US ‘grand plan’ is to ‘reoccupy’ Africa

The US’ “grand plan” with its drone base in Niger is to “reoccupy” Africa with “its vassal friends” like France, Koffi Kouakou, an African analyst and senior research fellow at the Center for Africa-China Studies at the University of Johannesburg told Sputnik’s Fault Lines.

“The US ain't going to leave easily. The US is not going to cut and run because there's this big ego at play [in] geopolitics [and] geoeconomics, but also hegemony,” Kouakou explained. “Those who haven’t been paying attention should pay attention.”

“The key issue is [the] US’s grand plan to get [Africa] back, with its vassal friends to reoccupy this place.”

“[The US] invested a huge amount of money in this place. They’re not going to leave easily. However, where the Nigeriens have a point is ‘You’ve been there since 2012, but terrorism is still there. What have you done for us to deal with terrorism, if terrorism was really the reason for your presence on our occupied ground?’” Koukaou said, adding that Mali has done “a fabulous job” with the Africa Corps in combating terrorism.

“There was no terrorism in the area until 2011 when the US and, now let’s say NATO, bombed Libya to smithereens and destroyed it. Now this whole place is running amok with terrorist groups,” noted Koukaou.

“I think Niger is now winning the information war,” Kouakou concluded, “but this is exactly our concern because the US is going to retaliate one way or another.”

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💥 Russian artillerymen of Battlegroup Youg destroyed enemy strongholds in the Donetsk region

The crew of the 152-mm Giatsint-B gun destroyed four dugouts and strongholds, along with Ukrainian servicemen unsuccessfully trying to shelter from artillery fire. Luck turned away from 30 Ukrainian soldiers—they were all either killed or wounded.

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Ukraine talks haven't started because of US threats to Zelensky, Seymour Hersh says

Negotiations on resolving the conflict in Ukraine could have started months ago, but US authorities threatened Ukrainian President Zelensky with withdrawal of non-military funding, US journalist and Pulitzer Prize winner Seymour Hersh said in an article on Substack.

"We were on the verge of a reasonable negotiation several months ago before Putin's re-election and Zelensky's military degradation. The US leaders got wind of the possibility and gave Zelensky the ultimatum-'No negotiations or settlement or we won't support your government with the $45 billion in non-military funds [that Ukraine is now receiving annually],'" the source told the journalist.

According to Hersh's information, US intelligence community recognises that "Ukraine has little chance of winning..."

Hersh's interlocutor also added that US President Joe Biden has staked on confronting the "Russian threat to NATO" and will not change his course under any circumstances, while the end is inevitable.

"There is no road to victory for Ukraine, and it will end with Putin as an historical icon in Russia...," the source concluded.

In autumn 2022, Zelensky signed a decree according to which his country will not negotiate with Russia as long as it is led by Vladimir Putin. Russia, for its part, has repeatedly noted its readiness to discuss the settlement of the conflict through diplomatic means.

As Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov emphasised, the Russia does not see any prerequisites for a peaceful transition of the situation, and sovereignty over the new Russian regions and Crimea is not up for discussion.

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There is ‘no way’ for EU to replace US funding Ukraine without tanking euro, economy

The EU has been looking for alternative methods to fund Ukraine with US aid stalled in congress, including using interest from frozen Russian assets to fund Ukraine. However, they will be unable to make up the huge amount the US provides without stealing all of Russia’s frozen assets, which would tank the Euro, or by devoting far more of their national budgets to Ukraine, which would tank the economy, Mark Sleboda, an international relations and security expert told Sputnik’s Fault Lines.

“The only way that Europe could possibly make up [for the lack of US aid to Ukraine] that is needed to support the Kiev regime is by stealing all of Russia’s frozen assets, possibly tanking the Euro and crashing the EU’s reputation as a reputable place to store currency reserves for transactions,” Mark Sleboda said. “And they are very loath to do that, particularly Belgium and Switzerland, where most of Russia’s frozen assets, some $200 billion worth, is stored.”

Outside of that “nuclear option” Sleboda said that the only other path for Europe would put “a much more severe drain” on their national budgets and economies.

“Unless all Europeans are willing to forgo their social benefits and other perks of life in the EU that they have become accustomed to, to prop up this regime in Kiev, there’s simply no way,” Sleboda explained, noting that the recent €50 billion aid package approved by the EU is spread out over four years.

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Over 60% of Ukrainians believe corruption growing - poll

More than 60% of Ukrainians believe that corruption in the country is on the rise, a new survey conducted by the Ukrainian National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP) has shown.

"There is a deterioration in the indicators for assessing the dynamics of corruption levels in 2023. The increase in the level of corruption is noted by 61.2% of the population (more than twice as much as in 2022 (29.2%)) and 46.3% of businesspeople, which is almost three times higher than in 2022 (16%)," the survey showed.

The survey polled 2,488 individuals in face-to-face interviews and 1,208 representatives of legal entities and enterprises by telephone, with the margin of error not exceeding 2% and 3%, respectively.

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📹 Russian FPV drone operators destroyed an enemy vehicle in the DPR, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

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The world sees Gaza as ‘US genocide’ not just Israel’s

Americans do not understand how badly the US’ reputation has been damaged across the world, which sees Gaza as “a US genocide” and “not just an Israeli genocide,” Mohammad Marandi, a professor of English literature and Orientalism at the University of Tehran told Sputnik’s The Critical Hour.

“It’s revealing the reality of [the US] empire in a way that not even [author of ‘A People’s History of the United States, Howard Zinn] could do because it’s being done in front of our eyes, it’s being done in front of a global audience. We’ve never seen such a thing before,” Marandi said, adding that he suspects that is why the US is attempting to ban TikTok.

“The US has lost credibility across the world. I don’t think many Americans understand how bad this has become for the United States. People across the world see this as a US genocide, it’s not just an Israeli genocide.”

“I believe that the Israelis have made a fatal mistake and that what they’ve done in Gaza will be the beginning of the end of the Zionist project,” he added. “It’s been carrying out the genocide for almost six months in front of the world and it has demolished the facade that the regime had created for itself… about it being a democracy… All that is gone now and across the board the regime is despised and the image of the us has been destroyed.”

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The Kharkov Malyshev Transport Machine Building Plant, part of the Ukroboronprom concern that produces and repairs tanks, tank engines, and armored vehicles, as well as two thermal power plants were struck by Russian missiles; Ukrainian officers involved in the attacks on the Belgorod region and a group of foreign mercenaries could have been hit, Sergei Lebedev, coordinator of the Nikolayev underground, told Sputnik, citing his colleagues.

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The US has urged Ukraine to stop attacks on Russian energy facilities, warning that they could lead to a rise in global oil prices, the Financial Times has quoted sources as saying.

"One person said that the White House had grown increasingly frustrated by brazen Ukrainian drone attacks that have struck oil refineries, terminals, depots and storage facilities across western Russia, hurting its oil production capacity," the newspaper writes.

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▪️ Sy Hersh: Ukraine talks haven't started because of US threats to Zelensky

▪️ US national security adviser Jake Sullivan left Kiev with empty promises again

▪️ EU will have to sacrifice its own economy, if it wants to US funding Ukraine

▪️ The world sees Gaza as ‘US genocide’ not just Israel’s

▪️ Watch Russian and Serbian football fans sing together at the match

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Russia calls UK slandering Russian media attempt to blame undesirable news agencies

UK media's fake news accusing RIA Novosti and Sputnik of allegedly disseminating false information about the death of King Charles III is an attempt to blame media labeled undesirable by the UK authorities, the Russian Foreign Ministry tells Sputnik.

Several UK media outlets, including Daily Mail, Telegraph and Express, on Thursday disseminated an identical allegation that Sputnik and RIA Novosti have published fake news about the death of King Charles III, even though the Russian news agency was the first to obtain and publish Buckingham Palace's official statement refuting the speculation spread by other media.

"At the moment right for them, the UK authorities throw in a pre-prepared version of events, accusing the undesirable media of spreading fake news. A specific example: the UK media accused RIA Novosti and Sputnik of spreading a fake news about the death of Charles III, although publications in these resources on this topic were of a radically opposite nature," the ministry said.

It turns out that the Russian media were accused of precisely the fact that they made an attempt to double-check the widespread “sensation," they were accused of due and inherent in all truly professional media platforms fact-checking, the ministry said.

"The ongoing conspiracy campaign in the UK, provoked by the long absence from public view of Princess Catherine of Wales, the wife of the heir to the British throne, Prince William, has again highlighted the deeply flawed nature of the UK political establishment, based on ... the desire to completely control public opinion through mass media manipulation and fake news in their own country and far beyond its borders," the ministry added.

Instead of stopping the spreading misinformation, the government and the royal house prefer not only to avoid direct answers but also to participate in the fabrication and circulation of misinformation materials, the ministry said.

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❗️ Viktor Orban has not ruled out that the West will decide to send troops to Ukraine in 2-3 months

❗️ What is known so far about the recent explosions in Ukraine:

▪️ Today's strikes on Ukrainian energy facilities were the largest in recent time, Ukraine's Energy Minister German Galushchenko said

▪️Traffic on the road crossing of the Dnepr Hydroelectric Power Plant dam is restricted, according to reports on social media

▪️The Kharkov Malyshev Transport Machine Building Plant, which produces and repairs tanks for the Ukrainian military, as well as two thermal power plants were damaged

▪️New explosions have been heard in the Ukrainian-controlled city of Zaporozhye

▪️Local residents report that there is no electricity in the area

▪️Residents of Krivoy Rog have been advised to stock up on water and charge electronic devices after strikes on infrastructure.

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Elite Ukrainian troops blame Volodymyr Zelensky and the command for future defeats and "catastrophe."

Audio messages from Ukrainian soldiers in a private channel indicate that Ukrainian forces are "on the edge of the abyss," with servicemen urged to make a "decision."

"For real, Shoigu will call Syrsky tomorrow and say, 'Syrsky surrender, you can't win.' Syrsky will say 'Russians do not surrender' and 10 newly formed brigades of alcoholics from pubs will go to storm the city of Tokmak," one of the soldiers says.

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❗️ Ukraine's power system has suffered the largest attack ever, with strikes hitting the country's combined heat and power plants, the country's state energy company Ukrenergo said

Zelensky admits that Russian air strikes are having a massive impact, begs for more Western weapons

"There are no delays in Russian missiles, as in aid packages to our state. "Shaheeds" do not have indecision, like some politicians. It is important to understand the cost of delays and delayed decisions. "Patriot" systems must protect Kharkov and Zaporozhye, air defense is needed to protect people, infrastructure, houses and dams. The partners know exactly what is needed. They can definitely support it" said Ukrainian president.

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⚡️Kremlin says Russia is now in state of war, everyone should understand this.

"We are in a state of war. Yes, it started out as a special military operation, but as soon as this bunch was formed there, when the collective West became a participant in it on the side of Ukraine, it had become a war for us," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

The legal status of the special military op, according to him, de jure has not changed, but de facto all this has turned into a war against the backdrop of the West’s increasing involvement in the conflict.

❗️ Russia cannot allow the existence of a state near its border that has a documented intention to use any methods to take Crimea, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said