🗣️ On who’s writing the lines for Zelensky:

“I've never believed Zelensky to be anything more than a very clever actor who's reciting lines that somebody else is writing for him. And I remain convinced of that today as I ever was, and the fact his chief of staff is a TV producer, movie producer only fortifies that belief in my mind. He's delivering lines. He's not making the decisions. The question is, who's writing the lines for him?” Nebojsa Malic, investigative journalist, blogger, and author, told Sputnik.

🎧 Listen to more of Malic’s analysis in our podcast The Backstory

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🗣 "Blinken is a water carrier; he is the message bearer. He is not the driver of [Ukraine] policy.", Retired CIA intelligence officer Larry Johnson on Antony Blinken.

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📹 India's Preparations in Full Swing for 18th #G20 Summit in New Delhi

🇮🇳 🌐 The city's Pragati Maidan area is buzzing with preparations, especially for the newly-developed 'Bharat Mandapam International Exhibition-Convention Centre,' which is designed to host the Leaders' summit. The vibrant flags waving in the wind add to the enthusiasm and anticipation surrounding the event.

The summit will conclude the adoption of a G20 Leaders' Declaration, outlining the priorities and agreements reached during this gathering of global significance.

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🗣 "The Biden administration is under pressure domestically.", Retired CIA intelligence officer Larry Johnson on American's attitude to Ukraine policy due to domestic problems.

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⚡️ US allocates new $175 million military package for Ukraine, Pentagon says

❗️The United States transfers depleted uranium shells to Ukraine for Abrams tanks, Pentagon says

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba said that he drinks vitamins and therefore feels great and constantly smiles.

What vitamins do you think Kuleba takes? (wrong answers only)

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❗️The United Nations has been consistently concerned by the use of depleted uranium munitions anywhere in the world, spokesperson Farhan Haq told Sputnik after the United States approved sending the controversial rounds for tanks to Kiev.

"Our concerns about the use of depleted uranium anywhere in the world has been consistent and still stands," Haq said.

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🪖 #Ukraine's Use of Notorious 'Butterfly' Mines Poses Deadly Danger to Children

🗣 If a Lepestok (Butterfly) mine seriously can cripple an adult, then "nothing would be left" of a child once it comes into contact with it and explodes, Hero of Russia Rustam Saifullin told Sputnik on Wednesday.

🗯 "A mine is a type of munition that does not care who steps on it, be it militant or civilian... It's one thing when a man weighing 100 kg steps on [the mine]... tearing off his foot, but it's quite another thing when a five-year-old child comes and steps on it, you know? Nothing might be left of that child," the Hero of Russia said.

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❗️US allocates $1 billion in new aid to Ukraine, including $665 million for military purposes, Blinken said

🗣️ On BRICS surpassing the G7:

“The G7 is the old dominant group, the United States and its major allies. But there's now another player in the world called the BRICS. Last week, they added six more countries. So they are now 11 countries... But what's even more important economically is that today, in 2023, the total GDP, the total gross output of goods and services accounted for by the whole G7 group, the US and its allies is about 29% of total world output. If you turn to the BRICS, it's over 33%. In other words, this new arrival over the last few years is now a bigger, richer economic unit in the world than the United States,” Richard Wolff, professor of economics and host of "Democracy at Work" on YouTube, told Sputnik.

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

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❗️Providing depleted uranium (DU) shells for Ukraine is "a sign of desperation" amid the failed counteroffensive. Earl Rasmussen, a retired lieutenant colonel who has spent over 20 years in the US Army, explains how the DU shells would result in a long-lasting contamination of Ukrainian soil - but won't help the Ukrainian military.

What is Russia's dragon teeth defense?

The Russian defense has impeded Ukraine's advance along the front line, despite being earlier mocked by the Kiev regime and its Western patrons.

The botched nature of Ukraine's counteroffensive has largely been blamed on Moscow's elaborate network of fortifications erected last fall along the frontline to protect the territory which integrated into Russia following September referendums.

"Dragon teeth" barriers, "hedgehogs" and minefields are sending a clear signal to NATO and its Ukrainian proxies that Russia is here to stay and that the Kiev regime won't get an inch of Russia's soil.

Check out Sputnik's article to find out more about Russia's dragon teeth defense

🌍 What Benefits Has BRICS Brought to South Africa?

Along with strengthening economic ties, BRICS membership helps South Africa to develop in other areas such as investment, trade, tourism, capacity building, skills and technological capabilities, the head of state Cyril Ramaphosa said.

He also emphasized that reinforcement of economic and financial partnership between BRICS countries is "one of the key pillars of its cooperation."

👉 Read more about the benefits of South Africa's entry into the bloc!

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❗The US decision to dispatch depleted uranium shells not only poses a danger to Ukraine’s future but also marks an escalation far beyond “any justification” amid the conflict, retired US Air Force Lt. Col. Karen Kwiatkowski, who also previously served as an analyst for the US Department of Defense, told Sputnik

Boneface backs Biden: are US neo-Nazi groups engaged in war crimes a CIA tool?

Joe Biden has accused his opponent Donald Trump of trucking with 'domestic extremists'. Ryan Cristian, founder and editor of podcast The Last American Vagabond, pointed out the hypocrisy of the president who arms Ukrainian Nazis.

The CIA is using fascist groups as tools of state policy at home and abroad, says an independent media commentator.

Blood Tribe leader Christopher 'The Hammer' Pohlhaus, a former US Marine, praise Ukraine's Nazi Azov Battalion*. Pohlhaus added that he was backing Democrat President Joe Biden over Republican Donald Trump in the 2024 because Biden "sends rockets to Ukraine" to arm fellow fascists.

Check out Sputnik's article to find out more

* The Azov Battalion is a terrorist organization banned in Russia.

🔺Putin and Saudi's Crown Prince noted that a reduction in oil production will stabilize the global market
🔺Jiang Feng, Beijing’s ambassador, says China plans to mediate Niger crisis
🔺Japanese government increases aid to local fisheries to $700Mln amid China's seafood import ban

The Critical Hour will cover these and more stories! Tune in to Radio Sputnik at 6pm EST|3pm PST|12am CET via the website or app

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🗣️ On the White House covering Biden’s mental disorder:

“It is undeniable and it is getting impossible for the White House to continue to cover it up, that Joe Biden's mental decline is getting very, very serious. And people realize that this is the most powerful position in the world. And we have a president who can't find his way out of a room when he finishes the speech and he can't put two sentences together in his speech. And I think the people are starting to get very, very concerned,” Ted Harvey, former Colorado state senator and president of stopjoe dot com, told Sputnik.

🎧 Listen to more of Harvey’s analysis in our podcast Fault Lines

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Russia’s Tor-M1 SAM system units destroyed more than 200 enemy drones over past few months

In combat operations, the Tor-M1 SAM system crews use radar equipment which makes it possible to easily detect and destroy small reconnaissance and reconnaissance-attack drones of the enemy in the air.

Accuracy of combat use allows up to eight aerial targets to be destroyed with one ammunition.

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🇦🇹 "Canceling" Russia is a mistake, Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg stated

He noted that Russia will not disappear from the world map. It will always remain as the EU’s largest geographical neighbor.

He added that it is necessary to be far-sighted and pragmatic in relations with Moscow.

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❗Air defense systems activated around 3:00 a.m. Moscow time on Thursday (00:00 GMT) and destroyed an unmanned aerial vehicle, Rostov Region Governor Vasily Golubev said.

"Around 3:00 a.m., an air defense system activated in [the city of] Rostov-on-Don. An unmanned aerial vehicle has been shot down. Consequences on the ground are being clarified," Golubev said on Telegram.