Ukraine risks destroying an entire generation of youngsters by adopting a law to reduce the mobilization age, an article published on The New York Times' website argues.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

The FBI is concerned about the possibility of an organized attack in the US similar to the one at Russia's Crocus City Hall, Reuters quotes Director Christopher Wray as saying.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Russian Federal Security Service released footage of captured Ukrainian soldier Yevgeny Gorin, who was trained at a base in the UK and took part in the attempted landing on the Tendrovskaya Spit.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

📹 Check out Russia's versatile weaponized robots in action!

The "Courier" ground robotic system is capable of carrying weapons such as the AGS-17 automatic grenade launcher, a 12.7-mm machine gun, the Shmel flamethrower, and other armaments.

Furthermore, these vehicles are equipped to carry electronic warfare equipment and can also be utilized for laying various types of mines, as reported by the media.

The Couriers have already been tested in the special military op zone.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

The Israel Defense Forces eliminated Nasser Yakob Nasser, a Hamas member who oversaw the financing of the movement's military activities in Rafah, the IDF reported.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

💥 Another Ukrainian Bradley infantry fighting vehicle was destroyed by a drone in the Avdeyevka area.

Footage by Russia's Ministry of Defense

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

More than 50 countries have confirmed their participation in the BRICS Games, which will be held in Russia's city of Kazan in June, Russia's Sports Minister Oleg Matytsin said

On June 11-24, 2024, Kazan will host the "BRICS Sports Games Kazan 2024", an international multi-disciplinary event. The competition will take place in the run-up to the BRICS Summit, which will also be held in the capital of the Russian Republic of Tatarstan in October.

The BRICS Sports Games is an annual multi-sport event organized by the BRICS countries. The main goal of the tournament is to strengthen friendly sports relations between countries based on the principles of equality, non-discrimination and equal access of athletes to competitions.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Russia is not going to participate in "Zelensky formula" meetings, Russian FM spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has said.

"I would like to stop another wave of speculation regarding the alleged variability of Russian participation in the next meeting according to the 'Zelensky formula': Russia will not participate and did not intend to. This has been stated repeatedly," the spokeswoman said.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Bach Fooled: IOC Chief falls for prank call and prays to 'Saints Vovan & Lexus'

Russian jokesters Vovan and Lexus pulled off another stunt, fooling International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach and European Commission Vice President Margaritis Schinas in a prank call.

During the call, Lexus pretended to be an African leader and convinced Bach and Schinas to join in a prayer session dedicated to the 'saints Vovan and Lexus,' seeking divine guidance on the Friendship Games hosted in Russia.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

What are current unemployment rates in the G20?

G20 unemployment stats reveal that the countries with the most robust labor markets have changed quite a bit over the years.

According to national statistical agencies, Russia has made it to the top three G20 nations with the lowest unemployment (a mere 3%).

Japan tops the list (2.5%) and Mexico is second (2.6%).In annual terms, unemployment has seen a general decline in a dozen G20 nations, while seven block members have experienced numbers rise over time.

Take a look at Sputnik’s infographic to learn more!

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Russia is in constant contact with Iran in light of Tehran's possible response to the Israeli strike against its consulate in Damascus, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov has said.

"We are in constant contact [with Iran] and within BRICS new and in-depth discussions of the entire range of issues related to the Middle East are also expected in the near future," Ryabkov told reporters.

Russia condemns Israel's attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus and believes that condoning Israeli actions in the Middle East, which are the core of Washington's policy, is largely becoming the root cause of more and more tragedies, the diplomat added.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Is the American Library Association turning blind eye to books whitewashing Ukrainian Nazi collaboration?

The American Library Association (ALA) recently gave kudos to two authors with a track record of whitewashing Nazi collaborators in Ukraine, journalist Lev Golovkin has written in an article for the US news outlet The Nation.

According to the author, the ALA, the world’s largest non-profit library organization, honored the books edited by Volodymyr Viatrovych – now a Ukrainian MP, and Lubomyr Luciuk, who currently serves as a professor in Canada’s elite military college.

“In honoring a book depicting Ukrainian volunteers in the Waffen SS as heroes and patriots, the group [ALA] reveals historical ignorance—or indifference to anti-Semitism,” the article noscriptd “Why is the American Library Association whitewashing the history of Ukrainian Nazis?” he pointed out.

The author recalled that Viatrovych is notoriously known for calling soldiers from an SS division “war victims,” while Luciuk once demanded that the Canadian parliament apologize for calling a former member of SS a Nazi.

What’s more, it was Luciuk who added significantly to glorifying the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) and its offshoot, the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), which were to blame for exterminating tens of thousands of Jews during World War II.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

The Russian Federation will focus on the threats to Europe's security posed by Kiev’s attacks on the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant during a special session of the IAEA Board of Governors, said Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov.

“The Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant is and will forever remain under Russian jurisdiction. Our operator and our national regulator are doing the maximum, according to the highest standards, of what is necessary to ensure its nuclear safety, nuclear security. And it is the criminal Kiev regime that is jeopardizing safety facility, and the safety of citizens of many countries,” the diplomat emphasized.

Ryabkov recalled that a special session of the IAEA Board of Governors will be held today in Vienna, and Russia will use this platform to expose the criminal nature of Kiev’s terrorist activities in relation to this important facility.

The danger of a drone attack on the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant and the surrounding area by Ukrainian troops remains, Evgenia Yashina, director of communications at the plant, told Sputnik.

Meanwhile, the UN has joined the IAEA's call for an immediate cessation of attacks on the plant in order to avoid a nuclear incident.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

The head of the IAEA said that he will discuss the situation at the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant with the UN Security Council next week, it is necessary that the attacks do not lead to a new dangerous edge of the conflict.

He called for refraining from violating the IAEA principles for preventing a nuclear accident at the plant.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

How Ukraine's draconian draft laws have turned connoscripts into slaves

The Ukrainian parliament has approved a new law tightening mobilization rules, with 283 out of 351 lawmakers saying "aye" to the changes, 49 abstaining and only one opposing the legislation.

What's in the new law?

▪️The lawmakers removed the provision on a 36 month limit on connoscription service, which is seen as a setback for exhausted Ukrainian personnel at the front line. New rules for rotation of military personnel are due to be drafted by lawmakers in a separate bill in the future.

▪️Individuals liable for military service must update their data at territorial recruitment and social support centers (TCC) within 60 days. Those who don't meet the deadline will face a fine of 17,000-22,500 hryvnia ($430-$570) and may be deprived of the right to drive a car.

▪️Ukrainian lawmakers, heads of government bodies, judges, ministers and their deputies, as well as law enforcement officers, remain exempt from mobilization.

▪️Men between 18 and 60 years old are mandated to carry a military ID under the threat of detention. The military ID can be checked by the police, TCC workers and border guards.

▪️Ukrainian citizens residing abroad will not be able to obtain a new Ukrainian passport without a military ID. That means that Ukrainians over 18 will have to return to Ukraine and register for military service. Under martial law men between the ages of 18 and 60 are prohibited from leaving the country.

▪️On April 2, President Volodymyr Zelensky inked laws to reduce the draft age from 27 to 25, create an electronic database for connoscripts, and cancel the "partially eligible" status in the military medical examinations. Those who had been considered partially fit for military service now have to undergo a medical examination again within nine months.

▪️On February 12, Zelensky also signed laws extending martial law and general mobilization in the country until May 13, 2024.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Events that ignore the position of the Russian Federation and are based on the provisions of the “Zelensky formula” are divorced from reality and have no prospects, the Russian Foreign Ministry has claimed.

The "Zelensky formula" does not imply compromises and completely ignores proposals from China and other countries of the Global South, it added.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Macron, Ukraine's staunchest defender, quietly increases gas payments to Russia - report

"Russian liquefied natural gas deliveries to France grew more than to any other country in the EU compared to last year," Politico writes, citing data from the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air.

In total, since the beginning of the year, France has paid Russia more than 600 million euros for gas supplies, the newspaper notes, adding that this situation has caused criticism in the EU and calls for Paris to stop the growing purchases.

Politico reports that the increase in Russian gas is partly due to strikes that "strongly disrupted normal flows last year."

In addition, France, for its part, argues that "high level of gas travels through France and helps supply other countries like Italy."

Russia has repeatedly said that sanctions against Russian energy resources would hit Europe first and foremost.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Iran would no longer have an imperative to punish Israel over the attack on its consulate in Damascus if the UN Security Council condemns it, Iran’s UN mission declared

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

There is a radical change in the fighting in Ukraine; new Western aid packages and “meat assaults” will not be able to change this trend, Russia's Permanent Representative to the UN Vassily Nebenzia said.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt