🔺New Slovak president won’t allow EU bureaucrats drag his country into proxy war against Russia — expert

🔺AUKUS to forge ahead with expansion despite 'misgivings' between allies

🔺Storm Shadow killer: What we know about Russian warships' Pantsir-M air defense shield

🔺Road to freedom: 10th anniversary of proclamation of the Donetsk and Lugansk Republics

🔺Biden revealed his multicultural background

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The IAEA confirms minor damage at one of the power units of Zaporozhye nuclear plant, according to a statement from the agency.

The IAEA's director-general claimed drone attacks on nuclear power stations are a clear violation of safety principles, calling for a cessation of "reckless attacks".

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Israel-Hamas war marks six month anniversary: has Tel Aviv achieved its aims?

“Six months after Israel launched its attack under the banner of self-defense and the stated objective of destroying Hamas, Israel is no closer to achieving its military goals,” Professor Shahram Akbarzadeh, a Middle Eastern politics expert at Deakin University in Australia, told Sputnik, commenting on the six month anniversary of the Israel-Gaza crisis.

“Hamas continues to engage Israeli forces in skirmishes. Israeli hostages are still in Hamas captivity and the civilian toll is mounting by the minute. Israel refuses to accept a political solution to end the war because the right-wing government of Prime Minister Netanyahu has made a virtue out of this conflict,” he said.

Commenting on Sunday’s partial withdrawal from southern Gaza, Akbarzadeh said that it’s “hard to read too much into the IDF relocation of troops in the absence of any signal from the Israeli government regarding a ceasefire or a break in fighting.”

The IDF says 604 Israeli troops have been killed in fighting to date (Hamas estimates Israeli losses at over 1,600 troops killed). The IDF says 32,000 “terrorist targets” were struck over the course of the campaign and that over 13,000 Palestinian fighters were killed in Gaza.

Regarding civilian death toll - Gaza Health authorities estimate that over 33,175 residents of the Strip have been killed, with close to 75,900 people wounded and 8,000+ going missing. On the Israeli side, 822 civilians were killed, mostly in the early stages of the conflict following Hamas’s surprise October 7 attack.

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💥 Direct hit: Russian tank operators wipe out stronghold of Ukrainian forces

The T-80BVM tanks of the Vostok Battlegroup eliminated a Ukrainian forces' stronghold that was preventing the assault units from advancing in the south of to Donetsk People's Republic.

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❗️ Progress has been made in Cairo truce talks over Israel's operation in the Gaza Strip, with consensus between the parties on main areas, Egyptian TV reported.

Egypt, Qatar, Israel, the US, and the Palestinian group Hamas are taking part in the talks.

Russia repels 9 Ukrainian attacks toward Donetsk in past 24 hours

Russian armed forces repelled nine Ukrainian attacks in the Donetsk direction over the past 24 hours, allowing them to take up more advantageous positions in the area, the Russian Defense Ministry said Sunday.

"[Russian troops] repelled nine counterattacks by groups of the 10th mountain assault, 92nd airborne assault, 33rd and 67th mechanized brigades of the Ukrainian army in the areas of the towns of Berestove, Bohdanivka and Novomykhailivka of the Donetsk People's Republic," the ministry said.

Russian armed forces also repelled Ukrainian troops in the directions of Kupyansk, Avdeyevka, and Kherson.

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Iranian consulate in Damascus resumes work after Israeli attack - reports

Iran's consulate in Damascus has resumed its work in a new building after a hiatus caused by Israel's deadly missile strike, Iranian media reported Sunday.

On Monday, Israel carried out an airstrike on the consular annex of the Iranian Embassy in Damascus, destroying the building. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said seven of its members had been killed in the attack, including two commanders. On Tuesday the Syrian Health Ministry said the attack had also killed four Syrians and injured 13 more.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry said it "reserves the right" to respond to the Israeli attack and "punish the aggressor." Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi also vowed that Israel would pay a "heavy price" for the strike.

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Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has arrived in Beijing, Sputnik's correspondent reports. The minister will stay in the Chinese capital until April 9 and will meet with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi.

The ministers are expected to discuss bilateral cooperation, interaction and work in the UN, BRICS, Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and G20, as well as regional issues including the Ukraine crisis and the situation in the Asia-Pacific region.

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British and French Foreign Ministers David Cameron and Stephane Sejourne warned that Ukraine's defeat in the conflict with Russia could be seen as a defeat for the West.

"If Ukraine loses, we all lose," they said.

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Former Pentagon adviser Macgregor urges US to stop 'marching' into foreign countries

Former Pentagon Adviser Col. Douglas Macgregor said Sunday the United States should stop "marching" into foreign nations to expand their political influence.

"We need to stop marching into other peoples [sic] countries and trying to force people to become like us," Macgregor said on the X social media platform.

Earlier this week US Secretary of State Antony Blinken claimed the US-led NATO alliance is a defensive organization that has "no designs" to seize the territory of any other country in the world. NATO has carried out bombings and interventions in countries including Libya, Yugoslavia, Iraq and Afghanistan over its 75-year history.

The alliance also partnered with the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to sponsor Operation Gladio, a covert program that backed far-right paramilitaries throughout Europe.

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Ukrainian connoscription officers assault, attempt to press gang 14-year-old

The story of a 14-year-old boy who was kidnapped at gunpoint by a group of connoscription officers is going viral in Ukraine. The shocking incident took place last week in the Odessa oblast according to the website Bessarabia Info, which cited local department of social protection head Oksana Terzi.

The young teenager was reportedly walking alone in the village of Priozernoye to meet his girlfriend when a white minivan pulled up beside him. Four men wearing military uniforms and balaclavas emerged; one pressed a rifle against the boy’s temple while forcing him into the car.

“The kid plays sports so the self-defense instinct kicked in,” explained Terzi. “He began to struggle and the attackers restrained him, hitting him in the back with an assault rifle. They beat him and tied his hands with a plastic tie.”

The men drove for some time before asking the age of the teenager. They initially didn’t believe him when he claimed he was only 14.

The episode brought light to the violent tactics increasingly used by Ukrainian connoscription officers as the country’s desperate military continues to press ganging draftees. Raids have been carried out in gyms, restaurants, shopping malls and on city streets to combat draft dodging, which is reportedly widespread. Neighboring Russia is meanwhile reporting a surge of volunteers at military recruitment centers.

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📹💥 Operating as a volunteer corps within Russia's Yug battlegroup, Sever-V brigade artillerymen ensured the assault group’s advance and attacked Ukrainian positions near the village of Bogdanovka in the Donetsk People's Republic.

The brigade's artillerymen used 122mm D-30 howitzers during the attack.

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Iran warns it has nine types of missiles able to strike Israeli territory

Iran has nine types of missiles with sufficient range to hit Israeli territory, Iranian news agency ISNA reported against the backdrop of concerns over possible armed conflict between the two countries.

An infographic presented by the news agency Sunday revealed multiple Iranian ballistic missiles – the Sejjil, Kheibar, Emad, Shahab-3, Ghadr, Paveh, Fattah-2, Kheibar Shekan, and Haj Qasem – the speed of which ranges from Mach 5 to Mach 14 (from 3,836 miles per hour to 10,741 miles per hour).

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has long urged military action against the self-avowed Islamic Republic and regional critic of Israel, but the nation of 88 million people possesses significant defensive capabilities. A war on Iran also raises the prospect of potential involvement by Tehran's ally Russia, while Netanyahu would presumably count on an assist from the United States.

Iran is a staunch defender of the Palestinian cause in the region – Palestinian solidarity was a founding principle of the country's 1979 Islamic Revolution which toppled the US backed Pahlavi royal family. The country's foreign policy is rooted in strong opposition to US imperialism, which has left a lasting legacy in the Persian country.

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Western media have been instructed not to mention the number of victims of the terrorist attack at Crocus City Hall, not to talk about the dead children and the reaction of ordinary citizens to the tragedy, in order to distract the international community from the real organizers and beneficiaries of the incident, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced.

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Russian Su-34 bombers hammer Ukrainian command post with FAB-500 glide bombs

Su-34 aircraft crews carried out a strike on Ukrainian command posts near South Donetsk using FAB-500 glide bombs, the Russian Defense Ministry reported.

"Russian Aerospace Forces Su-34 fighter jet crews carried out a mission to strike Ukrainian units in the special military operation zone. The enemy's outpost and troops in the vicinity of South Donetsk were bombed," the statement read.

The Russian forces used FAB-500 gliding bombs with special planning and correction modules, which allowed to launch an attack outside the range of enemy air defenses.

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'Sayfullo told us to go to Ukraine, to Kiev. And there they will give us a million rubles', Crocus City Hall terrorists

The coordinator who designated Crocus City Hall as the site of the attack and the escape route to the Ukrainian border is named Sayfullo, the terrorist said in an interrogation.

"He told us, 'Drive towards Kiev, when you get to the border, get out of the car and call me, I will help you,'" one of the terrorists said.

The terrorists were promised not only a warm welcome in Ukraine, but also a reward for carrying out the terrorist attack.

"They should have given money in one million rubles ($10,810) each."

It turned out that Ukrainian servicemen were demining a section of the border near two towns in the Sumskaya region while the terrorists were traveling along the highway. This gave the killers an opportunity to maneuver: to choose one of two windows of passage to Ukrainian territory.

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Once again, US resorts to intimidation tactics

Amid the ongoing Ukraine crisis, the US Treasury Secretary has ordered companies, including those from China, not to provide material support to Russia.

"Those who do not comply will face consequences," Janet Yellen said.

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"The countries concerned should not denigrate the normal relations between China and Russia, cooperation should not be restricted," China's Foreign Ministry on the words of the US Treasury chief on the consequences of aid to Russia.

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Taras Petryshyn (call sign Chimera), one of the founders and the commander of the Right Sector* neo-Nazi movement, was eliminated in Chasov Yar, the Donetsk People's Republic.

*terrorist group banned in Russia and many other countries

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❗️ Ukraine does not insist on NATO membership, this issue can be discussed after the conflict is over, now weapons are needed, Ukraine’s ambassador to Turkiye said.

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