❗️ Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, referring to the termination of the investigation into the Nord Stream explosions by Denmark, described the situation as close to absurd.

In his opinion, it is obvious that the investigation had started to reach its closest allies.

Moscow has repeatedly requested information from Denmark about the investigation but received refusals, and now it cannot get the information, Peskov noted.

Latest statements by Chinese professor of international relations and the director of its China Institute Zhang Weiwei at the Multipolarity Forum in Moscow:

▪️ Under unipolarity, everything from dollars to computer chips can be weaponized, wars and color revolutions are the norms;

▪️ China has become the largest economy by PPP, the largest trade and industrial economy, and it is currently at the forefront of the fourth Industrial Revolution;

▪️ China believes in the model of “unite and prosper” instead of Western model of “divide and rule.”;

▪️ The West tried to isolate Russia, but the global majority sympathises with Russia. Thus, the Collective West has been isolated by the Global Rest.

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❗️ Russian military liberated the village of Lastochkino near Avdeyevka, the Russian Defence Ministry said

Latest statements by Russian-American television host and political scientist Dimitri K. Simes at the Multipolarity Forum in Moscow:

▪️ Russian leadership did not want to use military force against Ukraine, but it had no other choice because the West had been waging undeclared war against Russia for years — killing Russians in the Donbass, propping up the anti-Russian regime in Ukraine, and bringing military assets not just closer to Russia’s borders, but within range of Moscow;

▪️ Why is the West seeking to provoke Russia? Why do Western elites care more about Ukraine’s borders than their own borders? The answer is that they view Russia as a threat because it has become the leader of the multipolar world;

▪️ No one in Washington hides their intention to move against China if the West succeeds in inflicting “strategic defeat” on Russia;

▪️ The entire multipolar world has a vested interest in Russia’s victory over Ukraine and the Collective West.

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🇷🇺🪖 More statements from the Russian Defense Ministry’s daily briefing on the progress of the special military operation in Ukraine:

▪️ Russian troops have taken up more favorable positions near Avdeyevka and repelled seven counterattacks by Ukrainian forces;

▪️ The Russian Armed Forces struck three Ukrainian brigades in the southern DPR, with the enemy losing up to 140 soldiers;

▪️ Russian air defenses destroyed 77 Ukrainian drones;

▪️ Russian troops repelled four counterattacks near Kupyansk, with Ukrainian forces losing up to 180 soldiers;

▪️ The Russian Armed Forces destroyed a Grad MLRS combat vehicle in the southern Donetsk People’s Republic.

▪️ The Russian Armed Forces repelled three attacks by Ukrainian assault groups in the DPR, with total enemy losses exceeding 420 military personnel;

▪️ Russian air defenses shot down two Storm Shadow missiles and five HIMARS rockets;

▪️ Russian troops hit a Norwegian-made NASAMS air-defense missile launcher;

▪️ The Russian Army repelled seven attacks by Ukrainian forces near Sinkovka in the Kharkov region and two counterattacks near Terny in the DPR;

▪️ The Russian military improved the situation along the front line near Avdeyevka, and repelled six counterattacks by Ukrainian forces, with the enemy losing up to 410 troops;

▪️ The Russian Armed Forces in the southern DPR have taken up more advantageous lines and positions, with Ukrainian forces losing up to 150 military personnel;

▪️ More than 60 Ukrainian drones were shot down by Russian air defenses;

▪️ Ukrainian forces lost up to 145 military personnel and seven units of equipment near Kupyansk.

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Red Sea crisis faces new problem – oil tanker shortage

The Biden administration's strikes against Yemen's Houthi movement targets appear to be ineffective at resolving the ongoing Red Sea crisis. As the Houthis targeted the Torm Thor tanker in the Gulf of Aden the other day, the shipping crisis in the Red Sea is facing a new problem – a shortage of tankers.

Houthi attacks have already prompted traffic to be rerouted away from the Suez Canal, making journeys longer and costlier.

With only two new supertankers expected to join the aging fleet in 2024, as per Banchero Costa shipping services data, a lack of capacity is expected to make itself acutely felt.

“The situation is tight in the tanker market, in particular for crude oil tankers,” Enrico Paglia, research manager at Banchero Costa, was cited as saying. Media reports suggest the situation could grow even more challenging in the future.

The Houthi movement vowed in November 2023 to attack any ships associated with Israel until it halts military actions in the Gaza Strip. Neither the multinational operation to secure navigation in the Red Sea, nor US and UK strikes against Houthi positions have forced the Yemeni militia to cower. Instead, they have vowed to ramp up the campaign of attacks until Tel Aviv halts its campaign in Gaza.

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🎯 Russia must win this war - Justin Trudeau misspoke, but hit the mark

"We know that Russia must win this war. Sorry, Ukraine must win this war against Russia," Trudeau said.

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🇹🇷 Today is the 70th birthday of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the president of Turkiye

Check out Sputnik's video to learn how the relationship between Turkiye and Russia has changed under Erdogan and what joint projects the countries are currently involved in.

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🚀 Soyuz-2.1b launch vehicle with Meteor-M satellite installed at the launch complex of Vostochny cosmodrome

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❗️The first Abrams tank deployed by the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the special operation zone was destroyed in the Avdeyevka area, Pushilin’s advisor Yan Gagin told Sputnik.

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