History will remember the actions of the United States against Palestine's accession to the United Nations, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said at a briefing.

"Palestine already applied in 2011 [to join the UN], then the UN Security Council suspended the decision due to the opposition of the United States. Now, 13 years later, again because of the US veto, the Palestinian application to join the organization has been rejected, the dream of the Palestinian people, which has existed for decades, has been ruthlessly destroyed. History and the peoples of the world will remember these actions of the United States against all odds," Lin Jian said.

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❗️In the Donetsk area, the Russian Army repelled seven attacks by Ukrainian troops during the week. Ukrainian losses amounted to 3,550 troops.

🇷🇺🪖 Other statements from the Russian Defense Ministry's weekly briefing on the progress of the special military operation in Ukraine:

▪️ In the Kupyansk region, Russian forces repelled 11 attacks by Ukrainian troops

▪️ In the Avdeyevka area, the Russian Armed Forces repelled 53 attacks of Ukrainian troops. Ukrainian losses amounted to 2,170 soldiers

▪️ The Russian forces destroyed three Ukrainian MiG-29 fighters and four An-26 military transport planes at their home airfield.

▪️ Russian forces destroyed two air target guidance radars and four S-300 air defense systems, a German-made "iris-t" air defense system.

▪️ Russia's aviation and air defense shot down ten ATACMS, six Storm Shadow, two HARM, 2 Dot-y missiles, 78 Himars, Vampire and Hurricane missiles and 1278 drones.

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Police have detained a man who locked himself in the Iranian consulate in Paris with an explosive device, according to French media.

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📹🔥 A "Gvozdika" self-propelled gun crew destroyed a camouflaged Ukrainian stronghold in the Donetsk People's Republic.

Scouts revealed the enemy's camouflaged positions with the help of drones. The gunners, having received the coordinates of the firing points, immediately opened fire on them.

The exact defeat of the target was confirmed by objective control footage from the drone.

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For the record: UN Security Council voting on Palestinian UN membership

The US vetoed and blocked a draft resolution on the admission of Palestine as a full member of the organization.

Twelve countries voted in favor of the resolution: Russia, China, France, Japan, South Korea, Ecuador, Algeria, Malta, Slovenia, Sierra Leone, Mozambique and Guyana.

Two other countries, the UK and Switzerland, abstained.

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Biden administration considers providing Israel with more than $1 billion in arms: media

This could be the largest aid package since the beginning of the Israeli operation in the Gaza Strip, the Wall Street Journal reports, citing US officials.

In addition, Congress is considering sending tank ammunition, military transport aircraft and mortar shells, which would take months or even years because of additional coordination.

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📹 Watch the full interview with Russian FM Sergey Lavrov with Sputnik, Komsomolskaya Pravda and Govorit Moskva on our Telegram channel!

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The West is one step away from sending troops to Ukraine, which could drag Europe down with it, Brussels is playing with fire, said Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

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Did Israel really strike Iran on April 19?

While the April 19 attack on Iran was quickly attributed to Israel by the media, it is not immediately clear who carried out this strike, argues political analyst Alexander Kargin, an expert on Israel and the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region. Israel and Iran haven't confirmed the Jewish state was behind the attack, which is described as a drone strike on an Iranian airbase.

If the attack was indeed an Israeli reprisal, then Tel Aviv probably should have claimed responsibility, as is commonly done during such retaliations “of a public nature,” Kargin remarked. Iran has also so far refrained from accusing Israel, which is rather “symptomatic” given that Tehran is prone to see “the Zionists’ hand” behind a lot of things, he added.

If the strike on Iran was Israel’s doing, then it appears that Tel Aviv opted not to carry out any serious retaliation for the April 14 missile attack, Kargin said, noting that the damage done to Iran appears to be minimal.

“I cannot rule out the possibility of Israel saying that it wasn’t their doing and blaming it on some local forces, because the attack was very weak,” he said. “It seems that the strike was weak, and no meaningful damage was dealt to the Iranians.”

There is also a possibility that Israel agreed to tone down its response to Iran in exchange for some kind of preferences from the US, Kargin mused. For example, Tel Aviv might have agreed to refrain from launching a full-scale retaliation against Iran, which would have likely triggered a serious escalation in the Middle East, in exchange for the US to stop opposing Israel’s military operation in the city of Rafah, a densely packed refugee enclave in the Gaza Strip, he suggested.

“I repeat, we should wait until the situation becomes clear. But apparently, it all came down to Israel getting something from the US and performing such a pinpoint strike on Iran in return.”

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Israel's credit rating may face deeper cuts after strikes against Iran

S&P Global Ratings has downgraded Israel's credit rating from 'AA-/A-1+' to 'A+/A-1' as the Jewish state's economy is taking a plunge amid Tel-Aviv's Gaza war and clashes with Iran. The move followed Moody’s cut to the nation's sovereign rating in February.

What’s driving the major rating firms' decisions?

▪️Israel's Gaza war, amplified by the escalation in tensions between Tel Aviv and Tehran, has stepped up geopolitical risks for the Jewish state

▪️Israel's economy contracted 20.7% in the fourth quarter of 2023, exceeding initial expectations of a 10% slump, as consumer spending, exports, and investment had been hurt since the start of the Gaza hostilities last October.

▪️Israel's debt in 2023 increased by $43 billion, $22 billion of which accumulated since the beginning of October. The total debt reached 62.1% of GDP last year, up from 60.5% in 2022, primarily due to the surge in military spending.

▪️Israel's national currency, the shekel, has depreciated by more than 4% against the dollar in 2024, as reported by Bloomberg. Since October 2023, the shekel has experienced fluctuations, prompting the Bank of Israel to intervene by selling dollars in an effort to stabilize the currency.

▪️S&P expects Israel's general government deficit to grow to 8% of GDP in 2024 with net general government debt peaking at 66% of GDP in 2026;

▪️S&P expects that Israel's Gaza war will continue throughout 2024.

S&P's report came out ahead of Israel's Friday strike on Iran, suggesting that the clashes between the two Mideast players wouldn't translate into a wider regional conflict. The agency signaled that it would revise the outlook again on May 10 and may lower the rating if the conflicts widen.

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Captured Ukrainian soldier Viktor Fedorchuk said that he surrendered with the help of a Russian drone.

"I had no chance. I just waved my hand at the drone. Only to be captured and survive. I was escorted by a drone to the Russian positions. And I was captured there," the soldier said.

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US House advances bills to provide aid to Ukraine and Israel, sanction Russia and Iran, force Tiktok divestiture.

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NATO countries should step up to the plate and take risks, by sending Kiev the weapons needed for its own defense, NATO General Secretary Jens Stoltenberg said.

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Lifting the diplomatic veil: What do Lavrov’s Istanbul peace deal revelations mean?

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's very first disclosure of the partial terms of the Istanbul deal between Moscow and Kiev actually signals Russia’s readiness for peace talks with Ukraine, Sergey Poletaev, political and military analyst, co-founder of “Vatfor project”, told Sputnik.

“I think the West’s ruling circles are realizing the fact that it’s impossible to get the better of Russia on the battlefield and that the time is right to negotiate with Russia,” Poletaev stated.

He recalled that in the much-talked-about February interview with former Fox New host Tucker Carlson, Russian President Vladimir Putin indicated Moscow’s intent to return to the 2022 Istanbul agreements, based on the current realities. “I guess, Lavrov is emphasizing this once again,” the analyst pointed out.

When asked what the top Russian diplomat meant by revealing that the security guarantees outlined in the Istanbul agreements were utterly serious, nearly on par with Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty (the principle of collective defense), Poletaev noted that those guarantees stipulated that “Ukraine cannot be NATO’s and the West’s battering ram” and that “the country should have a neutral status.”

“Namely, as long as Ukraine complies with these conditions, it can be given any guarantees it wants,” the analyst added.

Earlier on Friday, Lavrov sat down with Simonyan, the editor-in-chief of Sputnik's parent media group Rossiya Segodnya, as well as the editors-in-chief of the radio stations Govorit Moskva and Komsomolskaya Pravda to discuss an array of pressing issues, including the possibility of peace talks with Ukraine.

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The downed quadcopters over the Iranian city of Isfahan did not cause any material or physical damage, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian said in New York.

“[Israel’s] supporters in the media tried in vain to turn their latest defeat into a victory and exaggerate the whole situation, while the downed quadcopters did not cause any material or physical damage,” the Iranian top diplomat asserted.

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Sputnik Donbass correspondent Russell Bentley has died at the age of 64, his wife Lyudmila confirmed to Sputnik.

Bentley went missing in Donetsk on April 8, following a Ukrainian artillery attack on the city’s Petrovsky district. Four days later, the DPR Ministry of Internal Affairs put him on a missing persons list.

Bentley, who was born and raised in the United States, arrived to the Donbass in 2014 to help the fledgling local militias resist Ukrainian occupation. From 2014 to 2017, he served in the Sut Vremeni ( lit. "Essence of Time") combat unit, Vostok Battalion and Khan special forces battalion. He took part in some of the most heated battles during the early stage of the Donbass conflict, including Donetsk Airport, Spartak, Avdeyevka, and Yasinovataya.

After retiring from military service, Bentleу turned to humanitarian aid work and journalism. He converted to Russian Orthodox Christianity and in 2021 received Russian citizenship.

Bentley began contributing to Sputnik International in October 2023, publishing numerous video reports and columns that provided Westerners with an inside look at life in the Donbass.

Margarita Simonyan, the editor-in-chief of Sputnik's parent media group Rossiya Segodnya expressed her condolences:

"Russell Bentley, also known as Texas, a real American from Texas, died in Donetsk.

He fought there for our people. Collaborated with our Sputnik.

Terrible. R.I.P...."

Why the West rejected Zelensky’s ‘Big Israel’ dream for Ukraine

Why is Ukraine not Israel? This is the question Zelensky has kept asking after British and American air power helped Israel thwart last weekend’s Iranian attack.

“Ukraine defends its sky by itself… And Israel was not defending [its sky] by itself. There was the protection of allies,” Zelensky told PBS radio, adding that he wanted to get the same level of aid.

The mainstream media tried to vent Zelensky’s plea in such headlines like: “Western powers shot down Iranian missiles. Why not Russian missiles?” and “Zelensky wants Ukraine to become a big Israel.”

The West, however, rejected Zelensky’s plea.

What were the motives?

▪️Racism. “Ukraine’s traumas matter less than Israel’s to the West”, The Hill wrote, acknowledging that “this stance bespeaks a moral…double standard”.

▪️Egoism. Ohio senator J.D. Vance cut to the chase: “Israel is just much more important to the United States than Ukraine.” Zelensky’s search for parallels (“Israel is not a NATO member either”) only makes the “greater importance” of Israel stand out.

▪️Cowardice. UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron explained the difference between Israel and Ukraine by the West’s fear to face Russia in a non-proxy battle: “If you want to avoid an escalation, a European war, I think one thing you need to avoid is NATO troops directly engaging Russian troops.”

▪️Provocation. The Zurich-based German newspaper Tages Anzeiger added a more dramatic twist to Zelensky’s drama by bringing up treachery: “The truth is: the West betrayed Ukraine. The Americans, the Europeans and above all the Germans… two years ago gave Ukraine hope that it could win.”

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