Chairman of the Russian State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin said at a plenary session that it would take more than six hours to approve the candidacies of the deputy prime ministers

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First Western F-16 fighter jets may arrive in Ukraine within a few weeks, UK newspaper The Standard writes, quoting a senior military source.

The fighters should be delivered to Ukraine by June or July, the report said on Saturday, adding that the source did not specify from which countries the jets would arrive.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu earlier said that Russia would start hunting down Ukrainian F-16s as soon as they arrive. He estimated that Russian air defense systems will need only about “20 days of work” to destroy the first batch of these jets supplied to Kiev regime. Russian President Vladimir Putin stressed that F-16 would change nothing for Kiev.

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❗️Belgorod was subjected to massive shelling by the Armed Forces of Ukraine. As a result of a direct shell hit on an apartment building, the entire stairwell collapsed, regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said.

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Footage from the scene of the collapse of the stairwell of an apartment building in Russia's Belgorod

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❗️At least seven people were injured as a result of the collapse of part of an apartment building in Belgorod, a Sputnik correspondent reports

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❗️The number of victims in the collapse of a stairwell in a Belgorod high-rise building has risen to nine people, emergency services told Sputnik.

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Footage has appeared, apparently of the moment a projectile hit a residential building in Belgorod

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❗️A criminal case has been opened into the Belgorod shelling incident, the Russian Investigative Committee said.

As a result of the shelling there are dead and injured, the IC added.

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❗️The Kiev regime carried out a terrorist attack on residential areas of the city of Belgorod using Tochka-U tactical ballistic missiles, Alder and RM-70 Vampire multiple-launch rocket systems (MLRS), the Russian Defense Ministry said.

Russian air defense systems destroyed six Tochka-U missiles, four Vampire and two Alder MLRS rockets. Fragments of one of the downed Tochka-U missiles damaged a residential building.

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❗️Russia's Sever Battlegroup liberated the villages of Gatishche, Krasnoe, Morokhovets and Oleinikovo in the Kharkov region, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

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Why is French-German tank project fraught with “very high risks?”

In late April, the French and German divisions of arms companies KNDS, as well as Rheinmetall and Thales, unveiled plans to set up a project company to work on the future tank known as the main ground combat system. However, the French branch of the KNDS consortium recently announced that the planned project company to develop a main battle tank for Germany and France will remain closed to other shareholders for now.

“I think it's a very high risk program,” Earl Rasmussen, an international consultant and retired lieutenant colonel with over 20 years in the US Army, told Sputnik.

“One, we have to coordinate requirements across both - the French and the Germans, and also NATO in general. We're looking at incorporating new technologies, we're probably talking at a 7 to 10 years development time, potentially. So this is a very high risk project. And I'm not sure there's going to be much success in that,” Rasmussen pointed out.

When asked whether the project will be able to compete in the international market, the analyst argued that he didn't think so.

“It's going to have to be tailored specifically, quite a bit, if it's very innovative and the performance is good, and depending what the cost is, if they can limit the cost, perhaps it could potentially have some potential competitiveness in the international market. I don't have high expectations of it,” Rasmussen noted.

According to him, both sides, as well the EU and NATO, have yet to resolve “political issues between the countries” related to the implementation of the project. “There's a lot of issues and a lot of challenges”, includes those pertaining to the discussions that a French-German joint production facility is to be placed in Ukraine - not a very good idea,” the analyst concluded.

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❗️The Vostok Battlegroup occupied more advantageous positions over the last day. Ukrainian losses amounted to 125 soldiers.

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

▪️Ukrainian forces lost up to 100 soldiers, two tanks, a Kozak armored vehicle, four artillery pieces and two Vampire MLRS due to the actions of the Sever Battlegroup;

▪️Units from the Zapad Battlegroup repelled four attacks by Ukrainian troops and occupied more advantageous positions. Ukrainian losses amounted to 190 soldiers;

▪️Ukrainian losses amounted to 620 military personnel, two tanks, and a combat vehicle of the Strela-10 air defense system over the day in the zone of responsibility of the Sever Battlegroup;

▪️Units from the Tsentr Battlegroup hit two tanks, including an Abrams, and a Bradley infantry fighting vehicle. Ukrainian losses amounted to 415 soldiers;

▪️Russian air defenses shot down a Ukrainian MiG-29 plane and intercepted 36 drones and eight Tochka-U missiles.

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The tragedy in Russia's Belgorod. What is known so far:

▪️The first reports of the collapse of a stairwell as a result of the shelling appeared around 8.30 GMT.

▪️Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov soon said that the city had been subjected to massive shelling by the Ukrainian Armed Forces, as a result of a direct shell hit into an apartment building, the entire stairwell collapsed.

▪️Belgorod was shelled by Tochka-U missiles and MLRS shells, the building was damaged by fragments of one of the downed Tochka-U missiles, Russia's Defense Ministry later said.

▪️Air-raid sirens before the emergency allowed many lives to be saved, the emergency services told Sputnik.

▪️About an hour after the shelling, the attic floor and the roof of the stairwell collapsed. It is not yet clear whether there were casualties as a result of the repeated collapse.

▪️The Russian Investigation Committee reported that as a result of the Ukrainian shelling there are dead and injured, the exact number is being determined.

▪️At the moment, 17 people have been sent to medical organizations, Russia's Health Minister Murashko announced.

▪️The IC has opened a criminal case into the terrorist attack.

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Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on the shelling of Russia's city of Belgorod by Ukrainian forces

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❗️19 people were injured in Belgorod as a result of Ukrainian shelling, including two children, Governor Gladkov said.

The dead have not yet been entirely removed from the rubble, the head of the region noted.

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Rabotino becomes a mass grave for Ukrainian army: here’s why

Village of Rabotino in the Zaporozhye region became a mass grave for Ukrainian servicemen and their attempts to reclaim it result in an immediate rendezvous with their “Bandera daddy” [death], member of the Civic Chamber of Russian Federation and Zaporozhye official Vladimir Rogov told Sputnik.

“The enemy dug in behind the village, on the cemetery. The attempts to counterattack in order to reclaim lost positions in the village failed. Our soldiers forced the enemy to flee. He lost servicemen and retreated back. The cemetery on the north of Rabotino de-facto became a grave for Ukrainian militants where they sustain tremendous losses and immediately depart to meet their Bandera daddy”, said Rogov.

He added that Ukrainian officers are constantly sending new reserves to die in futile attempts to storm Rabotino.

Rabotino is a village in Zaporozhye, and Kiev regime insists that contest around this hamlet is a key achievement of counteroffensive attempt of summer 2023. In order to seize Rabotino Ukraine deployed West-trained brigades reserved for strategic operations.

Earlier, Rogov said that the village of Rabotino is now in the “grey zone” which means that Ukrainian troops no longer control it.

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