🇷🇸 Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic insisted that the provision calling for the imposition of sanctions against Russia be removed from the text of the final declaration of the informal summit of EU and Western Balkan leaders in Athens, a source told Sputnik

Leaders of several Western Balkan countries that want to join the European Union met with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Charles Michel in the Greek capital on Monday.

With the exception of Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, all other countries participating in the summit have previously supported the restrictive measures of the West against Russia.

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💬 The Ukrainian Army is not winning. In fact, it is losing badly. Ukraine is being destroyed and its population is being slaughtered in lopsided battles with a technologically superior enemy, or scattered by the millions to the rest of the globe as refugees.

Ukraine is running out of soldiers. As that happens, the question will inevitably arise, who is going to replace them? If the Ukrainians can't beat Putin, who will? The answer, of course, will be us. American troops will fight the Russian Army in Eastern Europe. That's most likely.

And the assumption is that we will win. But will we win? Probably not, says former Army Col. Douglas MacGregor, a decorated combat veteran who advised the secretary of defense in the last administration. The U.S., says MacGregor, is on the brink of a catastrophic war that could very easily destroy us.

Tucker Carlson has blamed the mainstream US media for lying about the course of the Ukrainian conflict, emphasising that every single one of their claims is false

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Kiev has practically banned all foreign journalists from traveling to the front lines, a Swiss newspaper reports

They [journalists] are allowed in only with the written permission of Commander-in-Chief Zaluzhny.

The newspaper attributes this measure to the multitude of victims within the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the fact that the Ukrainian military could not break through the Russian defenses.

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🗣 ‘I believe that BRICS today is capable of taking on what can be called the global agenda’s new themes’ says former President of Colombia

The BRICS Summit kicks off today in Johannesburg. The event is especially significant for achieving the three goals, Ernesto Samper told Sputnik

💬 “First off, to promote world peace. Second, to develop a framework for a new globalization. Third, to form a different project for a multipolar world.”

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🇷🇺🚘 Motor rally dedicated to Russian Flag Day kicks off in the Donetsk People's Republic

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🇮🇷 Iran unveiled a new Mohajer-10 drone

The maximum duration of the drone's flight is one day at an altitude of 7,000 meters.

The drone is capable of carrying various types of ammunition with a maximum weight of up to 300 kg.

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❗️ A Russian Aerospace Forces aircraft has destroyed a US-made high-speed military boat, Willard Sea Force, with a landing group of the Armed Forces of Ukraine east of Zmeiny (Snake) Island in the Black Sea today, at about 11:00 Moscow time [08:00 GMT]

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🇷🇺💪 A 1,000-square-meter Russian flag is traditionally unfurled at the Victory Museum in Moscow on the Day of the State Flag

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💬 We load the pamphlets so that Ukrainian soldiers at their positions make the right decision, namely, to save their lives, surrender

Russia’s artillerymen urge Ukrainian soldiers to surrender

D-30 howitzer crews fired 122-mm propaganda shells at the positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine near Krasny Liman.

The servicemen loaded special projectiles, which contained leaflets urging the Ukrainians to surrender, instead of striking elements and explosives.

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🇩🇿🇫🇷 Algeria has refused to open airspace for French military aircraft in case of a possible intervention in Niger, an Algerian newspaper reports

After the refusal, France reportedly made a similar request to Morocco and got its consent.

Preparations for a possible military operation have begun at ECOWAS airfields, according to reports.

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The Russian MoD’s latest statements on the Ukraine crisis:

▪️The Russian Armed Forces repelled five Ukrainian attacks near Kupyansk. Enemy losses were up to 65 Ukrainian soldiers, four infantry fighting vehicles, two motor vehicles, one D-20 howitzer, and one US-manufactured AN/TPQ-50 counter-battery radar station.

▪️Four attacks by the Ukrainian Armed Forces were repelled in the Zaporozhye region. The enemy losses were up to 125 Ukrainian troops, three infantry fighting vehicles, two armored fighting vehicles, and nine motor vehicles.

▪️The Russian Army has successfully repelled three Ukrainian attacks in the DPR. The enemy losses were up to 235 Ukrainian servicemen, five infantry fighting vehicles, two motor vehicles, two US-manufactured M777 artillery systems, one Polish-manufactured Krab self-propelled artillery system, a Msta-B howitzer, as well as a US-manufactured AN/TPQ-36 counter-battery radar station.

▪️The enemy losses were up to 15 Ukrainian soldiers, two motor vehicles, two US-manufactured M777 artillery systems, as well as a D-30 howitzer in Kherson region.

▪️As a result of actions by Russia’s aviation and artillery, four clusters of manpower and hardware of the Ukrainian Armed Forces were hit in South Donetsk. The enemy losses were up to 240 Ukrainian troops killed and wounded, two armored fighting vehicles, one US-manufactured M777 artillery system, as well as a UK-manufactured FH-70 gun.

▪️Russia’s Operational-Tactical and Army aviation, Missile Troops and Artillery have neutralized manpower and military hardware in 139 areas.

▪️Air defence facilities have shot down four projectiles launched by HIMARS MLRS.

▪️Some 462 airplanes, 246 helicopters, 5,952 unmanned aerial vehicles, 431 air defence missile systems, 11,445 tanks and other armored fighting vehicles, 1,144 fighting vehicles equipped with MLRS, 5,996 field artillery cannons and mortars, as well as 12,372 special military motor vehicles have been destroyed during the special military operation.

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🗣️ On the future of the BRICS+:

“In terms of the BRICS+ economic agenda, Iran is already part of it because they are part of the international North-South Transportation Corridor, where the main, the three main actors are Russia, Iran and India, which happen to be three members of the SCO, and if Iran gets into BRICS - three BRICS members. So you see how naturally these interpolations and interactions are converging,” Pepe Escobar, a geopolitical analyst and writer, told Sputnik.

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

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

💬 It is common knowledge that more than 20 countries have applied for BRICS membership

The possible expansion of BRICS is definitely on the agenda at the summit that has kicked off today in South Africa with a lot of answers needed to be provided and criteria for selecting new members to be explained, Darya Yuryeva, head of Sputnik Latin America, said.

👀 Stay tuned to get all the highlights of the BRICS summit from Sputnik journos present at the event

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📹 Drone footage showing Russian aircraft detecting and destroying a US-made Willard Sea Force speedboat with a Ukraininan landing party on board in the Black Sea, east of Zmeiny (Snake) Island

The high-speed surface target actively maneuvered and attempted to evade the fighter jet's fire, but was successfully hit by an aircraft gun.

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📹 Russian military delegation arrives in Libya at Haftar’s invitation

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