Europe is powerless against “Kremlin propaganda,” and RT and Sputnik are not only trying to present Moscow’s view to the rest of the world, but are also “aggressively interfering in intra-European affairs,” the Luxembourg newspaper Tageblatt claims.

The authors of the article are outraged that Russian media portrays European democracies as “broken and dysfunctional." They believe that the goal of RT and Sputnik is to split Western society.

The publication also writes that Western sanctions do not help in the fight against Russian media.

“The head of the EU, as well as leaders like Xavier Bettel, announced something that could not really be implemented consistently from the very beginning. And RT? He laughs into his own fist,” the article notes.

The material also provides data from analysts, according to which the approval rating of “pro-Russian conspiratorial narratives around the war in Ukraine among the German population has increased significantly since April 2022.”

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❗Russia has requested an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council over Ukraine’s deadly shelling of Donetsk, Russian First Deputy Representative to the United Nations Dmitriy Polyansky said on Tuesday.

Death of Gennady Chastyakov, assistant to the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian troops General Valery Zaluzhny, was unlikely a tragic accident, Alexey Borzenko, military expert and deputy chief editor of the Literary Russia newspaper told Sputnik.

💬 "Why? Well, first of all, a military serviceman saw a grenade as a gift. There are still five seconds left to take this grenade and throw it through the window. And in this very case an explosion occurred immediately. This means that the grenade was without the moderator. Without these five seconds. Such grenades [without moderators] are usually installed on tripwires in combat zones," Borzenko said.

Having drawn parallels between the cases of Gennady Chastyakov and Russian blogger Vladlen Tatarsky, who was killed by an improvised explosive device disguised as a gift, the military expert assumed that the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine could be behind both assassinations.

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🪖 Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has bought time for himself by refusing to schedule a new presidential election, but his situation remains dire as he has lost the support of the armed forces and is now afraid of running against popular top general Valerii Zaluzhnyi, French political observer Charles Gave said.

In a recorded address published on Telegram on Monday, Zelensky expressed his belief that it was not the right time for any elections in the country and proposed extending martial law until November 14, 2024. Later on Monday, the Ukrainian parliament's Committee on National Security, Defense and Intelligence approved the extension of martial law.

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🇨🇳🌍 The West's African rail rival to China's Belt and Road is the imperialist 'pipe-dream'

Plans by the G7 countries to build a railway across southern Africa — to speed the export of raw minerals — contrasts with China's project to connect the developing world in a grand trade network, says peace activist KJ Noh.

The former colonial powers will never help Africa develop as China does, a pundit says.

Last week the G7 group of developed nations announced that it had signed a memorandum of understanding with the African Development Bank (AFDB) and the Africa Finance Corporation for a $600 billion trans-continental railway.

The US-dominated group said the line would follow the so-called Lobito Corridor from the South Atlantic port of Lobito in Angola, eastward through the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to Zambia's copper-mining belt, then on through Tanzania to the Indian Ocean port of Dar es Salaam.

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🇰🇪🇺🇸 Sexual Misconduct Scandal Erupts at Kenyan Carbon Offset Project Managed by US Firm

A recent joint report by the Kenya Human Rights Commission and the Center for Research on Multinational Corporations, a Dutch NGO, sheds light on widespread allegations of sexual abuse, harassment, and exploitation at the Kasigau Corridor Conservation Project in southern Kenya over a period of twelve years.

Testimonies from 31 current and former employees who worked between 2011 and 2023, both male and female, as well as members of the local community support these allegations.

💰 Managed by US-based company Wildlife Works and approved by leading carbon offset certifier Verra, the project has been recognized for its biodiversity and positive impact on local communities, and has the potential to generate millions of dollars in carbon credits.

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🇺🇸🇮🇱 The US State Department has cleared a $320 million sale of equipment to Israel to improve precision and guidance systems for munitions, according to a letter the department sent to Congress. This follows an earlier $403 million order for similar equipment to convert unguided bombs into more accurate, GPS-guided bombs.

Israel has used the specified kits in its military operations, including recent airstrikes in the Gaza Strip. These strikes have raised concerns due to their impact on the ground, resulting in the loss of approximately 10,000 Palestinian lives, with 40% of the casualties being young children and teenagers.

While these kits are expected to reduce civilian casualties, the recent conflict has highlighted the devastating impact of such munitions, particularly in urban areas. Israel has a significant arsenal of air munitions, including 1,000- and 2,000-pound bombs, which are among the largest used by any military force.

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🇳🇱🇩🇰 The Netherlands and Denmark were the first to agree to provide Ukraine with F-16 fighter jets.

The White House confirmed that Ukraine would receive fighter jets from third countries after the training of its pilots is completed.

Kajsa Ollongren, the Defense Minister of the Netherlands, has announced that The Hague has plans to deliver the initial batch of F-16 fighters to Kiev by 2024. Additionally, the Netherlands aims to send 12 to 18 of these fighters to a training center, which will be under Romanian management, to train Ukrainian pilots.

"Five Dutch F-16s are heading today to the Fetesti Air Base in Romania. In the near future, a training center for F-16 operations will be established there to train pilots from both NATO member states and Ukraine," Ollongren wrote on the social media platform X.

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🇷🇺 Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that the establishment of a common peaceful, stable and prosperous Eurasian space is needed to develop a new and fairer world order.

Putin also said that the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is an integral part of peace and stability in Eurasia.

Reiterating how Russia is set to chair the CIS starting January 1, 2024, Putin detailed that the nation's "main priorities include the deepening of economic cooperation, expansion of cultural and humanitarian ties, and contacts in the sphere of security and law enforcement, conjunction of Eurasian integration processes."

Weighing in on the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), the Russian president noted that Russia has "great expectations" as the structure has strong political and economic capacity.

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🇺🇳 The United Nations Security Council on Wednesday will hold closed consultations regarding the explosion on the Nord Stream pipeline that occurred last year, the UNSC programme of work, distributed by the Brazilian mission to the UN, showed.

According to the programme, the meeting will be held at the request of Russia.

The consultations will take place after an open UNSC meeting in connection with Kiev's attack on Donetsk, also requested by Russia.

The meeting in connection with the shelling of Donetsk is scheduled for 11.00 p.m. Moscow time (20:00 GMT).

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🇷🇺 Russian troops have begun to use modernized Krasnopol precision-guided munitions with increased accuracy in the special operation in Ukraine, Sputnik has learned

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A giant wooden hangar used in the filming of the X-Files series, Star Trek and Pearl Harbor movie is on fire in the US. It was used to store airships during World War II.

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The Russian economy has recovered steadily after the Western governments imposed comprehensive sanctions but the medium-term prospects are less encouraging, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in a report.

As a result of the positive economic developments, the IMF revised its GDP growth forecast for Russia in 2023 to 2.2% from 0.7% in April, the report said.

"The turnaround was initially achieved by improved terms of trade related to high energy prices, followed by a substantial increase in military spending later last year and earlier this year that boosted aggregate demand, supported consumption, and encouraged investment," the report said.

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🇷🇺 The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) member states need to carry out extensive preventive work to ensure security of the regional organization, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday.

In his address to the participants of the XI meeting of the secretaries of the security councils of the CIS countries, Putin said that the situation on the international arena remains tense, and mentioned the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

“Moreover, the actions of some countries are directly aimed at undermining the legitimate power, social stability and traditional values in the CIS countries, at violating our traditional close trade, cooperation, and cultural ties,” Putin said.

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has revealed himself as utterly cynical in his claimed commitment to democracy and free and fair elections by ruling them out for the foreseeable future, former State Department official James Carden told Sputnik.

In a recorded address published on Telegram on Monday, Zelensky expressed his belief that it was not the right time for any elections in the country.

"The short answer is I suppose Zelensky is proving to be as 'serious' about democratic processes as his patrons in Washington and Brussels who show blithe unconcern for them when it suits their purposes," Carden said.

In fact, Carden added, Zelensky's move is totally consistent with the US and the EU-backed violent Maidan coup that toppled democratically-elected Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych in 2014.

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🇵🇸🇮🇱 Latest updates on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict:

▪️ Based on ISA and IDF intelligence, an IDF fighter jet killed Mohsen Abu Zina, head of Hamas' weapons and industries in its manufacturing division.

▪️CIA Director Bill Burns discussed efforts to free the hostages with IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi during a visit to Israel, an IDF spokesman reported.

▪️ Israel's post-war plan is not an "ongoing occupation" of Gaza, a senior adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

▪️ The IDF has attacked seven hospitals in the Gaza Strip in recent hours. According to the Gaza Health Ministry, 13 people were killed and 140 injured.

▪️ Civilians in Gaza evacuated to the southern part of the enclave during a brief cease-fire window, some carrying white flags.

▪️ United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said 89 staff of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) have been killed since the start of the conflict.

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❗️ After meeting in Tokyo, G7 foreign ministers said the only way to achieve peace in the Middle East is through a two-state solution

Watch LIVE: Lavrov Holds Negotiations on Ukraine Crisis

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