle with fourfold firepower outguns US rival

The Astarta surpassed its American counterpart (Barrett M82) in accuracy fourfold during tests and is a “Barrett killer,” a High-Precision Complexes developer company rep told Sputnik.

Named after the ancient goddess of war, beauty, hunting and love, this anti-materiel rifle (AMR) has a caliber designed to use against military equipment, structures, and other hard targets.

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🇺🇸🛢 Firefighters contain massive blaze at plastic and petroleum materials storage in San Saba, Texas

The fire is out, but hazmat crews remain to ensure flames don't erupt again, according to officials.

Last year, a series of explosions at natural gas facilities rocked the US in the space of just a couple of weeks. One of them, a gas fire at an ONEOK gas plant in Medford, Oklahoma, triggered the evacuation of over 800 residents from the area, leading to an insurance claim worth $930 million.

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🇬🇧 UK starts deliveries of new batch of reconnaissance drones to Ukraine - Defense Ministry

The UK government has also signed three contracts worth over $100 million to supply Ukraine with air defense systems.

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🇯🇵🇺🇸🇦🇺 Japan, US, and Australia to hold joint naval exercises in South China Sea on August 23, Japanese media report

The purpose of the exercise is to monitor Chinese ships, the agency said, citing sources.

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🇺🇸📉 Bidenomics boast fails to influence Biden’s approval rating as he gears up for reelection

Only 36% of US adults approve of Biden’s economic policies, with 42% approving of his overall performance, according to an AP-NORC poll.

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