💬"If Russia wasn't really the number one military force on the planet a year and a half ago, I mean, I would think that even then it probably was. But even if it wasn't back then, now, it definitely is," Miodrag Zarković, a Serbian war correspondent covering the Donbass conflict, told Sputnik.

👉Follow this link to watch the full interview conducted by Russell Bentley @TXDPR

💰Never mind funding, West has no more arms to give to Ukraine

Even NATO's most senior military officer has admitted that the bloc has nothing left to give to Ukraine. Former US Marine Brian Berletic, an independent geopolitical researcher and writer, said the battle over the US budget merely masked the West's failure.

💬 "The United States has plenty of money just printed out of thin air. I don't think that that is really the problem," Berletic said. "The main problem regarding support for Ukraine is weapons and ammunition, they are simply out of it. And there's no possible way to manufacture, produce it in any timely manner."

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🇷🇺🇩🇪 Russian Kinzhal, Iskander missiles to make short work of German air defenses in Ukraine

Berlin is preparing to send additional air defense weaponry to Ukraine, ostensibly to 'protect grain shipments' to Europe in the wake of the collapse of the Black Sea Grain Deal in July. Russia will dispatch with the German deliveries, and Berlin’s rationale for their transfer is designed only to fool ordinary Germans, observers told Sputnik.

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🇪🇺Ukraine is 'corrupted at all levels' and 'not eligible' to join the EU, says ex-bloc head

Ukraine in its current state is corrupt to the core and absolutely ineligible to join the European Union, former European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker has said.

💬 "One mustn’t make false promises to the people of Ukraine who are up to their necks in suffering. I am very angry about the presence of some voices in Europe who are telling the Ukrainians that they can become members immediately," Juncker said in an extensive interview with German media on Thursday.

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♿️ Ukraine nixing 'disability' concept to slash payments to conflict victims

Ukraine will replace the concept of "disability" with the "assessment of loss of functionality" starting from 2025, according to Ukrainian Minister of Health Viktor Lyashko, as quoted by the country’s media.

Per Lyashko, Ukrainians are seeking "disability" benefits instead of restoring their productivity. He argued that this approach is a relic of the post-Soviet era that Ukraine should discard.

💬 "This means that the Kiev regime is cutting back all social programs under the plausible pretext that it is a Soviet relic," Alexey Leonkov, military analyst and editor of the Arsenal Otechestva (Arsenal of the Fatherland) magazine, told Sputnik.

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🌍 🇺🇸 African Nations' Use of US Dollars Limits Their Ability to Address Internal Challenges, Expert Says

The use of the US dollar by African countries lessens their ability to control their own monetary policy, Ronney Ncwadi, Professor and Director of the School of Economics, Development studies and Tourism at the South African Nelson Mandela University, told Sputnik Africa.

🗣 "As always, as this expression says, when the US sneezes, everybody catches the fever and depending on the US dollar currency exchange rate does dampen the growth in our African continent," the professor stressed.

Moreover, the expert emphasized that reliance on the US dollar puts Africa "at risk of a lack of currency sovereignty," "limits" the countries' sovereignty and hampers regional economic integration.

👉 Read more!

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🇺🇸 New poll suggests even Democrats are starting to sour on Ukraine aid

A Reuters/Ipsos poll showed that only 41% of respondents agreed the US “should provide weapons” to Ukraine, while 35% disagreed. Another 24% were unsure.

When asked that same question in May, 46% agreed, while only 29% disagreed and 25% were unsure.

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🇺🇸 US' SEC sues Musk to force him to testify in Twitter probe

The case relates to an ongoing investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission regarding potential violations of various provisions of the federal securities laws in connection with Musk’s 2022 purchase of Twitter and statements and filings related to it.

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🇷🇺🇺🇸 Russia's parliament will discuss withdrawing ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), Russian parliamentary speaker Vyacheslav Volodin says.

This response will mirror that of the US, which has not yet ratified the CTBT, Volodin explained.

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🇷🇺 Russian civilization is not confined within the boundaries of Russia and goes beyond the borders of nation-states, Professor Ajay Patnaik told Sputnik India.

🗯 "The point is when Moscow launched its military operation in Ukraine, one of the main demands of the Russian leadership was that people of Russian ethnicity living in Ukraine should be given autonomy within the constitutional framework of the Eastern European country," he said.

🗣 "Russia always said that these minorities should be provided protection under Ukrainian laws and never spoke about merging these parts of Ukraine which have a large Russian-speaking population with the Eurasian sovereign state," the international relations expert added.

"This issue could have been resolved if Ukraine had agreed. It did agree initially but reneged on that promise under pressure from the West," Patnaik concluded.

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🪖 Nowhere to hide: Russian troops hit Ukrainian positions near Andreevka

The Southern Military District servicemen used precise strikes to eliminate a 3rd Separate Assault Brigade stronghold.

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🪖 Russia’s Southern Military District artillery crews hit positions of the 10th Mountain Assault Brigade near Spornoye in the Donetsk region

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🇨🇦🤡 “You've been listening to Putin, have you?” Justin Trudeau's unhealthy obsession with Russian president

The Canadian PM gets miffed after being confronted by a man in Toronto: “I’m not shaking your hand, you’re a piece of 💩, you 🤬 up the entire country!"

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🇷🇺🪖 'We are hunters. Our hunt is quite successful'

Russia's elite Osman special forces continue to prey on Ukrainian troops in the Zaporozhye direction day and night.

Equipped with drones and anti-tank guided missiles, these fighters successfully neutralize armored vehicles, including Leopards and Bradleys.

Army humor moment: the patch on the helmet at 00:46 says "Mama told me to wear it"

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🇨🇳🇺🇸 US chipmakers warn Biden's semiconductor spat with China could backfire

Three global giants in the chip-making industry - Nvidia, Intel and Qualcomm – have reportedly been meeting with officials in the Biden administration, such as Antony Blinken and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, along with representatives of an array of think tanks to press the case for reconsidering additional chip restrictions regarding China.

The CEO’s of these companies have warned that Washington’s attacks on Beijing could result in China speeding up creation of its own independent chip industry. Thus, they claimed, America’s ill-conceived semiconductor trade war would result Chinese-created chips dominating on a global scale.

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