The UK will increase defence spending to 2.5% of its gross domestic product (GDP) in response to global security threats, according to the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Rishi Sunak.

Sunak assured that the implementation of this plan would make Great Britain by a wide margin the largest military power in Europe and the second largest in NATO, promising to increase investment in unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) development and establish a new innovative agency for defence research and development.

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❗️ Ukraine lost up to 20 militants, two motor vehicles, one 152-mm Msta-B howitzer and one 152-mm D-20 howitzer due to the successful operations of the Russian Battlegroup Zapad.

🇷🇺🪖 More statements from the daily briefing of the Russian Defense Ministry on the progress of the special military operation in Ukraine:

🔺Russian Air defense shot down 104 Ukrainian UAVs, six US-made HIMARS and Olkha missiles, four French-made Hammer guided bombs and one Tochka-U tactical missile;

🔺Russian servicemen repelled nine counter-attacks in the DPR area;

🔺Ukraine’s losses in the DPR amounted to up to 500 servicemen, three tanks, an infantry fighting vehicle, five motor vehicles, one 152-mm Msta-B howitzer, one 122-mm D-30 howitzer, as well as three field ammunition depots.

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Russia’s Baikal-Amur Mainline to be the future ‘center of global development’

Russia’s Baikal-Amur Mainline railway from Europe to the Pacific will become “the center of global development,” Pavel Feldman, Associate Professor of the Academy of Labor and Social Relations, told Sputnik.

Feldman noted that the entire concept of the route stems from Russia’s unique geopolitical location.

“The BAM is not just a railway, but the most important factor in ensuring the territorial integrity and national security of the Russian Federation,” said the Deputy Director of the Institute of Strategic Studies and Forecasts of RUDN University.

The construction of the BAM marked Russia's pivot to the East and the beginning of a shift towards a multipolar world order. The route also consolidates Russia’s interests in the Far East and the Asia-Pacific region to offset the ambitions of Western countries, Japan, and South Korea in the region.

The BAM’s key economic and strategic importance is a proven fact, agreed veteran Russian military expert Ivan Konovalov. Current reality shows that this was an epic, far-sighted, long-term project, he said.

From a military-strategic aspect, the BAM was built to offer an alternative to the Trans-Siberian Railway because the latter runs close to Russia’s southern borders.

“Already then, before WWII, there were serious contradictions with Japan... So it was decided to move this mainline deeper into Russian territory. In some places, the BAM is 700 to 1000 kilometers away from the border, which is a serious strategic depth,” he said.

The land route from Europe to Pacific ports shows that Russia’s reorientation to the East “is turning from a futuristic concept into an inevitable scenario for future development,” Pavel Feldman concluded.

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'Nothing may be left of Israel' if it attacks Iran, President Raisi warns

"If the Zionist regime once again makes a mistake and attacks the sacred land of Iran, the situation will be different, and it is not clear whether anything will remain of this regime," Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said during a meeting with scholars and cultural elites in the Pakistani city of Punjab, IRNA reports.

The leader also slammed Western nations for supporting Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip while claiming to defend human rights at the same time.

"Today the greatest violators of human rights are the Americans and Westerners, and their claim of defending human rights is also empty," he said.

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US’ deceitful human rights report minimizes Ukraine’s crimes

The US Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor's “2023 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices” illustrated how the hypocritical Biden administration pared down Kiev’s war crimes while painting Russia black.

🔺"There were no reports indicating the government or its agents committed arbitrary or unlawful killings, including extrajudicial killings during 2023,” the report claimed. The denial blatantly conflicted with Ukraine’s Military Intelligence Chief Kyrylo Budanov’s admission to Kiev’s targeted killings of “Russian propagandists.”

In 2023 alone, Russia witnessed the killings of several public figures, including pro-Russian Ukrainian lawmaker Illia Kyva and blogger Vladlen Tatarsky. A bomb attack on writer Zakhar Prilepin wounded him and killed his driver.

🔺While acknowledging “significant human rights issues involving Ukrainian government officials,” the report appeared to dismiss the violations by attributing them to the declaration of martial law in Ukraine, so pinning the blame on Russia's special military operation.

However, these crimes committed by Ukraine’s neo-Nazi battalion and SBU in Donbass have in fact been flagged to UN since 2014, with UNHCR warning of their spike in numbers since February 2022.

🔺The report was silent on Volodymyr Zelensky’s cancelation of Ukraine's general elections under the pretext of the activated martial law. According to the Constitution of Ukraine which limits one presidential term to 5 years, Zelensky will lose his legitimacy after May 20.

🔺The agency also made no mention of the persecutions of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and journalists in Ukraine, including the imprisonment of US journalist Gonzalo Lira, who died in Ukrainian custody in 2023.

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Was Trump compromised by the US Deep State?

Donald Trump, well-known for his anti-establishment rhetoric, appears to have been played by the US elites: he suddenly dropped his opposition to funding the Kiev regime's failing military effort, asserting to the US public that Ukraine's "strength" corresponds to American national interests.

🔺Trump's change of heart occurred during a joint press briefing with Republican Party House Speaker Mike Johnson at Mar-a-Lago on April 12, when the former president suggested funding Ukraine in the form of a loan. On April 17, the speaker unveiled the $60 billion Ukraine aid package, including $9.5 billion for economic aid in "forgivable loans."

🔺The WSJ claims Johnson's visit to Mar-a-Lago was part of a plan by Republican senators Lindsey Graham, Kevin Cramer, and Markwayne Mullin to "expand on the idea of the loan, and make it Trump's idea" in order to pass the Ukraine bill through the Republican-controlled House.

🔺The group of senators held a phone call with Trump telling the former president that arming the Kiev regime's military was indispensable for seizing former Ukrainian resource-rich territories, which have recently joined Russia, thereby allowing Kiev to pay back the money.

🔺During his Mar-a-Lago trip Johnson urged Trump to back Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan as part of a broader fight against Russia, Iran and China. The speaker told Trump that a reinforced Ukraine would be critical for Trump's second term, giving him an upper hand in future peace talks with Russia.

🔺Trump shielded Johnson from his MAGA Republican supporters in Congress after the Ukraine aid vote. Marjorie Taylor Greene opted not to force a vote of no-confidence in the speaker, as it could harm the party and Trump's election odds in November, Axios claimed.

🔺While US politicians are playing the Ukraine card, polls show the majority of Republican voters are against funding Kiev's military effort.

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Globalist moves by Trump: arms for Ukraine, US embassy in Jerusalem, seizing Syrian oil

The mainstream media portrays Trump as an “unpredictable” fighter against the projects of Washington and Brussels. But is he really? Here are Trump’s globalist “credentials” – based on facts.

According to AP News, between 2014 and 2016 the Obama administration committed more than $600 million in “security aid” to Ukraine. Obama also tried to limit that aid to “non-lethal” elements.
Soon after assuming office in February 2017, Trump started sending deadly weapons to Kiev, despite warnings from Russia.

“We put up a lot of money. I gave you anti-tank busters while, frankly, President Obama was sending you pillows and sheets,” Trump told a Ukrainian delegation in 2019.

According to Defense News, by the end of 2019, US security assistance to Ukraine reached $1.5 billion — meaning that Trump spent more on Ukraine than Obama. For the Javelin anti-tank missiles alone, Raytheon and Lockheed Martin received $47 million of US taxpayers’ money — for just 210 missiles and 37 launchers — under Trump.

Despite numerous fake MSM stories about Trump being “soft” on Russia or even “provoking it to invade other countries”, the 45th US president was not off the mark when he said “I have been tougher on Russia than Obama, Bush or Clinton. Maybe tougher than any other President.”

On another globalist front, Trump kept his election pledge to move the US embassy in Israel from Tel-Aviv to Jerusalem. That took place in June 2018 and led to violent protests by Palestinians, with dozens killed, as it proved that the US fully backed Israel’s claim to Jerusalem as its capital.

At the same time, Trump broke another of his promises — to withdraw US troops from Syria. When he left office in 2021, 900 US soldiers were still keeping Syrian oilfields under control. “We have the oil… We left the troops behind only for the oil,” he stressed.

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The United States is testing Project Maven in Ukraine, which is a program that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to process images, the New York Times reports.

Project Maven is being tested in Ukraine on the front lines, the publication stated. According to the newspaper, American, British, and Ukrainian officers, as well as military contractors, are working to find and exploit Russian vulnerabilities. It is noted that there is an intelligence gathering center operating at an American base in Europe, which uses technologies developed as a result of Project Maven's evolution.

The testing of AI technologies in Ukraine by Washington has yielded mixed results, according to the NYT. While the military has gained the opportunity to gather information about troops movements and use algorithms to predict their future actions, it remains unclear whether these new technologies will be sufficient to alter the course of the conflict. Moreover, Russia is reportedly adapting to their use.

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What's next for Russia's Angara space rocket?

The Angara-A5 space rocket made quite a buzz upon its launch from the Vostochny cosmodrome on April 11. The spaceport was chosen due to “increased load capacity, which includes a hydrogen-powered stage,” Alexey Varochko, the Director General of the Khrunichev Space Research and Production Center, told Sputnik.

The much-anticipated launch involved comprehensive groundwork, including electric launch vehicle tests and the rocket’s new flight program that takes into account Voctochny’s specific launch features, Varochko revealed.

“Angara A5 can be used not only for delivering heavy vehicles to geostationary orbit, but also for carrying out group launches of [different] spacecraft into the sun-synchronous orbit (SSO),” the CEO explained, commenting on the rocket’s impressive potential.

The Khrunichev Center plans to build an upgraded Angara-A5M rocket in 2025. The center's experts believe that it makes good sense to have two separate spaceports (Vostocnhy and Plesetsk cosmodromes) hosting operations involving the heavy rocket, he concluded.

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Third front: US readies for confrontation with China in Asia

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is heading to China this week. This trip comes amid a concerted push by the Biden administration to form an anti-China coalition in the Asia-Pacific. Here are some of their most recent moves:

🔺US held its largest-ever joint military drill in contested waters with the Philippines, where they simulated sinking an enemy warship and capturing islands facing Taiwan and the South China Sea. The drill involved medium-range missiles deployed to Asia-Pacific for the first time.

🔺US is expanding AUKUS by involving Japan in the development of the alliance’s “advanced capabilities,” including quantum computing, hypersonic, artificial intelligence, and undersea warfare, among others.

🔺US top officials have been threatening China with new sanctions in a bid to disrupt ties with Russia

🔺US House of Representatives has approved an $8.12 billion military aid package for the Asia-Pacific, with a significant chunk expected to go to Taiwan

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Greek god of fire: Russia’s stealth jet, hypersonic missile and satellite-killing S-500 air defense system

Russian defense minister Sergei Shoigu confirmed in a briefing Tuesday that Russia’s Air Defense Forces would be getting additional S-500 air and missile defense systems in two modifications. Here’s what we know about these fearsome weapons.

🔺The S-500 Prometey (lit. ‘Prometheus’ – as in the ancient Greek god of fire) is a road-mobile air and missile defense system developed by Russian weapon manufacturer Almaz-Antey.

🔺The system has a range of up to 600 km, and the ability to detect targets at up to 800 km away.

🔺The S-500 can simultaneously target up to 10 ballistic supersonic targets flying at speeds up to 7 km/s.

🔺It can also attack targets flying at hypersonic speeds (up to Mach 10, or 12,348 km per hour).

🔺The S-500’s range is sufficient to disable enemy missiles, spacecraft, and orbital weapons platforms in space at low-Earth orbits.

🔺The system’s interceptor missiles maneuver in flight, and feature independent onboard radar components enabling them to engage in kinetic attacks.

🔺The S-500 can be incorporated into a single air and missile defense network alongside the S-400, S-300VM4, S-350 Vityaz and other platforms.

🔺Along with launchers, the S-500 comes with command post vehicle, target acquisition and battle management radar, reloader vehicles, and an array of optional radar, air and missile defense control systems, depending on mission.

🔺The missile system comes with 77N6-N and 77N6-N1 interceptors for missile defense and anti-satellite/spacecraft purposes, and 40N6M anti-aircraft missiles.

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❗️Deputy Minister of Defense of Russia Timur Ivanov was detained on suspicion of taking a bribe, the Investigative Committee says.

Vladimir Putin was informed about the detention of Ivanov, Defense minister Sergei Shoigu was also informed in advance, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

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Baikal-Amur Mainline will allow Russia to join rising Asia-Pacific region destined to dominate global economy - expert

The Baikal-Amur Mainline (BAM) is a “key pillar in the development of the Russian economy in the eastern direction,” Nikita Maslennikov, economist and leading expert at Russia’s Center for Political Technologies, told Sputnik.

The reasons for Russia’s pivot to the region in general are clear, he said.

“In the next 30 or 40 years, the Asia-Pacific region will be a kind of center of gravity for the entire global economy. Therefore, that is where we [Russia] must be,” Maslennikov stressed.

Furthermore, Russia’s Far East, including its Primorye territory, offer huge expanses of rich reserves of minerals. Tapping into this wealth requires transport logistics.

The BAM allows Russia to integrate into the Asia-Pacific region, an “economic space, which will dominate the world economy as a whole for the next half century,” said the expert.

A crucial mainline like BAM “gives impetus to the development of infrastructure in the regions, new production capacities, which, in turn, stabilizes internal labor migration flows, which is important,” Maslennikov added.

According to the expert, one cannot overestimate the importance of this transport artery for the liquefied natural gas production capacities that are now being actively built up in the Far East, as well as for oil refining, aircraft manufacturing, shipbuilding, etc.

A transport artery like BAM is conducive to boosting Russia’s foreign economic relations, first of all, with China, and beyond.

As for the so-called 'Eastern Polygon' that Russian President Vladimir Putin has called ‘crucial’ for the political and economic sovereignty of the Russian Federation, Nikita Maslennikov noted:

“This is a railway metaphor of sorts that includes the entire eastern-bound railway route: the BAM, the Trans-Siberian Railway… BAM is one of the key elements.”

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🔺Globalist moves by Trump: arms for Ukraine, US embassy in Jerusalem, seizing Syrian oil

🔺Russia’s Baikal-Amur Mainline to be the future ‘center of global development’

🔺Russian serviceman describes the main weaknesses of the Leopard 2 tank

🔺New aid – old junk: what weapons is NATO planning to send to Ukraine?

🔺Third front: US readies for confrontation with China in Asia

🔺God of fire: Russia’s stealth jet, hypersonic missile and satellite-killing S-500 air defense system

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🤡 US Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell blames Tucker Carlson for ‘demonization’ of Ukraine

"I think the demonization of Ukraine began by Tucker Carlson, who in my opinion ended up where he should have been all along, which is interviewing Vladimir Putin."

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US can’t hide ‘dollar diplomacy’ with ‘hypocritical claims’ of non-interference in Solomons’ vote

US Ambassador to the Solomon Islands Ann Marie Yastishock last week “strongly refuted” information contained in a Sputnik report about an alleged United States Agency for International Development-coordinated campaign to meddle in the island nation’s April 17 parliamentary elections.

“The statement of the US Ambassador is extremely hypocritical,” the source who provided Sputnik with information and documents at the center of the investigation into the alleged USAID interference campaign said. “She did not deny USAID’s support for Solomon local political and community leaders, but kept defending and glorifying their aid meet[ing] the requirements of the target country.”

“While the US Ambassador to the Solomons is fully ennoscriptd to her own opinion, it would be very difficult for her to explain, nor less justify, the elevation of the US presence there to Embassy level status if it were not for the Prime Minister's re-orienting of this strategic island nation towards Beijing and away from Washington,” Professor Joe Siracusa, a veteran US-born political scientist and dean of Global Futures at Curtin University in Australia, told Sputnik.

“Washington’s 'new consensus', based on mercantilism and protection, requires a strong effort to win over as many small resources-rich states as possible,” the academic explained, saying if he had to guess, the US has probably succeeded in forcing incumbent Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare to form a minority government, if not ousting him completely.

In the days and weeks ahead, if he retains the prime minister’s chair, Sogavare will have to compromise with coalition partners to cobble together a new government.

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US Senate expected to pass $95bln Ukraine, Israel aid bill late tonight, congressional source in know told Sputnik

“Yes, passage is expected late tonight,” the source said when asked if the Senate plans to vote on the bill later in the day.

The legislation includes approximately $61 billion in Ukraine-related funding, $26 billion in Israel-related funding, and $8 billion for initiatives in the Indo-Pacific region.

It also includes measures to transfer frozen Russian sovereign assets to Ukraine and ban access to TikTok in the US unless it splits from its Chinese parent company.

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In Germany, more and more parents are facing the desire of their children to convert from Christianity to Islam, according to Bild.

The reason for this is the large number of migrants. Over the past eight years, the proportion of children from Islamic families in schools has grown dramatically. Many of them are brought up in strictly religious families.

As a result, children from Christian families often find themselves in a minority, especially in larger cities. To avoid being outcasts, they turn to their parents for guidance on accepting Islam.

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Freudian slip? Biden: "How many times does [Trump] have to prove we can't be trusted!?"

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Russia’s strike on Kharkov TV tower may have blinded Ukraine’s military: here’s why

“This tower contained radar antennas, there were also communications antennas, electronic warfare antennas, and communication antennas,” Viktor Litovkin, a veteran Soviet and Russian Army officer and respected military journalist, told Sputnik, commenting on Monday afternoon’s Russian precision missile strike on the Kharkov Television Tower.

“This equipment was situated at an altitude of almost 200 meters, which made it possible to see at a great distance the territory both of the Russian Federation and areas in which Russian troops are concentrated, that is – to engage in reconnaissance. The higher the antenna, the better the visibility. Because [things like] mountains, trees, houses and so on interfere with radio waves. But at such a height there’s nothing interfering with their distribution," the observer explained.

"Moreover, from this tower it was possible to coordinate the work of several military systems: air defense systems, reconnaissance systems, Ukrainian artillery systems, control centers, etc. It was possible to transfer information, commands and orders between military units and combat systems,” he added.

For these reasons, Litovkin said that Monday’s precision missile strike was a “very important” step in depriving Ukraine’s military and intelligence services of the eyes and ears afforded by the tower. “Now, Ukraine is deprived of the opportunity to conduct reconnaissance and coordinated actions against our armed forces,” the retired military officer said.

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Pentagon confirms discussions ongoing for ‘orderly withdrawal’ of US troops from Niger

The US and Niger have begun discussions for the orderly withdrawal of US servicemen based in that Western African country, Defense Department spokesperson Patrick Ryder confirmed.

"What I would say is that we can confirm that discussions have begun between the United States and Niger for the orderly withdrawal of US forces from the country," Ryder said during a press briefing.

The Defense Department and the US Africa Command will participate in the withdrawal discussions with the Nigerien Government, Ryder added.

The official further said that when it came to Western Africa and the Sahel, the Pentagon would continue to monitor potential threats to ensure the protection of US assets and interests throughout the region.

Last month, a Nigerien military spokesperson said the country's transitional government, which took power in a coup last July, had terminated the military agreement with the United States with immediate effect, citing the interests of the Nigerien people.

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