▪️Russia becomes G20’s fifth fastest-growing economy despite sanctions

▪️He who laughs last: Will Russia's Joker drone become new portable air defense?

▪️Why has Taurus missile production been put on hold?

▪️Pivot to NATO: How Japan is becoming the alliance’s outpost in Asia

▪️Ukraine’s top general Oleksander Syrsky is living up to his ‘butcher’ nickname

▪️New phase of wishful thinking: Biden claims Arab states are ready to recognize Israel

▪️Worthy use of NASA budget: technology from the Mars program found in Ukrainian drones

▪️'Hostile reactions from the West': Why Russia didn't Join NATO?

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Western ‘armored vehicle coalition’ for Ukraine: More taxpayers’ money down the drain?

The latest attempt by Western powers to funnel further military assistance to Ukraine by forming an ‘armored vehicle coalition’ will not change the situation on the battlefields of the conflict, says retired US Army Lieutenant Colonel Earl Rasmussen.

He points out that this so-called coalition is not the first such effort by the West to beef up the Ukrainian war machine: specifically, there already are coalitions for artillery, fighter jets and de-mining.

“No, this will not impact the movement of the battle, the outcome of the conflict,” Rasmussen tells Sputnik.

He also warns that attempts by Western defense contractors to establish production facilities in Ukraine will translate into financial and human losses as these factories will quickly become targets for Russian strikes.

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Thousands of activists rallied in Jerusalem to demand early elections in Israel and a hostage release deal

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‘Absolutely inhumane’: German volunteer slams Ukrainian troops for drone attacks on Donbass children

“When a person sits there and sees where they're pointing that drone and knowingly drops that drone on a child, that's the worst thing that can happen in the world,” Alena Dirksen, a German humanitarian aid volunteer, told Sputnik’s Russell Bentley (@TXDPR).

“I'm sorry, but I can't call this creature who drops this drone, knowing that a child is going to be hurt, a human being.”

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💥 Russian paratroopers destroyed a field ammunition depot and a concentration of Ukrainian troops in the Seversk area.

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⚠️ WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT

A journalist working with Ruptly in Gaza was seriously injured and lost his leg in an Israeli airstrike

Mohammad Abo Dahrouj was working outside Al-Aqsa Hospital at the time of the airstrike. He is now in the intensive care unit.

According to sources, two Palestinians were killed and several journalists were injured.

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'Anti-tank missiles... machine gun belt...smoke grenades... it's all packed'

The Russian military has captured at least a third US M2A2 Bradley ODS-SA IFV from the Avdeyevka area.

Initial inspection showed that the damage is minor and can be repaired, and that ammunition is loaded as well. Thus the Russian army will start using another Bradley soon.

Some news channels noted that this particular Bradley had not previously been listed among the casualties.

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Turkiye's opposition party wins in local elections for the first time in 20 years after 50% of the ballots have been processed, according to the voting data published by Turkish broadcaster TRT Haber.

The Republican People's Party (CHP) currently has 37.8% of the votes and is slightly ahead of the Justice and Development Party (AKP), which has 36.8%. Pro-Kurdish Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM) brings up the rear of the top three with just under 6% of the vote, while the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), which is allied with the AKP, has less than 4%.

Established in 2001, the AKP has come first in every municipal election since 2004.

The Nation Alliance, a coalition of six opposition parties running for the presidential and parliamentary elections in May 2023, was essentially dissolved after unsatisfactory voting results. In the current municipal elections, the CHP is flying solo.

President Erdogan admitted that the AKP did not achieve the desired results in the municipal elections, the results of which show lapses on the ground.

Meanwhile, CHP new leader Ozgur Ozel described the preliminary outcome as a "historic result" and a "clear signal" to the incumbent government.

Turks were voting on Sunday to elect mayors of 81 cities, including 30 megacities, heads of municipalities, village and district heads, and village councils.

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New Palestinian cabinet sworn in by President Abbas in Ramallah

On Thursday, newly-appointed Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa presented the new cabinet and its work program to Abbas, who then signed a decree on the approval of the new government.

On Sunday evening, the new cabinet headed by Mustafa was sworn in at the presidential headquarters in Ramallah, the report said.

The new Palestinian prime minister will also take over the position of foreign minister from veteran diplomat Riyad al-Maliki, the news agency reported.

After the ceremony, the president said that the new cabinet's mandate would apply to the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip. Among the new cabinet's tasks, Abbas pointed out the preparation for presidential and parliamentary elections.

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Repair workers of Russia's Tsentr (lit. "Centre") group of forces have restored the first trophy German Marder IFV captured in Avdeyevka.

According to them, such vehicle was not designed for fighting in Donbas due to its poor passability.

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📹✈️ Su-34 crews strike Ukrainian command post and personnel in the south of the DPR.

The attack was carried out by unguided FAB-500 air-to-air bombs with a universal planning and correction module. After receiving intelligence confirmation of target destruction, the crews returned safely to the launch site.

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The wife of Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev, who is accused of committing a terrorist attack at the Crocus City Hall, was hospitalized when she learned about the terrorist attack, a neighbor of his parents told Sputnik.

"When she heard the news about the terrorist attack, she immediately lost consciousness and is still in the hospital in intensive care," the neighbor shared.

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Russian experts analyze captured Ukrainian drone

Specialists of the Russian Center for Integrated Unmanned Solutions studied the captured Ukrainian drone Baba Yaga, as a result of which they managed to find out the coordinates of its assembly site, the supply chain of its components and the coordinates of its test flights, Dmitry Kuzyakin, Director General of the Central Research Bureau, told Sputnik.

"We managed to 'talk' to the drone, and we found out that Baba Yaga did not come to the front immediately. It 'traveled' for a long time in Eastern Europe and Ukraine. All the points it showed us were compared with other information, and as a result, invaluable data on logistics chains, warehouses, production facilities and landfills were obtained," Kuzyakin said.

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Ukraine morphed into a gangsters' paradise under the West's watch

In June 2002, the US Justice Department mentioned Ukraine's growing importance as a transit point for heroin trafficking from Afghanistan through the Balkan and Northern routes. The US-backed 2014 coup in Ukraine exacerbated the problem that was followed by the spike in crime with drug smuggling.

▪️In March 2014, the Russian authorities registered an uptick in drug smuggling from Ukraine. Ukraine's drug dealers' activity in Russia reached their peak in 2016-2018. In April 2023, the Russian Interior Ministry accused Ukraine's security services of taking part in setting up covert drug labs in Russia and recruiting drug dealers.

▪️ISIS* started using Afghan opiates for enrichment since at least 2014, as per the Russian Federal Service for Drug Control. ISIS saw conflicts in Syria and post-coup Ukraine as an opportunity to connect to underground criminal networks, as per RAND. ISIS fighters used Ukraine as a transit point and safe haven. Ukraine's role as transit points for Afghan drugs, including heroin and, later, methamphetamine, continued to steadily rise since 2014.

▪️The number of dismantled amphetamine laboratories in Ukraine leaped from 17 in 2019 to 79 in 2020 – the highest number of seized laboratories in the world at the time, as per the UNODC.

▪️After the beginning of Russia's special military operation, Ukraine drug mafia exploited the Black Sea Grain corridor for drug smuggling until its closure.

Odessa port remains a key hub in a criminal drug network. The domestic consumption of methamphetamine by the Ukrainian military has dramatically soared. The Kiev regime has yet to take any measures to crack down on drug crime in Ukraine.

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*ISIS (also known as ISIL/IS/ISIS-K/Islamic State) is a terrorist group banned in Russia and many other countries.

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🇹🇷 Turkiye's Presidential Administration rejected calls for early Presidential elections, Erdogan's term will last until 2028, his aide stated.

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