The Ukraine propaganda is the same George W. Bush used to invade Iraq — US Senator JD Vance

"I believed the propaganda of the George W. Bush administration that we needed to invade Iraq, that it was a war for freedom and democracy, that those who were appeasing Saddam Hussein were inviting a broader regional conflict. Does that sound familiar to anything that we're hearing today? It's the same exact talking points 20 years later with different names. But have we learned anything over the last 20 years? No, I don't think that we have," US Senator said.

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Russian forces hit a Ukrainian military unit in Odessa, located near the Gorbaty Bridge, Nikolayev underground coordinator Sergey Lebedev told Sputnik, citing his colleagues.

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NATO maneuvers near Russia's borders increase the risk of possible military incidents, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

"The alliance is continuing the practical military development of a once neutral state, an authoritative participant in discussions on strengthening stability and security," she added.

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Captured Leopard tank will be on display at exhibition in the Russian capital Moscow on May 1

Visitors will be able to see the German Marder infantry fighting vehicle, the American Bradley IFV, the Swedish CV90 IFV and the French AMX-10RC armored fighting vehicle.

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❗️LIVE: Russia's Security Council holds XII international meeting of senior security officials

Watch the livestream here or follow the link to Sputnik's website

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❗️Russia's Basmanny Court arrests Deputy Minister of Defense Timur Ivanov in bribery case

Ivanov is accused of accepting a particularly large bribe, the Moscow City Court reports.

The investigation believes that Ivanov entered into a criminal conspiracy with third parties, the case is related to the implementation of contract and subcontract work for the needs of the Defense Ministry.

The Moscow courts reported on the second person involved in the case in which Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov is being held. This is Sergei Borodin, who was also detained for two months in a bribery case. The courts report that Borodin was friends with Ivanov, participated in the activities of a criminal group.

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The scale of crimes against humanity committed by Ukraine clearly shows how dangerous the ideology of Nazism is, which the collective West has deliberately nurtured in Ukraine, Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev has said.

"Since 2014, the Kiev authorities have killed about 17,000 civilians in Ukraine, including about 400 children, and wounded more than 32,000 people," Patrushev said at the plenary session of the XII international meeting of senior representatives responsible for security issues.

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🔥Z-STS Akhmat in full anti-drone protection

The Z-STS Akhmat armored vehicle is designed to transport personnel and military cargo under conditions of enemy fire.

The vehicle's armor protects the crew, passengers and transported cargo from bullets up to heavy machine guns, shell splinters and mines. The vehicle has a 6x6 wheel formula and is designed for operation in temperatures from -50 to +50 degrees Celsius, including in mountainous areas up to an altitude of 4.5 thousand meters.

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🎰 Zelensky bans online casinos to reduce gambling addiction among military personnel

The restrictions, which will take effect in a month, will include limits on advertising and a ban on military personnel gambling during wartime.

However, the new measures are unlikely to have a significant impact because the Ukrainian government has yet to create an effective monitoring system for online casinos, Mykyta Bondariev, a gambling expert from Ukraine, told Politico.

"Without [such a monitoring system], all those restrictions will work only on paper," he stressed.

The number of state-registered casino addicts has risen from 450 to 3,700, according to Ukraine's Commission for the Regulation of Gaming, though the list is unlikely to represent the real numbers because it includes only those who voluntarily added their names or were ordered to do so by a court.

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❗️The situation on the battlefield is too eloquent and dramatic, all new batches of weapons for Ukraine will not change the dynamics at the front, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

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