Latvia has begun building its first defense line one kilometer from the Russian border, local media report

The Baltic state will spend 303 million euros over five years to create the fortification line, the LSM radio and television portal reported.

"Strengthening Latvia's eastern border and implementing the anti-mobility plan is part of the overall Baltic fortification line. Along the border with Russia and Belarus, the military will create a chain of strongholds - protective fortifications, various obstacles and ammunition depots," LSM reported.

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All of NATO is fighting against Russia — Syrian military attache

"[At the exhibition in Moscow] there are American, German, Czech tanks, [weaponry] from different European countries. This suggests that Russia is not fighting against Ukraine, but on the contrary, the whole West, all of NATO is fighting against Russia… And they're just using Ukraine,” a Syrian military attache who visited the exhibition of captured NATO weapons told Russian media.

"Let them [NATO] see with their own eyes – their equipment is here, it has been destroyed. The equipment is located at Park Pobedy [lit. Victory Park]. It resembles the victory in the Second World War, the Great Patriotic War. There will be the same victory. And we will celebrate it here," he added.

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"For the first time, a Western politician has so openly recognized what has long been an 'open secret' for the majority of the world: The West is waging an open war against Russia through the hands of the Ukrainians," Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said, referring to British Foreign Minister David Cameron's remarks about Kiev's right to use British weapons to attack Russia.

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❗️Russian troops struck the Balovnoye oil depot, from which fuel was supplied to Ukraine's military units.

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

▪️Units of the Yug Battlegroup have taken more advantageous positions. Ukrainian losses amounted to 340 soldiers;

▪️Battlegroup Zapad improved its position on the frontline and repelled three attacks by the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Kharkov region and the Lugansk People's Republic. Ukrainian losses amounted to 355 soldiers and nine pieces of equipment during the counter-battery struggle;

▪️Units of the Vostok Battlegroup repelled three counterattacks by Ukrainian forces, who lost up to 135 soldiers;

▪️Battlegroup Tsentr repelled ten Ukrainian counterattacks during the day;

▪️Russian troops destroyed the Ukrainian illumination and guidance radar, as well as the IRIS-T air defense missile launcher with two S-300PT air defense missile launchers. Russian air defenses shot down 40 Ukrainian drones and three Hammer bombs in a day.

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BlackRock CEO: Depopulation is good because robots will replace humans

“I can argue that in developed countries, countries with declining populations will benefit,” BlackRock CEO Larry Fink said during a recent World Economic Forum panel discussion.

“These countries will rapidly develop robotics and AI and technology. And if the promise of all of that transforms productivity, which most of us think it will, we’ll be able to elevate the standard of living of those countries and individuals, even with shrinking populations. And so the paradigm of negative population growth is going to be changing, and the social problems that one will have in substituting humans for machines is going to be far easier in those countries that have declining populations.”

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20 years ago, Hungary did not join the European Union as it is now, said Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

He pointed out that in 2004, the migration issue was more strictly controlled, and the level of security was much higher.

As an example, he pointed out that EU countries were not faced with the question that they “would allow millions of migrants onto the continent, and those countries that, like Hungary, were against, would force them”.

According to the prime minister, it was not discussed that pressure would be put on states that, “like Hungary, have written down in the constitution that a family is a union of a man and a woman.”

Orban also noted that Hungary joined the European Union to feel safe and have free access to the markets of larger European countries. However, now, according to the Hungarian prime minister, Europe is experiencing a serious economic and security crisis.

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Gay? Yay! Pro-Palestinian? Nay!

US police happily parade alongside half-naked men during the “pride” events, but fire rubber bullets and tear gas at college students protesting in support of Palestine.

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Ukraine's fear is clear: Not many Abrams tanks left

Russian troops destroyed the seventh US-supplied Abrams tank today, the Russian Defense Ministry announced.

In total, the United States has sent 31 M1A1 Abrams tanks Ukraine.

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Find out how NATO beefs up its ‘mostly peaceful’ military presence on Russia’s doorstep

A US military battalion that was originally expected to be stationed in Lithuania until the end of the next year is going to remain in the Baltic country indefinitely, the Lithuanian defense minister proudly announced this week.

In 2017, NATO began its troop buildup in the region by announcing the establishment of four new "multinational battalion-size battlegroups" in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and neighboring Poland. As tensions escalated in the Ukrainian conflict, the scale of these battlegroups was increased to brigade size in 2022.

According to NATO’s official website, the battlegroup stationed in Estonia is composed of British, French and Icelandic troops, while the one deployed in Latvia consists of Canadian, Albanian, Czech, Icelandic, Italian, Montenegrin, North Macedonian, Polish, Slovakian and Slovenian troops. Lastly, the battlegroup deployed in Lithuania consists of US, German, Belgian, Czech, Dutch, Norwegian and Luxembourgian troops.

In December 2023, Lithuania and Germany inked an agreement to have a German military brigade fully deployed on Lithuanian soil by 2027.

Also in 2023, US Ambassador to Estonia George Kent told the press that the United States had “over 600 troops” stationed on Estonian soil, noting that this deployment also includes the HIMARS mobile rocket launch systems.

In January 2024, Sweden disclosed its plan to deploy approximately 800 troops to Latvia. The announcement was made by Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, despite the fact that Sweden had not yet formally become a member of NATO.

NATO also uses three airbases in the Baltic States - Lithuania’s Zokniai Air Base, Estonia’s Ämari Air Base and Latvia’s Lielvārde Air Base – to host military aircraft involved in the Baltic Air Policing mission.

Check out Sputnik’s map to see how NATO is beefing up its militarization of Baltics

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‘Keep sending more weapons and we’ll keep hammering them’: Ordinary Russians react to captured Western military hardware

Sputnik spoke to attendees at Moscow’s trophy weapons exhibition, and asked them whether they had any message for Western governments and taxpayers. Here’s what they had to say.

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The US forced to end its costly military presence in Niger, making room for Russian troops

Russian military specialists, invited by the Nigerien government, were moved into Airbase 101 near Niamey, where a small number of US troops still remain. Washington is set to withdraw its 1,000-strong contingent, presently deployed at Airport 201 base in Agadez, following a request from the nation's new leadership to end its presence.

▪️The US has had two military bases in Niger, called Air Base 101 and Air Base 201. Per The Intercept, the US has also maintained non-permanent footprint in Arlit, Dirkou, Diffa, and Ouallam.

▪️This permanent military presence of the American forces in Niger traces back to at least 2013 when Washington signed a deal with the country to operate military drones from an airbase near Niamey. In 2014 the US struck a deal to open a second drone base in Niger as part of its war on terror.

▪️The US Nigerien Air Base 201 is located 5 km southeast of Agadez. It was leased from the Nigerien government for a period of 10 years. The agreement expires in 2024.

▪️The installation cost $110 million, but, according to The Intercept, its price tag allegedly reached $280 million by 2024. It cost $30 million per year to operate and maintain the base.

▪️Air Base 201 boasts a 1,890-meter runway for MQ-9 Reapers and manned aircraft. As per the Pentagon the base was used for anti-terror and surveillance operations. Drone operations began at the site in 2019.

▪️In September 2022 Pentagon released a report indicating that despite its substantial military presence in Africa it had not reached any of its objectives over the past two decades in degrading and disrupting violent extremist and terrorist organizations in the continent.

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Ukraine to press-gang people with HIV, hepatitis and psychiatric disorders

Desperate to find at least a stopgap solution for the severe manpower crisis the Ukrainian military currently struggles with, the regime in Kiev has now resorted to drafting people who were previously exempt from military service due to a medical conditions.

As per the recently unveiled mobilization decree, which is slated to come into force on May 4, the following categories of Ukrainian citizens are now deemed fit for military service:

🔺People afflicted with chronic viral hepatitis with mild dysfunctions

🔺Asymptomatic HIV carriers and those suffering from disorders caused by HIV

🔺People with tumorous growths in the sustained remission stage

🔺People suffering from mild neurotic psychological disorders with the prospects of recovery

🔺People with residual changes after cured tuberculosis

The following categories of Ukrainians are also deemed fit for service in logistical units and in other non-combat roles:

🔺People with clinically cured tuberculosis

🔺People afflicted with chronic viral hepatitis with moderate dysfunctions

🔺People suffering from HIV-related diseases

🔺People with benign tumorous growths with moderate dysfunctions

🔺People suffering from slow progressing blood diseases with moderate dysfunctions

🔺People who recently underwent radical surgery of a primary tumor

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The Council of Heads of the UN General Assembly called for the launch of a peace process for Ukraine based on the Istanbul Agreement of 2022, which provides for its neutrality.

In addition, they called for an immediate exchange of prisoners and the search for steps to prevent further escalation of the conflict.

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Macron and Cameron's threats to flood Ukraine with “men and arms”: a sign of weakness?

Europe won’t be able to turn the tide in Ukraine and stop Russia's advance despite all the inflammatory statements, Paolo Raffone, the director of the Brussels-based CIPI Foundation, tells Sputnik.

Recently, British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said during his visit to Kiev that Ukraine “absolutely has the right” to strike at Russia using British weapons: “It is their [Ukrainians] decision about how to use these weapons.” Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron repeated his idea to send NATO troops to Ukraine if Kiev’s front crumbles and the bloc is invited.

“Neither the UK, nor France or Germany can make any difference in Ukraine,” Raffone stresses. “Europeans follow the US path… and the US set the tune: just keep Ukraine surviving until the US election.”

Cameron sounded even more aggressive than his American allies, who dissuaded Ukrainians from making strikes against “old” Russian regions with the exception of Crimea.

“We don’t discuss any caveats that we put on those things… Ukraine needs to make sure… it has the ability to strike back,” the British politician said. More so, Reuters agency had to urgently correct a report on his speech, as such belligerent rhetoric was bordering a major diplomatic escalation with Russia.

In response, spokeswoman of Russia’s Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova said that “London should prepare itself” for strikes from its own clients - referring to how Washington was the victim of an attack from the very same groups it had nurtured and supplied in Afghanistan in the 2001 Twin Towers attack.

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Elon Musk predicted the end of the dollar if the United States does not deal with the national debt.

"We need to do something about our national debt or the dollar won't be worth anything."

During Biden's presidency, the US national debt has risen to an unprecedented level of more than $34.4 trillion (from $27.7 trillion in 2021). As the IMF predicts, in 2024 it will exceed 123% of the country's GDP.

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There is no unity among EU countries on policy towards Moscow, “some consider Russia a good friend," head of EU diplomacy Josep Borrell said.

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Columbia students inspired by anti-apartheid and anti-Vietnam War protests

Doe Hee Choi is a second year graduate student at Columbia University School of Public Health. She chose not to use her real name to protect herself as the university administration has cracked down on the young protesters.

"We received an email from the [Columbia University] president, Minouche Shafik, a day ago saying that the students that occupied Hinds Hall - so it was called Hamilton Hall and was then renamed to Hinds Hall to honor the young Palestinian girl that was killed - those students, quote, face expulsion," Choi told Sputnik's Political Misfits podcast.

"Students that are on student visas that are being arrested or even just penalized and suspended do run the risk of having their visas immediately terminated," she continued.

Over 2,000 people have been arrested at US colleges and universities since April 18, with Columbia University students becoming standard-bearers in the eyes of American youngsters. The protesters follow in the footsteps of Columbia's anti-apartheid demonstrators of 1985 and those opposing the Vietnam War in 1968.

Choi has trashed the assumptions voiced by New York City authorities, as well as the US mainstream press, that the protests are led by some "external agitators". She emphasized that the movement is grassroots, noting that arrests and the ongoing crackdown by university authorities only serve to bolster its strength. She has no doubt that despite most students leaving the campus for the summer season, the struggle will continue unabated and may catch its second wind in the fall.

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In Burkina Faso's capital Ouagadougou, protesters trample on the stars-and-stripes flag at the US Embassy.

They protest against “interference in internal affairs” and “spread of disinformation” about the national armed forces.

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▪️Macron and Cameron's threats to flood Ukraine with “men and arms”: a sign of weakness?

▪️Ukraine to press-gang people with HIV, hepatitis and psychiatric disorders

▪️The US forced to end its costly military presence in Niger, making room for Russian troops

▪️Find out how NATO beefs up its ‘mostly peaceful’ military presence on Russia’s doorstep

▪️Mathematics of victory: Russia’s military advantage over Ukraine becomes painfully visible

▪️US relocates warplanes and drones from UAE to Qatar amid Abu Dhabi’s security concerns

▪️Nuclear energy race: US yielding to Russia and China

▪️Saudi Arabia and Indonesia are trying to persuade EU countries to abandon the confiscation of Russian assets

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